The German automotive parts manufacturer, Mahle, announced that it has registered an 11.9% growth in sales to € 10.9 in 2021 compared to 2020. However, further growth was prevented by the slump in demand in the second half of the year, it noted.
The operating result before interest and tax (EBIT) was positive at € 169 million compared to the previous year’s minus € 192 million, while the operating EBIT return was 1.5% compared with the prior-year figure of minus 2%.
Furthermore, the consolidated net loss was reduced by 75% to minus € 108 million. This loss resulted from higher financing expenses and tax payments that could not be reduced by offsetting tax losses carried forward.
Equity remained almost stable in 2021 at € 2.05 billion; however, the equity ratio was reduced to 23.9% due to the higher balance sheet total, a communication from the company said.
The debt ratio (ratio of net debt to EBITDA) also fell to 1.3% compared to the previous year’s 2.1%.
In April 2021, the company placed a €750 million bond with considerable demand from investors, making it the largest financial transaction in the company’s history, it added.
Michael Frick, Deputy Chairman and CFO, MAHLE Group Management Board, said, “On one hand, this positive development is due to higher sales and lower restructuring expenses. On the other hand, our cost and expenditure discipline as well as our restructuring programs also had the desired effect.”
In the financial year under review, the group invested € 666 million, 6.1% of its sales, which is more than the previous year, in research and development for climate-compatible mobility, the company said.
Frick stated, “In 2022, we will need to expand and redefine our position as an established Tier-1 supplier in the three strategic areas of e-mobility, thermal management and classical drive systems.”
The main emphasis of business would shift even more strongly towards e-mobility over the next few years. By 2030, the group plans to increase the share of its sales earned independently from the internal combustion engine for passenger cars from the present figure of more than 60% to 75%, he continued.
In 2021, the company developed new electric drive technologies to address customers’ key concerns of range, convenience and fast charging, the release said. The technologies included battery cooling technologies, a fast-charging solution allowing capacities up to 750 kW and thermal management systems based on heat pumps.
Seeing the potential of filling the gap with other drive technologies such as hydrogen, fuel cells or e-fuels, especially in the CV segment, Frick added, “Here, we can rapidly make a key contribution to climate protection at the same time as reducing dependence on oil and gas.”
As part of the mobility transition, the company is also committed to e-bikes and produces ultra-light, compact drive systems, the release stated.
The CFO further said, “As long as there are internal combustion engines, Mahle will be a reliable partner to the market and customers in this area.”
Meanwhile, to strengthen the skills and capabilities required by a changing world of mobility, it aims to reinforce its global position with respect to qualification and training offerings for the workforce.
“We aim to offer easily accessible training for all employees. This is why we have created a modern learning environment,” Anke Felder, Management Board Member and Corporate Executive Vice President Human Resources, Mahle, said.
At the end of 2021, about 71,300 people worked for the group, almost 900 fewer than in 2020. The personnel reduction was part of the structural transformation of the group as a result of the change. The group will continue to forge ahead with this transformation.
By the end of 2021, the company employed 71,300 people, 900 less than in 2020. This was a part of the structural transformation of the group as a result of the change, it noted.