The coronavirus pandemic has presented the global economy, including Kuka, with unprecedented challenges in the first half of 2020. "Corona and its effects are creating a high degree of uncertainty. Many companies are reacting with a reluctance to invest. We are clearly feeling this in our markets, which were already tense before this crisis," said Peter Mohnen, CEO of Kuka.

Business declined in all five segments, albeit to varying degrees. "The global economy is in recession. A difficult order situation worldwide, restrictions and plant closures have affected all business areas in the global Kuka Group, especially the project business," says the CEO. The company is not alone in this: the industry association VDMA recently forecast a decline of at least 20 percent for the robotics market in 2020.

The Group recorded incoming orders of EUR 551.7 million in the second quarter of 2020. This corresponds to a decrease of 39.6% compared to the second quarter of 2019 (Q2 /19: EUR 914 million). At 544.2 million euros, sales revenue declined by 32.1% (Q2/19: 801.9 million euros). On a cumulative basis, Kuka generated incoming orders of 1,240.7 million euros in the first half of 2020, which was 31.4% below the previous year's figure (H1/19: 1,809.2 million euros). Sales revenue amounted to 1,168.8 million euros in the first half of 2020, which corresponds to a decrease of 24.1% compared to the previous year (H1 /19: 1,539.6 million euros).

Outlook for the 2020 financial year
The consequences of the coronavirus crisis are likely to be felt for a long time to come, and billions are being spent worldwide on aid programs to counteract the massive economic slump. Due to these ongoing difficult conditions, Kuka expects a decline in demand for the current financial year. Both sales and the EBIT margin are expected to be significantly below the previous year's level. A negative EBIT margin is expected for the year as a whole.

Kuka CEO Peter Mohnen © Kuka

"We are in a time of upheaval, important markets such as the automotive sector will change in the long term - even independently of corona. Our focus is on setting the course for the future in order to get Kuka through this crisis and position it for future developments. Automation can emerge from this crisis as a winner and gain in importance in all regions," said Peter Mohnen. "We also expect that robotics and automation solutions in particular will be in greater demand in the medium term as a result of the experience gained from the coronavirus crisis and that many postponed investments will be made up for." as