Semperit AG

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Semperit AG

logo
legal form Corporation
ISIN AT0000785555
founding 1910
Seat Vienna , AustriaAustriaAustria 
management
  • Martin Füllenbach ( CEO )
  • Petra Preining ( CFO )
  • Kristian Brok ( COO )
  • Felix Fremerey (Member of the Board of Directors)
Number of employees 6,902
sales 840.6 million euros
Branch Rubber and plastics industry
Website www.semperitgroup.com
As of December 31, 2019

Semperit AG company building in Wimpassing in the Schwarzatale (August 2017)

The Semperit AG is a publicly listed Austrian company in the rubber industry and former major tire manufacturer. Semperit was created in 1912 through a merger of various factories; the origins lie in a company founded by Johann Nepomuk Reithoffer in 1824 .

Semperit Group

As an international company in the rubber and plastics industry, the listed Semperit Group is represented with numerous production companies and sales offices in Europe, Asia and America.

Semperit produces and sells in the medical and industrial sectors

  • Examination and surgical gloves
  • Hydraulic and industrial hoses
  • Conveyor belts, escalator handrails, construction profiles, cable car rings, ski foils and products for railway superstructures.

Around 6,900 employees, including around 700 in Austria, were employed by Semperit Holding in the following subsidiaries in 2019: Sempermed, Semperflex, Semperform and Sempertrans. In Austria, the company is headquartered in Vienna, the production facility in Wimpassing in the Schwarzatale in Lower Austria is the main factory, which was built in 1850 by Johann Nepomuk Reithoffer, who relocated the production of his rubber factory, which was founded in Vienna in 1824, to Wimpassing. In Thailand, the group owned the world's largest production of examination gloves until 2020. The other production program spans a wide range of rubber products in 14 production sites around the world. Every second handrail on escalators in the world comes from Semperit.

history

Emergence

Johann Nepomuk Reithoffer

The Österreichisch-Amerikanische Gummifabrik-Aktiengesellschaft was founded in 1889 by the Wiener Bankverein together with the previous owners and the Continental Caoutchouc and Gutta-Percha Compagnie in Hanover for the purpose of taking over the company Österr.-amerik since 1861 . Rubber goods factory founded by Schnek, Kohnberger & Mandl factories in Vienna-Breitensee . In 1890, the company and the Hungarian Bank for Industry and Trade founded the Hungarian Rubber Goods Company . In 1895 Hugo von Froreich's rubber factory in Vysočan near Prague was acquired. The Prague factory was owned by an independent joint-stock company from 1897 to 1904. The repurchase took place in 1904. After the First World War , the Czechoslovak company was nationalized. The system was incorporated into the newly built Vysočany AG rubber factory in Prague . In 1910 and 1912, under the leadership of Camillo Castiglioni, the company acquired the shares in Semperit Gummiwerke, GesmbH , which had its factory in Traiskirchen in Lower Austria. The rubber goods factory Josef Miskolczy & Co. , founded in 1898 by the Hungarian Josef Miskolczy (1858–1921) , was renamed Semperit Gummiwerke GmbH in 1909 . The brand name Semperit, which has been used since 1906 - a marketing creation by Miskolczys - means “always works” (semper it) in Latin . On the occasion of this takeover, the company was renamed “Semperit” Österreichisch-Amerikanische Gummiwerke AG . In 1912, the company acquired shares in the Asbestos and Gummiwerke Calmon . This company was converted into a GesmbH, the shares of which were completely owned by Semperit. The operations of Steinklammhofer Gummiwerke GesmbH and "Fama" Gummiwerke AG acquired by the company were shut down. In 1923, the company acquired from the United Gummiwarenfabriken Harburg — Vienna, formerly Menier — JN Reithoffer in Harburg ad Elbe, their factory in Wimpassing in Lower Austria, which became a stock corporation under the company Vereinigte Gummiwarenfabriken Wimpassing. Menier— JN Reithoffer was converted. This rubber factory, founded in 1824 by Johann Nepomuk Reithoffer (1781–1872), was the oldest in Europe. In 1923 the company Gummi- und Kabelwerke Josef Reithoffer's Sons in Vienna and Steyr became the property of the company and was converted into a stock corporation under the company Gummi- und Kabelwerke Josef Reithoffer's Sons AG . Josef Reithoffer (1796-1858) had founded his own rubber factory in 1832 after previously running the rubber factory of his half-brother Johann Nepomuk Reithoffer in Vienna. This company, which was renamed Gummi und Kabelwerke Josef Reithoffer's Sons after the death of its founder , successfully manufactured tires. For the sake of rationalization, all departments from Vienna-Breitensee were transferred to the other group companies and the Breitensee factory was completely shut down. In 1932, the rubber and cable works Josef Reithoffer's Söhne AG in Steyr was shut down and the Asbest- und Gummiwerke Calmon GesmbH . cleared and the entire production in Traiskirchen and Wimpassing united. In 1934, around 2000 workers were employed in the company's own plant in Traiskirchen and mainly manufactured all types of tires. The Semperit Group comprised all shares or shares in Asbest- u. Gummiwerke Calmon GesmbH , Vereinigte Gummiwarenfabriken Wimpassing , Gummi und Kabelwerke Josef Reithoffers Söhne AG , Wimpassing, Kaucuk dd , Zagreb, Semperit SAR , Bucharest, as well as shares in the rubber and Balatawerke “Matador” AG , Bratislava, the Prague rubber factory Vysočany AG , the "Semperit" Polish Gummiwerke AG , Cracow, as well as shares in "Semperit" Jugoslavische Gummiwerke GmbH , Kranj .

In 1925, Semperit employed around 9,000 people at nine locations.

connection

After Austria was "annexed" to the German Reich , Semperit remained formally independent, but was bound to Continental AG from Hanover by a mutual aid agreement , from where it received knowledge and machines. At the beginning of the Second World War, Semperit was switched to a war economy , so besides tires, tank tracks were also produced. During the war, Polish forced laborers were increasingly used to replace workers and to keep production going. The then general director Franz Josef Messner was arrested by the Gestapo at the end of March 1944 because he had belonged to a Viennese resistance cell, and on April 23, 1945 he was personally gassed with 39 other prisoners in the Mauthausen concentration camp by the commandant Franz Ziereis .

The resurgence

After the Red Army had dismantled most of the machines, production began again with great difficulty in August 1945. In October 1945 Semperit had 410 employees. In 1951, the damage caused by the war was repaired, and Semperit was able to expand significantly by 1972. At the end of 1972 Semperit had over 15,000 employees and was the second largest company in Austria. In 1972, the Sava plant in Kranj , Slovenia , which had previously belonged to Semperit and was controlled by Continental in 1940 , returned to Semperit. The group also included companies that had nothing to do with tires, such as the window manufacturer Semperdur or Perfekta . In Ireland tires were made for export to Great Britain, Scandinavia and the USA.

The majority shareholder of Semperit AG since the end of the war was the state-owned Creditanstalt , which also acted as the house bank. This majority shareholder also caused the downfall of Semperit AG, as this caused a permanent underfunding. The Creditanstalt did not allow a capital increase , but rather granted loans itself, with the result that Semperit became increasingly indebted. This was not a problem during growth phases, but in times of crisis the liabilities could no longer be paid.

Crisis and sale of the Semperit tire division

In 1973 the first oil crisis led to sales difficulties on the tire market and to large losses at Semperit. As a result, a cooperation with a Michelin subsidiary was agreed and Semkler AG was founded. But the hopes were not fulfilled and the cooperation was dissolved again in 1979. In 1980 Semperit received the state award and was allowed to use the federal coat of arms in business dealings. Semperit continued to incur debts until the Austrian state stepped in and made a capital increase possible. This should strengthen the company for a sale. In 1981, Semperit achieved an annual turnover of 400 million US dollars worldwide and had a world market share for car tires of 1.4 percent. A holding company was founded in 1983 and Semperit was split up into several sub-companies, which were then successively sold.

Old advertising board for Semperit tires

The tire division was made completely independent in 1983 as Semperit Reifen Ges.mbH and in 1985, when it was again making a profit, it was sold by Creditanstalt to its competitor Continental . Continental guaranteed its existence for the next ten years. Continental gained access to the Japanese vehicle market through Semperit with an export share of 60% to Japan. However, this ceased to exist with the accession to the European Union, so that in the following years the workforce was systematically reduced and in 2002 tire production was completely relocated from Traiskirchen to the Czech Republic. The last tire in Traiskirchen was manufactured on July 18, 2002. There and in Sava ( Slovenia ) there were two Semperit subsidiaries that had also been incorporated into the Continental Corporation in the early 1980s. On December 18, 2009, the last production shift for compound production was carried out in Traiskirchen, only for demolition work, 30 employees were subsequently employed for over half a year.

Continental still holds the trademark rights to the name "Semperit" to this day.

Semperit after 2009

In October 2012, Semperit agreed to take over 47.3% of Latexx Partners Berhad, which produces 6 billion latex and nitrile gloves annually in 6 plants in Kamunting, Malaysia and will benefit from Semperit's sales network. At the beginning of July 2013, Semperit announced that it owned over 95% of the shares.

In January 2020, the company announced that it would be separating from the medical business and would like to focus on the industrial sector in the future. Semperit employed 3,000 people worldwide in the medical business, the division made up a third of all Semperit sales. Around 100 employees are affected by the sale in Wimpassing.

Key figures

year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Sales
in million euros 		607.8 655.3 588.1 689.4 820.0 829.0 906.3 930.4 914.7 852.4 874.2 878.5
Employee 7.118 7,064 6,649 7.008 7,833 8,305 10,276 6,888 7,053 6,974 6,838 6,773

Stock exchange and shareholders

The shares are listed as one of the oldest on the Vienna Stock Exchange , but also in Frankfurt , Berlin-Bremen and Stuttgart . B&C Industrieholding , the management holding of the B&C private foundation, holds 54.2% of the shares .

literature

  • Alfred Artmäuer, Manfred Bauer, Julius Böheimer: Without any chance. The Semperit case, 2nd edition Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-7035-0983-X
  • 150 years of the Austrian rubber industry, 1824 - 1974 , Molden Verlag Vienna 1974

Web links

Commons : Semperit  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Annual Report 2019 (pdf), accessed March 23, 2020
  2. ^ Company - Semperit AG Holding. In: semperitgroup.com. December 31, 2013, accessed January 19, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Michaela Seiser, stretchable like a rubber band. In: FAZ, March 31, 2012, p. 20.
  4. ↑ J. Mentschl:  Schnek, Isidor. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 10, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1994, ISBN 3-7001-2186-5 , p. 391 f. (Direct links on p. 391 , p. 392 ).
  5. ↑ Compass 1913, Volume II, Financial Yearbook, page 539 (direct link via ZEDHIA on page 539 )
  6. ↑ Central sheet for entries in the Austrian commercial register 1909, page 680 (direct link via ZEDHIA on p. 680 )
  7. ↑ Compass 1934, Volume I, Financial Yearbook, page 867 (direct link via ZEDHIA on page 867 )
  8. ↑ Once upon a time there was a Semperit group ... In: Die Arbeit - The GLB's monthly magazine. Archived from the original on February 13, 2012 ; Retrieved January 19, 2015 .
  9. ^ National coat of arms bearer of the national coat of arms historical directory. (No longer available online.) In: staatswappen.at. August 26, 1980, archived from the original on January 19, 2015 ; Retrieved January 19, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Semperit Info from April 29, 1996, accessed on September 23, 2018.
  11. ↑ Continental closes tire factory in Traiskirchen - oesterreich.ORF.at. In: noe.orf.at. July 19, 2002, accessed January 19, 2015 .
  12. ↑ After 113 years: Semperit Traiskirchen plant closes. In: diepresse.com. December 17, 2009, accessed January 19, 2015 .
  13. ↑ Semperit entry in Malaysia - news.ORF.at. In: orf.at. October 8, 2012, accessed January 19, 2015 .
  14. ↑ Press release Semperit AG Holding: Semperit holds more than 95% of Latexx Partners - delisting of Bursa Malaysia from Semperit AG Holding. In: swiss-press.com. May 23, 2013, accessed January 19, 2015 .
  15. ↑ Semperit parts with the medical business. In: ORF.at . January 27, 2020, accessed January 28, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Results for the 2014 financial year . Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  17. ^ Semperit AG Holding. Retrieved April 3, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Annual Report 2016. Accessed April 3, 2019 .
  19. ↑ Annual Report 2017. Accessed April 3, 2019 .