Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - The Norddeutsche Landesbank asked the 100 largest companies in Saxony-Anhalt about their forecasts for 2022 and received quite optimistic answers. "The forecast increase in sales is above all a reflection of the record high inflation in the past year, which is also reflected in significant increases in sales prices," explained chief economist Christian Lips on Thursday in Magdeburg. On average, sales growth of around nine percent is expected. But it is also related to the “pandemic-related setbacks” of recent years.
Lips emphasized the high filling levels of the gas storage tanks, an acute gas shortage for this winter is off the table. Significant savings are now necessary and medium-term substitution options must be created. The high prices would "stress test" some business models and throw them overboard, Lips said. The mood among financial market experts, but also among companies, has brightened significantly since October. The current situation continues to be assessed as difficult.
For the whole of Saxony-Anhalt, the Landesbank has not yet published a forecast for the current year. It will not be worse in Saxony-Anhalt than the national average, rather a little better, it said. For Germany, NordLB expects growth of 1.8 percent, for 2023 minus 0.6 percent.
Every year, the Landesbank publishes a list of the 100 largest companies in Saxony-Anhalt, sorted by turnover and number of employees. Together, as part of the study, they reported its total sales of around 35 billion euros for the 2021 financial year. This corresponded to an increase of 14 percent compared to the previous year. At that time there had been a minus of eight percent.
The list of companies with the highest turnover was once again headed by Total Raffinerie Mitteldeutschland GmbH, based in Leuna. According to the information, the company increased its sales by more than 20 percent to 5.3 billion euros. The Dow Group Germany, based in Schkopau, came in second with a turnover of 3.2 billion euros.
The number of employees in the 100 largest companies increased to a good 107,000 in 2021, it said. That corresponds to an increase of about one percent compared to 2020. The ranking is still led by Deutsche Bahn AG (around 7,700 employees), followed by Deutsche Post DHL with around 5,100 employees.
