The 100 largest companies in Germany controlled by families and family-related foundations achieved combined sales of 1.53 trillion euros in 2022. This is around 170 billion euros or 12 percent more than a year earlier. The sales figures for the past year show a new sales record, as can be seen from the annual analysis “Germany’s 100 largest family business
” from the law firm Binz & Partner. Between 2016 and 2022, the total turnover of the largest German family businesses increased from 1.14 to 1.53 trillion euros, an increase of 34 percent.
“The aggregate growth of all large family companies last year far exceeded that of gross domestic production of 1.9 percent, even taking inflation into account,” says Mark Binz, senior partner at Binz & Partner in Stuttgart. “With their performance, the majority of companies have proven to be a pillar of the German economy in 2022, despite extremely difficult conditions”.
VW, Lidl and BMW with double-digit sales growth
In 2022 alone, 279 billion euros were accounted for Volkswagen, the largest German family-controlled company (Families Porsche/Piech). That is 29 billion euros (+12 percent) more than in the previous year,
The pursuers could also score. In the ranking of the largest German family businesses, the Schwarz Group grew in 2022 (Lidl, Kaufland, Schwarz family) as number two with a turnover of 154 billion euros (+15 percent). The carmaker bmw (Quandt/Klatten families) in 3rd place even increased sales to 143 billion euros (+28 percent). At Aldi (not listed, The Albrecht and Heister families) the sales figures were estimated.
Fresenius (Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation), according to the study, had a turnover of 41 billion euros (+9 percent) and Continental (Schaeffler family) to 39 billion euros (+17 percent). In the top 50 family businesses, which generate by far the largest part of the sales aggregated here, the growth in total sales amounted to 13 percent.
Only four out of 100 companies with a drop in sales
Only four of the 100 largest family businesses for which current figures are available had to accept a drop in sales. After the Corona boom, the medical technicians Dräger (-9 percent), Vorwerk (-6 percent) and Hubert Burda Media (-1 percent) had a difficult year. The growth champions in 2022 include: Gebrüder Heinemann (+81 percent), Brose (+39 percent), Kostal (+38 percent), SEW-Eurodrive (+35 percent), sixt (+34 percent) and Wacker Chemie (+32 percent) – i.e. comparatively more medium-sized family companies.
The number of employees continues to rise, but the lack of skilled workers is slowing down
The number of employees in the 100 largest German family businesses rose by 3 percent in 2022 to 4.7 million employees. “The gap between sales and employee growth indicates significant productivity gains, but also bottlenecks in the home market to recruit suitable personnel, especially proven specialists,” explains Binz, who chairs the supervisory board of the listed optician chain Fielmann.
As with the number of employees, there is little movement in the operating results in 2022. 45 of the family businesses examined report their EBIT. The added result remained almost unchanged at around 74 billion euros. 25 of the companies were able to increase their operating profit, 18 earned less. Only two companies – Dräger and Eberspächer – posted losses. “The large family businesses earned good money in 2022. This gives them the financial leeway to invest in future topics such as digitization, sustainability and AI,” says Binz.
Financial buffer: 42 percent equity on average
The assessment of financial stability is also confirmed by the analysis of equity ratios. Figures for 2022 are available for 48 companies. The average is an impressive 42 percent, two points up from the year before. Only four companies – metro, Eberspächer, Werhahn (2021) and Ceconomy – show an equity ratio of less than 20 percent, whereby Metro was able to increase the equity ratio from 14 percent to 18 percent last year. “The high equity ratios demonstrate the solid financial planning of the large family businesses. In economically and geopolitically uncertain times, the reserves are a tangible strategic advantage,” says Binz.