The CE Industries Group emerges, expected turnover: 5.6 billion this year

Lenka Petrášová

Entrepreneur Jaroslav Strnad handed over the management of his companies within the CSG portfolio to his son, but he is not going to enter business retirement. Together with two other members of the Board of Directors, Adam Šotek and Tomáš Schmied, he now heads the newly established Central European Industries (CE Industries) holding. The company has a portfolio of old and brand new companies engaged in mechanical, power and general engineering fields, and also in the areas of waste management and rail freight transport. As a complementary part, the company will be active in real-estate development.

The name of the newly established group, the Central European Industries, refers to the Czech region, i.e. Central Europe, where the company operates, and it also refers to the overall company focus – Industries.

Within the CE Industries holding, companies are divided into three strategic groups, with about one third of the structure being made up of companies from the former Vítkovice holding.

The first group is about comprehensive engineering contracts and power engineering companies, such as the Vítkovice Heavy Machinery, that has just successfully completed its eorganization. It has monthly contracts worth approximately 200 million Czech crowns and is currently addressing the transformation of capacities and production portfolio.

This means a departure from a situation of not having its own product and of a single-piece production with a focus on heavy engineering and the production of commodities such as ingots and forged pieces, resulting in a situation taking the company to mass production of proprietary products.

The Noen company also belongs to the same strategic group of the new holding. It has never been part of the Vítkovice holding and specializes in open-pit mining. Then there is the VTK. Power Industry – a brand new company that has also never been part of the Vítkovice holding. It focuses on comprehensive supplies for nuclear and conventional power engineering, incinerators, heating plants, hydroelectric power plants, combined cycle power plants or Oil & Gas etc.

„There will be a very close collaboration with the Chemcomex, including the coordination of business, design and construction activities,“ says Adam Šotek of the CE Industries Board of Directors.

The second branch of CE Industries concerns the waste management. In this strategic group we have mainly the Zberné suroviny Žilina company, which has also never been a part of  “Vítkovice”, same as the Waste Disposal company. In addition, there is the SPV Recycling CZ purchased in Vítkovice.

The third supporting leg on which the holding will stand is rail freight transportation. Here the experienced Vítkovice Transport Company is the leader. Although it was part of “Vítkovice” under the name of Vítkovice Doprava, it was never subject to insolvency proceedings and it is the thirteenth largest entity in rail freight transport industry in the Czech Republic. In addition to this, the company Vítkovické železniční opravny, a. s. (the name translates as Rolling Stock Repair Works of Vítkovice) was established last year and will now also belong to the CE Industry.

“The fourth, supportive, activity lies in real estate development, and we expect further acquisitions to make in such a way that we give overall logic to the direction our holding is heading,” adds Adam Šotek.

The total number of employees in the CE Industries Group is approximately 1,800 people at the moment, making the group one of the largest employers in the country, and this year's estimated turnover is expected to be around CZK 5.6 billion this year.

Although the person of Jaroslav Strnad connects the CE Industries holding and the CSG, they are two completely separate groups. „They are different structures with mutual trade up to one percent of the turnover. This is also due to the fact that they operate in different fields, they have different commercial policies as well as the ways of financing and management.

Therefore, there is no consolidation, the companies of both holdings are completely independent of each other,“ said Adam Šotek, a member of the Board of Directors.

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