Foreword from our CEO Together for our Future, Acting responsibly for sustainable future. Looking back at 2022 … 2022 was a very different year. The end of a two-year pandemic triggered a global supply chain crisis. In February, we faced war in Europe, in a country where we have one of our manufacturing facilities with over 300 employees and close to some of our key markets. The war resulted in a massive human tragedy, but it also showed the strength of a nation, united in the defence of its country. Our Ukrainian team showed their commitment to serving our customers despite the situation. The war also caused an unprecedented energy crisis, leading to massive inflation in many of our markets. We ended the year with our highest sales ever, exceeding €500 million, with healthy growth in most of the regions where Schréder is present. Our bottom line remained healthy but was affected by the higher cost of components, which could not be fully offset by price increases.
It was a tough and very challenging year for our teams. The supply chain crisis meant a lot of extra work to continue to serve our customers well. It was often very hard work to secure the necessary components to deliver on time or to release newly developed platforms. Despite this, we managed to release more than 8 exciting new luminaire platforms, as well as the brand new Owlet IV family of smart luminaire controllers and continued to improve our Schréder EXEDRA platform, which connects luminaires and other IoT - Internet of Things - devices. In terms of sustainability, we achieved Ecovadis Gold status. Significant efforts were made to ensure that our supply chain complies with the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) standards and best practices on human rights and the environment. We continued to reduce our carbon footprint and are now 33% below our 2018 baseline in terms of CO2 per lumen sold. We launched our Schréder Together Fund with the King Baudouin Foundation and implemented the first 5 projects to have a positive impact in societies and communities in which we operate.
Our first sustainability report, based on Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, was also awarded Best First Sustainability Report and Sustainability Report Best Linked to the 2030 SDGs Agenda in Belgium. We took this as an encouraging sign to continue our work on our sustainability journey. Looking ahead … As we enter 2023, there is some uncertainty about what the near future will bring. Will higher energy costs accelerate the move to LED lighting to save on higher energy costs and reduce the carbon footprint? Or will higher inflation cause a soft or hard recession, impacting our customers’ budgets and spending and slowing the transition to LED technology? Based on customer and market feedback, we are cautiously optimistic and will be closely monitoring the market over the coming months. In the long term, we remain very positive. Higher energy prices will accelerate the transition to LED lighting as it will be more interesting to replace old HID and LED fixtures with new more energy-efficient LED luminaires. At the same time, higher energy costs have sparked a debate about dimming lights at night. Everyone wants to save energy through dimming without compromising the safety and comfort of citizens. This is driving the need for smart and connected luminaires that can support adaptive lighting schemes, where lighting levels are adjusted according to the presence of people, traffic density and weather conditions.
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