Currency-adjusted sales growth slightly below medium-term target range

Cumulative sales in 2013 increased by 4.7% to CHF 2,291.6 million. With a growth of 3.6% in local currencies, total sales were slightly below the medium-term growth expectation of 4 to 6%. The total growth figure is made up of a volume effect of +1.8%, a price effect of +1.8% and a foreign currency effect of +1.1%.

In spite of the decline in sales experienced between 2008 and 2011, the longer-term trend remains encouraging. Average growth for the last ten years was 5.0%.

Market shares gained

The following changes in sales figures by markets and regions refer to local currencies.

In a continued challenging environment, market shares were gained in many markets through above-average sales in­creases. Europe recorded an increase in sales of 3.7%. While individual markets saw recoveries in the second half of the year, an overall trend of strongly diverging developments continued. Substantial growth was posted in the United Kingdom/Ireland (+18.3%) and Germany (+7.4%). The Nordic Countries (+4.5%), Central/Eastern Europe (+4.1%), the Iberian Peninsula (+3.9%), Switzerland (+2.9%) and France (+1.0%) also made gains. By contrast, the Benelux Countries (-1.7%), Austria (-1.8%) and Italy (-5.0%) recorded drops in sales. Despite a slight recovery, the sales development in America (-0.8%) remained negatively affected by the poor state of the public sector – an area of prime importance to Geberit in this region. Sales in the Far East/Pacific region, which were largely affected by negative business development in China, decreased by 3.8%. However, Middle East/Africa achieved positive sales growth of +23.8%.

Stronger growth in Piping Systems

Sales for the Sanitary Systems product area increased by 4.4% in Swiss francs to CHF 1,297.6 million. Growth in local currencies was 3.3%.

Sales for the Installation Systems product line, at 36.2% of Group sales the most important product line, rose by 5.2% in local currencies – thus also achieving the highest increase across all product lines. In the reporting year, drywall elements and designer actuator plates were also a key to success. The Huter prefabricated bathrooms also achieved impressive growth rates. Growth of 2.1% was posted by the Cisterns and Mechanisms product line, which accounts for 10.9% of total sales. Sales were boosted by the strong growth of the Monolith sanitary module for WCs, which is breaking into ever more markets. In contrast, sales of traditional exposed cisterns stagnated as a consequence of Geberit’s efforts over many years to convert to concealed solutions. Sales of filling and flush valves also stagnated, mainly because of the generally volatile OEM business. The AquaClean shower toilet was not able to achieve the growth seen in the previous years. Following years of impressive growth, the effects of the introduction of the new AquaClean Sela and delivery problems due to the high demand for the new models resulted in only single-figure growth rates in the past year. Sales for the Faucets and Flushing Systems product line, which accounts for 5.3% of total sales, decreased by 3.9% in 2013. This product line continued to be negatively affected by challenging market conditions where the US sub­sid­iary Chicago Faucets is engaged in business with schools and hospitals. Sales of urinal flush controls remained stable at the previous year’s level. Sales for the Waste Fittings and Traps product line, representing 4.2% of total Group sales, improved only slightly by 1.2%. The positive growth rates seen in floor outlets and bathtub drains were offset by weaker sales in traps for washbasins, bidets, urinals and WCs.

Sales for the Piping Systems product area grew by 5.2% to CHF 994.0 million. The increase in local currencies was 4.0%. Once again, sales for this product area thus improved more than those for the Sanitary Systems area.

Sales for the Building Drainage Systems product line grew at an above-average rate of 5.1% in local currencies, contributing 14.2% to total sales. The Silent-PP and Silent-db20 sound-ab­sorb­ing drainage systems did well, but sales of the PE drainage system decreased. The Supply Systems product line posted 3.4% growth. The contribution of this product line, which is the second largest measured by Group sales, remained unchanged at 29.2%. The Mapress Stainless Steel product range delivered impressive sales increases in particular. On the other hand, Mapress Carbon Steel and Mapress Copper and the Mepla multilayer piping system experienced below-average growth.