KNORR-BREMSE INCREASES REVENUE, PROFIT IN 2021

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Source: Knorr-Bremse announcement

Munich, February 24, 2022 – Knorr-Bremse AG is moving from success to success. The global market leader for braking systems and other systems for rail and commercial vehicles presented its preliminary results for the 2021 fiscal Feb. 24 in Munich.

Revenue in line with guidance, strong profit delivered, despite Covid-19 and supply shortages

The group’s revenue in the 2021 fiscal year rose by 8.9 percent to €6,705.6 million (previous year: €6,156.7 million) and was driven especially by strong growth in the commercial-vehicle market. This growth came from the Europe and North America regions in particular.

Thanks to it and the continued tight control over costs, the group attained an operating EBIT of €920.3 million (previous year: €814.0 million) and an operating EBIT margin of 13.6 percent (previous year: 13.2percent). EBITDA during the 2021 fiscal year came in at €1,210.7 million (previous year: €1,106.9 million), with an operating EBITDA margin of 17,9 percent (previous year: 18.0 percent). A free cash flow of €600,0 million was generated, down from the €687.3 million of the previous year when there were several large-scale effects to profit from.

Record-level orders on books

In the 2021 fiscal year the Knorr-Bremse Group’s order intake rose by 13.1 percent to a new record amount of €7,286.7 million after €6,441.8 million during the previous year. This development is in particular the result of a strong rise in demand in the commercial-vehicle market and had, as at December 31, 2021, led to an order book worth €5,558.1 million (previous year: €4,977.0 million).

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Rail Vehicle Systems (RVS) Division very strong at year end

The market for rail vehicles was also affected by the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic during the 2021 fiscal year. Viewed year on year, the RVS division received stable orders despite the slow recovery of rail transportation. Simultaneously, its order book as at December 31, 2021 had grown by 4.1 percent to €3,875.1 million (previous year: €3,721.4 million). In this volatile environment, the RVS division’s revenue remained approximately at the previous year’s level at €3,317.0 million (previous year: €3,336.8 million). RVS is expected to return to growth during the current fiscal year. The operating EBIT margin in 2021 came to 18.1 percent (previous year: 19.1 percent).

To view the entire announcement, click HERE.

Mike Geylin
Mike Geylin

Mike Geylin is the Editor-in-Chief at Hagman Media. Geylin has been in automotive communications for five decades working in all aspects of the industry from OEM to supplier to motorsports as well as reporting for both newspapers and magazines on the industry.