Business Review
At a glance
- Sales above prior-year level at €8,162 million due to volume growth and higher prices
- EBIT before special items of €715 million, 26.3% below 2020 figure, mainly from higher costs and negative currency effects
At €8,162 million, sales to third parties in the Agricultural Solutions segment were €502 million above the prior-year level in 2021. The main drivers were higher volumes in all regions and higher prices. Negative currency effects had an offsetting impact.
Volumes |
8.1% |
|---|---|
Prices |
2.5% |
Portfolio |
– |
Currencies |
–4.0% |
Sales |
6.6% |
In Europe, sales rose by €93 million year on year to €2,128 million. This was primarily attributable to higher volumes, especially in fungicides and herbicides. Slightly higher prices contributed to sales performance. Sales were reduced by negative currency effects, mainly in eastern Europe and Turkey.
Sales in North America rose by €81 million to €3,085 million. Higher sales volumes, especially for herbicides, more than compensated for negative currency effects and slightly lower prices.
In Asia, we increased sales by €114 million to €958 million. This was mainly due to higher sales volumes, especially in fungicides and insecticides, primarily in China. Slightly higher price levels contributed to the positive sales development, while negative currency effects had a dampening impact.
Sales in the region South America, Africa, Middle East amounted to €1,990 million, €213 million above the previous year, and were driven by significantly higher price levels and considerable volume growth in all sectors, especially in Brazil. This more than offset negative currency effects, especially in Argentina and Brazil.
|
|
2021 |
2020 |
+/– |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sales to third parties |
|
8,162 |
7,660 |
6.6% |
||||||||||
Intersegment transfers |
|
40 |
91 |
–56.5% |
||||||||||
Sales including transfers |
|
8,202 |
7,751 |
5.8% |
||||||||||
Income from operations before depreciation, amortization and special items |
|
1,375 |
1,680 |
–18.2% |
||||||||||
Income from operations before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) |
|
1,358 |
1,582 |
–14.2% |
||||||||||
EBITDA margin |
% |
16.6 |
20.7 |
− |
||||||||||
Depreciation and amortizationa |
|
662 |
1,000 |
–33.8% |
||||||||||
Income from operations (EBIT) |
|
696 |
582 |
19.6% |
||||||||||
Special items |
|
–19 |
–388 |
95.1% |
||||||||||
EBIT before special items |
|
715 |
970 |
–26.3% |
||||||||||
Return on capital employed (ROCE) |
% |
4.5 |
3.6 |
− |
||||||||||
Assets |
|
15,305 |
14,840 |
3.1% |
||||||||||
Investments including acquisitionsb |
|
347 |
459 |
–24.3% |
||||||||||
Research and development expenses |
|
904 |
840 |
7.7% |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
Agricultural Solutions – sales
By indication and sector
At €715 million, income from operations (EBIT) before special items was €255 million below the 2020 figure. This was primarily attributable to significantly higher fixed costs, mainly from much higher bonus provisions, significantly higher raw materials prices and logistics costs, and a low-margin product mix. Earnings were also weighed down by negative currency effects.
EBIT amounted to €696 million, €114 million higher than in the previous year. This figure included special income from the sale of non-capitalized know-how. Special charges in connection with streamlining the global glufosinate-ammonium production network had an offsetting effect but were well below the special charges incurred in the previous year.
Good to know
We are committed to sustainable farming and focus on four areas to help farmers not only produce more, but also better.
Climate-smart farming: We help farmers tackle pressing climate challenges with the right combination of technologies designed to increase yield, make farm management easier and more effective, and reduce the impact on the environment. Our technologies include nitrogen management products to improve fertilizer efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions, no-till herbicides, seeds and traits for more stress-resilient crops, digital solutions and bacteria that improve nitrogen availability to plants.
Sustainable solutions: We systematically steer our innovation pipeline according to sustainability criteria from an early stage on. This enables us to continually develop innovations that offer added value for farmers, the environment and society. We also assess each product in our existing portfolio with respect to its contribution to sustainability. In this way, we systematically steer our portfolio to annually increase the sales share from solutions that make a substantial sustainability contribution.
Digital farming: Digitalization has the power to transform agriculture and make it more efficient and sustainable. Our digital solutions help farmers to produce more with less and grow their business profitably while reducing their environmental footprint.
Smart stewardship: Our stewardship tools and services are tailored to farmers’ daily work. Farmers get the support they need to use our products safely: access to tools and services, protective equipment, customized training, digital solutions and new and future-oriented application technologies such as drones.
Division |
Europe |
North America |
Asia Pacific |
South America, |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Agricultural Solutions |
26% |
38% |
12% |
24% |
8,162 |