About Ivo Jurek
Ivo Jurek, CEO of Gates Industrial, participated in two interviews on September 17, 2024, at the New York Stock Exchange, where the company rang the opening bell and held a capital markets day. Jurek stated that Gates had approximately $3.6 billion in revenue in 2023 and serves every aspect of the industrial economy, manufacturing power transmission belts and fluid power products. He noted that automotive revenue represents about 25% of the company, with 75% coming from industrial applications. Jurek said the company has been an innovator in materials science for over 113 years and has continued to invest in that area under Blackstone ownership.
Jurek discussed several growth opportunities, including replacing industrial chains with engineered rubber belts and supplying cooling technology for hyperscale data centers. He described the industrial economy as "somewhat muted" with the manufacturing index in contraction for over 16 months, but said Gates' revenue remains robust and the company is taking market share. Jurek characterized the U.S. economy as "reasonably robust" and noted strong performance in Europe and Latin America. He described Gates as a "high quality asset" with high free cash flow generation and high margins, suggesting that the exit of private equity ownership creates a good entry point for investors.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Ivo Jurek's recent appearances.
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Transcript (12 segments)
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Judy0:09
Joining me today on NYSE Floor Talk is Ivo Jurek. He is the CEO at Gates Corporation. Ivo, it is wonderful to have you here. Thanks for joining me today.
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Ivo Jurek0:18
Good morning, Judy. Thank you for having me. Very exciting to be at the NYSE. Terrific to come and visit.
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Judy0:26
And this morning you rang the opening bell to start the trading day. What was that like?
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Ivo Jurek0:30
We did it. It's terrific. It's a second time for us. We have done it coming and listing the company six years ago at NYSE. It was a terrific experience for us. We love being part of the exchange, and it's just an exciting time.
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Judy0:44
Yes, well, great to have you as part of the community. So now let's talk about the company. Give me a quick overview of Gates and the markets that you serve.
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Ivo Jurek0:52
Sure. So Gates, about 3.6 billion of revenue in 2023. We serve every aspect of the industrial economy. We manufacture products in power transmission belts and mechanical components that power things around the industrial economy. We also have a Fluid Power segment that manufactures hydraulics and fluid conveyance products. We do everything from supporting the agriculture industry through John Deere and Caterpillar type applications, to construction, all the way through hyperscale data center cooling. So we really have broad breadth and sway of the industrial economy. We touch everything out there.
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Judy1:35
Now, how does your material science innovation capabilities differentiate the company?
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Ivo Jurek1:41
You know, that's probably one of the most underappreciated facts about our company. We have been an innovator in material science for over 113 years. It is the legacy of the company from the founder, Charles C. Gates, about 113 years ago. We've continued to invest, particularly under the Blackstone ownership and the management team that we have brought around, focused on investments in innovation and investments in material science that give us a capability to significantly revitalize our entire portfolio of products. That has served us well. It gives us the opportunity to continue to drive innovation across new applications, such as what we call industrial chain to belt and mobility chain to belt, where we are taking our highly engineered rubber belts and metal components and replacing old, dirty, rusty, need-for-lubrication chains. That's a good example where material science plays a significant role in how we can drive our future forward and attach ourselves to an economy that's evolving every day.
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Judy2:58
Now, speaking of your future, what are the key growth opportunities for the company over the next few years?
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Ivo Jurek3:03
Yeah, thank you. I think that comes towards, as I explained, industrial and mobility chain to belt. This is a very large market where we compete with non-traditional competitors like industrial chain. We drive that innovation through ecologically more sound solutions. We offer our customers productivity boosts, and we help them with some of the challenging demographics in the workplace as well through that innovation. So that's a very large opportunity, a huge driver of growth for us in the future. We talked yesterday during an investor day about some applications that are brand new to our company. As we all are getting very excited about AI and the digitization of the global economy and the buildout of hyperscale data centers, that's a new opportunity for us where we have launched a new technology in cooling, in thermal management water pumps that go into those hyperscale data centers that require water cooling. Our fluid conveyance products, our hoses, go in. That's a very large opportunity that as long as maybe a year ago did not exist for our company. So really exciting new venues to be able to drive growth well into the future. I'm very excited about the next 100 plus years as well.
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Judy4:30
All right, well, Ivo, it's been wonderful to talk with you. Thanks for joining me on Floor Talk today.
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Ivo Jurek4:33
Thank you, Judy.
