Liqui-Moly’s earnings for the first half of 2021 more than doubled from the same period of 2020, though they remained “noticeably” below levels that the German lubricant marketer recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic, the company reported last week.
The company – which is based in Ulm, Germany – said in an Aug. 11 news release that it earned €8.2 million (U.S. $9.7 million) from January through the end of June, compared to €3.6 million for the first half of last year. Liqui-Moly is privately held, does not file audited earnings reports and did not mention specific first half earnings for years prior to 2020, but the news release said results for prior first halves were “noticeably” better than this year.
“Although Liqui-Moly has come so well through the pandemic, the company faces major challenges on a daily basis, which can also be seen in its earnings,” the news release stated.
Sales revenue also jumped significantly and has surpassed pre-pandemic levels. Turnover for January through June was €355 million, up 23% from the same period of 2020 and 38% higher than the first half of 2019.
While paring some costs, the company said it has continued to invest in research, logistics and production. Through the first seven months of the year it hired 53 employees.
Officials said the company is still confronting disruptions in the market and that it expects challenges to continue the rest of this year.
“Not only because many raw materials are becoming more and more expensive,” Managing Director Ernst Prost said in the news release. “Some are hardly available anymore.” He added that coronavirus-induced disruptions are impacting business aspects beyond costs and procurement – for example in logistics and product delivery. “The pandemic has upset the finely balanced delivery system that has grown over many years” Prost said, adding that the company “will certainly be dealing with the consequences for the rest of the year. We expect a total cost increase of €27 million here.