Sonova sees itself equipped for new growth
Published: Tuesday, May 14th 2024, 11:40
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The Swiss hearing aid group Sonova had to digest the loss of a major customer in the last financial year. However, it seems to have bottomed out. The Stäfa-based group believes it is once again equipped for growth in the future.
The loss of Costco as a customer announced at the beginning of 2023 was a major blow for Sonova. The large US retail chain no longer sells hearing aids from the Swiss provider. It had previously done so under its own brand.
Sonova has now really digested this loss in the 2023/24 financial year, which ended in March. Sales fell by 3.0 percent to 3.63 billion Swiss francs, as the Group announced on Tuesday. However, the Costco effect did not materialize in the second half of the year. The Phonak manufacturer then experienced "strong growth momentum" again, as CEO Arnd Kaldowski told the news agency AWP.
However, this upturn could not offset the effect of the strong appreciation of the Swiss franc. Adjusted operating profit (EBITA) fell by 8.2 percent to CHF 771.4 million, while the bottom line was a 7.4 percent lower net profit of CHF 609.5 million.
As far as the distribution is concerned, shareholders will now have to accept a slight reduction in the dividend per share to CHF 4.30 (CHF -0.30). However, as Kaldowski emphasized, this corresponds to a stable payout ratio of around 40 percent.
Devices with better "noise canceling"
Looking ahead, the plan is now to continue with a lot of growth and market share gains. "We assume that these new market shares will primarily come from the new products that we want to launch in the fall," said CEO Kaldowski. This is when the Group's new hearing aid platform is to be launched. The previous Phonak Lumity platform has reached the end of its life cycle.
Kaldowski did not want to be too specific about the new products, but emphasized that Sonova has increased its investment in research and development by 60 percent over the last five years. Customers can therefore definitely expect higher computing power in the new hearing aids. In addition, a great deal has been invested in the suppression of background noise - so-called "noise canceling".
For 2024/25, Sonova is now aiming for consolidated sales growth of 6 to 9 percent and adjusted EBITA growth of 7 to 11 percent, assuming constant exchange rates. This is in line with the Group's medium-term targets. And it is also significantly higher than in 2023/24, when the Group was only able to increase sales in local currencies by 3.2 percent and adjusted EBITA by 4.4 percent.
Share soars
Sonova shares have been among the losers among the blue chips so far this year, lagging well behind the market as a whole. Thanks to the presentation of a large portion of optimism for the future on Tuesday, this now seems to be over. At 11.30 a.m., the shares were trading up 5.3 percent at CHF 282 on the Swiss stock exchange.
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