SYSTEMSStrong growth at LAPP in difficult times
The Executive Board of Lapp Holding SE (from left to right): Jan Ciliax, Matthias Lapp, Georg Stawowy and Dr Christoph Hiller.
31 percent more sales, 10 percent more employees
Stuttgart, March 2, 2023 - Despite geopolitical and economic challenges, the Lapp Group has once again successfully completed the past fiscal year 2021/2022 (October 1 to September 30). Sales of the global market leader for integrated solutions in the field of cable and connectivity technology climbed by 31.0 percent to 1,864 million euros. The number of employees increased by 10.2 percent to 5,055 worldwide as of the reporting date September 30, 2022. Earnings before taxes (EBT) increased to 132.9 million euros.
"We have turned over a new leaf at LAPP and positioned our company to be robust and fit for the future in a difficult environment. At the core of our transformation are the continuous strengthening of our innovative power, a special focus on services, and a comprehensive cultural change that makes our company even faster, more agile, and more sustainable", emphasizes Matthias Lapp, CEO of the Lapp Group. Matthias Lapp is realistic about the current fiscal year (2022/2023). "Together with our customers and partners, last year was a real challenge. We expect this to continue - we are consistently investing in the future.”
Fundamentally sound net assets and financial position
In the past fiscal year 2021/2022, LAPP once again exceeded the sales growth achieved in fiscal year 2020/21. Sales increased by 441 million euros (+31.0 percent) to 1,864 million euros. The increase in the average copper price contributed around 6.5 percent to this sales growth, as did currency developments (+1.9 percent). Adjusted for these copper and currency effects, there was still a significant increase in sales of 22.6 percent. "This growth was mainly due to higher capacities and market share gains in our focus markets combined with increased market prices. Added to this were general catch-up effects along the supply chains", explains CFO Jan Ciliax.
The group made strong gains in all three of LAPP's regions. EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), the most important region accounting for around two-thirds of group sales, improved by 29.4 percent to 1,352 million euros. In the Americas region (USA, Mexico, Canada, South America), sales soared to 192 million euros - an increase of 40.2 percent. And in the APAC region (Asia, Pacific, Oceania), sales climbed 32.7 percent to 320 million euros. Moreover, as LAPP's average order intake for the year was +6.5 percent higher than sales, the order backlog at the balance sheet date of September 30, 2022, increased to €356 million, significantly higher than at the same date last year.
Earnings before taxes (EBT) increased to 132.9 million euros and return on sales by 1.5 percentage points to 7.1 percent. Significant pressure on margins due to increased material and logistics costs was offset by improved capacity utilization in the factories and only a disproportionately low increase in personnel and other expenses. At 44.0 percent, the equity ratio was up on the previous year and thus remained at a consistently high level. "LAPP's net assets and financial position remain rock solid, allowing us to continue implementing strategic measures and investments for the benefit of our customers in the coming years", affirms Jan Ciliax.