Rosenbauer’s flame less bright

Upper Austrian fire truck and fire-fighting equipment producer Rosenbauer International AG (Rosenbauer) has suffered a slight setback.The company’s earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) declined by 15 per cent to 6.9 million Euros from the first three months of 2010 – when the firm did extraordinarily well – to the same time span of this year.Rosenbauer, which is based in Leonding near Linz, added today (Tues) that its workforce edged up by four per cent at the same time. The company employed 2,076 staff by the end of March 2011.Rosenbauer achieved a turnover of 595.7 million Euros last year when it had Ebit of 49.7 million Euros. The company is the leading manufacturer of fire engines and fire-fighting devices in the world.Rosenbauer exports the vast majority of its products. The USA are a crucial marketplace for the firm which was founded in 1866. However, Rosenbauer pointed out recently it will increase its focus on businesses in Russia in the coming months in an attempt to benefit from the Eurasian country’s booming economy.