Revenue

Consolidated revenue increased by 23.4 percent to €10,294.3 million in 2021 (2020: €8,341.6 million). Currency effects had a negative impact on consolidated revenue, decreasing it by €47.1 million.

In the Industrial Trucks & Services segment, revenue generated from external customers rose by 13.8 percent to €6,503.5 million (2020: €5,712.6 million). The segment’s new truck business benefited from exceptionally strong customer demand that was underpinned by pent-up demand following the pandemic-related restrictions in 2020 and by orders brought forward. However, global bottlenecks in the supply of bought-in parts took their toll on unit sales, especially in the second half of the year.

In the Supply Chain Solutions segment, revenue from external customers increased by 44.3 percent to €3,780.3 million (2020: €2,619.4 million). In addition to the high volume of orders in the project business (business solutions), this was because the segment worked through big-ticket orders for warehouse automation that had been placed in North America and Europe in 2020.

The growth of the service business in both segments made a noticeable contribution to the rise in revenue. Overall, however, the proportion of consolidated revenue attributable to the service business declined from 43.9 percent in the previous year to 40.5 percent. This was predominantly due to the disproportionately strong increase in revenue from the project business in the Supply Chain Solutions segment.

Revenue by sales region

In the Industrial Trucks & Services segment, a large part of the revenue growth in the reporting year was attributable to the main EMEA sales region, which had been particularly badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and then benefited from significant pent-up demand in 2021. However, the segment registered an even stronger percentage increase in the APAC region that was primarily attributable to China. Nevertheless, the pace of growth in this region tailed off in the second half of the year. Revenue from external customers also rose sharply in the Americas region, despite negative currency effects.

The Supply Chain Solutions segment saw disproportionately strong growth in its core sales market of North America, despite negative currency effects. The EMEA and APAC regions also recorded substantial increases. The main contributor to the rise in both regions was investment in new facilities and in the expansion of existing facilities, primarily by major e-commerce customers but also by customers in the grocery, textile, and general merchandise sectors.