Testing group Dekra continues sales growth – profits are declining
Despite the effects of the Ukraine war, the testing group Dekra has continued to grow its sales – but this has not had an impact on profits. The net profit for 2022 was 126.4 million euros, as the company announced on Monday in Stuttgart. Those were 10.7 percent less than in the previous year (2021: 141.5 million). At that time, however, the surplus was positively distorted by a special effect in personnel costs. According to the auditing company, the operating profit before taxes and interest adjusted for this amount was approximately at the previous year’s level.
Sales increased by 7.4 percent to around 3.8 billion euros in 2022, after 3.5 billion in the previous year. With the renewed plus, the continuation of a longer trend is becoming apparent: Dekra’s sales had recently developed positively. Only in 2020 did it not rise because of the corona pandemic – for the first time in 16 years.
“We have achieved our earnings target in a very challenging and crisis-ridden environment,” said Dekra CFO Wolfgang Linsemaier. In view of the global economic situation and the resulting increase in personnel and energy costs, this cannot be taken for granted. The number of employees at Dekra grew by 876 in 2022. The testing company employed around 48,650 people worldwide, including a good 13,250 in Germany.
The group started the first quarter of the current financial year with sales of EUR 990 million. This corresponds to an increase of 12.8 percent compared to the previous year. Mid to high single-digit sales growth is expected for the full year, said CEO Stan Zurkiewicz. By the company’s 100th anniversary in 2025, Dekra wants to grow in the areas of future mobility, cyber security and sustainability, among other things.