Resilience
Jotun’s resilient business model helped mitigate risk in a year characterised by challenging
circumstances.
Jotun’s strong profitability in 2020 was supported in part by
favourable raw material prices and currency effects. However,
Jotun’s success in gaining market share in many countries
and segments, even in regions severely impacted by the
coronavirus pandemic, owes more to the strength of Jotun’s
corporate structure, the flexibility of its strategy and decades
of experience managing global challenges.
EXPERIENCE COUNTS
Jotun’s strong culture, low employee turnover rate and roots
in the cyclical shipping industry have helped to create a highly
experienced, resourceful and adaptable organisation capable
of taking decisive action when markets change. At the same
time, Jotun’s global presence and interaction with multiple
industries allows Jotun to offset losses in one market with
gains in others, helping to mitigate risk.
Profitability
27.2 %
Return on capital employed
23.0 %
Return on equity
16.6 %
Operating margin
While Jotun continues to invest in new markets, production
capacity, systems and tools to increase efficiency to drive
growth, the company has been careful to control costs and its
debt exposure. This careful, long-term approach to managing
risk helped Jotun avoid lay-offs.
MANAGING RISK
In a history that has spanned nine decades, Jotun has endured
a broad range of external crises to our business. The impact of
the coronavirus pandemic on the global economy represents
a new threat that is likely to slow growth in 2021. However,
Jotun has the resilient systems, structure and personnel to
manage these challenges and emerge a stronger organisation
in the years ahead.
2 I Jotun Group Report 2020 Introduction