The Czech carmaker, Skoda Auto, announced that it has seen an increase in its earnings in the past fiscal year compared to 2020 despite the pandemic and the shortage of semiconductors.
At a press conference, it was mentioned that the group’s revenue increased to € 17.7 billion in 2021 from € 17.1 billion in 2020, translating to a growth of 3.9%. Additionally, the operating profit increased by 43.2% to € 1.08 billion in 2021 from € 756 million in 2020.
The company said that the return on sales is recovering at 6.1%, which is significantly above the previous year. However, it anticipates significant uncertainties as the year progresses due to the war in Ukraine and the associated supply bottlenecks, hence remaining committed to its efficiency programme.
Thomas Schäfer, CEO, Skoda Auto, said, “Skoda Auto has demonstrated a high degree of resilience and flexibility in the past fiscal year. Our business is robust – and this is also reflected in the key financial figures, which have developed positively compared to the previous year. At the same time, we face great uncertainties due to the war in Ukraine. We are continuously analysing the impact of this on our business.”
Christian Schenk, Board Member -Finance and IT, Skoda Auto, said, “2021 was an extremely challenging fiscal year. We were able to increase our operating profit compared to the previous year to over €1 billion thanks to united team performance. Revenue also developed positively despite low sales figures resulting from production constraints. We were able to improve it to € 17.7 billion through sales mix optimisation in spite of the temporary production stop due to the partial unavailability of components in the second half of the year.”
In 2022, the main focus will continue to be on successful crisis management and efficiency programmes to safeguard the business as much as possible in these difficult times, he added.
Karsten Schnake, Board Member-Purchasing, Skoda Auto, said, “The tight semiconductor supply situation dampened our growth last year. Thanks to the prompt decision to produce unfinished cars for later completion, we were able to stabilise our result. I thank the Semiconductor Task Force for their incredible efforts. We can now look forward with cautious optimism and expect a significant improvement in the supply of semiconductors from the second half of the year.”
In 2021 the company sold 878,200 vehicles worldwide, which Schäfer confirms to be 12.6% less than what it managed in 2020. However, he further stated that with the Indian market, the company has seen a rise of almost 109% due to the India 2.0 project vehicles, including the Kushaq.
Globally, by the second half of the year, the company aims to introduce its new design language, Solid Modern, focusing on digitisation and electrification.