Hilti Holds its Ground with Sales of CHF 6.4 Billion

With more than 80 new products and services launched in 2024, the Hilti Group continued to invest heavily in its innovation pipeline. Investments in research and development reached CHF 466 million (+2.6%), equaling 7.2 percent of Group sales. Hilti also invested in expanding its global production network as part of securing its long-term supply chain resilience.

Hilti’s customer promise is to be its customers’ best partner for productivity, safety and sustainability. In 2024, the company drove significant productivity potential for its customers by further growing its offer beyond hardware. In the reporting year, the Group launched its jobsite management software solution, Fieldwire, in additional markets and successfully integrated the Netherlands-based business software solution provider 4PS after the acquisition in 2023.

At the end of 2024, the Hilti Group had 34,353 team members, an addition of 242 employees (+0.7%) compared to the previous year.

The operating result remained on a similar level with CHF 769 million (2023: CHF 770 million). The continuous appreciation of the Swiss franc against all major currencies led to a significantly negative currency impact of CHF 71 million on the operating result (2023: CHF -51 million). 

With CHF 561 million, net income was also at the previous year’s level (2023: CHF 560 million). Return on sales (ROS) grew slightly to 12.0 percent (2023: 11.8%) despite the negative currency impact, continued investments into long-term strategic priorities and other negative one-time effects. The Group’s capital employed increased by CHF 184 million to CHF 6.0 billion, whereas return on capital employed (ROCE) decreased by 0.4 percentage points to 12.9 percent (2023: 13.3%).

Free cash flow reached CHF 379 million (2023: 359 million) leading to a cash flow conversion of 67.6 percent, which is in line with the long-term average target defined in Lead 2030. 

The equity ratio of 61 percent (2023: 59%) continues to be considerably above the Group’s target level of 45 percent. Cash and cash equivalents were stable at CHF 0.9 billion (2023: CHF 0.9 billion), after the repayment of a corporate bond of CHF 100 million. Based on this solid business result, the Board of Directors proposes the payout of an ordinary dividend of CHF 279 million for the 2024 financial year (2023: 279 million). 

Hilti’s commitment to sustainability is deeply anchored in its corporate strategy. As part of its customer promise, the Group aims to be its customers’ best partner for sustainability, both through its innovative solutions and how it operates. 

The sustainability strategy is based on three pillars: caring for the environment, people and society. It is founded on the double materiality assessment required by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) as well as the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) established under this directive. The 2024 sustainability report is voluntarily published with reference to the ESRS before the new reporting requirements become mandatory for the Group.

Since 2022, Hilti has used the Value2Society™ (V2S) model to better understand and quantify its impacts across its upstream value chain and own operations. The model aligns with principles set by the Value Balancing Alliance and the International Foundation for Valuing Impacts. It highlights the most significant positive impacts from both direct and indirect contributions to economic welfare. Further positive impacts relate to employee well-being and opportunities for development as well as volunteering. Hilti is committed to continuously improve its V2S in line with potentials indicated by this model.

Next to reaching carbon neutrality in its own operations (Scope 1, 2 and business travel GHG emissions), the Group also committed to establishing CO₂-reduction targets in accordance with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Besides ambitious near-term targets set until 2032, Hilti aims for net-zero emissions by 2050. In the reporting period, these targets were officially validated by the SBTi. The auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers AG, provided limited assurance on the sustainability metrics of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), energy consumption and lost time incident rate.

Construction market forecasts point to a similar business environment in 2025, strongly varying by geographic area and depending on the development of various geopolitical conflicts. In light of this volatility, uncertainty in the markets is expected to continue, likely causing the Swiss franc to remain strong. 

In line with its purpose of Making Construction Better, Hilti will continue to significantly invest in innovation and will continue to build up market reach resources. 

In 2025, the Hilti Group expects low single-digit sales growth in local currencies with a similar ROS compared to 2024.