In the first six months (October 2020 to the end of March 2021) of the current financial year 2020/2021, the Voith Group continued to develop positively, despite a very challenging market environment partly due to the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, the Voith Group was able to operate in the black in all three divisions of its core business and increase Group-wide EBIT. In addition, there was significant growth in orders received at all Group Divisions.
At EUR 2.06bn, Group sales were only slightly below the level of the prior-year period (EUR 2.08bn). After adjusting for currency effects, there was an increase of 3% compared to the previous year. At EUR 2.63bn, orders received were 21% higher than in the previous year (EUR 2.17bn). At EUR 6.06bn, the orders on hand as of March 31 were noticeably higher than the already high level of the previous year (EUR 5.58bn), resulting in its highest level in the last nine years. Voith was able to further increase its operating results slightly in the first half of the year. EBIT increased by 4% to EUR 82M, which is very positive given the continuing negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the difficult market environment, net profit was in positive territory.
In the past, Voith had strategically strengthened its core business through various M&A activities. This had a positive impact on the half-year results during the crisis. Strengthening its business as a full-line supplier in the paper sector through the acquisitions of BTG at the end of 2019 and of 90 percent of the shares in Toscotec S.p.A. in 2020 bore initial fruit in the current financial year. ELIN Motoren GmbH also made a positive contribution in the first half of 2020/21. In the spring of 2020, Voith acquired 70% of the Austrian company, which specializes in electric motors and generators for industrial applications.
