04.04.2022

Liebherr bounces back

Liebherr has published its full year results for 2021 with a strong pick up in revenues and profits.

Total revenues for the group increased 12.6 percent to €11.639 billion, close to the record of €11.75 million achieved in 2019. Pre-tax profits almost tripled to €812 million thanks to the higher revenues and a €100 million surplus on debt cost compared to a €138 million cost last year.

The Liebherr Mobile crane division (wheeled and crawler) based in Ehingen, saw sales improve almost 15 percent to €2.88 billion. Geographically Europe - including Russia - represented 56.5 percent, while the Americas made up 26.2 percent - all but 2.8 percent in the north. Africa and the Middle East made up 3.3 percent while Asia/Pacific was 14 percent of global sales. The mobile crane division now employs 5,769 following a capital investment of €77 million.

The Tower crane division saw revenues jump 26.8 percent to €563 million taking construction crane revenues - excluding foundation machines – to almost €3.45 billion. The division employs 2,510 and received €81 million of new capital investment.

Maritime crane sales declined almost seven percent to €740 million.

Outlook for 2022
Liebherr said: “The Liebherr Group has started 2022 with a very good order situation. Opportunities arise from the expected increase in demand in the various industrial sectors in which the Liebherr Group is active. However, the negative effects on the activities of the Liebherr Group due to the war in Ukraine can already be seen. Liebherr is monitoring and assessing the current situation in Ukraine and Russia on a daily basis and is currently in the process of adjusting its Russian activities to the extensive sanctions imposed on the country.”

“At the same time, there are still uncertainties with regard to the pandemic related restrictions, the effects of steep price increases for many goods and services, shortages of certain raw materials and the lack of skilled workers, as well as bottlenecks in different supply chains. It is also unclear how fiscal and monetary policy measures will ultimately affect the Liebherr Group. Despite the difficult conditions, Liebherr is cautiously optimistic about the rest of the year.”

Isolde and Willi Liebherr added: “At the beginning of 2022, when we started thinking about how to reflect on the year just past, the world was a very different place. We looked back with pride on a financial year that, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, still resulted in the second-best turnover in our company’s history. We talked about major investments and significant technological advances and our forecast for 2022 looked very optimistic. But the world has changed overnight. As we write this, a war is raging in Ukraine. Stunned, we are witnessing a situation in Europe that we did not think possible just a short time ago. We are hoping for a de-escalation in the very near future and for negotiations that will end the suffering and restore peace to the region. Our thoughts are with the affected people of Ukraine. We have stepped up as a company and are donating to help the refugees and those in the crisis region.”

“At times like these, business seems less important. And yet, as we look back on the past year, we would not want to miss the opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to our customers. They have once again placed enormous trust in us. And we will live up to this trust, even in these difficult times. We also want to thank our employees, who now number nearly 50,000. We are grateful for their commitment to our company and the extraordinary creativity and flexibility they show day after day. Our goal continues to be an employer they can rely on. The new business year started off with plenty of new orders on our books. At this point in time, however, it is still too soon to predict how the war in Ukraine will impact the European as well as the world economy. This year, as always, we will do our utmost to live up to our reputation as a stable and reliable partner.”

Vertikal Comment

It is always hard to know what to say about Liebherr’s typical annual results. Whatever occurs in the world the company maintains its forward trajectory seemingly unfazed and consistent. With no real debt and massive financial muscle, the company is a tough competitor for all but the niche crane manufacturers. The company is already the market leader for All Terrain cranes, especially larger models, but is also gaining market share in large crawler crane sales. While it admits to facing material cost increases and supply line issues, it seems to have managed to cope with this challenge better than many others.

At this point of in the year the company looks set to break records in 2022, as it becomes a €12 billion company.