Summary of the 2023 interview with the President and CEO
In 2023 Trelleborg had its best year to date, reporting both its highest sales and best earnings. During the year, we changed and improved Trelleborg in several dimensions. The new Trelleborg has a better growth profile and higher profitability, while we have also reduced the Group’s sensitivity to business cycles and gained a better sustainability profile. We are approaching an even distribution of our global sales across the continents, enabling closer collaboration with customers both locally and globally. We are looking forward to a continuation of this positive trend.
Trelleborg is characterized by several business attributes:
- A in value C in cost
- High barriers to entry
- High replacement costs
- Critical functions
- Partnerships with our customers
- Local presence – global capabilities
- Expertise in applications and materials
- Market-driven development of new customer solutions
These are characteristics of how Trelleborg does business and creates value for stakeholders. A in value C in cost means that the solutions developed by the Group often have a relatively low cost in terms of the end product but create significant value through their properties for critical applications. Several industries in which Trelleborg operates, such as aerospace and healthcare & medical, place high demands, for example, on certification of the manufacturing process, thereby creating high entry barriers for competitors. Customer relationships are characterized by partnerships that tailor products to form an end-to-end solution, simplifying the customer's life while increasing the cost of switching suppliers. The Group operates locally, bringing it closer to its customers. In parallel, customers have access to global capabilities, driven by a high level of expertise in materials and applications.
Trelleborg is working systematically to increase the share of recycled and bio-based raw materials in all products. In 2023, the Science Based Target initiative validated Trelleborg’s new climate targets. The new targets are to halve direct and indirect CO2 emissions (Scope 1 and Scope 2) by 2030 compared with the base year of 2021 and to reduce emissions along the value chain (Scope 3) by 25 percent during the same period. In addition, a new target was set for circularity to reach 25 percent recycled or bio-based raw materials by the end of 2030, and a target of 30 percent female managers at levels 1–5 by 2030.
Download the Annual Report 2023
Trelleborg’s performance was strong in 2023, despite continuing turbulence in the
external environment. The Group reported a record in terms of net sales, operating
profit and earnings per share.