Machinery industry Bühler more profitable in 2024 but with fewer new orders
In 2024, the Eastern Swiss technology company Bühler maintained stable sales and improved profitability in an increasingly uncertain environment. On the other hand, it received noticeably fewer orders.
17.02.2025, 07:12
SDA
Sales fell slightly by 0.8 percent to 3.0 billion Swiss francs in the past financial year, as the fifth-generation family business announced on Monday. Exchange rates had a significant impact on the result. In local currencies, growth amounted to 2.5 percent.
The Group increased its profitability thanks to improved productivity. Operating profit (EBIT) rose again to 227 million Swiss francs. The corresponding margin improved from 7.2 percent to 7.6 percent. Net profit amounted to 189 million Swiss francs.
Strong milling business
In contrast, Bühler was confronted with a 9.9 percent decline in order intake to 2.8 billion Swiss francs. In the press release, the company spoke of an "increasingly uncertain global economic environment". For 2025, the company management expects a stable order trend with an order backlog of 1.9 billion Swiss francs as a starting point.
In terms of divisions, the largest division, Grains & Food, grew by 2.0 percent to 2.2 billion Swiss francs. This division specializes in process technologies for the food and animal feed industry. The main contributor to growth here was the milling business, which posted a record.
By contrast, sales in Advanced Materials, which includes the die casting business, fell by 8.5 percent to 712 million Swiss francs. Bühler cited a normalization following the post-pandemic upswing and uncertainties in the global automotive markets as the reasons for this.
Expansion of the service business
With the expansion of the Customer Service business unit by 9.4 percent to 1.1 billion Swiss francs, the plant manufacturer is increasingly becoming a service company. Most recently, the division already accounted for 35.4 percent of Group sales.
The company, which was founded in 1860 and has a good 12,300 employees, operates in 140 countries and builds machines for the food, automotive and building industries. According to the company, half of the world's new vehicles contain die-cast components from its technology. Every day, two billion people consume food produced using Bühler process technology.
