Jan 15 - Swiss plumbing materials maker Geberit reported a 4.4% rise in fourth-quarter sales on Thursday, helped by volume growth in most of its regions. Geberit - whose results are an indicator of
Geberit posts sales boost for Q4, sees slight construction growth in Europe i...
Geberit's Sales Performance and Market Outlook
By Bernadette Hogg and Danny Callaghan
Sales Growth in 2025
Jan 15 (Reuters) - Swiss plumbing materials maker Geberit reported a 4.4% rise in fourth-quarter sales on Thursday and said it expected the European construction market to grow slightly in 2026, though not yet recover.
Regional Market Insights
Geberit's results are an indicator of the health of the broader construction industry, which has faced significant headwinds in Europe, including inflation and high energy prices.
Performance in Europe
Sales in local currencies came in at 715 million Swiss francs ($893 million), slightly ahead of analysts' estimate of 713 million francs in a poll by Visible Alpha.
Emerging Markets
The company also said it expected its core profit margin, or the ratio of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to revenue, to be slightly below 29.5% for 2025, compared to the previous forecast of around 29%.
SEES MODEST MARKET GROWTH IN EUROPE IN 2026
Geberit said it expected slight growth in its key European market this year but no recovery yet, based on stabilising building permits in 2025.
Slightly positive developments are expected for renovation, which makes up 60% of Geberit's sales, it said.
It added the outlook for India and the Gulf region was good, with strong demand expected. However, Chinese demand is expected to continue to decline as new construction in the world's second biggest economy stalls, it said.
Jefferies analysts said the overall results were "solid" and should ease concerns over rising metal prices.
Shares of Geberit were indicated to rise around 1% as of 0732 GMT.
GROWTH ACROSS THE BOARD IN 2025
Geberit's currency-adjusted net sales grew across all European countries and regions in 2025, with an increase of 5.6% in its biggest market, Germany.
The Middle East and Africa region grew the most, at 24.8%, while the Far East and Pacific struggled against a continuing decline in China, despite growth in India.
The company will report its full financial results for 2025 on March 12.
($1 = 0.8008 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Bernadette Hogg and Danny Callaghan in Gdansk, editing by Anna Pruchnicka and Milla Nissi-Prussak)
