Progress-Werk Oberkirch AG: PWO appoints Dr. Cornelia Ballwießer as Acting CFO

PWO appoints Dr. Cornelia Ballwießer as Acting CFO

Oberkirch, December 14, 2020 - The Supervisory Board of Progress-Werk Oberkirch AG has appointed Dr. Cornelia Ballwießer as Acting CFO effective as of December 12, 2020. She will therefore already assume the responsibilities of Bernd Bartmann, who, after 15 successful years as CFO of PWO, will leave the Management Board and retire on December 31, 2020.

Dr. Ballwießer has been a member of PWO's Management Board since November 1, 2020 and will become Chief Financial Officer effective January 1, 2021. In this function, she will also be responsible for the entire commercial area. Her term of office is set to run for three years until October 31, 2023.

Dr. Ballwießer studied business administration at the Bavarian Julius-Maximilians-University in Würzburg, where she worked as a research assistant at the Institute for Auditing and Consulting. She received her doctorate degree (Dr. rer. pol) in 1996.

Dr. Ballwießer began her career in the industrial sector in 1995 at VIAG AG in Munich and led the group-wide accounting department starting in 1998. Since 2001, she has held a variety of management positions, among others as CFO and General Manager, in the automotive supply industry with a focus on controlling, accounting, and group and corporate planning. She has extensive expertise and management experience in IT and M&A projects, reorganizations, restructurings, post-merger integrations and change management. Her leadership and management experience encompasses both globally active, listed industrial groups, as well as international medium-sized businesses.

In her comments about looking forward to her future tasks, Dr. Ballwießer says: "In my first few weeks at PWO, I have met exceptionally qualified employees at all levels and in all areas who are working on shaping the future with the greatest energy, motivation and creativity. We will achieve a lot with this team."

Supervisory Board Chairman Karl M. Schmidhuber wishes her much success in her new role. "I can assure her of the full support of the entire Supervisory Board in mastering the broad challenges in the years ahead."

Progress-Werk Oberkirch AG
The Management Board

PWO company profile
PWO is a partner to the global automotive industry for the development and production of advanced metal components and subsystems using lightweight construction. The Group has developed a unique knowledge in the forming and joining of metals over the course of its more than 100-year history since it was founded in 1919. With our expertise in cost-efficient lightweight construction, we contribute to environmentally friendly driving and greater distances.

All of the Group's more than 1,000 products contribute to automotive comfort and safety. More than 90 percent of revenue is independent of the vehicle's type of drivetrain. Approximately 3,000 employees on three continents at five production sites and four assembly plants ensure the highest level of delivery reliability and quality.