Economic
Development
Overall development in 2023
The global firefighting market has an annual volume1 of around 21,000 vehicles with a total value of around € 6.3 billion. This figure does not include compact vehicles up to a gross vehicle weight of 7.5 t, fire and safety equipment, service and stationary equipment.
Based on Rosenbauer’s internal estimates, the global market volume is likely to have increased in 2023, partly due to continuous investment activity in the public sector and partly due to price adjustments made by numerous manufacturers in response to increases in personnel and material costs. The strongest sales regions are Europe, North America, and Asia; the biggest single markets the US, China, and Germany.
Demand for ARFF vehicles in particular picked up in the reporting year, especially in Europe and Asia. This includes both planned new procurements and catch-up effects from the COVID-19 pandemic. Interest in firefighting vehicles with electric drives is also increasing. At the same time, international supply chains have not yet returned to their usual stability and there are recurring interruptions in the supply of individual parts. As a result, delivery times for firefighting vehicles are still above the long-term average.
Despite these challenging conditions, all Rosenbauer sales regions and the Preventive Fire Protection segment succeeded in increasing their revenues in 2023. At € 1,450.3 million, order intake in the 2023 financial year was once again at a record level (2022: € 1,230.0 million). All segments, with the exception of the Middle East & Africa area and Preventive Fire Protection, recorded significant growth. The order for 45 industrial firefighting vehicles from Saudi Electric Company is particularly noteworthy, as the customer is relying on chassis from Rosenbauer production in the US and superstructures from Europe. The order is to be manufactured partly in the US, partly in Austria and partly locally in the region. The order backlog of € 1,788.0 million as of December 31, 2023 (2022: € 1,469.7 million) was significantly higher than consolidated revenues for the year.
Consolidated revenues/EBIT (in € million)
Development of revenues and earnings
Revenue development
At € 1,064.5 million, revenues in 2023 were well above the previous year’s level (2022: € 972.2 million) despite a cyber-attack in February. At the same time, supply chains stabilized only slowly in the reporting year. Particularly in the first half of the year, the number of chassis delivered was still below the agreed delivery volumes and only gradually increased in the second half of the year.
Sales areas
The Group’s strongest product segment in terms of revenues was Vehicles at around 74% (2022: 74%). This was followed by Customer Service, which generated revenues of € 103.7 million (2022: € 96.5 million), accounting for 10% (2022: 10%) of total revenues. The revenue contribution of the Equipment segment was 9% (2022: 10%) and that of the Other Revenues segment was 3% (2022: 3%). Preventive Fire Protection generated revenues of € 41.6 million (2022: € 32.2 million), thus contributing 4% (2022: 3%) to consolidated revenues.
By far the largest share of revenues was accounted for by the parent company Rosenbauer International AG at € 524.2 million (2022: € 443.8 million). With an export ratio of 89% (2022: 84%) and deliveries to more than 120 countries, Rosenbauer has the largest international presence in the firefighting industry. Cost of sales increased to € 899.4 million (2022: € 843.3 million). Gross profit increased by 28.1% to € 165.1 million (2022: € 128.9 million). The gross profit margin went up to 15.5% (2022: 13.3%).
Revenues by areas in 2023
Cost development
At € 652.6 million (2022: € 572.6 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 € 215.1 million (2022: € 189.6 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 decreased from € 14.1 million to € 13.5 million in the reporting year.
Structural costs comprise expenses for research and development, sales and administration. At € 137.9 million, these were significantly lower than the previous year’s figure of € 147.7 million. Capitalized research and development costs fell from € 6.3 million to € 6.1 million.
Other operating expenses of € 2.6 million (2022: € 1.9 million) were offset by other operating income of € 12.9 million (2022: € 10.2 million).
Result of operations
As a result of the increased gross profit, the Rosenbauer Group is reporting clearly positive EBIT of € 37.5 million for the 2023 financial year (2022: € -10.6 million). The measures to increase efficiency and higher sales prices for the vehicles delivered made a significant contribution to this result.
The enormous increase in interest rates and higher debt in 2023 led to significantly higher financing costs and, as a result, to a negative financial result of € -30.5 million (2022: € -19.6 million).
Earnings before taxes (EBT) amounted to € 7.0 million (2022: € -30.2 million). The reported tax expense amounted to € 5.8 million (2022: tax income of € -7.8 million).
This resulted in a positive result for the period of € 1.2 million (2022: € -22.3 million).
The non-controlling interests held by the partners at Rosenbauer Aerials, Rosenbauer Española, Rosenbauer South Africa, Eskay Rosenbauer Brunei and Rosenbauer Saudi Arabia accounted for a share of earnings of € 2.2 million in the reporting year (2022: € 1.9 million).
Orders
In the past year, the Rosenbauer Group recorded order intake of € 1,450.3 million (2022: € 1,230.0 million). With the exception of Preventive Fire Protection, all segments reported significant growth. The Europe area recorded the greatest growth. There was exceptionally dynamic growth in demand over the year as a whole. For example, Rosenbauer once again won a tender from the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and reported a record order intake level for rescue platform vehicles in Germany in the year under review.
The order backlog of € 1,788.0 million as of December 31, 2023 (2022: € 1,469.7 million) was significantly higher than consolidated revenues for the year.
Incoming orders/ order backlog as of Dec. 31 (in € million)
Vehicle revenue by category in 2023
Vehicles delivered
1 Last available market data from 2022. Own calculation based on figures from the World Bank and the UN as well as annual reports and expert estimates.