Bühler CEO Stefan Scheiber welcomes improved annual results despite market turbulence
Stefan Scheiber, CEO of Buhler, welcomes its improved performance, despite market tests. Pic; Buhler
The CEO of Bühler, Stefan Scheiber, has welcomed positive annual group results for the Swiss equipment and systems group, which saw comparatively stable turnover of CHF3 billion for 2024, marginally down 0.8% on the prior year, while net profits rose 6.3% to CHF189 million amid global market challenges, reports Neill Barston.
While acknowledging that geopolitical factors and economic tests had impacted on its order book being reduce by 9.9% to CHF 2.8 billion, the company leader expressed optimism over its underlying position in delivering an encouraging performance across the majority of its business units.
Notably, he praised the now combined grain and food division (which includes its chocolate processing equipment) as being a key performer, and one of the key successes for 2024. The division grew by 2% to CHF 2.249 billion, with strong milling results at the core of that performance. This was reflected by the fact that it added 30,000 tonnes of daily processing capacity for our customers, which provides staple foods to about 60 million people.
Speaking on the results, the CEO expressed thanks to its global teams, customers and partners in navigating present uncertainties in market conditions, which remain challenging, yet he asserted that it remained on track for its 2030 sustainability goals of reducing 60% of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, with the company having achieved 22% of that goal (set as a baseline in 2019), by last year.
Commenting on the results, Stefan Scheiber noted that in some markets, consumers had been more cautious over the past year in some instances, which was also reflected in terms of capital investments within the broader sector, yet he believed that there was a good deal of optimism for the business in terms of its position moving forward in 2025.
“I believe that it was important for us not to change course or policies, playing offense as well as defence at the same time, and decide what is important, and make things happen. I believe the one thing that leads to less success in a dynamic world is to stand still, to wait until the future develops. So it is only through being proactive approach can we make things happen.
“The strategy of Buhler has not changed, and it’s only if our customers are successful and remain success, will we shine at the end of that, that’s why we have put a lot of strategic and operational interest into innovations and infrastructure around the world. That should actually lead to market success, and that is created by engaged people, which we have all across the world, working with a lot passion, trying to turn strategies into realities. That led to very positive developments in our market shares, our B2B investments and applications,” noted the CEO, who added that even in a market where global spend on innovation on a wider level had been reduced, the company had competed strongly.
As the business observed, over CHF 400 million had been placed into created new innovations across the business in the past couple of years, which has extended into creating new machinery line such as the Smartline baking system, that gained a major launch within the Indian market last summer.
In its results release, the company confirmed that expenses for research and development (R&D) remained high at CHF 138 million or 4.6% of turnover. In 2024, Bühler launched 40 new products and services into the market and further expanded its global customer-facing setup, opening three new research and training centers: the Grain Innovation Center in Uzwil, Switzerland, the Grain Processing Innovation Center in Kano, Nigeria, and the North American Insect Center in Saskatoon, Canada. These centers provide customers with a collaborative platform to test new products and raw materials and scale ideas to industrial processes.
Notably, the Swiss firm’s spread of operations remained consistent, with a balanced geographical footprint once more contributed to the company’s stability and reliability. While turnover grew in the Middle East and in Africa, it continued to decline in China. Overall, Bühler’s regional share of turnover was balanced: the Americas 28% (prior year: 29%); Europe 27% (28%); Asia 26% (27%); and Middle East, Africa & India 19% (16%).
Customer service focus
The company has been especially noted for its quality customer service, with business related to this area of its activities having gained strong growth of 9.4%, to CHF 1.05 billion, around a third of its turnover. As the business noted, this aspect of its work has seen it engage in support to help its customers grow their businesses while improving the efficiency of their installed assets, reducing their footprint both in terms of operational costs and emissions. The company also noted that modernisation projects played an important role for customers.
Strong growth was also noticeable in long-term service agreements, which grew to more than 4,000. These agreements include bundles of services such as on-site inspections, preventive maintenance, and remote support services.
“Our strong financial position makes us a long-term reliable partner to customers, industry partners, and bond holders,” says CFO Mark Macus, who noted at the media briefing this morning that there had been particularly encouraging results within its milling operations, and that its overall performance had been encouraging for the year.
While there were some clear success for the company, there were tests within some areas of the business, with results being more challenging for its Advanced Materials division, in which turnover decreased by 8.5% to CHF 712 million, mainly due to normalization of investment activities after the rebounds experienced post-pandemic, combined with significant uncertainties in the global automotive markets. At the same time, the coating and sputtering technologies of Leybold Optics generated strong results in their global markets.
Noting a positive outlook for the remainder of 2025, the company stated it was set to build on its existing order book for the year of CHF 1.9 billion, he also reserved praise for the company’s network of apprentices across the world. He observed that they had continued to play a crucial role in its operations, including helping drive the firm’s sustainability agenda – of which he added he remained especially proud.
He noted that in Europe particularly, there had been a tendency for a ‘politically heated’ environment on the topic of sustainability – which is presently experiencing considerable challenges as the European Commission seeks to revise stated sustainability frameworks across the continent. However, in spite of such tests, the CEO believed that the company had a role to play in shaping industry policy in response to the ongoing urgent climate crisis, with its policy being matched by direct action on its part.
Stefan Scheiber concluded: “Bühler is well prepared to capitalize on emerging opportunities in 2025. Our commitment to innovation, services, education, and training will remain as strong as ever and, through this, we aim to create value for our customers. At the same time, we will continue to invest in safe, attractive, and future-oriented workplaces for all our employees globally. The Bühler culture and values continue to be the foundation of everything we do, and our purpose, as always, is to create innovations for a better world.”
