Group Management Report Products Safety Environment Human Resources Social Commitment Consolidated Financial Statements 55
year. Demand for the division’s insulating materials in 2016
showed a particularly favorable development. The result-
ing increase in the sales volume was offset by lower price levels,
however.
The decrease in nominal sales is reflected in all of the important
fields of business. Only the electrical product segment
achieved a sales increase compared to the previous year.
In regional terms, the division’s core region Asia under-
went a positive operating sales development. In 2016, Asia
accounted for more than half of the division’s total sales.
The sales achieved in China, ELANTAS’ most important mar-
ket, showed a positive development. In other important
economies in Asia, however, there was a decrease in demand.
For example, sales generated in Japan and South Korea
were down on the previous year. In Europe, too, ELANTAS had
a very uneven business development. Sales fell in many
Western European markets, while the sales volumes in some
Eastern European countries rose sharply. Overall, sales in
the core region Europe remained at the previous year’s level. In
all of the important sales markets in the Americas, sales
in 2016 were lower than in 2015. The decline in the U.S.,
ELANTAS’ second-most-important market after China, was
one of the strongest.
Sales Performance of ACTEGA Coatings & Sealants
With sales of € 352.2 million, the ACTEGA division did not
reach the previous year’s level (€ 376.4 million). The decrease
in nominal sales of 6 %, or € 24.3 million, is due exclusively
to the sale of the ACTEGA Colorchemie group
completed in April 2016. Adjusted for this effect and slight
currency impacts, sales in the period under review were on
a par with 2015. An increased sales volume was set against
negative effects from a changed product mix and lower
price levels.
In 2016, the regional sales structure of the ACTEGA
division did not change significantly. In the last fiscal year,
ongoing decline in oil and gas exploration activities had
a particularly negative effect on business performance. Only
in the second half of the year did the negative trend abate
in this market segment due to rising crude oil prices. Sales in
Brazil also decreased in year-to-year terms.
Sales Performance of ECKART Effect Pigments
Sales in the ECKART division grew by 3 %, or € 12.2 million,
to € 361.9 million in 2016 (previous year: € 349.7 million).
Adjusted for slightly positive exchange-rate effects, the sales
increase was also 3 %. The sales volume of effect pigments
developed negatively last year. But the resulting sales drop
was more than offset by a positive shift of sales toward
higher-priced products.
The largest proportion of the products was sold to
customers in the coatings, paint, and plastics industry, with
sales in this segment exceeding the previous year’s level.
In the last fiscal year, ECKART again significantly expanded
its activities with customers in the cosmetics sector. In the
graphic arts and functional applications segments, however,
sales lagged behind the respective levels in 2015.
The regional demand for the division’s products was not
uniform in 2016. As with BYK, Asia was by far the biggest
growth driver. Europe recorded slight sales growth. A sales
decline in this region’s largest market by far, Germany,
was offset by growth in other countries. In the countries of
North and South America, ECKART did not reach the previ-
ous year’s sales level.
Sales Performance of ELANTAS Electrical Insulation
In 2016, sales in the ELANTAS division fell by 2 %, or € 11.1
million, to € 452.1 million (previous year: € 463.2 million).
The decrease resulted solely from negative exchange-rate effects,
above all due to the change in the exchange rate
between the euro and the Chinese renminbi. Adjusted for
currency influences, sales were on a par with the previous