Successful financial year for the Infraserv Höchst Group

The Infraserv Höchst Group notched up one success after another in 2018. Consolidated revenue reached EUR 1.039 billion for a 6.6 percent increase over the year before. Revenue growth was even more impressive for Infraserv Höchst KG itself, which reported a year-on-year rise of over 9.2 percent to EUR 941.7 million. “We’re satisfied with how business has developed,” said Jürgen Vormann, Chief Executive Officer of Infraserv Höchst, at the annual press conference on Wednesday. “We performed very solidly amid challenges and a market environment that posed difficulties for several service lines.” Joachim Kreysing, Chief Operating Officer of Infraserv Höchst, highlighted that the company was moving forward with large capital investment projects designed to drive Industriepark Höchst’s evolution. Infraserv Höchst is also pursuing an increasing number of growth opportunities outside the park. “We’re already serving the Rhine-Main Region and other parts of Germany extensively and will continue to steadily broaden our market presence,” noted Kreysing.

Growth outside Industriepark Höchst

For example, the facility management experts are serving customers at industrial estates in Darmstadt, Wiesbaden, Hanau, Monheim, Wuppertal and Penzberg, among other towns. “Chemical and pharmaceutical companies actively seek us out for our technical expertise in fields such as laboratory design and operation,” explained Kreysing. Customers shopping for FM services benefit from Infraserv Höchst’s own experience as the owner and operator of 350,000 square meters in office, manufacturing and laboratory space. New business efforts focus on areas close to established sites. “Our USPs include not only our staff’s special expertise but also the extensive vertical integration of our operations, which we can best maintain by operating near existing locations,” noted Kreysing. For the near future, Infraserv Höchst’s Facilities Services unit will be concentrating on the Rhine-Neckar Region, where the company already does business. Infraserv Höchst has also identified considerable growth opportunities in occupational medicine and health and safety.

Investment stable at Industriepark Höchst

“We’ll grow externally but are obviously not neglecting Industriepark Höchst, which is our marquee site,” stated Vormann. As the park’s operator, Infraserv Höchst continues to provide a highly supportive environment that helps improve the competitiveness of research and manufacturing firms at the site. Investment in Industriepark Höchst remains exceptionally stable despite the slowing economy. All told, tenants invested EUR 327 million in the park in 2018, almost perfectly replicating the prior year’s level. Total investment since 2000: EUR 7.7 billion. “We’re very proud that Industriepark Höchst has attracted so much investment and once again affirmed its premier position as one of the most dynamic chemical and pharmaceutical sites in Germany,” noted Vormann. However, he warned not to expect the future to always be rosy. After many years of expansion, Germany’s economy is headed for difficult times, especially against the backdrop of international developments. “That underscores the need for Germany to step up its industrial policy efforts and create conditions that make our manufacturers and business sites more competitive.”

Innovation management at the “Ideation Lab”

Infraserv Höchst continues to work hard to take its business model and services to the next level. “Tireless efficiency improvements remain our stock-in-trade,” said Kreysing. The only way to compete internationally is to provide highly efficient services in all service lines. That puts the onus on industrial service providers to cut costs while improving the quality of their services. “But it’s not enough for us to streamline our businesses; we want to leverage new ideas to pursue growth and innovation opportunities and build on our position as a leading provider of site services,” declared Vormann. That’s why the company reorganized its innovation management operations and created an “Ideation Lab” – a place that encourages innovative “lateral thinking” across departmental boundaries and hierarchical levels. “We expect the Ideation Lab to infuse additional energy into the development of new business ideas and the improvement of existing services,” said Kreysing. “The initial campaigns are already highly promising.”

Infraserv CEO Jürgen Vormann (left) and COO Joachim Kreysing look back on a successful 2018 financial year. © 2019 Infraserv GmbH & Co. Höchst KG

Based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Infraserv Höchst is a leader in developing research and production sites in partnership with chemical and pharmaceutical companies. We provide modular custom solutions as well as innovative, integrated service packages, including complete site operation. Our competencies range from utilities, waste management, grid and pipeline operation to site services, facility management and environment, health and safety. The Infraserv Höchst Group also provides logistics, training and process equipment services through subsidiaries.
Infraserv Höchst develops solutions for demanding customers in a highly regulated environment.

Infraserv GmbH & Co. Höchst KG has 1,900 employees and 156 trainees on its payroll. The Infraserv Höchst Group as a whole has 2,700 employees and 193 trainees. In 2018, Infraserv Höchst and its subsidiaries, Infraserv Logistics, Infraserv Höchst Prozesstechnik, Provadis Partner für Bildung und Beratung and Thermal Conversion Compound, generated over EUR 1 billion in revenue.

Infraserv Höchst is the operator of Industriepark Höchst, a 460-hectare industrial park that plays host to around 90 companies doing business in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, basic and specialty chemicals, crop protection, food additives and services. Around 22,000 people work here. Total investment since 2000 amounts to roughly EUR 7.65 billion.

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