Alstef ended 2015 with a record order intake of €90m, an increase of 100% compared to 2014. This performance was achieved with five projects of over €10m: three projects for automated baggage sorting and handling systems at Paris Charles de Gaulle, Lyon Saint-Exupéry and Moscow Sheremetyevo airports, two projects for automated pallet storage and order preparation equipment, one for Banque of France New Trustee Building (NCF) in La Courneuve, and the other for one of the French leaders in the food industry, located in the Lyon area.
The order for Sheremetyevo airport is for the complete installation of the baggage handling system at the new Terminal B, built with a capacity of 15 million passengers per year. This project integrates a ten-year operation and maintenance contract, including the hiring of approximately 40 people full time. After winning the contract in May 2015 for Nizhny Novgorod airport, Alstef confirms its position and is now firmly established in Russia with the creation of a subsidiary. The subsidiaries in Canada, Turkey and Russia allow the Alstef group to exceed the symbolic €100m mark of orders taken, when compared with 2015.
The turnover in 2015 was €46m, an increase of 60% compared to 2014. Growth is led by exports which increased by 330%, while activities in France show an increase of 25%. With orders of €95m as of January 1st, the French SME specialised in the design and installation of automated baggage handling and storage systems intends to continue its growth in 2016, and expects a turnover €55m, which will have nearly doubled in two years.
Pierre Marol, President of Alstef, emphasises that these results are accompanied by a major recruitment effort. "Our growth has become richer in employment. We signed 51 new employment contracts in 2015: 39 indefinite employment contracts and six apprentice contracts.
"We are now employing 12 apprentices on our sites, approximately 6% of our work force, well above the targets set by the government. Training of our junior staff and all our other employees is a key factor in the development of Alstef".
Moreover, Alstef will invest €3m² in 2016 to increase the design and production capacities of its site in Boigny sur Bionne (Loiret). New office space of 500m will be delivered in April to accommodate the design teams, and a new conveyor assembly workshop of 2,160m² will be built by September to triple the production capacities.