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Massive drop in profits at Liqui Moly
Despite an increase in sales in 2020, the German lubricant manufacturer was not able to convince in terms of earnings as in previous years.
Massive drop in profits at Liqui Moly
Liqui Moly's sales increased by 7.1 percent to 611 million euros in 2020. Given the massive impact of the pandemic on the global economy and the decline in global oil and fuel consumption, it is still a strong result. Revenue halved to 25 million euros - also because the Ulm-based company invested almost 45 million euros in marketing measures during the crisis.
In addition, more than 100 new employees were hired. This brings the number of employees to 989 at the end of 2020. "We went on the attack and stood out from our competitors. Despite meticulous implementation of the hygiene measures, protection concepts and home office, we were there for our customers around the clock and have extremely increased our presence in all media. The fact that we are growing is only the logical consequence of our actions," says managing director Ernst Prost, describing his course. Thanks to the company's solid starting position, a balance sheet total of 208 million euros as well as an equity base of 168 million euros and an associated equity ratio of over 80 percent for Liqui Moly GmbH, the lubricant specialist had enough strength to make the necessary investments without outside capital and credit burdens.
These paid off, says Prost: “Thanks to our decision-making, we were able to make significant gains at the end of the year.” At the same time, he reiterates that Liqui Moly could have achieved a much higher increase in sales. "We felt the shortage in all areas due to Corona, lockdown short-time work and home office among our suppliers. We lacked raw materials, packaging materials, labels, closures and logistics and freight capacities also fell noticeably," said the managing director.
Overall, all divisions of the Liqui Moly product portfolio were able to record successes. In the company's core business, motor oils, sales increased by 6.4 percent. The fact that people are inevitably traveling less and spending more free time at home is also reflected in the increase in sales of products for motorcycles, bicycles and boats.