The economic situation of HELLER has improved significantly in 2021. Incoming orders will reach approximately 500 million euros by the end of the year and have thus almost doubled compared to the previous year. The European market in particular as well as the markets in China, Brazil and the US have meanwhile seen a significant upturn. In terms of single-machine business, orders predominantly came from outside the automotive industry. Given this positive development, we are optimistic about the future. HELLER aims to return to the business volume from before the crisis as early as 2022. Further expansion of regional business, an even stronger presence in Asia and North America as well as the strong market position in the commercial vehicle business will continue to make up for the lack of orders relating to light-duty combustion engines. However, the procurement market remains extremely difficult. It is not only semiconductors that are not available in sufficient numbers. The ability to deliver requires the greatest attention. The current situation concerning the scarcity of raw materials and the associated delivery difficulties and rising raw material prices is a global problem that also affects HELLER. The situation is exacerbated by limited transport capacities for land and sea freight, which is important for our overseas business.
Changes on the shareholder level
In mid-October 2021, the shareholder structure of the HELLER Group was reorganised. In the future, the children of Berndt Heller, Nicole Pfleiderer and Marc Heller, will hold 100 percent of the shares in Heller Holding SE & Co. KGaA via family-owned companies, thus becoming sole owners of the HELLER Group. HELLER will continue to be a family-owned business. This step will not result in any changes in the strategic and operational alignment of the HELLER Group. The board of directors of the managing Heller Management SE will remain to consist of non-family members.
Changes in HELLER Management
On 31 December 2021, HELLER bids farewell to Klaus Winkler, CEO of Heller Management SE. It is planned that he will join the supervisory boards of Heller Management SE and Heller Holding SE & Co. KGaA on 1 January 2022 in order to take over from Berndt Heller who will retire from his post as Chairman of the Supervisory Board after many years. Reinhold Groß, previously Managing Director at TRUMPF Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH + Co. KG in Ditzingen, will succeed Winkler as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on 1 January 2022. Chief Operating Officer (COO) Manfred Maier will continue in his role as member of the Management Board of Heller Management SE.
Reinhold Groß,
future CEO of Heller Management SE
Reinhold Groß to become Chairman of the Management Board of Heller Management SE
On 1 November 2021, Reinhold Groß joined HELLER to take over as Chairman of the Management Board of Heller Management SE from 1 January 2022 onwards. Until recently, the Industrial Engineer was Managing Director at TRUMPF Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH + Co. KG in Ditzingen. He brings many years of international management experience in sales and finance functions as well as strategy development and implementation.
Klaus Winkler,
CEO of the HELLER Group
Klaus Winkler to join the supervisory boards of Heller Management SE and Heller Holding SE & Co. KGaA
Klaus Winkler will say goodbye as CEO of Heller Management SE. From 1 January 2022, he will be joining the supervisory boards of Heller Management SE and Heller Holding SE & Co. KGaA. From 2003 to 2018, Winkler was Managing Director of Heller GmbH and Gebr. Heller Maschinenfabrik GmbH in Nürtingen. From 2007 to 2020, the business economist also chaired the management of Heller GmbH. The father of two has been Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the HELLER Group since 2020.
Berndt Heller,
Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Heller Management SE and Heller Holding SE & Co. KGaA
Chairman of the Supervisory Board Berndt Heller to retire
At the end of the year, Berndt Heller, Chairman of the supervisory boards of Heller Management SE and Heller Holding SE & Co. KGaA, will resign from his offices and will propose Klaus Winkler as his successor. The 78-year-old joined the company, founded in 1894 by his grandfather, immediately upon graduating as a Mechanical Engineer in 1969. For more than 50 years, he has had a very strong impact on the success of the HELLER Group, both in management and subsequently as Chairman of the Supervisory Board and shareholder.
