In a year of high inflation, rising interest rates, and sharp currency depreciations, Sika held firm and achieved record sales. These amounted to CHF 11.24 billion in the year under review, equating to a rise of 7.1% in CHF.

Almost all currencies depreciated considerably against the Swiss franc, which led to a negative currency effect of -7.4%. One key growth driver in the past fiscal year was the acquisition and successful integration of MBCC and the systematic merger of its business activities. However, the negative currency effect also played a major role in the MBCC business that was consolidated as of the beginning of May. Sika is expecting annual synergies of CHF 180–200 million following the acquisition.

Thomas Hasler, Chief Executive Officer: “Sika has once again proved its resilience over the past twelve months. Thanks to our well-functioning business model, our high level of innovation, and the strong commitment of our 33,000 employees around the world, we have continued to grow substantially and gained market share in what has been a challenging year. We are benefiting from high customer demand from the major growth trends such as sustainability, urbanization, and automation. With our Strategy 2028, our geographical footprint, and our leading technologies, we are ideally positioned to continue to achieve sustainable growth in the coming years and create added value for all our stakeholders.”

In general, the growth trends of the first nine months continued in the final quarter of fiscal 2023. All regions performed well and contributed to Sika’s further growth and the systematic expansion of market shares. In 2023, Sika experienced positive organic growth, compared to a market that was characterized by a negative organic development.

In October, Sika unveiled its Strategy 2028 “Beyond the Expected” with the defined medium-term targets. The new strategy will enable Sika to grow profitably in the long term, even in a challenging economic environment. Thanks to its innovative technologies, Sika is the partner of choice for many customers in the construction and industrial sectors. These sectors are being heavily shaped by the sustainability megatrend, as well as by increasing urbanization, scarcity of resources, automation, digitalization, and the trend toward easy-to-apply products.

For the 2023 fiscal year, for which the full results will be published on February 16, 2024, Sika still expects an over-proportional increase in EBIT excluding the MBCC acquisition. Operating free cash flow is expected to exceed 10% of net sales for the year.