SMS Group increased its order intake

The company's order intake increased 31.5 per cent y-o-y to €4.6 billion ($4.97 billion) in 2022.

The company cited the green transformation in the steel and metals industry as well as strong economic activity in both India and the US as the main reasons for this strong growth.

Sales also increased significantly, up 22.6 per cent y-o-y to €3.1 billion.

Earnings before tax totalled €19 million, only slightly above the previous year's adjusted level of €15 million, due to the Ukraine war and the related suspension of business from Russia, the company said.

"Last year was again characterised by troubled regions and crises all over the world," says Burkhard Dahmen, Chief Executive Officer of SMS. "Against this background, 2022 was a good year in which, despite various challenges, we achieved our interim targets and moved the company significantly forward in terms of organisation. We saw further growth in the service business, both in terms of order intake and turnover."

He added that the company's goal is to increase the share of services in total turnover to 50 per cent by 2027.

SMS recently won a service order from H2 Green Steel worth more than €400 million over 12 years. With the construction of the first climate-neutral steel plant in Sweden for H2 Green Steel and the conversion of thyssenkrupp Steel's iron and steel plant in Duisburg, SMS recently secured two major orders totalling more than €3 billion in just a few months, he said.

Last year, SMS increased its investment in innovation to €96 million, compared to €129 million in 2021.

For the current financial year, it expects a further increase in order intake of up to €6 billion. Turnover for 2023 is expected to exceed EUR 3.5 billion.