Thanks to an enormous effort, Bosch's turnover increased by 8 percent in 2023 after adjusting for currency effects to 91.6 billion euros and generated an EBIT operating margin that rose to 5 percent.
This is what emerges from the preliminary data for the 2023 financial year that were communicated by the German technology and services supply giant.
"For Bosch, 2023 proved to be more difficult than expected - commented Stefan Hartung, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bosch - but with a huge effort we managed to increase turnover and improve the operating margin".
"We were able to progress despite highly unfavorable conditions. And considering the difficult context, this is an extraordinary result, achieved thanks to our collaborators."
Hartung then underlined that "the years to come will also require a lot of commitment from us".
At the level of business sectors, the picture offered by Bosch, we read in the note, "is uneven".
With a turnover of 56.3 billion in 2023 (+11% net of currency effects) Mobility remains the leading sector.
"There is demand for our products, both in the areas of traditional and innovative technologies - reported Markus Forschner, member of the Board of Management and UFO of Bosch - This pushes us to continue to further develop the sector, a task which however will require still a lot of work on our part."
The Industrial Technology sector recorded a turnover of 7.5 billion, a figure which is 8% higher than the previous year, essentially thanks to the acquisition of HydraForce.
The Consumer Goods sector, however, which totaled a turnover of 19.9 billion (-!% net of currency effects) was in slight decline due to the effect - said Forschner - of the "significant contraction in consumption, which had an impact on the business of power tools and of household appliances".
The Energy and Building Technology sector saw a 9% increase in turnover, reaching 7.6 billion euros.
Net of currency effects, the figure rises to 11%.
“Here we benefited not only from the strong demand for fuel-efficient and renewable heating technologies, but also from the expansion of our services business in the Bosch Global Service Solutions division,” explained Forschner.
As a result of the weak signs of growth from the global economy which Bosch expects to be between 2% and 2.5% for the current year, "the world economy - declared Forschner - will not begin to recover until to 2025".
"The outlook in all our key sectors is uncertain. In the automotive industry, Bosch expects production levels in 2024 to be similar to those of the previous year. Bosch estimates in this regard that the economic decline in the mechanical engineering industry will continue and not he expects demand to pick up again before 2025.
“We never lose sight of our target of a margin of at least 7%, even if it means having to make major investments in a tepid economic environment,” Forschner said.
In any case , Bosch is reviewing previous timelines for achieving the target margin by one to two years. The company intends to further intensify efforts to improve costs and competitiveness and profitably enter tomorrow's markets. "We are trying - concluded Forschner - to reach a balance between profitability and efficient use of our capital resources, on the one hand, and initial investments for tomorrow's growth, on the other."
Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA