NEWS | Round-up NEWS IN BRIEF
• A new Augmented Reality app from Quooker allows customers to visualise any of its taps in situ in a showroom or their own home. Just download it from the App Store and print the marker disc.
• Gerd Bulthaup, managing partner of the premium German kitchen brand that bears his family name, has died aged 75 after a short illness. Born in 1944, Gerd Bulthaup took over the family firm in 1978 from his father and founder Martin Bulthaup.
• Omega is on a mission to bring joy into consumers’ lives with its latest retail brochures as its research has shown that the journey to a new kitchen can be stressful.
• 2020 has released Version 7 of its Fusion design software. It now features soft reflections, soft shadows and image refinement as well as multi-point 360-degree panoramas. Fusion v7 can also save and recall post-processing effects and instantly apply them to a new design.
• Aran Cucine has won a Superbrands award for the fifth year running. The company said that this international accolade recognises the excellence and value of the companies that keep growing and investing. CEO Renzo Rastelli also picked up the Passion for Branding award.
• BC Designs is celebrating its 20th year with its biggest brochure to date. The 104-pager features a raft of new products and includes the Colourkast collection of eight colourways available across all of its Cian baths and basins.
• QX Bathroom Products has reported its best month since 2009 following the launch of its latest brochure at the beginning of July. It featured several new product ranges as well as the luxury Grand Home Bathrooms range it launched in May at the Grand Designs Live exhibition.
• Leeds-based Pland Stainless has invested £500,000 in a new high- speed laser cutting machine to improve productivity. The company, which is celebrating its 100th year, supplies stainless steel products to various construction sectors.
• Roca’s latest product brochure is one of its largest yet at 75 pages. It includes the Alter basin collection, Savana countertops, Carmen slipper baths and Flat, Escuadra and Malva brassware ranges and much more.
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Whirlpool maintains ‘strong momentum’ despite EMEA loss
US APPLIANCE giant Whirlpool has reported “strong momentum” in its Q2 2019 results to the end of June, despite losses in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.
Second-quarter net sales globally hit $5.2 billion (£4.18bn), up 3% (excluding currency variations) on the $5.1bn in the same quarter last year. On that figure, Whirlpool declared a profit (EBIT) of $254 million (£204m), compared with a loss of $562m for Q2 2018. It said that prior-year results were negatively impacted by a £860m asset impairment charge related to the EMEA region and a settlement with the French Competition Authority (FCA). Marc Bitzer, chairman and chief executive, said: “At our
recent Investor Day, we laid out a robust strategy for creating shareholder value and our excellent second-quarter results impressively demonstrate that we are on track. Our strong momentum allows us to raise our full-year guidance despite continued global macro uncertainties.”
For the full-year 2019, the company raised its guidance for anticipated earnings per share (EPS) from $14 – $15 to $14.75 – $15.50 and upped its net sales guidance figure by $0.3bn to £20.6bn, with an annual organic growth prediction of 3%.
Whirlpool North America reported net sales of $2.9bn –
up from £2.8bn in Q2 last year, with EBIT profits of $353m, compared with $331m in Q2 2018 Latin America upped sales from $855m to $888m with
profits up from $33m to $56m, while in Asia sales were up from $428m to $430m with profits down from Q2 2018’s $43m at $15m this year. But the EMEA region fared poorest. Q2 net sales were down from $1.1bn to $1bn, while the $25m loss of Q2 2018 deepened to $28m. Digging deeper, a cost figure of $12m was attributed to
Jaquar World showroom to open in London
AS PART of its ambition to boost global sales to $1 billion (£820 million) by 2022, Jaquar will open its latest experience centre in London in September and is already planning another Jaquar World in Leeds. The Jaquar World showroom that will open in Fulham, south-west London, underscores Jaquar’s plan to expand its business in the UK. The luxury bathroom brand is set to
produce 28 million products in 2019 that will be sold in 45 countries. Over the past five years, the company has seen an annualised growth above 30% worldwide. The London showroom will be the company’s
ninth experience
store, joining existing stores in Brunei, Singapore, Addis Ababa, Dubai, Riyadh, Tunisia, and Milan. Darren Chisholm, national sales manager UK and Ireland Jaquar said: “The UK is seen as the major country outside India [for Jaquar]. The investment has always been planned to grow and to have it be the flagship
country outside India. “Our UK business and economy is
very strong considering Brexit. Even though we are just about to open in Fulham, we are also looking to open a Jaquar World
in Leeds as well.
That is about to start in the next few weeks – it is all about the growth and investment so we can reach our $1 billion target.”
During the Fulham launch, Rajesh Mehra, founder and chairman of Jaquar, will be setting out the business’s strategy to achieve a global income in excess of $1bn by 2022 and the part the UK is to play in the group’s planned expansion. Chisholm explained the decision to
open in that area: “Fulham is a great location for architects. I know that Clerkenwell is known as the architect capital, but Fulham is a perfect location as it has a lot of interior designers in the area. It is the heart of some of the most expensive property in the UK and with Jaquar as a global luxury brand, we are targeting the more design-led markets and Fulham is key to that.” The three-day event will take place between September 11-13 and will include the worldwide debut of the Arc collection – a complete range that includes brassware and ceramics. During the launch, there will also be a series of one-to-one forums with architects and designers, including Federico Meroni, who designed the Arc collection. There are a limited number of spaces on the launch days, so book early if you want to attend. Each day there will be a silent auction for a holiday to New York and the chance to win tickets to Premiership football or Six Nations Rugby matches, and West End shows.
kbbreview · September 2019
“legacy product warranty and liability expense”. A footnote revealed: “In September 2015, the company recorded a liability related to a corrective action affecting certain legacy Indesit products. During the second quarter of 2019, the company incurred approximately $12 million of additional product warranty expense related to our previously disclosed legacy Indesit dryer corrective action campaign in the UK.”
Whirlpool Corporation also announced it sold its shares in the Italian cooker hood specialist Elica to investment bank Tamburini Investment Partners (TIP) in July. This amounted to 7,958,203 treasury shares, which it sold at €2 per share – a total of €15.9m (£14.5m). Elica SpA also sold 1,275,498 shares to TIP for €2.55m. That brings TIP’s total stake in Elica to 14.58%.
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