Financial structure

Continued strong financial foundation

The healthy levels of free cashflow and debt allowed the attractive dividend policy and the share buyback programme to be continued while also maintaining the strong financial foundation of the Group.

Total assets increased from CHF 3,556 million to CHF 3,641 million. Liquid funds increased from CHF 357 million to CHF 408 million. In addition, the Group had access to an undrawn, firmly committed operating credit line for the operating business of CHF 500 million. Debt increased from CHF 1,321 million in the previous year to CHF 1,373 million. Overall, net debt remained at the previous year’s level at CHF 965 million at the end of 2024.

Net working capital increased by CHF 30 million year-on-year to CHF 225 million. Property, plant and equipment increased from CHF 976 million to CHF 1,045 million, while goodwill and intangible assets fell from CHF 1,340 million to CHF 1,332 million.

The ratio of net debt to equity (gearing) increased from 73.1% in the previous year to 74.1%. The equity ratio decreased to 35.8% (previous year 37.1%). The ratio of net debt to EBITDA increased slightly to 1.1x (previous year 1.0x). Based on average equity, the return on equity (ROE) was 45.5% (previous year 44.6%). Average invested operating capital, comprising net working capital, property, plant and equipment, goodwill and intangible assets, amounted to CHF 2,707 million at the end of 2024 (previous year CHF 2,724 million). The return on invested capital (ROIC) decreased to 23.0% (previous year 23.6%), mainly due to the higher tax rate driven by the OECD minimum taxation law in force since 2024.

The Geberit Group held 2,251,589 treasury shares on 31 December 2024, which equals 6.4% of the shares entered in the Commercial Register. Of these, 1,350,845 (3.8% of the shares entered in the Commercial Register) originate from the share buyback programme concluded in June and from the share buyback programme started in September. The remaining 900,744 shares are earmarked for participation plans. The total number of shares entered in the Commercial Register stands at 35,189,082 shares.

The General Meeting of 19 April 2023 approved a reduction of the share capital to 35,189,082 registered shares at CHF 0.10 each through the cancellation of 685,251 treasury shares. The cancelled shares – originally 826,251 registered shares, of which 141,000 were already cancelled in June 2021 – originated from the share buyback programme 2020–2022.

The share buyback programme 2022–2024, started on 20 June 2022, was concluded on 20 June 2024. In total, 1,266,678 registered shares – equal to CHF 600 million and corresponding to 3.6% of the share capital currently entered in the Commercial Register – were repurchased. The share buyback was conducted via a second trading line on the SIX Swiss Exchange set up for the purpose of a capital reduction.

The share buyback programme 2024–2026, announced on 7 May 2024, was launched on 2 September 2024. Over a maximum period of two years, registered shares amounting to a maximum purchase value of CHF 300 million are to be repurchased. The registered shares will again be repurchased via a second trading line on the SIX Swiss Exchange set up for the purpose of a capital reduction. Since the start of the programme, a total of 84,167 shares had been acquired at a sum of CHF 45 million by the end of 2024.

In 2024, CHF 419 million was distributed to shareholders as part of the dividend payment. As part of the concluded and of the ongoing share buyback programme, a total of 230,095 shares were acquired at a sum of CHF 121 million in the reporting year. As a result, CHF 540 million, or 88% of the free cashflow, was distributed to shareholders in 2024 as part of the dividend payment and the share buyback programmes, which equates to 3.0% of Geberit’s market capitalisation as of 31 December 2024.