The Finnish LED tube manufacturer Valtavalo continues its rapid growth. The turnover of the fiscal year that ended at the end of May increased 21% compared to the past year and came up to €3.6 million. After one unprofitable year, the past fiscal year turned profitable again, with a profit of €75,000.
The company’s investment in a second, fully automatic LED tube production line at Kajaani production plant was mostly executed during the previous fiscal year, but it still affected the company’s profitability. With the product manufactured on the new line, the company will pursue a significant market share in professional lighting in, for example, commercial buildings and the public sector, especially in Finland and Sweden. The company’s flagship product, which has been in production for longer, is widely used by industry, in particular, thanks to its longest service life on the market and its reliability. The turnover of the company, established in 2008, has grown around 20–50% annually and, excluding the fiscal year 2015–2016, it has been profitable for the past 5 years.
“To use a fashionable term, we have become a ‘disruptive company’ in the lighting market . Our message is that with regard to service life costs, it is most affordable to a business or public operator to upgrade their lighting solution with LED tubes that have a very long service life, regardless of what the large light source manufacturers or small-scale importers of cheap products say. If we have the opportunity to defend our message to the decision-makers, it nearly always leads to cooperation with us,” says CEO Markku Laatikainen, describing his company’s recipe for success.
Thanks to more efficient manufacturing and new products, this rapid growth should continue during the current fiscal year. The company has made new deals with distribution partners at a growing pace, and the Valtavalo LED tubes with long service lives are available in the product selections of many electrical wholesalers or real estate services in Finland and elsewhere in Northern Europe. In addition to Finnish markets, the company is looking for growth especially in Sweden, where a branch office was established during the autumn.
