Financial structure

Continued strong financial foundation despite crisis

The further increase in free cashflow (+12.8%) allowed the attractive dividend policy and the share buyback programme to be continued while also maintaining the very healthy financial foundation of the Group.

Total assets increased from CHF 3,751 million to CHF 3,772 million. Liquid funds (including marketable securities and other short-term investments) grew from CHF 469 million to CHF 511 million. In addition, the Group had access to undrawn operating credit lines for the operating business of CHF 684 million. Debt increased from CHF 779 million in the previous year to CHF 784 million. Overall, this resulted in a decline in net debt of CHF 37 million to CHF 273 million at the end of 2021.

Net working capital dropped by CHF 24 million year-on-year to CHF 157 million. Property, plant and equipment increased from CHF 934 million to CHF 956 million, while goodwill and intangible assets fell from CHF 1,577 million to CHF 1,493 million.

The ratio of net debt to equity (gearing) contracted from 16.1% in the previous year to 13.7%. The equity ratio increased slightly to 52.7% (previous year 51.2%). At 0.3x, the ratio of net debt to EBITDA remained at the previous year’s level. Based on average equity, the return on equity (ROE) came to 37.6% (previous year 34.8%). Average invested operating capital, comprising net working capital, property, plant and equipment, goodwill and intangible assets, amounted to CHF 2,824 million at the end of 2021 (previous year CHF 2,794 million). At 27.1%, the return on invested capital (ROIC) reached a new record high since the integration of the ceramics business in 2015 (previous year 23.2%).

The Geberit Group held 714,037 treasury shares on 31 December 2021, which equals 2.0% of the shares entered in the Commercial Register. Of these, 203,399 (0.6% of the shares entered in the Commercial Register) originate from the share buyback programme, while the remaining 510,638 are earmarked for participation plans. The total number of shares entered in the Commercial Register stands at 35,874,333 shares.

The share buyback programme launched on 17 September 2020 was continued. Over a maximum period of two years, registered shares amounting to a maximum purchase value of CHF 500 million will be repurchased. Based on the closing price of Geberit registered shares on 15 September 2020, this corresponded to around 950,000 registered shares or 2.6% of the share capital currently entered in the Commercial Register. The registered shares are repurchased via a separate trading line on the SIX Swiss Exchange for the purpose of a capital reduction. By 31 December 2021, 344,399 shares were acquired as part of the programme at a sum of CHF 217 million. The average purchase price per share was CHF 631.17. In the reporting year, 249,699 shares were acquired at a sum of CHF 166 million.

The General Meeting of 14 April 2021 approved a reduction of the share capital to 35,874,333 registered shares at CHF 0.10 each through the cancellation of 1,167,094 treasury shares. The cancelled shares originate from the buybacks made during the programme that ran from 2017 to 2020, plus shares repurchased by the end of February 2021 as part of the ongoing programme.