Rockfin resilient to pandemic

Rockfin entered 2021 with a record order backlog, exceeding 500 million PLN. This is a continuation of the company’s direction of development last year, when, despite the pandemic, Rockfin began cooperation with Burckhardt Compression or Rolls-Royce, just to name a few. Stable business growth allowed the company to join an elite group of global suppliers of advanced equipment supporting strategic industries, such as the energy sector. In order to cope with the growing number of orders, Rockfin is planning this year, among others, to build a new warehouse and increase employment. The company is also committed to the nuclear energy area.

“COVID-19 was a major operational and market disruption for Rockfin. For a manufacturing company with worldwide sales and a global supply chain, it was a the primary challenge was to maintain lead times, costs and quality at the expected level. We are proud to have achieved significant growth in revenue and profit, to have made several growth investments and to have won new customers and record order intake. We believe that this year will be even better for the company,” comments Bartosz Krzemiński President of the Board, Rockfin.

A bumpy start to 2020

As with other companies operating on a global scale, the severity of the pandemic posed significant challenges in terms of ensuring continuity of business not only with Rockfin customers, but also with suppliers. A large group of the latter are located in Western Europe, mainly in Italy, which was hardest hit by the first wave of the coronavirus. Therefore, Rockfin had to focus heavily on flexible supply chain management to minimise any possible downtime in its projects.

“COVID-19 has also re-evaluated how we build relationships, including those in the business area. After all, sales or regular contact with customers cannot be made only through emails. Projects which we realize for our customers are very demanding and complex, so in order for our partners, for example in Japan, to be sure that the whole process is carried out smoothly, we reported on the progress of work by preparing short videos that showed the status of projects, production progress, but also how we operate in the sanitary regime”, explains Michał Wróblewski, Vice President of the Board, Rockfin.

Technical acceptance also required a new approach. For example, in the case of customers from far Asia, Rockfin introduced a standard for conducting functional tests and acceptance of devices online.

The new method worked so well that the company will probably use it permanently, because this form optimises time, which is very much appreciated by customers.

Rockfin’s portfolio is growing

“Last year confirmed the effectiveness of our sales strategy, in which we strive to expand our cooperation with existing customers and win new ones. Last year we launched cooperation with Rolls-Royce and Burckhardt Compression, for example. For our client Mistubishi, we are the first in Europe to implement the Megamie, a hybrid power generation system combining fuel cells with a micro-gas turbine. The first such installation will be delivered to Germany, and discussions about more such projects are ongoing”, comments Michał Wróblewski, Vice President of the Board, Rockfin.

Rockfin’s order backlog is a good reflection of economic trends – there are no more new contracts related to coal-based power engineering. The company is also developing its portfolio dedicated to the nuclear sector – it has just won a contract worth over PLN 30 million for the delivery of systems for a nuclear power plant in Hungary. The company is also interested in participating in the Polish nuclear programme.

“We don’t live on a desert island, so the pandemic obviously had an impact on our company last year, although fortunately not significant one. Instead of the planned revenue of PLN 350 million, we achieved slightly less – PLN 320 million. Some customers postponed the execution of contracts, but these were rare situations. At the EBITDA level, however, we recorded a significant increase compared to 2019”, adds Bartosz Krzemiński President of the Board, Rockfin

Definitely a positive start to 2021

Looking at the results of 2020 and the start of 2021, the company is cautiously forecasting that this year will be the best in terms of turnover achieved and also profit made.

“To meet increased demand, we have already taken steps to build a new warehouse in Małkowo  and have launched a new piping prefabrication production department. We are also focusing on expanding our team and plan to hire new engineers this year”, concludes Paweł Jaszewski Project Management Director, Member of the Board, Rockfin.

In 2021, the company also expects a steady increase in demand due to rising commodity prices and a growing investment appetite for extraction. Decarbonisation is a process that will also contribute to the company’s growth. Investments based on renewable energy sources, but also on decentralised energy or co-generation are the future of our sector. At the same time, as Rockfin representatives emphasise, as long as the pandemic continues, one should remain very humble and refrain from hurried optimism.