The number of employees increased by 7.2% to 4,586 as of September 30, 2021 and earnings before taxes (EBT) even improved by 177% to 82 million euros.

"We are winners of the digital transformation. During the pandemic, we have driven our corporate processes forward in this regard. Thanks to a strong global team and an innovative portfolio, we have been able to respond even faster to market requirements. We are agile and innovative and will consistently continue on our course of value-creating and sustainable growth," explains Andreas Lapp, CEO of Lapp Holding, adding: "The fact that we were classified as systemically relevant worldwide and therefore no company in the Lapp Group was unable to operate during the pandemic helped us a lot.
of the Lapp Group had to close during the pandemic."

Strongest increase in the history of Lapp

The sales growth of 295 million euros is by far the strongest increase in Lapp's history. A large part of this was due to the
average copper price, which rose significantly compared to the previous year (+38.5 percent). The currency trend had only a minor impact with a minus of 1.4% compared to the previous year. Adjusted for these copper and currency effects, this results in real and still very strong sales growth of around 16.3%.

"This significant increase is mainly due to the clear market recovery in the industrial environment in combination with market share gains and was supported by general catch-up effects along the supply chains," emphasizes Jan Ciliax, CFO of Lapp Holding AG.

Significant growth in all regions

Sales revenue developed successfully in all regions of the Lapp Group: In the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa), sales grew by 25% compared to the previous year to EUR 1,045 million. At around 73%, the geographical share of sales remained at the same high level.

In the APAC region (Asia Pacific including India), sales increased even more significantly and, at 242 million euros at the end of the year, were around 37% higher than the previous year's figure. Lapp's regional presence with production and development capacities in India, China, Korea and Indonesia had a positive impact here. The Americas region (North, Central and South America) also saw exceptionally strong growth of 16% to EUR 137 million, after sales in the region remained stable in the previous year despite coronavirus.
Stable and robust finances Lapp's net assets and financial position are extremely stable and robust. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased significantly by around 51% to 140 million euros compared to the previous year.

Earnings before taxes (EBT) climbed from EUR 30 million in the same period of the previous year to EUR 82 million (+3.2 percentage points return on sales) despite significant cost increases on the procurement side and in the supply chains.

Equity increased significantly to around 390 million euros, while the equity ratio
The equity ratio remained at a consistently high level of 42.3% (previous year: 45.7%).

Strong investment boost

Despite the pandemic situation and the related cost vigilance, the Lapp Group continued to invest heavily in the past financial year with targeted investments of around EUR 26 million in intangible assets and property, plant and equipment. A particular focus here was on software and digitalization projects as well as the expansion and harmonization of the global ERP systems (SAP HANA). Investments in property, plant and equipment focused on production and logistics sites in Europe and Korea as well as Lapp Mobility's own certified development laboratory.

More employees worldwide

Due to the expansion of capacities, particularly in production and logistics, the number of employees worldwide (excluding leased employees) increased by 7.2% to 4,586 as at September 30, 2021. At +8.5%, the increase in the commercial areas was higher than in the industrial area (+5.6%). In order to ensure profitable and above-average growth in the future, investments were made primarily in developing employees' digital skills.

As of the reporting date on September 30, 2021, the order books were 130% higher than in the previous year. Despite the continued noticeable effects of the pandemic, supply bottlenecks and high raw material costs, Lapp is also very positive about the 2021/22 financial year and expects a further moderate increase in sales in all regions. In order to support this growth digitally, customer-specifically and regionally, Lapp intends to invest heavily in the triple-digit million range in the coming years.