Group Management Report Products Safety and Health Environment Human Resources Social Commitment Consolidated Financial Statements 63
Liquidity Analysis
In the course of 2020, cash and cash equivalents increased by
€ 49.1 million to € 313.7 million (previous year: € 264.6
million). At € 373.6 million, the cash inflow from operating
activities was only slightly below the previous year’s level
(€ 386.3 million), despite the lower Group net income. This
is primarily due to a high proportion of non-cash portions
of the previous year’s earnings, particularly as a result of the
goodwill impairment in the ECKART division.
Cash flow from investment activities decreased slightly
to € 220.0 million (previous year: € 228.8 million). Although
expenditure for acquisitions, resulting mainly from the purchase
of Schmid Rhyner AG in Switzerland and Gulf Scientific
in the U.S., was at a much higher level than in 2019, investments
in intangible assets and property, plant and equipment
were lower.
Cash flow from financing activities amounted to € 99.9
million in the 2020 fiscal year, less than in the previous
year (€ 134.6 million). The current debt outflows concerned
the scheduled repayment of the aforementioned promis-
sory note tranche totaling € 48.0 million, the assumption
of a shareholder loan in connection with the acquisition
of Schmid Rhyner AG, and lease payments. In the 2020 fiscal
year, ALTANA AG paid a dividend amounting to € 30.0 mil-
lion (prior year: € 50.0 million).
Value Management
ALTANA determines the change in the company’s value via
the key figure ALTANA Value Added (AVA), whose calculation
is explained in the “Group Basics” section. In the 2020
fiscal year, despite the challenging economic situation
caused by the pandemic, a positive contribution was made to
our company’s value again, which was above the previous
year and surpassed our expectations.
The only slight decline in earnings is reflected in the operating
earnings, which at € 246.1 million did not quite
reach the previous year’s figure (€ 250.1 million). The Group’s
average capital employed increased slightly in 2020 to
€ 2,928.7 million (previous year: € 2,856.6 million). However,
the cost of capital decreased from 8.0 % to 7.5 %,
representing a reduction of € 219.6 million (previous year:
€ 228.5 million).
At 8.4%, the return on capital employed (ROCE) did
not reach the previous year’s level (8.8 %). Absolute value
added totaled € 26.5 million in the past fiscal year, compared
to € 21.6 million the year before, and relative AVA rose
from 0.8 % to 0.9 % in 2020.
The decline in value management key figures forecast
for 2020 was avoided due to the favorable development of
the earnings situation.
Key figures
2019 2020 Δ %
in € million
Cash flow from
operating activities 386.3 373.6 - 3
Cash flow from
investing activities (228.8) (220.0) 4
Cash flow from
financing activities (134.6) (99.9) 26
Key figures value management
2019 2020
in € million
Operating capital (annual average) 2,856.6 2,928.7
Operating earnings 250.1 246.1
Return on capital employed (ROCE) 8.8 % 8.4 %
Weighted average cost of capital 8.0 % 7.5 %
ALTANA
Value Added (relative AVA) 0.8 % 0.9 %
ALTANA
Value Added (absolute AVA) 21.6 26.5