Posted on February, 19, 2025 at 10:07 am
Despite a challenging market, Bühler saw its net profit increase 5.9% in 2024, thanks in part to its Milling Solutions results.
The company’s net profit for the year was CHF 189 million ($209.5 million), up from CHF 179 million in 2023. EBIT was CHF 227 million in 2024, up from CHF 216 million in 2023. Order intake was down 9.9% to CHF 2.8 billion.
“In an increasingly uncertain global economic environment, we took our approach of ‘making things happen’ and continued investing in innovation and training,” said Stefan Scheiber, chief executive officer. “Our skilled and passionate employees deserve a big thank you, as they were yet again key to our success in a very demanding year.”
Grains & Food turnover grew by 2% to CHF 2.249 billion, driven by Milling Solutions, which posted a record year with turnover at an all-time high, the company said.
Over the past two years, Milling Solutions reinforced its global leadership position, adding 30,000 tonnes of daily processing capacity for customers, which provides staple foods to about 60 million people.
Advanced Materials turnover decreased by 8.5% to CHF 712 million, mainly due to normalization of investment activities after the rebounds experienced post-pandemic, combined with significant uncertainties in the global automotive markets. At the same time, the coating and sputtering technologies of Leybold Optics generated strong results in their global markets.
The Customer Service business, a key differentiator and enabler for Bühler’s customers, experienced strong turnover growth of 9.4% to CHF 1.057 billion. This represents a 35.4% share of Group turnover (prior year: 32.1%). In 2024, Bühler enhanced its customer service portfolio, helping its customers grow their businesses while improving the efficiency of their installed assets, reducing their footprint both in terms of operational costs and emissions. Modernization projects played an important role for customers. Strong growth was also noticeable in long-term service agreements, which grew to more than 4,000. These agreements include bundles of services such as on-site inspections, preventive maintenance, and remote support services.
Bühler proactively shaped markets and industries with continued investments into innovation. Expenses for research and development (R&D) remained high at CHF 138 million, or 4.6% of turnover. In 2024, Bühler launched 40 new products and services into the market and further expanded its global customer-facing setup, opening three new research and training centers: the Grain Innovation Center in Uzwil, Switzerland, the Grain Processing Innovation Center in Kano, Nigeria, and the North American Insect Center in Saskatoon, Canada. These centers provide customers with a collaborative platform to test new products and raw materials and scale ideas to industrial processes.
Bühler’s balanced geographical footprint once more contributed to the company’s stability and reliability. While turnover grew in the Middle East and in Africa, it continued to decline in China. Overall, Bühler’s regional share of turnover was balanced: the Americas 28% (prior year: 29%); Europe 27% (28%); Asia 26% (27%); and Middle East, Africa and India 19% (16%).
Building on its order book of CHF 1.9 billion, Bühler foresees stable volume development in 2025. The company’s focus will be on remaining a reliable and innovative partner for customers and other stakeholders globally.
“Bühler is well prepared to capitalize on emerging opportunities in 2025,” Scheiber said. “Our commitment to innovation, services, education, and training will remain as strong as ever and, through this, we aim to create value for our customers. At the same time, we will continue to invest in safe, attractive, and future-oriented workplaces for all our employees globally. The Bühler culture and values continue to be the foundation of everything we do, and our purpose, as always, is to create innovations for a better world.”
Source: World Grain