In This Article:
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Operating EBITDA: EUR760 million, third best year for the company.
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Free Cash Flow: Nearly EUR420 million, a strong increase due to efficient working capital management.
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Net Result: Profit after tax of EUR80 million.
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EBITDA Margin: 17%, with a target to expand to 17.5% in 2025.
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Cost Savings: EUR100 million from cost management and self-help programs.
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Net Debt: EUR1.7 billion, impacted by M&A and growth capex.
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Dividend Proposal: Increase from EUR0.90 to EUR0.95 per share.
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Roofing Segment EBITDA Margin: Above 20%, with Terreal acquisition contributing positively.
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Piping Revenue: Now more than 30% of total revenues.
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Volume Decline: 3% decrease across the group, mainly in new residential housing markets.
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Price/Cost Impact: Negative EUR100 million, mainly from wall and facade business in Europe East.
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CapEx: Maintenance CapEx at EUR135 million, with gross CapEx planned at EUR150 million for 2025.
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Adjusted Earnings Per Share: EUR2 per share after normalizing one-off items.
Release Date: February 26, 2025
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
Positive Points
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Wienerberger AG (WBRBY) reported a strong operating EBITDA of EUR 760 million, marking it as the third-best year in the company's history.
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The company achieved nearly EUR 420 million in free cash flow, demonstrating efficient working capital management.
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The Terreal acquisition has been successfully integrated, contributing positively to the roofing segment with an EBITDA margin above 20%.
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Wienerberger AG (WBRBY) maintained a strong operating EBITDA margin of 17% despite challenging market conditions.
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The company is committed to long-term sustainability targets, investing in modern, energy-efficient plants with reduced CO2 emissions.
Negative Points
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The new residential housing market in both North America and Europe underperformed expectations, impacting overall market activity.
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High interest rates and political instability in key markets like Germany and Austria negatively affected the new residential housing segment.
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The company faced a EUR 100 million negative impact from price/cost spread, primarily in the wall and facade business and US piping.
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Wienerberger AG (WBRBY) had to implement significant restructuring measures, resulting in a EUR 78 million cost and the reduction of approximately 1,000 employees.
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Energy prices increased in the second half of 2024, and some regions like Serbia and Bulgaria faced challenges due to non-liberalized energy markets.
Q & A Highlights
Q: Can you explain the increase in raw energy prices despite having a strong product buying strategy? Also, how have resin prices evolved, and what is the outlook for 2025? A: (Gerhard Hanke, CFO) The increase in energy prices was due to market conditions, especially in countries like Serbia and Bulgaria where we cannot fix volumes. For 2025, we have hedged about 60-70% of our energy needs. Resin prices have decreased, impacting costs, but we expect a stable development in 2025.