Dyson posts 6% rise in FY2020 revenue; kickstarts £2.75b investment programme

GLOBAL technology company Dyson has posted a 6 per cent revenue growth to £5.7 billion (S$10.48 billion) for the full year ended December 2020, from £5.4 billion in the previous year despite challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a statement shared exclusively with The Business Times on Wednesday, Dyson highlighted that its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation grew by 18 per cent to £1.3 billion in 2020 from £1.1 billion the year before.

It also said it has begun a £2.75 billion research investment programme with a focus on the fields of energy storage, robotics, next-generation motor technology, intelligent products, machine learning, connectivity, and material science.

A key focus of the programme is on the commercialisation of Dyson's proprietary solid-state battery technology which is under development in the US, UK, Japan and Singapore. It promises safer, cleaner, longer-lasting and more efficient energy storage than today's existing batteries, said the statement.

Dyson now has over 340 stores and shops worldwide, with 30 stores opened last year.

In the near future, the company intends to move into the 110,000 square foot St James Power Station in Singapore and make it Dyson's new global headquarters. The company believes the relocation will spur its research and development capabilities, increasing its engineering footprint in the Republic.

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Following the closure of Dyson's production lines and supply chain disruptions, the company is diversifying its manufacturing base by bringing on new lines in Mexico and the Philippines, while exploring other manufacturing locations.

Dyson chief executive Roland Krueger said that "almost everything needed to change" as a result of Covid-19, as the business faced severe disruption in areas such as product development, manufacturing, and retail.

"We comprehensively reshaped our business, while meeting the increased global demand for Dyson's products. We launched new technology across beauty, floor care and lighting - including the Dyson Corrale straightener - and pivoted to direct retail. We are finding that our customers increasingly want to buy directly from us, so we are investing in physical 'Dyson Demo' stores, and our online retail experience - we have exciting developments ahead," he said.

Earlier this year, some 450 staff worked with a £20 million investment from Dyson to build a new form of ventilator for the UK government at the request of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Dyson said it accepted no public money for the project even as the ventilators were eventually not needed. It added that the company did not claim any furlough money or government loans related to the Covid-19 pandemic anywhere in the world.

Said the company's founder James Dyson: "Early in the year, we had to completely change all our plans and fundamentally reshape the business. We doubled down on the transformation in how we manufacture and sell our products and increased investment in the fundamental technologies that will power our future machines - from energy storage, to robotics."