Herbert Ortner, CEO of Palfinger AG, has announced his resignation and will end his term at the end of the year (31 December 2017).
According to Palfinger, Mr Ortner informed the supervisory board that he does not intend to extend his contract that expires at the end of 2018. Therefore, Mr Ortner has agreed to terminate his position on 31 December 2017 and will organise a smooth handover in the upcoming weeks. Following this, Mr Ortner will serve as a counsellor to the Palfinger family.
“I am happy to have developed Palfinger to a global leader of our industry. We achieved this in close cooperation with a professional management team and the supervisory board. I am convinced that the Palfinger group is in a perfect competitive position and that the professional management team will achieve a great performance in the years to come,” said Mr Ortner.
The supervisory board said it accepted Ortner’s decision with great regret and instructed the nomination committee to begin an immediate search for a successor. “We are full of gratitude for Herberts brilliant strategic and operational performance, for his unconditional commitment for our company and the family and we wish him fortune and success for his future activities,“ said the board.
Mr Ortner joined the management team of Palfinger 16 years ago, and after almost two years he was elected into the management board as CMO. Under his leadership, the company’s global service business has been fully developed and is a reliable contributor to stable earnings.
Mr Ortner then assumed responsibility for the Hydraulic Systems segment and completed the product portfolio. In 2008, on the eve of the global financial crisis, he was appointed to the position of CEO. At that time, he was believed to be the youngest CEO of any industrial company in Austria.
Since the financial crisis, Mr Ortner has tripled revenues from €505 million in 2009 to approximately €1.5 billion in 2017 and tenfold increased operative earnings measured by EBITDA. Palfinger has also acquired and integrated more than 30 companies and became a global player, having a complete range of innovative lifting solutions for use on commercial vehicles and in the maritime field, with production and assembling facilities in Europe, North and South America, and Asia.
