ScanCom International retains turnover and maintains the sustainable development

Sustainability and innovation remain at the top of the agenda for the furniture group, ScanCom International A/S, in spite of the significant impact of lockdowns and blocked supply chains in the latest fiscal year.

In spite of the effect the pandemic has had on the fiscal year, particularly due to factories going into lockdown during the first two months of the year, alongside challenges with the ramp up of operations at a new aluminium factory in Vietnam, ScanCom International has succeeded in retaining a turnover of DKK 1.2bn as well as improving the results before tax from DKK 2m to DKK 17.5m. In comparison, the turnover last year reached DKK 1.3bn.

“From a result-oriented perspective, the severe challenges have been worsened by the increasing costs of raw materials and shipping during most of the year. The strong U.S. dollar has improved our bottom line,” the Group CEO of ScanCom International, Stig Maasbøl, explains and continues:

“Generally, it has been a year where we have constantly been on the backfoot in terms of our commitments to our customers, as we have been challenged in our ability to live up to our delivery agreements when our production facilities in Vietnam, Brazil, and Indonesia have been at a standstill during parts of our high season.”

Prestigious recognition
The challenges caused by Covid and increased costs for raw materials and shipping have not made ScanCom International lower its ambitions in regard to sustainability, and in March 2022 the company was awarded the prestigious design award – Red Dot Award – in the category ’Product Design’. The award was given for a special chair, created in sustainable materials.

“In difficult times, it is important to celebrate the positive, and we are very proud of the Red Dot design award for our ‘The Stream’ chair. A chair that combines beautiful and innovative design with sustainable and recycled plastic materials”, Stig Maasbøl shares.

The award is very much aligned with ScanCom International’s long-term business model and CSR-strategy headlined ’Doing Business the Right Way’, which includes an ambitious focus on reuse of waste products and materials within plastic, wood, and aluminium.

“Put very simply, our strategy revolves around a focus on sustainability and innovation, while the concepts and business model remain commercially viable and responsible,” Stig Maasbøl elaborates.

New challenges ahead
Looking forward, Stig Maasbøl has no doubt that ScanCom International – and the global market for outdoor furniture as a whole – are facing new, serious challenges. Where it previously was, and to some extend remains, the supply chain, which is on the backfoot, a slow down now shows on the consumer end. Though ScanCom International during the Covid-crisis invested in an expansion of both global production capacities and increased automatization and production lines and thus is primed for growth, orders are needed to realise it. This does not result in a change of approach for the company, in terms of the long-term strategy.

“Even though adjustments in production capacity and employee costs are necessary, we retain our strategy with responsible production, innovative product and material development, as well as sustainable solutions within the field of outdoor furniture,” Stig Maasbøl adds, before concluding:

“It is also very important for me to thank all our dedicated employees for being committed and ever positive in face of the challenges and changes we are undergoing as a Group.”

About ScanCom:

ScanCom International A/S, which is 100% owned by Lars Larsen Group, has in recent years become one of the dominating actors in the global market for design, development, and responsible production of outdoor furniture.

The company employs more than 3,750 people, primarily at the company’s own facilities in Brazil, Indonesia, and Vietnam, respectively. Sales activities are conducted from own offices and departments in Europe, the U.S. and Asia, while there are global showrooms to be found in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, in Palma, Spain, and in Basildon, UK.

Learn more on www.scancom.netand www.lifestylegarden.com