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Farm machinery giant Claas hails 126% increase in profits

Claas enjoyed a boost in profits and sales last year.

Farm machinery giant Claas enjoyed a 126% increase in pre-tax profits last year despite supply chain challenges caused by Covid-19.

The latest accounts for the company, which cover the year to September 30 2021, show pre-tax profits of 357 million euros (£301m) – up from 158m euros (£133m) the year before.

Sales were also up in the year by 18.7% to 4.8 billion euros (£4.04bn), and Claas said it experienced double-digit growth in all world regions.

Claas managed to achieve growth despite the supply-side bottlenecks and the pandemic,” said Thomas Bock, chairman of the Claas Group executive board.

“We even registered a double-digit rise in revenue and a significant improvement in profitability across all world regions.”

He said western and central European markets, including Germany and France, fuelled the growth in sales alongside the previous year’s growth drivers of North America and eastern Europe.

“Significant growth was even able to be achieved in the United Kingdom, in spite of great uncertainty following the country’s departure from the European Union,” added Mr Bock.

He said expenditure on research and development was at a record high of 262m euros (£221m) – up from 237m euros (£199.6m) the year before – and the company completed various projects including the reopening of its Le Mans factory in France and modernisation of its combine harvester production facilities in Harsewinkel, Germany.

Mr Bock added: “With innovative products and a strong sales team, we managed to acquire new customers for Claas and convince existing customers once again.”

He said updates to ranges included the launch of the new TRION model series of combines, an update to the ARION 400 tractors range, and an extensive technical update for the QUADRANT large square baler.

Looking ahead, Mr Bock said: “The supply situation and price development on the procurement markets present a greater risk compared to last year.

“Overall, the company anticipates stable demand for agricultural machinery in the most important sales regions during the 2022 fiscal year.”

The accounts reveal the company employed an average of 11,957 staff in the year – up from 11,395 the year before – and the number of trainees in the group was 775.