Despite considerable difficulties, the German oil and additive specialist LIQUI MOLY remains on course for growth. The year 2019 was closed with a record turnover of 569 million euros, an increase of 4% over the previous year. “This shows that we can be successful even under adverse conditions,” Managing Director Ernst Prost says with regard to the software problems suffered a year ago. In the USA and Canada, sales increased by 18%.
LIQUI MOLY introduced new software to control purchasing, production, and sales. The changeover did not run as smoothly as expected—in fact, quite the opposite. This resulted in massive delivery difficulties. “Our customers were appalled, and rightly so,” Prost admits. “They had never experienced anything like it with us before.”
The bungled software changeover severely cramped the figures for the first months. Step by step, the company solved the software problems and started the race to catch up. “Everybody rolled up their sleeves and pitched in,” Prost says, in praise of his team. As a result, LIQUI MOLY set one new monthly sales record after another. It then proved possible to regain at least a piece of the lost terrain. At the end of the year, instead of a minus, the books even showed turnover growth of 4% to 569 million euros—a new sales record. LIQUI MOLY thus doubled its turnover over the last 10 years.
INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS
The success of the subsidiary in the USA contributed significantly to this. Sales in the USA and Canada grew by 18% last year. This carries even more weight, because the USA is now LIQUI MOLY’s most important export market after Russia.
However, the arduous start to the past year left a clear mark on the revenue. A lack of turnover and the additional costs to fix the software problems pushed it below the 2018 level, but the return on sales is still in double digits. “LIQUI MOLY is financially healthy, is free of debt, and has an equity ratio of over 80%,” Prost reports.
The number of “co-entrepreneurs”, as LIQUI MOLY employees are called, rose from 849 to 933 in 2019. Increasing the headcount in difficult times is not a contradiction in terms for Prost: “Crises are not managed by laying people off, but by hiring people who will then solve the problem.”
As expected, LIQUI MOLY grew more strongly in exports than in its home market of Germany, where the brand has been established for decades. “For a long time now, we have achieved higher turnover internationally than in our home market,” Prost says. “The sales potential there is also much greater.” The export business is certainly no automatic success. International trade conflicts, weakening economies, and national import barriers are only some of the challenges to sales.”
LIQUI MOLY manufactures its oils and additives exclusively in Germany to ensure the same consistently high quality level all over the world. That makes LIQUI MOLY more of an upmarket brand. “We have no interest in being the cheapest,” Prost says. “We want to be the best.”
Ernst Prost looks back with satisfaction on a difficult year 2019: “The fact that we can continue to grow despite the adverse conditions shows just how strong LIQUI MOLY is.”
Find out more, visit www.liqui-moly.com.
