Sonova

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sonova Holding AG

logo
legal form Corporation
ISIN CH0012549785
founding 1947
1985 (Holding)
Seat Stäfa , Switzerland
management Arnd Kaldowski ( CEO )
Robert Spoerry ( Chairman of the Board of Directors )
Number of employees 14,242 (March 31, 2018)
sales 2.65 billion CHF
(financial year 2017/2018)
Branch Hearing aids
Website www.sonova.com

The Sonova Holding AG 's (until 31 July 2007 Phonak Holding AG) on a hearing international specialized Swiss group of companies headquartered in Stäfa . It is one of the three largest providers in the industry worldwide.

history

The group of companies has its origins in the AG for electroacoustics , which was founded in 1947 and is based in Zurich. In 1965 Ernst Rihs acquired the majority of the company's shares and renamed the company Phonak AG . As a result, his two sons, Hans-Ueli and Andy Rihs , as well as Beda Diethelm also joined the company. After the death of Ernst Rihs, his two sons took over his shares and Beda Diethelm became a shareholder with equal rights.

Phonak Holding AG was founded in 1985 as the holding company of the Phonak Group. In 1994 the company went public on the SWX Swiss Exchange . On August 1, 2007, the name was changed to Sonova Holding AG, although this was limited to the holding company. All subsidiaries, including Phonak AG, as well as the product names are not affected by the name change.

Companies

Headquarters in Stäfa

Sonova develops and sells hearing solutions in two segments, hearing aids and cochlear implants. The Sonova Group is represented in over 90 countries and employs 14,242 people (as of March 2018). In the 2017/2018 financial year, the company generated sales of 2,645.9 million Swiss francs. Excluding one-time costs, consolidated EBITA rose by 12.3% in local currencies and by 14.6% in Swiss francs to CHF 551.6 million.

The corporate group consists of over 30 major companies. The research sites are in Switzerland, Canada and the USA, the production sites in Switzerland as well as in China, Vietnam and California. Sales are carried out through the company's own wholesale network and independent sales partners. In addition, the group has retail stores in selected countries.

In early 2010 acquired Sonova on developing and manufacturing cochlear implants specialized Advanced Bionics Corporation .

In 2015 Sonova took over Hansaton Akustik GmbH, a family-run wholesale company for hearing aids. In the following year the companies Geers Hörakustik and AudioNova International were taken over. The latter is one of the largest European retail companies in the hearing acoustics sector.

Brands

Phonak logo

Sonova operates worldwide with the following core brands:

  • Phonak
  • Unitron (from Canada)
  • Hansaton
  • AudioNova Group (in addition to AudioNova, the group also includes the brands Audium, AuditionSanté, Boots Hearingcare, Connect Hearing, Fiebing, Geers, Hansaton Akustische Geräte , Lapperre, Lindacher, MiniSom, Schoonenberg, Triton and Vitakustik)
  • Advanced Bionics

Social commitment and sponsoring

Between 2000 and 2006 the Phonak Group sponsored the Phonak Cycling Team for seven years . The commitment to cycling and the successes achieved, however, were overshadowed by several doping affairs in which top riders of the Phonak Cycling Team were repeatedly involved. On July 28, 2006 Phonak announced that it would end its sponsorship activities in cycling.

In autumn 2006, the subsidiary Phonak AG launched the Hear the World Foundation , which aims to educate people about the importance of hearing and the effects of hearing loss, make people around the world aware of the social and emotional consequences of hearing loss and provide information about appropriate solutions. In addition, special funding is given to projects that support children with hearing loss in order to enable them to develop in an age-appropriate manner. The support comes from financial means, the provision of hearing systems and the use of volunteers. In October 2012 the foundation was expanded to become an initiative of the entire Sonova Group.

Serious mistakes in financial management in early 2011

On March 16, 2011, Sonova issued a pre-market profit warning . The company had to revise its outlook for the current fiscal year due to the previously announced recall of the Advanced Bionics cochlear implant , delayed sales growth in conventional hearing aids and negative currency effects., As a result, the share price collapsed. On March 30, 2011, Sonova announced that in the run-up to the profit warning it had failed to issue a trading ban on stock exchange transactions in shares and options within the company in good time . As a result of this failure, there were transactions that should not have taken place at the time. In addition, Sonova published the profit warning too late. This is the result of an investigation by a law firm commissioned by the Sonova Board of Directors . Because of these events and their consequences for the company, CEO Valentin Chapero , CFO Oliver Walker and Andy Rihs , Chairman of the Board of Directors, resigned. Rihs remained a simple member of the board of directors. Since managers from the management and board of directors had sold shares and options worth 47 million francs, including Rihs shares worth 37.5 million francs, in advance of the profit warning, allegations of insider trading were raised. This caused great damage to the company's reputation . The public prosecutor's office in Zurich initiated a criminal investigation against nine people in management, including Valentin Chapero, Oliver Walker and Andy Rihs, on suspicion of insider trading. After completing the preliminary investigation in May 2011, the regulatory body of the SIX Swiss Exchange initiated an investigation into possible violations of the regulations on ad hoc publicity against Sonova.In July 2012, Sonova was fined two million francs for being too late about the poor sales figures had informed. In October 2012, the company agreed out of court with several investors on a payment of CHF 2.6 million. The public prosecutor's office found no violations of the insider criminal norm in any of the suspects; all criminal proceedings were discontinued in summer 2012 and at the end of 2012.

Web links

Commons : Sonova  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ sonova.com: Management
  2. ↑ a b c d Sonova Annual Report 2017/18. In: sonova.com
  3. ↑ Hermann Simon mentions Phonak in his book of the same name as an example of a hidden champion . ( Hidden champions of the 21st century: The strategies for success of unknown world market leaders. Frankfurt a. M .: Campus, 2007. ISBN 978-3-593-38380-4 . P. 23)
  4. ↑ Sonova, media release of May 22, 2018 In: sonova.com
  5. ↑ Sonova Annual Report 2012/13. In: sonova.com (PDF; 2.6 MB)
  6. ↑ Sonova, media release of November 9, 2009. In: sonova.com (PDF; 48 kB)
  7. ↑ Sonova successfully completes the acquisition of Advanced Bionics Corporation. In: sonova.com , January 4, 2010 (PDF file; 23 kB)
  8. ↑ Sonova is taking strategic steps to expand its leadership position. In: sonova.com , March 2, 2015
  9. ↑ Sonova completes takeover of Hansaton. In: sonova.com , April 16, 2015
  10. ↑ Sonova Announces Agreement to Acquire AudioNova. In: sonova.com , May 4, 2016
  11. ↑ Sonova completes acquisition of AudioNova. In: sonova.com , September 15, 2016
  12. ↑ Sonova's brands. In: sonova.com
  13. ↑ hearingreview.com of February 9, 2012, Unitron Named One of the Best Employers in Canada ... Again , accessed January 31, 2020.
  14. ↑ Sonova is taking strategic steps to expand its leadership position. In: sonova.com
  15. ↑ The Hear the World Foundation is expanding its commitment. In: sonova.com , October 15, 2012
  16. ↑ Sonova announces new sales and profit prospects for the current 2010/11 fiscal year. In: sonova.com , March 16, 2011 (PDF file; 33 kB)
  17. ↑ Sonova issues profit warning - share crashes. In: NZZ Online , March 16, 2011
  18. ↑ Change in management and board of directors at Sonova. Ad hoc announcement , March 30, 2011, (PDF file; 68 kB)
  19. ↑ Sonova founder Rihs: "I made no mistakes". In: sf.tv , March 30, 2011
  20. ↑ Sonova managers stumble upon insider trading. In: Schweizer Fernsehen , March 30, 2011
  21. ↑ Internal investigation at Sonova «very disappointing». In: Schweizer Fernsehen , March 30, 2011
  22. ^ Criminal investigation against Sonova. In: Tages-Anzeiger , dated April 9, 2011
  23. ↑ a b c d Proceedings against Sonova tip discontinued. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , January 14, 2013
  24. ↑ a b Criminal proceedings against Oliver Walker discontinued. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , July 10, 2012
  25. ^ Investigation against Sonova Holding AG ( Memento of November 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: SIX Exchange Regulation , May 5, 2011 (PDF)
  26. ↑ SIX Swiss Exchange fines Sonova Holding AG. ( Memento of the original from September 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: six-swiss-exchange.com , July 10, 2012 (PDF file; 22 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.six-swiss-exchange.com
  27. ↑ Proceedings in the Sonova case against all suspects closed. In: staatsanwaltschaften.zh.ch , January 14, 2013