The figures were made public to the media today at a well-attended press conference held at the Corporation’s headquarters, which was chaired by the President of Mondragón’s General Council, José Mª Aldecoa, who was accompanied by the Vice-presidents Juan Mª Otaegui and Constan Dacosta.
Mr Aldecoa described the results for 2007 as “clearly satisfactory”, in a year characterised by an economic boom in the first half of the year and a slowdown in the second half, due to the financial crisis in the United States and its negative effect on the property sector.
In the institutional sphere, he highlighted the New Corporate Management Model that has come into force. This new model enhances the co-operative movement and the values of participation and commitment of People, which is a big competitive advantage in a globalised market. He also emphasised the change in the Corporate Visual Identity, in which a leading role is given to the word Mondragón, the place where our experience began; as well as the slogan Humanity at Work, which reflects the humanist principles behind our activities; and the new united M which aims to represent two people co-operating, in a gesture that identifies us with the values of solidarity and participation which are the inspiration behind our activities.
Likewise, Mr Aldecoa went on to talk specifically about the triangle formed by Knowledge, Innovation and Promotion, “which is vitally important to our future”. This is why “we have decided to manage it from the top level, by creating a specific position answerable to the President to co-ordinate the concept as a whole and search for synergies between the different parts”.
As he covered the different areas of activity he recalled that, in Finance, in an especially complicated year for the sector, “Caja Laboral performed satisfactorily in overall terms, with a close to 9% increase in client assets under administration and an 18.7% rise in profits before tax. At the end of the year, Lagun Aro’s funds accounted for 3,898 million euros, up 7.5% on the previous year, and Seguros Lagun Aro increased its net profit by 12%”.
Industry also had a good year, with sales totalling 7.439 million (+ 8.2%) and a big 32.4% in profitability. On the international stage, turnover rose by 8.6%, to account for 4,230 million euros (57% of the total), and the year ending with 69 production plants in 18 countries. Mr Aldecoa stressed the importance of the inauguration of the Kunshan Industrial Park, close to Shanghai, where four co-operatives are already operating (Orkli, Orbea, Osatu and Dikar-Wingroup) to be joined shortly by three more: Batz, Fagor Arrasate and Fagor Industrial.
In this field, Mr Aldecoa gave the journalists present a scoop by telling them that, like we did in China, “we are at an advanced stage in the negotiations for the purchase of some land in India, which will enable us to set up the Mondragon Industrial Park in the State of Maharastra. Our aim is to purchase 160,000 m2 of land that we have already visited in Pune, Nashik or Aurangabad, located about 200 km from Mumbai. Initially, the plans are to set up a machine tool plant for the Danobat Group, and another two plants for Fagor Industrial (catering equipment) and Kide (cold rooms)”.
As far as Distribution is concerned, both Mr Aldecoa and Mr Dacosta highlighted that the year had been most satisfactory, with a 17% increase in sales and a 14% rise in profits, with the takeover of Caprabo standing out as it has helped to strengthen the Eroski project, by reinforcing the company’s presence in markets as important as Cataluña and Madrid.
Once again, total investment reached a historic record level, accounting for 2,809 million euros, more than double (+126%) the previous year’s figure. This led to a significant increase in employment, meaning that at the end of the year the total workforce numbered 103,731 people, 20,130 up on 2006, of which 1,637 were due to new jobs in the Basque Country.
Finally, it is worth pointing out that of the 103.731 people working in the Corporation at the end of 2007, 37% were working in the Basque Autonomous Community, 47% in other Communities in Spain and 16% abroad -16,568 people- with 15,077 of them working in the industrial area.
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