LSG Sky Chefs Maintains Leading Market Position

Neu-Isenburg, Germany – In 2010, LSG Sky Chefs retained its global leadership in the airline catering market, which has seen a return to moderate growth. Consolidated revenues went up by 7.0 percent to 2,249 million EUR, largely due to higher passenger numbers and greater demand in the premium cabin segment. The company’s operating result amounted to 76 million EUR, 4 million EUR above the previous year’s figure. The main influencers were higher capacity utilization due to greater volumes, synergies as a result of standardization and strict cost management.

“In 2010, our industry recovered at a rate faster than expected and reached stability globally”, said CEO Walter Gehl. “LSG Sky Chefs was able to build on these favorable conditions by further developing its capacities and increasing flexibility. Based on our solid positioning in airline catering, we also started to explore new market opportunities by extending our airline service offerings and strategically evaluating adjacent markets.”

The company continued its policy of focused regional expansion in Russia and China. In Turkey, a joint venture was established with a local partner to set up a preproduction facility. LSG Sky Chefs’ creative potential in product design, process optimization and environmental awareness won considerable acclaim and awards.

For the financial year 2011, LSG Sky Chefs expects the current market trends to continue. The company is seeing to extend its existing customer relationships by selling additional products and services. Consistent standardization in production and administration aims at raising the level of quality and transparency within the company, while creating competitive cost structures.

“This year will undoubtedly test the feasibility of our plans and ideas and confront us once again with the unexpected. But we feel well positioned to cope with the uncertainty that has become a standard in our industry,” says the company’s CEO. “The state of our company will also be largely affected by the result of the union agreements in our two major markets, Germany and the United States, where we employ around half of our workforce. We are confident that we will reach reasonable agreements, which will be crucial in maintaining LSG Sky Chefs’ competitiveness and market leadership.”