BayWa AG Annual Report 2011

Agriculture Segment’s revenues
up by 21.5%
Revenues of the Energy Segment
climb by 31.9%
3 • Management Report on the Company and the Group • Summary of Performance in 2011
Management Report on the
BayWa Group in the Financial Year 2011
I. Summary of Performance in 2011
The BayWa Group continued to develop extremely well in the financial year 2011. The main emphasis was on
internationalising business and expanding activities in the field of renewable energies. Revenues grew in all of
BayWa’s segments. In terms of earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), BayWa also outperformed the year-earlier
level in all three segments.
The development of business in the Agriculture Segment was impacted by the lower harvest volume in a number
of its products, especially grain. Coupled with demand exceeding the actual harvest volume, this depleted the
inventories of several key agricultural commodities. Consequently, the prices of agricultural produce were
significantly higher than in the previous year. Operating resources reported a year-on-year increase in the sales
volume of fertilisers and crop protection, with feedstuff consumption also rising. Higher prices commanded for
operating resources did not dampen the volume of demand as there was an improvement in produce prices. In the
fruit business, the volume of dessert fruit sold was significantly above the year-earlier level when hail damaged the
harvest in a number of regions. At the same time, produce prices remained stable for the most part. The agricultural
equipment business benefited from record investments by farmers. The uptrend in farmers’ income encouraged
a correspondingly high propensity to invest. Another fundamental factor of influence is that farming larger areas
of land necessitates a greater use of agricultural equipment. Deploying state-of-the-art, process-controlled large
machinery ultimately enhances efficiency while cutting costs, making such investments profitable. The total
revenues of the BayWa Group’s Agriculture Segment came to €4,258.9 million in the financial year 2011, which
corresponds to a growth of €753.8 million, and is 21.5% higher than in the previous year. Compared with 2010,
EBIT rose by 22.1% to €78.0 million, up from €63.9 million in the reporting year.
In the conventional energy business of the Energy Segment, volumes were raised in 2011 across all product
segments, namely heating oil, wood pellets, fuels and lubricants, boosted especially by acquisitions. High prices
for crude oil, however, had a hampering effect on demand patterns in the heating sector which caused margins
to narrow in comparison with 2010. The filling station and lubricants business benefited from the persistently
favourable economic environment. Revenues generated by the conventional energy business stood at
€2,805.9 million, which is 33.4% up from the year-earlier figure. This increase was, however, driven primarily by the
high price of crude oil. At the same time, EBIT declined by 31.7% to €6.3 million due primarily to narrower margins
in the heating oil business. In the renewable energies business, revenues climbed by 20.1% to €306.0 million
through organic growth and acquisitions and a greater business volume in all three businesses of photovoltaics,
wind power and biogas plants. EBIT advanced by 28.5% to €27.1 million. The total revenues of the Energy Segment
amounted to €3,111.8 million, thus posting a growth of 31.9% over the year-earlier figure. The segment’s EBIT rose
by 10.1% to €33.4 million.
BayWa AG Annual Report 2011
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