DJ Exceptionally high demand
Bucher Industries AG / Key word(s): Development of Sales Exceptionally high demand 27-Jan-2022 / 06:00 CET/CEST Release of an ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Ad hoc announcement Niederweningen, 27 January 2022 | Ad hoc announcement pursuant to article 53 listing rules
Bucher Industries' products and services enjoyed extremely strong demand in 2021. Order intake grew by more than a third. The divisions were faced with major challenges in the supply chain and logistics as well as staff bottlenecks, yet they succeeded in coping with them very well. Sales increased substantially as a result, ending the year slightly ahead of the high 2019 figures. The operating profit margin is likely to exceed the target of 10%, with a corresponding marked rise in the profit for the year.
Group
Change CHF million 2021 2020 % %1) %2) Order intake 3'948 2'838 39.1 39.3 37.5 Net sales 3'176 2'741 15.9 15.9 14.2 Order book 1'873 1'081 73.2 73.5 71.3 Number of employees at closing date 13'562 12'5983) 7.7 6.7
1) Adjusted for currency effects 2) Adjusted for currency and acquisition effects 3) 2020: 12'727 employees (FTEs), of whom 129 on short-time work
Bucher Industries' markets reported extraordinarily strong, unexpected momentum during the reporting period. Order intake rose markedly in all five divisions, thus exceeding the high 2019 level by nearly a third. This was largely attributable to the very good economic development, but also to catch-up effects and precautionary orders. Like the entire industrial sector worldwide, the divisions found themselves faced with bottlenecks and delays in the supply chain and logistics as well as rising material and transport costs. This resulted in production challenges that intensified over the course of the reporting period. However, the divisions managed to cope with these challenges very well. Recruiting qualified employees became increasingly difficult. The divisions enlarged their workforce primarily by means of temporary workers but were unable to fill vacancies to the desired extent, particularly in the USA. Accordingly, the Group's order book grew by more than two thirds. Sales were up considerably year on year and exceeded the 2019 figures slightly.
Kuhn Group
Change CHF million 2021 2020 % %1) %2) Order intake 1'676 1'290 29.9 31.8 30.9 Net sales 1'319 1'094 20.5 22.1 21.4 Order book 941 587 60.3 62.4 61.4 Number of employees at closing date 5'832 5'194 12.3 10.8
1) Adjusted for currency effects 2) Adjusted for currency and acquisition effects
Exceptionally strong demand Demand for the division's products was very strong in all key regions. This was driven by the higher income of farmers due to good prices for agricultural products, various government support programmes and generally favourable weather conditions. Dealers' low inventory levels prompted early order placement and larger orders. The trend was also underpinned by a major need for more productive machines after the extended low cycle in the arable sector. This upswing was particularly pronounced in North America. Europe reported good development, and in Brazil agricultural producers' willingness to invest was extraordinarily high. Order intake at Kuhn Group rose by nearly one third. At the same time, the division found itself faced with problems in the supply chain and logistics. However, it was able to cope with them very successfully. Recruiting additional qualified employees was difficult, particularly in the USA. As a result, production capacities could only be partially adapted to the record-high order book. Nevertheless, sales rose markedly over 2020 and considerably exceeded the high level of 2019. Thanks to extremely good capacity utilisation and the passing-on of the rise in material prices, the operating profit margin is likely to reach a level around the target of 12%.
Bucher Municipal
Change CHF million 2021 2020 % %1) %2) Order intake 599 460 30.1 27.5 24.9 Net sales 523 462 13.0 10.6 8.1 Order book 237 157 50.6 47.9 47.9 Number of employees at closing date 2'329 2'3273) 0.1 0.1
1) Adjusted for currency effects 2) Adjusted for currency and acquisition effects 3) 2020: 2'334 employees (FTEs), of whom 7 on short-time work
Rise in sales despite difficulties in production The market for Bucher Municipal's products was very brisk, especially in the important European region. Order intake rose markedly. This positive trend was driven largely by truck-mounted sweepers and the new modular line of 'CityCat V20' compact sweepers together with the fully electric model. Orders for sewer cleaning vehicles increased as well, supported by the acquisition of the Australian company Spoutvac in autumn 2020. Production was greatly hampered by bottlenecks on the supply side, mainly among suppliers of chassis and other components. Especially in Australia, the stringent COVID-19 measures posed a challenge. In November, the division was forced to temporarily shut down its IT infrastructure following the early detection of a malware attack, which could be averted. Sales picked up markedly and ended the period just short of the high level of 2019, but the operating profit margin is likely to be only marginally higher than in 2020 due to the difficulties in the supply chain and production.
Bucher Hydraulics
Change CHF million 2021 2020 % %1) %2) Order intake 856 561 52.5 52.4 49.4 Net sales 681 536 26.9 26.8 25.0 Order book 320 134 139.2 138.8 125.7 Number of employees at closing date 2'825 2'5373) 11.4 10.3
1) Adjusted for currency effects 2) Adjusted for currency and acquisition effects 3) 2020: 2'602 employees (FTEs), of whom 65 on short-time work
Record-high sales Developments in the hydraulics markets were exceptionally dynamic in 2021. Demand for Bucher Hydraulics' components and solutions was extremely high in all key regions and segments. One reason for this, apart from the strong economic development, was the fact that customers were placing precautionary orders due to the generally long delivery times. The division's order intake increased by half. Adjusting the production capacities to the required level was very challenging and the order book doubled. Added to that were supply chain bottlenecks, which hampered production efficiency. Nevertheless, Bucher Hydraulics handled these challenges very well and boosted its sales markedly thus exceeding the high 2019 level. In light of the higher sales and good cost structure, the operating profit margin is expected to increase substantially. The integration of the mobile electric drive technology business, which Bucher Hydraulics acquired from Lenze Schmidhauser in Romanshorn, Switzerland, in early July 2021, is proceeding according to plan.
Bucher Emhart Glass
Change CHF million 2021 2020 % %1) Order intake 522 317 64.7 62.6 Net sales 394 421 -6.4 -7.7 Order book 285 155 83.8 81.4 Number of employees at closing date 1'563 1'611 -3.0
1) Adjusted for currency effects
Strong momentum The division experienced a rapid upturn following the slump of the previous year. This was attributable to catch-up effects as well as structural demand for glass containers. Over the course of the year, customers started investing again in modernisation and expansion of their plant as well as in completely new production locations. Order intake grew by nearly two thirds compared to the low level of the previous year, putting it back to the very high level of 2019. There was a significant increase in orders for glass-forming machinery in particular. Starting from a low level in the first quarter, production capacity utilisation rose sharply in the course of the reporting period. Major challenges were posed by bottlenecks for raw materials, components and in logistics as well as the severe government-imposed COVID-19 restrictions in Malaysia. All of these caused sales to decline slightly on the previous year. The operating profit margin is likely to see another marked increase over the first half of 2021 thanks to the favourable product mix and the cost base, which was low for the entire reporting period.
Bucher Specials
Change CHF million 2021 2020 % %1) %2) Order intake 366 261 40.3 39.9 35.2 Net sales 321 273 17.6 17.2 11.3 Order book 121 70 72.1 71.4 69.7 Number of employees at closing date 953 8683) 9.8 7.5
1) Adjusted for currency effects 2) Adjusted for currency and acquisition effects 3) 2020: 925 employees (FTEs), of whom 57 on short-time work
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