Kuka speaks of "unprecedented challenges" in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic. The uncertainties are making many companies reluctant to invest. "We are clearly feeling this in our markets, which were already tense before this crisis," says Peter Mohnen, CEO of Kuka. A difficult order situation, restrictions and plant closures have affected all divisions worldwide, especially the project business, according to the Kuka CEO.

Incoming orders fell from EUR 914.0 million in the same quarter of the previous year to EUR 551.7 million, a decrease of 39.6%. Sales fell by 32.1% from 801.9 million euros to 544.2 million euros. At 1.01, the ratio of incoming orders to sales, the book-to-bill ratio, was still above the important mark of 1. In the same quarter of the previous year, it was 1.14. At EUR -43.9 million, EBIT, i.e. earnings before interest and taxes, was significantly lower than in the same quarter of the previous year (EUR +23.7 million) and below the first quarter of 2020 due to the consequences of the lockdown measures. The EBIT margin fell accordingly from 3.0% in the second quarter of 2019 to -8.1% in the second quarter of 2020.

Cumulative incoming orders amounted to €1,240.7 million in the first half of 2020, 31.4% below the previous year's figure of €1,809.2 million. Sales revenue amounted to € 1,168.8 million in the first half of 2020, a decrease of 24.1% compared to the same period of the previous year (€ 539.6 million). The book-to-bill ratio was 1.06 in the first half of 2020 (H1/19: 1.18). The Group's EBIT fell to € -78.1 million. In the first half of 2019, the figure was EUR 45.9 million. The EBIT margin fell from 3.0% in the first half of 2019 to -6.7% in 2020.

Kuk Robotics with negative result

Kuka Robotics generated incoming orders of EUR 195.7 million in the second quarter, 30% below the same period of the previous year (Q2/2019: EUR 279.6 million). Sales fell by 35.2% from EUR 287.9 million in Q2/19 to EUR 186.7 million in Q2/20. The book-to-bill ratio was 1.05 (Q2/19: 0.97). EBIT amounted to EUR -10.3 million and was significantly lower than in the previous year (Q2/19: EUR 20.7 million). The EBIT margin fell from 7.2% in Q2/19 to -5.5% in Q2/20. The low sales volume had an impact on earnings and led to negative EBIT.

Incoming orders in the first half of 2020 amounted to EUR 465.5 million, which corresponds to a decrease of 23.3% compared to the same period of the previous year (H1/19: EUR 606.9 million). Sales revenue fell by 27.5% from EUR 562.3 million in the first half of 2019 to EUR 407.8 million in the first half of 2020. At 1.14, the book-to-bill ratio remained above 1 (H1/19: 1.08). EBIT in the first half of the year amounted to € -14.2 million, which corresponds to an EBIT margin of -3.5%. In the same period of the previous year, the Robotics business segment generated € 34.8 million with an EBIT margin of 6.2%.

Kuka Systems with declining project business

At Kuka Systems, incoming orders fell from €222.2 million in the second quarter of 2019 to €124.0 million in the second quarter of 2020 (-44.2%). Sales fell from 238.9 million euros in the second quarter of 2019 to 118.7 million euros in the second quarter of 2020, which corresponds to a decrease of 50.3%. The book-to-bill ratio improved year-on-year from 0.93 (Q2/19) to 1.04 (Q2/20). EBIT in the second quarter of 2020 fell to EUR -25.7 million after EUR 12.9 million in the same quarter of the previous year. At -21.7%, the EBIT margin was significantly lower than the previous year's figure of 5.4

The sharp decline was primarily due to the difficult market environment, the increased pressure on operating margins and the deterioration in projects for orders from previous years. Although Systems was able to improve its cost structure, this was not enough to compensate for the sharp decline in sales. The effects of the pandemic, as well as project deteriorations, weighed on the result.

Incoming orders in the first half of 2020 amounted to EUR 239.5 million after EUR 425.6 million in the first half of 2019. Together with the lower incoming orders from the first quarter of 2020, this resulted in an overall decrease of 43.7%. Sales amounted to EUR 291.9 million in the first half of the year and were therefore below the previous year's level (H1/19: EUR 455.8 million). The book-to-bill ratio fell from 0.93 in H1/19 to 0.82 in H1/20. EBIT amounted to EUR -34.0 million in H1/20 after EUR 17.7 million in H1/19. This corresponds to an EBIT margin of -11.6% (H1/19: 3.9%).

Swisslog suffers from postponed investment decisions

Swisslog recorded a sharp decline in incoming orders of 60.8% to EUR 109.8 million in the second quarter of 2020 (Q2/19: EUR 280.4 million). Due to the coronavirus crisis, numerous customers postponed their investment decisions. The previous year's order intake also included a major order. Sales revenue fell by 7.9% from 142.6 million euros in Q2/19 to 131.4 million euros in Q2/20. The book-to-bill ratio fell sharply to 0.84 (Q2/19: 1.97). EBIT deteriorated to EUR -1.5 million in the second quarter of 2020 after EUR 5.6 million in the second quarter of 2019. The EBIT margin consequently fell to -1.1% in Q2/20 after 3.9% in Q2/19. The development due to the pandemic as well as one-off costs from efficiency measures reduced the margin.

On a cumulative basis, the Swisslog business segment recorded incoming orders of EUR 260.2 million in the first half of 2020 - a decrease of 45.0% (H1/19: EUR 473.3 million). Sales revenue amounted to EUR 278.7 million in the first half of 2020, down on the previous year (H1/19: EUR 284.6 million). The book-to-bill ratio fell from 1.66 in the previous year to 0.93. EBIT in the first half of 2020 amounted to € 2.1 million with an EBIT margin of 0.8% (H1/19: EBIT € 6.9 million; EBIT margin 2.4%).

The outlook

Kuka continues to expect the Covid-19 pandemic to have an impact. Due to these general conditions, Kuka expects a decline in demand for the current financial year and thus both sales and an EBIT margin significantly below the previous year's level. CEO Mohnen summarizes: " 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. 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."