03.07.2025
In the 2025 half-year report, Roger Kuratle provides an overview of ongoing projects and presents the outlook for the second half of the year.
Dear employees
Dear colleagues
Dear customers, partners and suppliers
We have reached the middle of the year and while we would normally be relaxing and looking forward to summer with nice weather and the children's school holidays ahead, we are facing significant challenges on all fronts.
Global key challenges
I would like to address three different perspectives. Let's start with the third, or geographically distant, perspective, which only indirectly affects us as a company. In the United States, the political and by extension, the economic environment has become very volatile and difficult to predict. While we attempt to think in scenarios, daily market fluctuations can be so severe that possible conclusions about the global financial market and its future development change drastically from one day to the next. Whether in relation to inflation, interest rate developments or exchange rates, or to the political landscape with its impact on peace efforts vs. further instability.
The last few days have once again shown how fragile and globally interconnected the world is. The effects of the war between Israel and Iran have further escalated an already very tense situation. As a father of two children, but also as a responsible leader of our family business, I am deeply concerned about the situation we are currently experiencing. After all, in Switzerland, we can only continue to operate and live in a ‘safe environment’ as long as this also applies to our geographical neighbours.
At the beginning of the year, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (a non-profit organisation addressing issues of science and security in relation to technological progress) moved its Doomsday Clock (which symbolically indicates how close the world is to the brink of destruction) another second closer to midnight. I think that with the events of the last few days, the global situation has deteriorated. If you try to place this development in the context of the last 80 years or so, it is unfortunately a disappointing result for our human society.
Construction sector in Europe
Another perspective, we note that many unexpected developments could also occur in the European construction sector. In Switzerland, the construction sector is progressing good and we are currently handling large volumes. Sales are strong, investors are active and there have never been so many large-scale projects planned using timber as a building material. Interior construction has also recovered slightly in terms of sales volume this year.
The situation is different in the surrounding EU countries. In Germany in particular, there is still no sign of a great sense of optimism – or, more precisely, of a desire to catch up. Certainly, there are many positive impulses and initial signs point to an improving situation. To describe this mood and make a forecast, there are many key figures and indicators that can be used to estimate possible developments. These include simple figures such as building applications, lending rates, population growth, housing shortages or price developments in the raw timber sector, capacity utilisation figures from industry, consumer confidence barometers and many more. Added to this are other events that are unpredictable or difficult to assess their impact, such as natural disasters, peace efforts and the effects of tariffs between major economies. If you then mix in issues such as technological disruptions (AI) or potentially distorted reporting, the result is a very challenging environment.
At this point, I am glad to be able to rely on a strong Board of Directors with extensive experience and broad expertise to align our company in the relevant areas as best as possible with the most likely scenarios. We currently assume that the planned political measures in Germany will have a significant impact in 2026.
Our Kuratle Group
From a first and direct perspective which we can directly influence, we as a company are currently facing challenging times in terms of changemanagement.
At the moment, we are primarily focused on the logistics transformation process in Leibstadt, which will bring significant benefits for our customers. This is an enormous challenge. Our employees are currently showing tremendous commitment and giving more than 100 per cent. We are well aware of this and I have great respect for everyone involved. Three years after the launch of the warehouse management system (WMS), we are now close to going live at our main site. With the introduction of WMS, we are laying the foundations for putting our logistics infrastructure back on a reliable and expandable foundation. Due to the increased volume, it is imperative for us to create a basis and processes that will empower our employees rather than hinder them. This change process requires strong will and commitment from everyone involved. Senad Karalic, our CEO of Meier Logistics, is a symbol of all those who are currently making this extraordinary effort. I would like to express my particular thanks to the entire logistics team and the project team for their commitment.
Another new feature in our logistics department will be night shifts. This is a further measure we are taking to improve order distribution and relieve the strain on infrastructure during peak periods. We will start with small teams working night shifts and will continuously strive to optimise their deployment based on our experience.
The cassette warehouse (high-bay warehouse for bar stock), which we completed in April, was handed over from our real-estate team to the operations team at the beginning of June. This enables us to further increase our capacity for storing beams in a compact space. The newly gained space in the warehouse will be used for the HTA Mittelland AG and its new Hundegger Speed-Cut 480 joinery machine, enabling us to fulfil customer orders even more individually.
We have also commissioned a new machine for coating beams (BSH, DUO, KVH). It is located at our partner company Witholz. This enables us to machine-coat materials with a width of up to 300 mm and a height of up to 600 mm at our site in Witznau (Germany). Previously, this had to be done manually.
The investment in the railway tracks in Leibstadt is largely complete. We are currently working with partners to find solutions for implementing a sustainable and flexible delivery concept.
The succession plan for Thüring AG (Kuratle News 05/2025) was a strategically important step for us. I am extremely grateful to the employees who joined the Kuratle Group in Basel, as well as to the project team and everyone who played an active role in integrating Thüring AG into Kuratle & Jaecker.
With our activities in South Africa at the beginning of this year, we were able to further expand our range of comprehensive solutions for wood. Thanks to our collaboration with Xlam South Africa LTD PTY (Kuratle News 04/2025), we recently succeeded in winning a major project near Cape Town. This exciting project, the ‘4G Wine Estate’, was designed by renowned British architect David Chipperfield. Development in South Africa is certainly also characterised by strong fluctuations, but as a group we are proud that we are continuing to grow here too.
Outlook for 2025
It should be noted that despite the worrying levels, which we cannot directly influence, we are continuing to develop positively in our field of activity, continuing to invest and are proud to have people in our team who believe in the positive aspects of the coming changes and in the future.
Looking ahead to the second half of the year, I am looking forward to the open day on september the 6th. Preparations are in full swing. I am also eagerly awaiting the Holz 2025 trade fair in Basel a month later. Kuratle & Jaecker will be presenting a stand with a completely new design for the first time together with its strong partner Novatop. It will be an example of dialogue and partnership.
Dialogue instead of confrontation – this is also my motto for the current geopolitical developments. And this applies at all levels. Even within our own company, and especially in a high-pressure environment, dialogue and mutual respect are essential.
With regard to de-escalation and escalation around the world, I am looking forward to the coming months with interest and can only to urge the politicans to act responsible as representatives of our society and not to pursue their own interests. It is somewhat disconcerning that we have to counteract many decisions made at the highest levels of business and politics with regulations, laws and initiatives. Instead, we need leaders with common sense and the ability to lead by example and exercise self-control.
In politics as in business, we need personalities who can lead in an inspiring way based on values. This has a contagious effect, and I am passing it on to our entire group of companies. We are all equally responsible for how our customers perceive us. No matter what company we work for, we are always perceived as the Kuratle Group.
Moments between the past and the future
I would like to conclude with a personal remark. Over the past few weeks, I have been able to bring my children to Leibstadt on a couple of occasions. They are now reaching an age where they are beginning to understand many things. For example, they are learning about our machines and tools – and what they can be used for. My son Lorenzo is particularly interested in the forklifts, excavators and trucks. When he was there, he wanted to sit in the forklift all day long.
When I watch my children, I remember how I first came into contact with our company. I developed a personal enthusiasm for people who work together as a team for a greater cause, as well as for everything to do with machines. I want to pass both of these things on to my children in a positive way: respect for the people behind a service, an appreciation of our wonderful raw material, wood, and the versatility of our tools, which move and process this material. "You can understand something better once you've done it yourself." That has always been our family motto – especially when it comes to production and logistics.
My acknowledgements
The transformation process in logistics that I mentioned at the beginning is currently our top priority. I would therefore like to express my special thanks to the logistics staff, the entire project team and the support provided by employees from other sites and departments. They are the ones who are currently required to cope with an increased workload and go the extra mile every day. I would like to express my sincere thanks and full respect to all of you. I am confident that the measures we are currently implementing will soon result in more efficient and pleasant work processes. I am very proud to be leading this group of companies, especially in these challenging times, and it gives me incredible joy when we prove as a company that people can develop and work out solutions together.
I am looking forward to the second half of the year.