Thursday May 13th 2021
Strong first quarter
Dax companies start the year with a boost
The corona crisis hardly stops the DAX giants in the first few months of the year: An evaluation shows that the companies are reaping profits across the board, sometimes at record levels. But success stands on shaky feet.
Germany’s stock market heavyweights have started the current year at a high pace, despite the ongoing adverse effects of the corona pandemic. According to an evaluation by the auditing and consulting company EY, the majority of Dax groups increased sales and operating profit (EBIT) in the first quarter of 2021. Some achieved records. In total, sales increased by 9.6 percent to around 362 billion euros compared to the same quarter of the previous year, while the profits of the companies that provided information rose sharply by 97 percent to around 41.8 billion euros.
The development is also remarkable because the previous year’s figures – with the exception of the China business – had hardly been negatively influenced by the pandemic. “Demand was extraordinarily high in many industries in the first quarter of 2021, and in some cases the growth also exceeded the expectations of the companies”, explained Mathieu Meyer, member of the EY management board. But he sees no reason for euphoria. The pandemic is far from over and there are still significant risks for the global economy.
In addition, there are still simmering conflicts in trade and customs policy as well as the current shortage of semiconductors. “Overall, we see that the supply chains remain prone to failure, and material shortages are becoming more and more of a problem,” said Meyer. According to EY, the growth of the DAX group was mainly driven by business in Asia. There, the sales of the companies that provided information rose by a total of 29 percent. “Asia remains a growth market for the time being. In China in particular, the economy has recovered quickly from the corona slump,” said Meyer.
According to the information, the North American market also developed positively with sales growth of 13 percent. However, due to the takeover of the mobile operator Sprint by Deutsche Telekom, the numbers are somewhat oversubscribed. In Europe, sales increased by seven percent. “The German corporations are no longer dependent only on growth impulses from the Far East and America, growth can also be generated again on the home continent,” said Meyer.
.