Group Management Report Products Safety and Health Environment Human Resources Social Commitment Consolidated Financial Statements 61
Structure of consolidated balance sheet
Assets Dec. 31, 2019 Dec. 31, 2020
Non-current assets 2,211.6 66 2,070.5 63
Inventories, trade accounts receivable and other current assets 842.4 25 849.0 26
Cash, short-term financial assets, and cash equivalents and
marketable securities 289.3 9 343.6 11
Total assets 3,343.3 100 3,263.1 100
Shareholders’ equity and liabilities Dec. 31, 2019 Dec. 31, 2020
Shareholders’ equity 2,479.4 74 2,398.9 73
Non-current liabilities 425.3 13 445.7 14
Current liabilities 438.6 13 418.5 13
Total shareholders’ equity and liabilities 3,343.3 100 3,263.1 100
goodwill at ECKART) and the valuation of at-equity investments.
Overall, exchange-rate effects led to a significant devaluation
of the balance sheet items of the companies
managed in foreign currencies.
Intangible assets fell to € 933.1 million (previous year:
€ 1,023.9 million). This reflects the amortization of goodwill
in the ECKART division. Property, plant and equipment
also dropped in value, developing from € 970.8 million in the
previous year to € 959.5 million. With additions of € 96.3
million, the level of investment in property, plant and equipment
was slightly below that of depreciation and amortization.
Exchange-rate effects led to a decrease in the carrying
amounts in the Group currency, the euro.
Total non-current assets amounted to € 2,070.5 million
as of the reporting date (previous year: € 2,211.6 million),
down €141.2 million on the previous year. Their share of total
assets decreased to 63 % (2019: 66 %).
The change in current assets was mainly due to the
increase in cash and cash equivalents. Net working capital
€ million % € million %
€ million % € million %
was not subject to any major changes in absolute terms
compared to the previous year. Inventories remained at a low
level of € 336.4 million (previous year: € 348.8 million),
partly due to inventory-optimizing measures and partly due
to high demand at the end of the year. At € 400.5 million,
trade accounts receivable were slightly higher than in the previous
year (2019: € 380.6 million). This also reflects the
high level of sales at the end of the year. In the balance with
current liabilities, net working capital was slightly above
the 2019 level (€ 547.0 million) at € 550.3 million. The scope
of net working capital, in relation to the business development
of the previous three months, decreased to 101 days,
compared to 108 days at the end of 2019. Absolute net
working capital thus developed in line with our expectations,
but the scope was much more positive due to the good
performance at the end of the year. At the beginning of the
year, we had forecast a change in absolute net working
capital in keeping with the general business trend and only
a slight improvement in scope. In the course of the year,