2020
Neles delivers mission-critical flow control innovations, technologies, and services for the continuously evolving needs of global process industries. We help our customers to improve their process performance and ensure the safe flow of materials. We drive profitable growth and sustainable productivity across our customer industries.
Sales
MEUR 576
Employees
2,840
Adjusted EBITA
14.8% of sales
100%
of R&D projects had set sustainability targets
In our line of business, reliability is everything. We draw on our long heritage and knowhow to continuously develop and innovate solutions that redefine how process industries experience reliable flow control performance.
Watch the video and discover our key highlights of 2020.
2020 was a period of great change for Neles. Reborn as an independent flow control company on July 1, 2020, we ensured an uninterrupted business transition and maintained profitability despite the challenging global situation.
We started the year with a strong order backlog and a positive business outlook, and we reacted quickly when the pandemic hit globally. From the start, our priority was to protect our employees and customer deliveries. We also took early resolute action to ensure profitability and cash generation in preparation for all scenarios.
Thanks to our proactive measures, we kept our profitability and cash flows at a good level despite the reduced orders and sales. Our adjusted EBITA for the full year was a solid 14.8% of sales.
Our new technology center in Jiaxing, China, started its operations in July and was fully operational throughout the second half of 2020.
We achieved remarkable results in our customer survey in 2020 as our customers gave us an overall Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 38, this is a significant improvement from last year’s score of 29.
Prior to the demerger, we defined the new strategy and financial targets for Neles, which were presented during our first, fully virtual Capital Markets Day in May. Our main ambition is to grow faster than the market by expanding our offering and diversifying the valves and valve controls businesses to new customer segments. We aim to do this while maintaining the best profitability.
With this solid foundation, we can continue ‘Reinventing Reliability’ together for a successful future.
From CEO's review
"After leading Neles team for a year, I started as the CEO of the company in July 2020. Before the world went into lockdown, I had the opportunity to visit several Neles locations around the world, meet hundreds of colleagues, and discuss their expectations, challenges and ideas. I was impressed by how dedicated our employees and channel partners are to our customers.
The feedback from our annual customer satisfaction survey echoed the same message: in addition to product quality, our customers strongly value the technical expertise and the never-walkaway mentality of our employees."
Olli Isotalo, President and CEO, Neles
CEO Olli Isotalo interviewed Simo Sääskilahti, CFO; Timi Nieminen, Director of Helsinki plant; and Rita Uotila, Head of Investor relations, to discuss the following themes:
Sustainability is integrated into everything we do. We do things efficiently and responsibly in terms of the environment, people and the economy. We are committed to the continuous improvement of safety and the goal of zero harm in all activities at our own and customers’ premises.
Our sustainability agenda is being integrated into our HSEQ management system, thus ensuring the consistency and efficiency of the implementation of our targets. We drive our targets for a brighter tomorrow in these three areas: Health and safety, Environment, Society and People.
Neles offers valve and valve automation technologies and services to all process industries. Valves play an important role in our everyday lives, and they allow various industries to produce materials that keep our societies and infrastructures up and running. Wherever liquid or gas is moved in a pipe, there are valves involved.
Valves are used to secure safety in process plants or to regulate and control process flows in, e.g., pulp or bioproduct mills or oil refineries. The important role they play in the productivity and safety of process plants makes them mission-critical.
Neles Corporation’s press release, July 7, 2020 at 10:00 EEST
Neles Corporation press release, October 22, 2020, at 9:00 a.m.
In an already competitive market under legislative pressure to continuously improve environmental performance, sustainability...
The Expertune PlantTriage software helped stabilize the operation and achieve chemical savings.
What was science fiction mere decades ago is a very real thing today. During these challenging times when physical visits are out of the question, the virtual world offers endless possibilities. Who could have guessed that virtual factory tours, originally used for internal safety training or to replace shuttle buses to factories at technology fairs, would now, in 2020, become a whole other story? And there is more to come.
How has COVID-19 affected customer inspections? We talked briefly with project engineer Jing Cao, to find out more about Factory Acceptance Tests, and what is going on in the factory. In addition, we asked a few things about her career at Neles.
Valmet’s Flow Control business line is a well-known flow control solutions and services provider reinventing reliability.
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