Customers invested more heavily and KUKA recorded a considerable increase in demand for robotics and automation solutions. Compared with the same period of the previous year, Group sales in the second quarter rose by 48.5% to €808.2 million. EBIT amounted to €25.6 million, after -€43.9 million in the second quarter of 2020. Orders received in-creased by 80.9% to nearly €1 billion.
Orders received in the first half-year totaled just under €1.9 billion. KUKA thus recorded the second-highest level of orders received in the company’s history during this period. “Our focus areas of robotics and automation are in greater demand than ever,” said Peter Mohnen, CEO of KUKA AG. “We are benefiting here from KUKA’s global orientation, with strong growth in Asia and North America.”
The Systems division, for example, benefited from the sharp rise in demand in the USA, where automotive manufacturers increasingly invested in e-mobility. In Europe, the order situation remained difficult. Overall, orders received at Systems increased sharply to € 640.7 million in the first half of the year (H1/20: € 239.5 million).
In China, KUKA recorded considerably more orders than in the same periods of the previous year, with an increase of 83.7% in the second quarter and 43.2% in the first half-year. KUKA won orders and projects not only in traditional areas, but also in new segments such as e-mobility and general industry, including e-commerce, for example.
More sustainable robots and increased sales with new products
The book-to-bill ratio, which reflects the ratio of orders received to sales revenues, rose across virtually all business segments and stood at 1.23 for the Group as a whole in the first half of the year. Values above 1 indicate increasing demand.
Product innovations include new developments such as the KR IONTEC, KR SCARA and KR C5 robot controller. Moreover, new generations of KR QUANTEC robots – a KUKA bestseller – consume up to 45% less energy compared to the predecessor generation, according to the company’s own calculations.
“We will continue to drive innovation more intensively in order to strengthen KUKA as a global player. Our goal is to tap new areas and markets of the future and to support our customers in these fields with the right products and solutions,” said Mohnen. These include areas of general industry such as e-commerce or consumer goods, new technologies such as e-mobility, and solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises.
