Karlie Group looks for a way out of the crisis

In mid-January a number of newspapers in North Rhine-Westphalia reported that parts of Karlie's logistics division were to be relocated from its German base in Haaren to Flamingo in Belgium. The latter company joined the group in 2013 and has a large logistics centre in Geel. The consequence of such a move would be the loss of jobs at the Haaren plant, possibly affecting up to 110 employees or half of the workforce, according to information from the Verdi union. When asked by PET worldwide, a spokesperson for the Karlie Group declined to comment on the planned restructuring process at the present time.

The extensive restructuring being undertaken by the group of companies, which belongs to financial investor Perusa, is in response to financial problems. For the first six months of 2014 the Karlie Group announced a decline of 11 per cent in sales to € 49 mio. Its net financial debt rose at the end of the first half of the year by around € 3 mio to approx. € 23 mio. In addition, it suffered losses based on EBIT of around € 2.6 mio. By buying bonds to the value of € 3 mio from the Karlie Group, the Perusa fund lent support to the under-pressure pet accessories company back in June 2013. Steady stream of new faces at the top The price of the SME bonds has fallen at an increasing rate, however, which is probably due to the frequent changes of personnel at the helm of the Karlie Group as well as to the poor sales figures. Long-standing managing director Dr Angelika Westerwelle was succeeded in July 2014 by Dr Michael Perlitz, who lasted only briefly before departing at the end of last year. He was replaced by Dr Andreas Spiegel, who had previously acted as a consultant to the company from 2009 to 2011. Dominik Müser, whose most recent appointments were at chemical manufacturer Hansa Group and the publicly listed plastics specialist Balda prior to that, was appointed to the finance and controlling business unit. The tasks facing the two new incumbents are not easy. The Karlie Group conceded at the end of last year that it had sustained considerable losses in fiscal 2014. The aim is to reduce the losses in fiscal 2015 gradually by taking measures to increase the company's marketing and logistical capability along with reducing costs…