KSB continues its successful course
in the 2022 financial year

• Significant increase in order intake and sales revenue
• Return on earnings (EBIT) increased to 6.6 %
• Strategic orientation embedded in organisation

FRANKENTHAL: The Frankenthal-based pump and valve manufacturer KSB continues on its growth course despite numerous challenges in the 2022 financial year. With order intake of € 2,862 million (+ 18.7 %) and a sales revenue of € 2,573 million (+ 9.8 %), the company achieved its highest ever figures for order intake and sales revenue. The EBIT margin was increased to 6.6 % (€ 169 million) – the best result in over 10 years.

The KSB shareholders are benefiting from the outstanding performance to a particular extent. The Management will propose to the Annual General Meeting to distribute a dividend of € 19.50 per ordinary share and € 19.76 per preference share.

The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic, a cyber attack and hail damage in France all presented the company with major challenges. “In addition to production stoppages, we experienced massive cost increases and unpredictable disruptions in the logistics chains,” reports CEO Dr Stephan Timmermann. “In a special team effort, KSB tackled and overcame these adversities and constraints and achieved excellent performance.”

The significant increase in order intake is due to major orders in the Energy and Water Market Areas, as well as strong demand in the standard business. The largest Segment, Pumps, contributed € 1,586 million (+ 21.3 %) to order intake. The Valves Segment achieved an order intake of € 360 million (+ 6.3 %). With the service and spare parts business, KSB SupremeServ increased its order intake significantly by + 19.7 % to € 917 million. The largest percentage growth was recorded in the Regions Asia / Pacific (+ 29.9 %) and Americas (+ 29.5 %).

Sales revenue rose considerably in the second half of the year. It amounted to € 1,390 million (+ 9.4 %) in the Pumps Segment in the financial year. The Valves Segment recorded sales revenue of € 333 million (+ 9.0 %) and KSB SupremeServ € 850 million (+ 10.9 %). The Mining, General Industry and Water Market Areas contributed most to the growth in sales revenue. The largest percentage increase in sales revenue was recorded in the Regions Americas (+ 32.2 %) and Asia / Pacific (+ 16.0 %).

The corporate strategy, which was further embedded in the organisation during the financial year, is aimed at additional potential for growth in the Pumps, Valves and KSB SupremeServ Segments. The focus is on digitalisation and the expansion of the service and spare parts business, among other things. In addition, KSB is consistently pursuing its nine sustainability goals. The increased use of renewable energies such as green electricity plays just as important a role as employee satisfaction. In the global employee survey in autumn 2022, the company achieved a significant increase in its engagement score compared with the last survey in 2019 and is thus above the average for the German mechanical engineering industry for the first time.

KSB invested around € 122 million in sustainability, capacity expansion, digitalisation and productivity improvements in the 2022 financial year. A large part of the investments is in the European locations. Investments are due to be further increased in 2023. 

“KSB’s excellent development is undoubtedly a success of all our employees, of which we can be proud,” says Stephan Timmermann. “No doubt 2023 also has many challenges in store for us. We are confident that we will nevertheless continue to increase order intake and sales revenue as well as profitability. The key to this is the consistent implement­tation of our corporate strategy.”

KSB is a leading international manufacturer of pumps and valves. The Frankenthal-based Group has a presence on five continents with its own sales and marketing organisations, manufacturing facilities and service operations. With a workforce of around 15,700, the KSB Group generated sales revenue of € 2.6 billion in 2022.