Gurit reports net sales of € 500 million* for the calendar year 2022
Gurit reported preliminary and unaudited net sales of CHF 499.5 million (€ 500 million*) for the full year 2022. Net sales of Continued Operations were CHF 488.6m (€ 489m*) which is an increase of 17.0% at constant exchange rates or 11.6% in reported CHF versus prior year. Adjusted for the acquisition of Fiberline and the divestment of the Aerospace business, sales declined 8.0% at constant exchange rates.
In 2022 Gurit net sales were impacted by a reduced demand of Western wind customers, mainly driven by lower US market momentum, slow permitting and delayed wind park projects as well as Western wind turbine manufacturers consolidating their activities and exiting certain regions. The Chinese domestic wind market saw strong growth in sales in 2022 with Gurit being among the top 3 suppliers for both PET and rotor blade moulds. Marine and Industrial sales continued the strong performance during 2022, growing more than 20% at constant exchange rates.
Composite Materials reported net sales of CHF 325.5 million (€ 326 million*) for 2022. This increase of 52.9% at constant rates compared to 2021 contains a contribution of CHF 102.0 million (€ 102 million*) from Structural Profiles (Fiberline Composites), where Gurit acquired a 60% majority stake in May 2022. Wind sales have been influenced by a stronger Wind market in China but a reduced demand from the rest of the world. The Gurit Marine and Industrial sales have performed strongly with more than 20% growth.
Kitting recorded net sales of CHF 148.6 million (€ 148 million*) for 2022. This is a decrease of -14.0% at constant exchange rates compared to 2021. Kitting caters exclusively to the Wind market and saw a generally lower demand from Western customers outside China. The optimization of the European Kitting footprint was finished according to plan and will provide positive momentum on the business performance in 2023.
The Business Unit Manufacturing Solutions (Tooling) reported net sales of CHF 57.5 million (€ 57 million*), which represents a decrease of -21.5% at constant exchange rates compared to 2021. Manufacturing solutions net sales result was very low due to Western customers having had almost no mould demand in 2022. In contrast, the mould business in the Chinese domestic market saw good sales, however with very competitive pricing. We expect the mould business with Western wind customers to recover markedly in 2023.
* Composite Materials contains Structural Profiles (Fiberline) sales of CHF 102.0 million (€ 102 million*) for a period of 8 months since the acquisition in May 2022
Profitability
For the calendar year 2022, Gurit expects an operating profit margin of above 4%. Excluding divestment effects, restructuring and impairment charges, the adjusted operating profit margin is expected to be above 2%. This compares to an operating profit margin of 5.0% and an adjusted operating profit margin of 7.0% in the calendar year 2021.
* Currency conversion in euro was made by JEC group on the rate CHF 100 for € 100,28.
