Chemicals Sika accelerates organic growth in the third quarter

The construction chemicals and adhesives manufacturer Sika continued to grow in a difficult economic environment. The previous forecast for the 2024 financial year is confirmed.

As Sika announced on Friday, sales from January to September rose by 5.5 percent year-on-year to 8.9 billion Swiss francs. In local currencies, the increase amounted to 9.1 percent, while negative currency effects had a negative impact of 3.6 percent.

Almost all of this growth was attributable to acquisition effects, which increased sales by 8.1 percent. As is well known, Sika took over competitor MBCC in May 2023.

The Group grew organically by 1.0 percent with its products, which are used to reinforce and seal building materials, for example. This accelerated to 1.7 percent in the third quarter of the year, with Sika once again gaining market share.

In terms of profitability, Sika was able to make significant gains - thanks in part to efficiency improvements and synergy effects from the MBCC acquisition. Operating profit at EBITDA level rose by 13.2 percent to CHF 1.7 billion. The corresponding margin reached 19.1 percent (previous year 17.8%).

At the bottom line, Sika recorded an even greater leap. Net profit rose by 25.3 percent to 922.6 million.

Looking to the future, Sika is confident that it can continue to successfully implement its own strategy. Accordingly, the forecasts for the current year are confirmed.

The company is aiming for sales growth in local currencies of 6 to 9 percent and a disproportionately high increase in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).

SDA