Calf feeding boost
Advantage Plastics says it is revolutionising calf meal storage and handling, making farm life easier, safer, and more efficient this season.
This was despite volatile and unpredictable global scenarios – including the war in Ukraine – the availability of components and increasing energy costs.
Revenues generated by the sale of 40,207 tractors and harvesting machines, totalled €1,803 million, a growth of 22% - over the €1,481 million for 2021. This was 42% over the €1,268 million Euros achieved in 2019, the year before the Covid pandemic.
Earnings also hit an all-time high in 2022, reaching €199 million Euros or 11.1% - compared with 10.8% for 2021.
The company notes that the significant growth in turnover seen in 2022 is a consequence of the group’s focus on more technologically advanced tractors and greater penetration into non-EU markets, which now represents 37% of total sales.
Major technological upgrades to the existing range and the launch of new models in the high power segment have contributed substantially to the 24% in the average value of tractors sold. This is only partly attributable to higher sale prices driven by inflation (+10%), while in parallel with this production volumes also increased by 5%.
During the 2022 market year, SDF further consolidated its presence with the acquisition of a majority stake in VitiBot. The French company specialised in electric robotics and auto-guidance systems for vineyard applications.
During the same period, the company grew its workforce to 1462 in Italy (+9%) and 4462 globally (+7%). In 2022, €60 million was invested in research and development.
This represents a 3.3% of group revenues – focused on new products, digitalisation and new technologies for precision farming.
Looking at SDF’s markets, in Europe, revenues reached €1,132 million (+16% over 2021). Meanwhile, in China, market presence of the DEUTZ-FAHR brand has been further strengthened with the introduction of new mid-range models (50-90 HP) and more models up to 200hp. This helped to produce a 44% increase in sales over 2021, and revenues of €151 million.
In other non-European markets – such as Australia, New Zealand and North America – where import and distribution is overseen by the Morrinsville- based Power Farming Group, turnover reached a total of 326 million Euros, up 30% over 2021.
