Agricultural machinery manufacturer Claas increased its sales by 2.7% to a new high of €4.9bn under the difficult general conditions of 2022.

Despite increasing sales, its net income is down significantly, dropping from €272.6m in 2021 to €88.1m in 2022, a 67.7% hit in the space of a year.

According to Claas, its earnings before taxes of €166.3m, down 53.4% on last year, is essentially burdened by impairments in Eastern Europe as a result of geopolitical changes and disrupted supply chains.

Claas CEO Thomas Böck said: “The year 2022 has challenged us in every respect. In this difficult mix, we have shown how resilient our business model is.

“We delivered and proved with a lot of personal commitment that we can measure up to our vision of making customers the best in their field.

“We have delivered 100% on our harvest promise to our customers. For this, all employees and distribution partners deserve my thanks.”

Due to the aftermath of COVID-19 and geopolitical upheavals, Claas said it had to contend at times with massive disruptions to its supply chains, which could only be overcome with considerable financial and personnel effort.

It says that the 22-week production shutdown in Harsewinkel during the plant modernisation was also a major challenge. It said time-critical deliveries of machines to customers and individual bridging measures could be realised with great efforts by the manufacturing plants and the sales team.

Research and development reached a new high in the history of the company, rising by 6.4% to €279m. The Claas Group employs a total of 12,116 people worldwide, up from 11,957 in 2021. Approximately 50.4% of these people are outside of Germany.

Outlook

For fiscal year 2023, Claas anticipates double-digit sales and income growth despite the present uncertainties. The company expects demand for agricultural equipment to remain stable overall in the main sales regions in middle and western Europe, as well as in North America. It says the number of international orders is above average.