Sick: Business development adapted to challenging market environment

The 2024 financial year was characterized by difficult industrial economic development. Ongoing local crises and geopolitical uncertainties, protectionist measures and the threat of higher import tariffs put the industry under pressure. The global automation market was also slow to develop and the hoped-for recovery in mid-2024 failed to materialize. Sick's revenue in the 2024 financial year was in line with this challenging market environment and amounted to EUR 2,103 million. This corresponds to a change of -8.9% compared to the previous year. Currency effects had a negative impact on the development: assuming unchanged average exchange rates compared to the previous year, this would have resulted in a 7.8% decline in revenue. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell by 51.4% to 91.9 million euros, with an EBIT margin of 4.4%.

While Sick's business development in its home market of Germany and in Asia-Pacific - primarily in China - was more severely impacted by the difficult market situation, the decline in sales in the EMEA and Americas regions was less pronounced. In Austria and the UK, Canada and Brazil as well as India and South East Asia, the company was able to achieve double-digit sales growth in some cases with its sensor solutions.

Dr. Mats Gökstorp, Chairman of the Management Board of Sick. © Sick

Dr. Mats Gökstorp, Chairman of the Sick Executive Board, explains: "In view of the difficult conditions, we achieved a solid result in 2024. We owe this above all to the dedication of our employees worldwide. We have further increased our global customer presence and the pace of innovation and invested in new technologies for sensor-based automation and industrial AI. This puts Sick in a robust position to support customers worldwide in the automation and digitalization of manufacturing and logistics processes and to counter a weak economy with undiminished innovative strength."

Jan-H. Eberhardt, Chief Financial Officer of Sick © Sick

CFO Jan-H. Eberhardt says: "Sick has a high earning power and operated profitably in the difficult financial year 2024. With strict cost discipline, consistent optimization of internal structures and processes and customer-centric innovations, we have achieved a profit and stayed on course."

Number of employees at previous year's level

The Sick Group employed 11,804 people as at the balance sheet date of December 31, 2024. As a result of the restrained market demand, the increase in headcount planned for 2024 was not necessary. Due to fluctuation, there was a decrease of 3.1 %. The strategic partnership with Endress+Hauser for process automation came into effect at the start of 2025, as a result of which around 800 Sick employees from the former 'Cleaner Industries' business division moved to the 'Endress+Hauser Sick' joint venture, and around 700 employees moved to Endress+Hauser Sales and Service. If this change is taken into account, Sick employed 10,176 people as at the balance sheet date.

Industrial AI in the focus of research and development

At 12.2% of sales, Sick continued to invest heavily in research and development in order to transform innovative ideas into marketable products. In order to provide customers worldwide with the best possible support for their automation projects, the company continues to develop its own sensor solutions and invest in new technologies. This includes targeted acquisitions in the field of AI and software-supported sensor technology as well as partnerships. As a result, Sick is expanding its product portfolio in growth markets, such as autonomous mobile robots. In 2024, 163 patents were filed, including 26 solutions explicitly based on industrial AI and deep learning.

Cautious outlook for 2025

"In 2025, we will continue to face economic headwinds, which we will counter with ongoing measures to improve earnings and a strong market presence," says CEO Dr. Mats Gökstorp. "With our intelligent sensor solutions and focus on automation in production and logistics as well as industrial AI, we will make 2025 profitable for Sick. As a global company that generates more than 80% of its sales outside Germany, Sick is also dependent on stable economic and political conditions," Gökstorp continues.