Last year (2010) was very positive for VETUS, following a difficult year in 2009 due to the economic downturn. Product innovations, cost control implementation and successful adjustment of the capital structure of the company are some of the pro-active steps taken in order to counteract the difficult economic climate.
These steps have contributed to a consolidated revenue growth of almost 15% in 2010 and at this moment, the order book is already more than 20% higher when compared with last year. The financial stakeholders of VETUS are very positive about the developments within the company. Marcel Borsboom, CEO, adds: “VETUS is well positioned for further growth. New management was put in place in various areas and we have reformulated our product offering into „system thinking‟. Our philosophy going forward is to strengthen our existing systems and to add complete new systems, making a difference for our customers. This is supported by our own engineering resources in The Netherlands, India and New Zealand”. The new 2011 VETUS catalogue was published recently and more than 300.000 copies are distributed worldwide in 13 languages. The layout of the new catalogue is quite different, putting an emphasis on the presentation of the different systems. In order to improve the identification of these systems, each has been provided with its own „icon‟. These icons are making it easy to find the relevant system and its products.
The main changes in the VETUS EMEA catalogue relate to Maxwell (anchoring systems) and Marex (glazing systems). These complete ranges of products have been included in this catalogue, therefore immediately presenting two complete systems offered by VETUS. In the remaining regions, APAC and America, VETUS (including Marex) and Maxwell products are still published in separate catalogues.
The 2011 catalogue also presents a range of new VETUS products such as the Rim Drive (bow thruster), the first result of a new range of bow and stern thrusters and the FTKIT, a revolutionary connecting kit for rigid fuel tanks. VETUS has also developed two new types of cooling water filters provided with an innovative lid unit making it easier to open the filter and a new electronic toilet provided with a high quality macerator at a very competitive price. The warranty on all VETUS equipment sold from 1 January 2011, is now extended to 3 years and the warranty on engines is extended to 5 years. With these extended warranty periods, the boat owner is offered extra confidence in VETUS products.