Bauer reports good and bad of a ‘challenging’ 2022

Bauer’s 120 tonne MC 96 duty cycle crane

The German engineering firm reported group revenues for the year of €1.75 billion, an improvement of 13.7% on revenues for 2021.

Revenues from operations within Germany totalled €536.5 million, with the remaining €1.2 billion (or 69.3%) coming from international contracts.

In terms of EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes), the company – which operates as both a manufacturer of foundation drilling equipment and foundation contractor – declared a negative sum of -€68.0 million, compared with the previous year’s €36.0 million.

Bauer sounded a positive note with its order backlog, which stood at €1.45 billion, a 5.9% improvement on last year’s €1.36 billion.

The group said the key earnings figures were brought down by a number of influencing factors, including the effects of deconsolidation of its Russian-based business in the construction equipment segment.

Bauer added that it had been forced to make significant write-downs on fixed assets, due to the changed interest rate environment.

There were also, the company said, negative influences pertaining to the assessment of country risks.

These and other factors, said Bauer, led to a “significant negative impact on the key earnings figures in the amount of €61.3 million”.

Segment breakdown

The Bauer Group operates globally within three segments: Construction, Equipment and Resources.

The firm’s construction segment generated revenues of €787.4 million in 2022, an increase of 15.4% on the previous year.

Bauer reported that its equipment segment had generated revenues of €747.8 million in the year, an increase of 9.7% on the figure for 2021.

Peter Hingott, member of Bauer’s management board, said of the report, “Last year, we had to absorb some significant effects on earnings, which had led to a significant loss.

“Nevertheless, there were also bright spots last year. The international construction markets developed well in Europe and the USA and the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, recorded significant growth rates again.

“In Asia, towards the end of 2022, we were able to leave the consequences of the pandemic more and more behind us.”