Economic Development
Overall development in 2022
In 2022, the global firefighting industry stagnated in a generally weaker economic environment. From February, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine massively put renewed pressure on international supply chains and commodity markets, which had previously shown the first signs of recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. In the further course of the year, recurring and changing bottlenecks in the supply of materials produced highly uncertain production conditions, and this combined with significantly higher supplier prices for some items compromised vehicle production within the Rosenbauer Group.
Despite these difficult conditions, the CEEU and NISA sales regions and the Preventive Fire Protection segment succeeded in increasing their deliveries and project volumes.
Incoming orders hit a new record level of € 1,230.0 million in 2022 (2021: € 1,064.3 million), with all five sales regions and the Preventive Fire Protection segment reporting clear growth. The order from the Berlin Fire Department, which following a one-year trial phase has decided to purchase four more vehicles from the fully electric Revolutionary Technology (RT) model series, is particularly pleasing. The order backlog of € 1,469.7 million as of December 31, 2022 (2021: € 1,145.2 million) was significantly higher than consolidated revenues for the year.
Consolidated revenues/EBIT (in € million)
Development of revenues and earnings
Revenue development
Revenues for 2022 were on a par with the previous year at € 972.2 million (2021: € 975.1 million). At the same time, virtually all material groups were affected by supply chain disruptions and supply bottlenecks. Poor availability of truck chassis in particular repeatedly delayed line production and resulted in considerable rework. In the summer, Rosenbauer began to build largely standardized stock vehicles in Europe in order to meet the most pressing needs of emergency services at short notice and improve capacity utilization at its locations.
Business segments (by area)
The Group’s strongest product segment in terms of revenues was Vehicles at around 74% (2021: 76%). This was followed by Customer Service, which accounted for 10% (2021: 8%) of total revenues at € 96.5 million (2021: € 78.4 million). The revenue contribution of the Fire & Safety Equipment segment was also 10% (2021: 9%) and that of the Other Revenues segment was 3% (2021: 4%). Preventive Fire Protection generated revenues of € 36.3 million (2021: € 29.8 million), thus contributing 3% (2021: 3%) to consolidated revenues.
By far the largest share of revenues was accounted for by the parent company Rosenbauer International AG at € 443.8 million (2021: € 444.3 million). With an export ratio of 84% (2021: 89%) and deliveries to more than 120 countries, Rosenbauer has the largest international presence in the firefighting industry.
Revenues by areas in 2022
Cost development
At € 572.6 million (2021: € 547.8 million), cost of materials accounted for the largest share of cost of sales, which was higher than in the previous year relative to revenues. Proportionate personnel expenses amounted to € 189.6 million (2021: € 171.5 million), and were likewise higher than in the previous year in relation to revenues. Depreciation and amortization expenses on property, plant and equipment and intangible assets increased from € 13.7 million to € 14.1 million in the reporting year.
Structural costs comprise research and development, sales and administrative expenses, and went up from € 129.1 million to € 147.7 million. Capitalized research and development costs, which were reported in the income statement in 2022, decreased from € 8.9 million to € 6.3 million.
Other operating expenses of € 1.9 million (2021: € 1.3 million) were offset by other operating income of € 10.2 million (2021: € 9.0 million).
Result of operations
As a result of lower gross profit, the Rosenbauer Group is reporting EBIT of € -10.6 million for the 2022 financial year (2021: € 35.0 million). Not only does this figure reflect the disruptions to production caused by supply bottlenecks for various components and raw materials; it is also impacted by one-time effects such as the Interschutz trade show and restructuring costs. The missing parts situation improved slightly toward the end of the year, which allowed for positive EBIT of € 19.9 million in the fourth quarter.
The financial result was negative at € -19.6 million due to the deconsolidation of the joint venture in Russia and greater financing costs, and was down significantly on the previous year’s level (2021: € -6.2 million).
Consequently, earnings before taxes (EBT) amounted to € -30.2 million (2021: € 28.9 million). Reported tax income was € 7.8 million (2021: € -5.7 million). The tax income in 2022 stems from positive tax effects arising from the reorganization in the US and the recognition of loss carryforwards.
After adding this tax income, the net profit for the period was € -22.3 million (2021: € 23.2 million).
The non-controlling interests held by the partners at Rosenbauer Aerials, Rosenbauer Española, Rosenbauer South Africa, Eskay Rosenbauer Brunei and Rosenbauer Saudi Arabia amounted to € 1.9 million in the reporting year (2021: € 7.8 million including non-controlling interests from the companies Rosenbauer America and Rosenbauer Slovenia in which the company purchased shares in the reporting year).
Orders
The Rosenbauer Group reported incoming orders of € 1,230.0 million in the past year (2021: € 1,064.3 million), with all five sales regions and the Preventive Fire Protection segment posting clear growth. The Preventive Fire Protection segment reported the greatest relative growth.
Incoming orders/ order backlog as of Dec. 31 (in € million)
There was exceptionally dynamic growth in demand over the year as a whole. Substantial orders for personal protective equipment and ARFF vehicles were acquired in Australia, for instance. The largest order for stationary fire protection in the company’s history to date was placed by Müllheizkraftwerk Wiesbaden, Germany.
The order backlog of € 1,469.7 million as of December 31, 2022 (2021: € 1,145.2 million) was significantly higher than consolidated revenues for the year.
Vehicle revenue by category in 2022
Vehicles delivered
