Freudenberg grows profitably, invests heavily

2026-07-11 01:10:51 Technology

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Freudenberg demonstrated resilience in a difficult environ-ment during the fiscal year 2022. It was able to increase both sales and profits during the year. Aside from the impact of the war in Ukraine, the Freudenberg Group had to grapple with disrupted supply chains, high inflation, and the availa-bility of energy and raw materials. ?We have handled the cur-rent challenges well so far,? said Dr. Mohsen Sohi, CEO of the Freudenberg Group, as its financial figures were made public. ?Freudenberg is growing profitably, investing heavily, and driving the energy transition.? At ?442 million, sales were significantly higher for Freudenberg in India as well. Operating result for 2022 has improved very robust over 2021?. Said Mr. Georg Graf, Regional Representative India, Freudenberg India.

The figures in detail
At ?11,753.1 million, sales for 2022 were significantly above the figure of ?10,038.7 million for the previous year. The increase largely resulted from inflation-related price increases of about ?700 million, positive exchange rate effects of about ?500 mil-lion, and an increase in sales volume of about ?400 million.
In 2022, Freudenberg was able to achieve an operating profit of ?941.8 million. This was significantly higher than the figure of ?877.3 million for the previous year.

At ?607.7 million, cash flow from ongoing business activities was below the amount for the previous year, which was ?861.8 million. One reason for the change was a substantial rise in working capital. The already comfortable equity capital ratio in-creased again in the year under review and is now 54.0 percent (previous year: 50.2 percent).

The international ratings agency Moody's Deutschland GmbH, Frankfurt am Main, has continued to give Freudenberg an ?A3? rating with a stable outlook. The Freudenberg Group has thus earned the excellent ?Single-A Rating? once again.

Research and development
?Our business success enables us to invest in the future of the company ? in research and development, machinery and equipment, and the technologies of the future,? Sohi said. Freudenberg has significantly increased its spending on re-search and development. During fiscal year 2022, it invested ?576.8 million (previous year: ?500.2 million). That is an in-crease of about 15 percent. It brings the total investment in re-search and development to more than ?2 billion since 2019. Out of our total sales, the proportion of new products ? those less than four years old ? is 31.6 percent (previous year: 32.4 per-cent).

Here are two examples: The hermetically sealed housings for lithium ion vehicle batteries require special attention to equalize pressure. DIAvent was developed by Freudenberg Sealing Technologies, one of our Business Groups, to meet this need. DIAvent combines several functions in a single part: It equalizes pressure during normal operation; opens up quickly and reliably for emergency degassing, and then closes after the successful pressure equalization The element not only ensures greater safety ? it is also more robust than conventional solutions. Dur-ing its development, DIAvent started out as a single product, but it has now become a complete product family for a wide array of potential uses. We have received numerous series orders from vehicle and battery manufacturers.

Freudenberg Performance Materials facilitates the transmission of clean energy with water blocking tapes that it produces for use in undersea cables. The newly developed materials for this application are indispensable for a successful energy transmis-sion. They ensure that high voltages can be reliably transported over great distances underwater from offshore wind turbines.

Investments
Adjusted for acquisitions, investments in intangible and tangible assets, as well as real estate held as a financial investment, amounted to ?401.5 million (previous year: ?304.8 million.)

The Freudenberg Group has invested worldwide: As a part of the strategic investment announced in 2020, Freudenberg In-dia, in Dec 2022 began the construction of 2 plants, Vibracous-tic and Freudenberg NOK at Morinda in Punjab. The project is on track so far and construction work will be completed in early 2024.

The entire design and construction are done with environment-friendly concepts. We will have a robust rainwater harvesting system in place. Photovoltaic installation is also being ensured to cover about 30% of the total power needs for the facilities. Modern utility arrangements like Bus duct systems for power distribution to machines, energy-efficient HVAC systems etc. to have been considered to achieve minimal energy loss and max-imum efficiency. Entire wastewater (both process and domestic wastewater) is fully treated and reused to ensure zero discharge and minimal usage of fresh water.

Formed in April 2022, the new Business Group Freudenberg e-Power Systems has started to build up its production and as-sembly capacity for battery systems in Midland, USA. In Parets des Vall?s, Spain, Freudenberg Sealing Technologies