Geberit remains cautious for the current year after a difficult 2023
Published: Wednesday, Mar 13th 2024, 15:30
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Geberit hat im Geschäftsjahr 2023 weniger Umsatz erzielt als im Vorjahr und ist auch für 2024 relativ zurückhaltend. Denn der Sanitärtechnikhersteller rechnet erneut mit einer insgesamt rückläufigen Baukonjunktur.
Konkret sank der Umsatz auf CHF 3,08 Milliarden, was währungsbereinigt einem organischen Rückgang von 4,8% entspricht. Der Umsatz in Deutschland, dem wichtigsten Markt, ging am stärksten zurück.
Nevertheless, operating profit (EBITDA) rose slightly by 1.4% to CHF 921 million. The corresponding margin even improved by 3.1 percentage points to 29.9%. Geberit pointed to flexibility in the plants and logistics, lower raw material and energy prices as well as price increases.
Another higher dividend
Der Reingewinn hingegen sank aufgrund eines einmaligen positiven Effekts aus dem Vorjahr, der sich nicht wiederholte, um 12,6% auf 617 Millionen Franken. Trotz des Gewinnrückgangs soll die Dividende erneut leicht auf 12,70 Franken erhöht werden, zum dreizehnten Mal in Folge.
Geberit expects the market environment to remain difficult in the current year. The renovation business is likely to hold up better than the new construction business. Whether the sales of 2023 can be maintained remains to be seen. "We have a low visibility of perhaps two weeks," explained Group CEO Christian Buhl to the media on Thursday.
In any case, the start to the 2024 financial year has been rough. According to Buhl, sales in January and February were lower than in the same period last year. "However, the decline is less than the organic drop of 4.8 percent in 2023 as a whole," he explained.
Numerous investment projects
Regardless of the market environment, Geberit plans to invest a further CHF 200 million in the expansion and modernization of capacities. Projects are underway, for example, to expand production at the German sites in Lichtenstein and Pfullendorf and to specialize two ceramics plants in Finland and Sweden. Money is also being invested in the plants in Givisiez in Switzerland and in Pune, India.
Other priorities include increased marketing activities in markets such as India and the launch of a new shower toilet under the name "Alba" for the lower price segment. The celebrations to mark the company's 150th anniversary will also incur extra costs.
Laut Buhl wird der Verwaltungsrat demnächst entscheiden, ob ein neues Aktienrückkaufprogramm in Betracht gezogen wird. Albert Baehny wird voraussichtlich auch in Zukunft den Vorsitz des Verwaltungsrats innehaben. Im vergangenen Jahr wurde die Altersgrenze zu seinen Gunsten auf 75 Jahre angehoben. Laut Buhl stellen sich alle Mitglieder des Verwaltungsrats zur Wiederwahl.
Geberit's earnings figures, which were only just in line with expectations, were not well received on the stock market. The share was down more than 3 percent in the early afternoon.
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