Lely shows growth despite challenging conditions

Highlights:

• €702 million turnover (2021: €611 million); 
• 15% revenue growth, lower than expected due to challenging conditions in 2022;
• Operations in Russia halted following military invasion of Ukraine;
• Component shortages – partly due to EU sanctions against Russia – depress results and cause longer delivery times to customers;
• Order book for 2023 is very strong, situation around components remains challenging. 

Lely, market leader in automated systems for dairy farmers, today presented its annual results for 2022 with total turnover of €702 million (2021: €611 million). This result is lower than expected. Amid challenging circumstances - such as the discontinuation of operations in Russia, COVID-19 and component shortages - it is a good result. The revenue growth ensures that Lely can continue to invest in quality and compliance to meet increasing laws and regulations worldwide. In addition, Lely continues to invest in sustainable innovations for long-term dairy farmers. Around 8% of total turnover is invested in Research & Development for new innovations for the farm of the future.

Increasing global demand for robots

André van Troost, CEO of Lely: "The global demand for dairy continues to grow, until 2030 an average yearly growth of 3% (Melkveevisie, January 2023). Combined with the need of dairy farmers to produce more efficiently and sustainably, the demand for our Lely robots is increasing. On the other hand, we faced quite a few challenges last year. After our turnover stagnated in 2021, we can be satisfied with the growth we achieved in 2022 under challenging conditions. Among our customers, we see high customer satisfaction. At the same time, it is difficult for them to face longer delivery times for new products."  

New colleagues and new premises

"In 2022, we have grown not only in turnover but also in the number of employees. Worldwide, talented new colleagues have joined Lely who can grow with us in the coming years. In addition, we have opened several new premises, such as the Lely Park in Pella (USA) and the expansion of the Lely Campus in Maassluis (the Netherlands). This has expanded our production capacity to continue to meet the growing demand for robots. In addition, Lely Germany and Lely Center Enns opened new offices (in Günzburg, Germany, and Enns, Austria, respectively)."  

"In 2022, we celebrated '30 years of automatic milking' with the Lely Astronaut, launched a new generation Juno feed pusher and won several awards for our latest innovations Lely Sphere and Lely Exos. Besides the continuous development of our existing product portfolio, we are seeing high adoption of our data management platform Lely Horizon, which converts data from our robots into advice for optimal operations. Since its introduction in 2020, around 85% of our customers have already switched to this system." 

Focus on sustainability undiminished

To ensure that dairy farming continues to make a valuable contribution to the increasing demand for food supply in the future, Lely is investing in sustainable milk production. The focus on sustainability therefore remains as strong as ever. On the one hand by inventing and developing innovations for farmers that ensure a sustainable farm, and on the other hand by looking at its own business operations. The facilities in Pella (USA) and in Maassluis (the Netherlands) meet the highest standards in terms of energy and water consumption. 

Outlook for 2023

The order book is - again - very strong at the start of 2023. As a result, Lely expects strong sales growth. At the same time, the situation around components remains uncertain, which may affect the year-end result. This year marks Lely's 75^th anniversary, a milestone that will be celebrated in June 2023. Then Lely will present its new vision of the farm of the future. 

For further information contact Inge Baars, Sr Corporate Communications Specialist, Lely International NV: ibaars@lely.com, +31 (0) 6 2186 5137.