Family-owned Liebherr Group posted sales of approximately $12.5 billion in 2020, down 12 percent from the approximately $14.2 billion it recorded in 2019. Net income for the year was about $501 million, down from about $726 million in 2019. Net profit was about $8.4 million, down from about $517 million in 2019.
The company reported that sales across the company were down in all categories except Refrigeration and Freezing. Revenues in the Earthmoving, Material Handling Technology, Deep Foundation Machines, Mobile and Crawler Cranes, Tower Cranes, Concrete Technology, and Mining product segments were down 10.4 percent.
There was a downturn in sales in the European Union, which the company said was traditionally its strongest sales region. This was primarily due to declining sales in Germany and France; by contrast, business grew in Austria and Poland. Sales in non-EU countries as well as in North America also declined. Central and South America, Africa, and the Near and Middle East reported significantly lower turnover than the year before. Meanwhile, business was stable throughout the year in Asia and Oceania. This was thanks largely to strong demand from China and Australia.
The Group invested about $729 million in its production sites and its global distribution and service networks in 2020, up about $182 million from 2019.
Liebherr outlook for 2021
According to the company’s annual report:
“In the first quarter of 2021, order intake has already developed favourably across various product segments of the Liebherr Group, indicating a significant increase in sales in 2021. Overall economic opportunities arise from the global recovery of various industrial sectors in which the Liebherr Group is active in. At the same time, there is still uncertainty about the speed of macroeconomic recovery. For instance, it is unclear whether international trade will pick up or continue to decline, or whether the economic policies implemented by many governments can prevent debt from spiralling.”
Source: Liebherr Group