BERLIN, March 4 (Xinhua) -- German automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler AG recorded a net loss of 424 million euros (510 million U.S. dollars) in fiscal year 2020, down from a profit of 428 million euros in the previous year, the company said on Thursday.
Schaeffler's revenues declined at constant currency by 10.4 percent year-on-year to around 12.6 billion euros last year. The global coronavirus pandemic "resulted in a significant revenue decline," the company noted.
However, the second half of the year, and particularly the fourth quarter, "improved noticeably" compared to the first half of the year, to which all divisions contributed, according to Schaeffler.
Among all regions, China "recovered most rapidly," ending the year with an 8.7 percent increase in revenues at constant currency, while revenues across the Americas, Europe and the Asia/Pacific regions declined, according to Schaeffler.
"Our positioning as an automotive and industrial supplier operating worldwide has proven to serve us well in difficult times and has helped us weather the crisis relatively well," said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Klaus Rosenfeld in a statement.
The order intake target for the e-mobility business division of 1.5 billion euros to two billion euros was significantly exceeded with 2.7 billion euros last year, according to the company.
For 2021, Schaeffler expects its revenues to "grow considerably," increasing by more than seven percent at constant currency.
However, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Klaus Patzak warned that the economic environment remained challenging in times of the pandemic. "We do not expect to reach pre-crisis levels until after 2022," said Patzak. (1 euro = 1.20 U.S. dollar) Enditem
