THE Liebherr Group achieved a turnover of €10,341 million in 2020 – a decrease of 12% compared to the previous year.
The manufacturer described the results as ‘satisfactory’ in the context of ‘extraordinary conditions’ during the year due to the global pandemic. The group achieved a net profit for the year of €7 million.
Liebherr revealed it registered a ‘strong volume of orders’ in the first quarter of 2020 before the impact of Covid-19 started to take hold.
Revenues in the earthmoving, material handling technology, deep foundation machines, mobile and crawler cranes, tower cranes, concrete technology and mining product segments were 10.4% lower than in the previous year at €6,848 million. Revenues outside construction and mining machines also fell.
Liebherr added that there was a downturn in sales in the European Union, which has traditionally been the group’s strongest sales region. Sales in non-EU countries as well as in North America also declined. However, business was ‘stable’ throughout the year in Asia and Oceania, thanks largely to ‘strong demand’ from China and Australia.
Despite the decrease in turnover, the number of employees remained stable. At the end of 2020, Liebherr employed 47,925 people worldwide – just 124 employees fewer compared to the previous year.
In terms of outlook for 2021, Liebherr revealed that in the first quarter of 2021, order intake has already developed ‘favourably’ across various product segments, indicating a ‘significant increase’ in sales in 2021.
