Jungheinrich starts 2022 year in line with expectations

Business development in first quarter of the 2022 financial year was in line with Jungheinrich’s expectations. Despite challenges in the supply chains and bottlenecks in the supply of materials, incoming orders, revenue and earnings before interest and income taxes (EBIT) increased against the previous year. Russia’s war against Ukraine, which began at the end of February, has led to high levels of uncertainty in the European and global economies, and thus also for Jungheinrich’s business development. In light of these circumstances, our forecast for 2022 remains unchanged.

Incoming orders rose slightly in the first quarter to €1.33 billion; revenue climbed 10.7 per cent to €1.06 billion. This revenue growth was driven in particular by new truck business, rental business and after sales. EBIT came to €77.9 million and was impacted by significantly higher material and logistics costs. EBIT return on sales amounted to 7.3 per cent. As of 31 March 2022, net credit amounted to €95 million, primarily due to stockpiling.

Dr Lars Brzoska, Chairman of the Board of Management of Jungheinrich AG: “The start of the new financial year went as expected. In addition to the ongoing challenges in the supply chain and massive increases in material and logistics costs, the Russia-Ukraine war also had a negative impact on the first quarter. Despite these challenging circumstances, incoming orders, revenue and EBIT were all higher than in the previous year. So far, market demand remains good.

We are well positioned with our Strategy 2025+ and will continue to pursue it to achieve our aim of creating sustainable value for all of our stakeholders. As part of our strategy, we are implementing a number of projects and measures, such as the construction of a new plant in Chomutov, Czech Republic, the opening of Jungheinrich’s 41st sales company in New Zealand, and the introduction of numerous innovations from the fields of automation, digitalisation and e-mobility at the LogiMAT intralogistics trade fair at the end of May. This is how we are building the foundation for further profitable growth.”

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Incoming orders and orders on hand

By value, incoming orders for all business fields – new truck business¹, short-term rental and used equipment, and after-sales services – came to €1,333 million in the reporting period, slightly above the previous year’s very good figure of €1,322 million.

Orders on hand for new truck business came to €1,835 million as of the end of the quarter, which is €613 million or 50 per cent higher than the previous-year figure (€1,222 million). Compared with orders on hand of €1,519 million as of year-end 2021, this represents an increase of €316 million or 21 per cent. The reason for the ongoing very high number of orders on hand was the continued restricted availability of production materials for further processing.

Incoming orders and orders on hand in the first quarter of 2022 were adjusted for orders from Russia. In light of Russia starting a war against Ukraine at the end of February 2022, the Board of Management made the decision to stop delivering trucks and spare parts to Russia until further notice with effect from 2 March 2022.

1 New truck business consists of material handling equipment, automated systems and warehouse equipment, stacker cranes and load handling equipment, factory and office equipment, energy solutions and digital products.

Revenue

New truck business, short-term rental and after sales contributed to Group revenue of €1,062 million, which was 11 per cent higher than in the previous year
(€959 million). Conditions in the supply chains, caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, remained challenging. Due to the global interconnections in supply chains, the effects of the supply bottlenecks spread throughout the entire supplier and materials portfolio, as well as the associated logistics capacities.

Earnings and financial position

In the first quarter of 2022, earnings before interest and income taxes (EBIT) amounted to €77.9 million (previous year: €72.1 million) and was negatively impacted by significantly higher material and logistics costs in comparison with the first quarter of the previous year. EBIT return on sales amounted to 7.3 per cent (previous year: 7.5 per cent). As a result, earnings before taxes (EBT) from January to March 2022 was slightly down year-on-year at €66.9 million (€68.2 million). EBT return on sales (EBT ROS) came to 6.3 per cent (previous year: 7.1 per cent). Profit or loss amounted to €49.5 million (previous year: €50.1 million). Correspondingly, earnings per preferred share were €0.49 (previous year: €0.50).

As of 31 March 2022, net credit amounted to €95 million, primarily due to stockpiling to ensure the ability to make deliveries (31 December 2021: net credit of
€222 million).

Employees

On 31 March 2022, there were 19,226 employees (31 March 2021: 18,212) in the Jungheinrich Group as measured in full-time equivalents. In light of increased capacity requirements in the plants in comparison with the same quarter of the previous year, there were 632 temporary workers at the end of the reporting period (31 March 2021: 335).

Forecast

The statements made in the 2021 annual report regarding our expectations have not changed overall in the reporting period. We therefore confirm the forecast made for the 2022 financial year, as published in our ad hoc announcement on 24 March 2022 and the 2021 annual report. We have provided a detailed assessment of the expected development of the company in the current year in the 2021 annual report forecast report.

Key figures at a glance

¹ EBIT/revenue x 100

² EBT/revenue x 100

³ FTE = Full-time equivalents