In William Demant’s 2018 Annual Report, the company details consolidated revenue for 2018 of DKK 13,937 million (approximately USD $2.1 billion), corresponding with what they say is a 6% growth rate from 2017. Organic growth was up by 7 percentage points, while acquisitive growth increased by 2 percentage points and exchange rate effects with -3 percentage points. William Demant Holding is the parent company of Oticon, Sonic, Bernafon, GSI, Interacoustics, Maico, and Oticon Medical, among other companies.
William Demant 2018 Annual Report
The company reports 9% growth in local currencies for its Hearing Devices, with the hearing aid wholesale business gaining market share in value despite a slowdown in growth towards the end of the year. Over the coming weeks, Oticon plans to launch new premium products which will include the company’s “first lithium-ion-based” rechargeable batteries. Both the Bernafon and Sonic brands will launch new product portfolios during the second quarter of 2019, as well as the Philips-branded hearing solutions.
The Hearing Implants business showed 10% underlying organic growth, when adjusting for the company’s decision to reduce activity level in select cochlear implants (CI) markets with lower prices. The company reports that the rollout of Neuro 2 helped drive momentum in key European markets toward year end. The bone-anchored hearing systems (BAHS) business delivered a modest growth rate slightly above market growth rate, which the company estimates was flat in 2018 due to the lack of product introductions. Towards the end of the first half of 2019, the BAHS business will introduce a new Ponto sound processor based on a new platform, offering a range of improved functionalities.
Søren Nielsen
Diagnostic Instruments saw growth of 12% in local currencies, and Sennheiser Communications—the company’s 50/50 joint venture with Sennheiser KG—delivered strong underlying growth of 25% (46% reported).
The Demant Group expects to generate organic sales growth above market level in 2019, accelerating through the year as the company begins to start seeing the effect of new product launches.
“I am proud of the past year’s results, which confirm that in 2018, we took a big step towards fulfilling our purpose to make life-changing differences through hearing health,” said Søren Nielsen, President and CEO of Demant
“We continue our growth trajectory by taking market shares and clearly demonstrating the positive effects on health of our specialized solutions. Not only do we deliver tangible results in the short run—one of the highlights being 12% growth in our Diagnostic Instruments business activity—but we also keep developing our Group for future achievements by investing significantly in all business activities and key areas, such as R&D and digitalization. With the launch of a new hearing aid platform, Oticon is now ready to go to market with new premium products, taking the pioneering audiology in Oticon Opn even further, and I am confident that we are in good shape to meet our ambitions for 2019.”
The company also announced plans to change its official name from William Demant Holding A/S to Demant A/S in order to better facilitate a clear and compelling corporate brand.
Please click here for full 2018 Annual Report.
Source: Demant
Image: Demant
