Analysts always ask me for this type of breakdown. But such overviews are only of limited use, because major orders can distort the picture, as is currently the case with the world’s largest dairy and milk powder plant in Algeria. That is not an indicator that Africa is booming. So you have to treat this carefully. In general, we can say that we sold quite well in Europe, and North America also performed solidly. Over a five-year horizon, however, Asia is the most exciting region. We expect strong growth especially in India and China. North America will also remain very attractive.

We have not seen projects being postponed in North America so far. The Americans are still buying our equipment. The United States accounts for just under one billion euros of our revenue. Imports make up 350 to 400 million euros of that. These are all systems for which there are no direct American competitors. That is why we can pass the tariffs on to our customers one to one. This has been stipulated in our contracts for a long time.

I always say: as long as there are people on the planet who need to eat and drink, there will be demand for our equipment. People can postpone a vacation or the purchase of a new car, but they need food every day. That makes our customers’ demand extremely stable.

Of course, the tariffs create a huge bureaucratic burden. We have several people working on this full time. It is inconvenient, but in our financial statements it only shows up „in the last decimal place“.

I have no evidence for that. And building a pharmaceutical plant is not that simple. You need economies of scale, and costs are quite high in the United States. Also: if I deliver a tablet press to the United States, I might sell one fewer in Europe. That does not necessarily mean additional business for us.

In 2017 and 2018, we experienced a real loss of control. A lot of things went wrong. Our task was to stop the negative trends. We established a performance culture and gave employees a high degree of autonomy. At the same time, we created an attractive incentive system. This attracts talented people. Our business depends on strong teams making decisions locally. But they also bear responsibility. A team can certainly have one bad year, but if there is a second one, the leadership team is replaced.

I would see it differently: it is rather unusual for a company like Gea to have no debt. Analysts call that a „lazy balance sheet“. We now have 36 million euros of net debt, which is nothing for a company of our size. If we had not initiated the buyback program, we would simply be sitting on cash. That would make no sense. And the share buyback has had a positive effect on our share price.

The increased order intake will be well received. The large order for the Baladna dairy in Algeria is not even included yet, because we only booked it in October. We are always conservative and wait for the down payment. Such orders will drive growth. And if we add one or two acquisitions, also to move away from the lazy balance sheet, that should also support momentum.

We feel very comfortable in pharma, food, and beverage. These will remain our core markets. There are many companies in these sectors I would like to acquire. But it takes two to tango. I see opportunities in family-owned businesses where the founders are retiring and the next generation are less interested. I would also prefer to acquire outside Europe, because we are still too concentrated on our home continent. I can imagine acquisitions in China, India, or the United States.

First of all: joining the Dax is a recognition of what we have achieved in recent years. It did not happen due to a temporary boom, but through our own efforts. And many investors value that. As a Dax company, we now have greater visibility. As a B2B company, we operate mostly under the radar. Everyone knows our customers, many well-known food producers whose products are in every supermarket, but hardly anyone knew Gea itself. The Dax inclusion helps, for example, with employer branding.

There is always a possibility, because we continue to improve year after year. Our goal is to distribute 50% of our net income. If the financial year ends positively, which we expect, the payout should increase accordingly. In the end, the supervisory board and the management board jointly propose the dividend to the annual general meeting, and the shareholders make the final decision.