Kamstrup invests massively in development and new markets

The Danish technology company, Kamstrup, ended 2019 with a turnover of DKK 2.4 billion (EUR 320 million), which is at the same level as the previous year. The earnings before tax were DKK 207 million (EUR 28 million) –  an expected level, since the company invested massively in product development and markets. In addition, Kamstrup invests heavily in strengthening the internal foundation of systems, processes and competences enabling the company to scale globally. 

Several projects were completed in 2019 including a partnership with Radius where one million remote-read electricity meters were installed in Copenhagen and parts of Zealand becoming Northern Europe’s largest roll-out of a smart metering solution. 

’’We have successfully completed our largest project ever, and we continue to be responsible for the opera-tion of one million meters for many years to come. The project has a total value of DKK 1.8 billion (EUR 241 million), of which the main part has had an extraordinary impact on our turnover over the past three years. This will of course be reflected in the financial statements,’’ says Kamstrup’s CEO Kim Lehmann. 

Increased sales of global projects  

High demand for digital metering solutions in both energy and water continue to drive up the number of new orders for Kamstrup. Kim Lehmann elaborates: 

’’We are pleased that our focus on expanding the business globally is reflected in a growth of more than 11% on the order intake from 2018-2019. This growth is seen across all of our business areas and comes primarily from markets such as Germany, the Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden and not least the United States.”  

Investment in innovation 

Kamstrup wants continue to be at the forefront of technological development and invests more than 13.5% of the company’s turnover in developing new solutions. This type of investment in research and development is along the same lines of companies like Google and Microsoft. Due to this continued planned investment in 2020, Kamstrup expects a lower result next year as well in turnover.   

’’We invest massively in the future and over the next couple of years, we will invest further in innovation and boosting our organisation so that we are geared for growth. We are constantly seeing examples of our digital platforms, products and services creating real value for our customers and the society, and it is still our ambition that in 8-10 years, we have a turnover of DKK 10 billion (EUR 1.3 billion). It requires a focused strategy and hard work, and  Kamstrup has the potential,’’ says Kim Lehmann. 

It is important to also note that almost 100 new positions – including sales and development – were added in 2019. 

International expansion 

Today, international export outside the Nordic countries accounts for almost 30% of Kamstrup’s total turnover. The goal is for markets outside the Nordic region to account for at least 75% of the total turnover in 8-10 years, without business in the Nordic countries falling. 

’’We have a great collaboration with the Danish utilities and with the results we see at our home market, where we are far ahead in terms of energy efficiency and reduction of water loss, there is a big potential for our solutions to also make a positive difference in many other parts of the world. The US is facing major challenges in the water supply, yet is also the world’s largest market for smart water metering. However, also in Asia, we are experiencing both interest and maturity in digitalising the supply, which is why we decided to open a regional office in Malaysia in 2019,’’ says Kim Lehmann. 
In addition to the Malaysia office opening in 2019, Kamstrup also opened an office in Ireland and expanded the US manufacturing facility by double – both in size and automated capabilities.