Group Management Report Products Safety and Health Environment Human Resources Social Commitment Consolidated Financial Statements 55
The regional sales volume 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. The nominal growth
of 22 %, or 20 % in operational terms when adjusted for
acquisitions and exchange-rate effects, reflects the global
development. Double-digit growth rates were achieved
throughout the Eurozone, in the United Kingdom, as well as
in the markets in Eastern Europe and Turkey.
In 2021, sales in the Americas were 16 % up on the previous
year’s figure. Adjusted for negative currency ef-
fects, operating growth amounted to 19 %. Operating sales
in the U.S. increased by 16 %, accounting for 17 % of
total Group sales in 2021 (2020: 18 %). All of the other countries
in the Americas also reported double-digit growth
rates. Mexico achieved the strongest operating growth at
27 %, followed by Canada and Brazil. The Americas’ share
of total Group sales fell slightly to 26 % in 2021 (previous
year: 27 %).
In the past fiscal year, Asia increased its share of total
Group sales from 33 % to 34 %. In nominal and operating
terms, Asia also recorded the highest growth rates within
the Group last year (nominal growth 27 %, operating growth
26 %). This development was mainly driven by China. With
a share of 19 % of total sales, that country is now ALTANA’s
largest single sales market. Operating growth in China
amounted to 29 %, but was surpassed by India, ALTANA’s
second-largest Asian sales market. In India, the company
achieved the highest growth in percentage terms with operating
growth of 41 %. Only the countries of the Middle
East showed a decline in operating sales (- 6 %) compared to
the previous year.
Sales Performance of BYK
In the 2021 fiscal year, sales in the BYK division increased
by 22 % or € 218.5 million to € 1,227.2 million (previous
year: € 1,008.7 million). This figure includes negative exchange
rate changes of € - 10.3 million. Adjusted for this
effect, operating sales were 23 % higher than in the previous
year.
The division’s double-digit sales growth in 2021 was
uniform across all markets and regions. Following an unexpectedly
good fourth quarter of 2020, demand in the subsequent
quarters was also at an unprecedented level. Despite
a difficult business environment – problems delivering man-
ufacturing materials, bottlenecks in the availability of logistics
services, and unexpectedly harsh weather conditions in
February in Germany and the U.S. – impressive year-over-year
growth was achieved for all product lines. This was pri-
marily reflected in additive sales in the Paints and Plastics
product lines, but the other product lines also developed
better than forecast.
The regional sales development in 2021 also showed
operating growth across all markets on a scale not previously
Sales by region
1
4
2
3
25.6 %
34.0 %
38.6 %
1.8 %
in € million 2020 2021 Δ % Δ % op.
1 Europe 842.5 1,029.3 22 20
thereof Germany 244.5 295.3 21 19
2 Americas 585.9 681.6 16 19
thereof U.S. 396.6 445.5 12 16
3 Asia 711.8 905.5 27 26
thereof China 385.2 515.0 34 29
4 Other regions 37.9 50.1 32 29
Total 2,178.2 2,666.5 22 22