Strong fiscal year 2021 for KUKA sees record demand for automation

With record increases as well as growth in all divisions, KUKA has delivered a strong year. Thanks to a successful combination of investments and cost-cutting measures, as well as the rebounding automation market, KUKA recorded a leap forward.

Peter Mohnen, CEO of KUKA Group, said: "Our team has achieved an impressive turnaround and set a clear course for growth. We are serving a growing global demand and also increasingly supporting customers outside our traditional markets, such as automotive."

Double-digit growth in all divisions

Orders received increased by a total of 27.7% at Group level to around €3.6 billion (2020: €2.8 billion) and sales revenues by 27.7% to €3.3 billion (2020: €2.6 billion). Although global supply bottlenecks and increased material and logistics costs slowed down the positive development, especially in the second half of the year, EBIT rose to €61.8 million (2020: -€113.2 million).

The EBIT margin increased to 1.9% (2020: -4.4%). KUKA’s China business in particular saw strong growth, with revenues 48.4% higher than in 2020 and orders received up 39.0%. In the Chinese robotics market, KUKA also made gains in new sectors such as electronics.

KUKA is also supporting more and more automotive customers in the global trend towards e-mobility as they make the transition to new drive systems, for example with automated production systems for battery modules. Demand for electric vehicles is growing, especially in China and North America. Accordingly, orders received by KUKA Systems, the Group’s systems engineering division, rose by 37.3%, driven by strong business in North America.

With strong demand in e-commerce and the trend towards automated logistics solutions, KUKA’s logistics specialist, Swisslog, increased sales revenues by 23.4%.

Automation conquers new areas

“Our automation and logistics solutions are in increasing demand among small and me-dium-sized enterprises. Companies in the consumer goods and food industries are also turning to robotics to an ever-greater extent,” said Peter Mohnen.

“Our technologies can provide support in a wide variety of areas across all production steps.” With the expanded robot portfolio featuring models such as the KR DELTA, as well as new vari-ants like the KUKA “Hygienic Oil” robots for food production, KUKA offers the right solutions here.

“Even though we will need to address supply bottlenecks, material shortages and higher costs in the coming months, we see a strong tailwind for KUKA – and we will take advantage of this tailwind,” stated Peter Mohnen.

“Our goal is the leading role in robot-based automation by 2025. Our focus here is clearly on driving technologies and innovations forward at an intensive pace. To this end, we will invest around 800 million euro in research and development by 2025, more than ever before.” The key to massive growth is an overarching portfolio and regionally tailored products and solutions for individual markets, especially in general industry. “KUKA will benefit from this growth strategy and our technological orientation in the long term – at all locations around the globe.”