Grammer felt the coronavirus fever in 2020
Ursensollen, Germany – Grammer, the automotive and industrial machinery seating company, generated EUR 1.7bn in 2020, down 16.1% on the previous financial year.
Operating EBIT across the business fell from earnings of 77m in 2019 to a loss of EUR 11.7m in 2020.
Sales in the company's automotive business sales fell 17.6% between 2019 and 2020, to EUR 1,19m in 2020. Operating EBIT changed from earnings of EUR51.5m in 2019 to a loss of EUR 61.6m in 2020.
The change in fortunes across the business and in the automotive division were driven by the impact of coronavirus on automotive production around the world.
Tosten Seehars, Grammer’s CEO, said: 'The impact of coronavirus left deep traces on our business performance, especially in the first half of the year. The second half showed a much more favourable trend. Income in the fourth quarter of the year increased in the APAC and EMEA regions… we are well positioned to actively shape future mobility.'
The company said that it reduced spending on personnel and variable costs. It consolidated sites in Europe and North America, with 300 jobs going voluntarily in Germany by the end of 2020.