Group Management Report Products Safety and Health Environment Human Resources Social Commitment Consolidated Financial Statements 55
sector, for which demand was significantly lower due to
the pandemic. At the same time, other consumer-related applications,
such as food packaging solutions, became more
important. The changes in this area were due to both demand
related fluctuations in sales volumes and price / mix
effects, which affected all divisions, albeit to varying degrees.
The regional sales and sales structure shifted only
slightly compared to the previous year. With an unchanged
share of 39 % of total Group sales, Europe remains the
most important sales region for ALTANA. Due to acquisitions,
nominal sales in Europe were 2 % below the previous year’s
figure, but 5 % lower in operating terms. The pandemic led
to declining sales in the entire Eurozone and the United
Kingdom. Only in Turkey and some Eastern European countries
was the sales volume higher than in the previous year.
In 2020, sales in the Americas were 6 % down on the previous
year. Adjusted for negative exchange-rate effects and
lower positive acquisition effects, operating sales dropped by
5 %. Sales in the U.S. – still ALTANA’s largest single sales
market, accounting for 18 % of total sales – fell by 9 % in operating
terms. The sales decline in the U.S., as in all other
regions, was primarily pandemic-related. Demand for the
BYK division’s specialty products in the exploration sector
remained low, due to the low crude oil price level. Canada
recorded a slight increase in sales. In Brazil, operating sales
grew significantly in a year-to-year comparison, while sales
decreased in other Latin American countries. Overall, the
Americas’ share of Group sales decreased slightly (27 %; previous
year: 28 %). Asia continued to account for 33 % of
Group sales in the past fiscal year. In both nominal and operational
terms, Asia recorded the smallest sales decline last
year, at 3 % in each case. This was primarily due to the swift
and sustained recovery in Chinese business activities, which
were even able to contribute operating growth of 1 % at the
end of the year. China continues to be ALTANA’s second
largest sales market, accounting for around 18 % of total
sales (previous year: 17 %). India, however, our second
largest Asian sales market, suffered pandemic-related operating
sales losses of 10 %.
Sales Performance of BYK
In the 2020 fiscal year, sales in the BYK division fell by 3 %
or € 31.9 million to € 1,008.7 million (previous year:
€ 1,040.6 million). This includes negative exchange-rate
changes of € - 9.8 million as well as positive effects of
€ 17.8 million due to the acquisition of the business activities
of Gulf Scientific and Paul N. Gardner in the U.S. Adjusted
for these effects, operating sales were 4 % lower than in the
previous year.
The BYK division’s sales performance in 2020 was
influenced by the pandemic in almost all markets and regions.
In addition to the effects of the difficult overall economic
Sales by region
1
4
2
3
26.9 %
32.7 %
38.7 %
1.7 %
in € million 2019 2020 Δ % Δ % op.
1 Europe 858.0 842.5 - 2 - 5
thereof Germany 259.1 244.5 - 6 - 8
2 Americas 620.6 585.9 - 6 - 5
thereof U.S. 427.6 396.6 - 7 - 9
3 Asia 731.8 711.8 - 3 - 3
thereof China 388.5 385.2 - 1 1
4 Other regions 38.6 37.9 - 2 - 4
Total 2,248.9 2,178.2 - 3 - 4