The past 12 months have been characterised by geopolitical instability, inflation and lower consumption, affecting economies and supply chains worldwide. Nonetheless, despite these challenging trading conditions, the group achieved revenue growth, excellent profitability and good cash flow for 2024, with our performance positively impacted also by lower material costs and mix effects.
Revenue increased by 0.9% in 2024 to €15.9 billion with overall revenue growth of 2.6% at comparable rates and scope. Despite declining consumption due to lower consumer purchasing power, we delivered good growth.
During 2024, we donated power generators to the value of EUR 10 million as humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine, ahead of the winter season, while continuing to do our utmost to help Ukrainian customers maintain their operations. We continue to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we stand with those affected by the violence, and we support calls for an immediate ceasefire and for Ukraine to remain a sovereign and democratic state. On behalf of the board, I would like to express our gratitude to our dedicated employees for the outstanding performance and their commitment.
Tetra Pak – excellent performance
Revenue rose to €12.8 billion at prevailing rates, an increase of 2.6% at comparable rates and scope. Packaging Solutions sales rose by 2%, to deliver 178 billion packs globally, while Processing Solutions and Services grew by 4% and 7%, respectively. The US & Canada and Brazil markets delivered very good growth that well compensated for the decline in China due to the lower consumer demand.
Innovation is at the forefront of our activities, and we continued to invest in the global deployment of our paper-based barrier. This brings Tetra Pak one step closer to its ambition of a beverage carton made solely from responsibly sourced renewable or recycled materials, fully recyclable and carbon neutral. Further, the demand for our Tetra Pak® E3/Speed Hyper, the world’s fastest carton packaging machine producing up to 40,000 packages per hour, accelerated globally.
The converting factory in Vietnam is operating at full capacity and the decision was taken to further expand the capacity to accommodate increased volumes. We also accelerated our recycling activities, with a 7% increase in carton packages collected and sent for recycling globally, and a 14% increase in the volume of polyAl sent for recycling.
In 2025, we expect Tetra Pak to increase sales but deliver slightly lower operating profit and cash flow following an excellent 2024.
DeLaval – solid performance
Total net sales declined by 5% to €1.3 billion. At comparable rates and scope, revenue decreased by 4%. The aftermarket delivered growth while capital sales declined by double digits. The weak demand was due to low milk prices for dairy farmers but during the second half of the year order intake recovered significantly, mainly driven by automated milking systems in Europe and large rotaries in the US. During the trough of the business cycle, DeLaval successfully confirmed its ability to deliver an operating margin at the level established during recent years.
We innovate to enable farmers to operate more efficiently by producing more milk with less resources – to make dairy production more sustainable and profitable. In particular this drives demand for automation and digital services resulting in healthier herds. An exciting example of this is the Milk Sustainability Center (MSC) digital ecosystem, which we run together with Deere & Company (John Deere). We launched a pilot version of the MSC during the year to help farmers improve their operations by automating and consolidating farm data flows as well as provide valuable insights into how they can enhance both sustainability and profitability. Another example is DeLaval Plus, our farm management platform designed to turn data into actionable insights, with improved applications that detect diseases, optimise milking performance and safeguard milk hygiene on farms.
The significant investment programme at Milkrite | InterPuls was completed, finalising the separation from its previous owner. In 2025, we expect increased sales and a stable operating margin.
Sidel – at a new level
Revenue increased by 9% to €1.7 billion, an increase of 13% at comparable rates and scope. Services grew by an excellent 15% and the operating margin exceeded expectations reaching a new level. In 2024, we were in the second year of our three-year transformation programme, Leading Excellence. The results of the programme in combination with a favourable backlog at the beginning of the year contributed to an excellent performance.
Sidel is favoured by several trends. Firstly, the macrotrend of sustainability works in Sidel’s favour, with collection rates, recyclability and recycled content making PET and the aseptic solution an attractive packaging alternative. Secondly, the technology conversion from hot fill to aseptic has gained momentum and is likely to continue. Finally, aseptic PET improved its competitiveness versus other packaging alternatives in 2024 thanks to the lower cost of resin and lightweighting. With world-class expertise in the design, blowing, filing and labelling of PET bottles, Sidel is well placed to benefit from these trends.
2024 marked the industrial readiness of our breakthrough laser technology thanks to the launch of a successful customer field test during the year. This disruptive innovation enables a better packaging experience with less materials thanks to its precision and control over the material thickness throughout the container. It also brings a new level of performance and productivity to packaging lines even for packaging made of 100% recycled PET.
During the year, we developed a dedicated aseptic training centre in Atlanta, US, which will be opened in 2025 for customers and Sidel employees.
Midyear, the President & CEO Monica Gimre retired after five successful years during very challenging external conditions. On behalf of the board, I thank Monica for her excellent contributions and achievements. At the same time, we had the privilege of welcoming Pietro Cassani as the new President & CEO. Pietro arrives with solid CEO experience from several adjacent businesses.
In 2025, we expect Sidel to increase sales, continue to improve the operating margin and deliver strong cash flow.
Growth, sustainability and innovation remain the focus for 2025
At the time of writing there have been various escalating global tariff and other trade announcements made, which will likely impact the macroeconomic environment going forward. While these developments have not had a material impact on demand to date, it is too early to draw any conclusions as to how they will affect our industries and supply chains going forward. Nonetheless, we continue to forecast good revenue growth in 2025, although product volume growth will be more challenging given the decline in global consumer purchasing power.
When looking ahead it is also worth noting that all three industry groups have allocated significant resources to the implementation of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system SAP S/4HANA, bringing significant transformation opportunities, and this rollout will continue for several years.
By continuing to focus on value, and by introducing new innovative products in 2025 and beyond, we will continue to support our customers to give retailers and consumers an outstanding offer – and ultimately drive volume growth. During 2025, therefore, we forecast a moderate sales growth, stable profitability and good cash flow.
“By continuing to focus on value, and by introducing new innovative products in 2025 and beyond, we will continue to support our customers to give retailers and consumers an outstanding offer – and ultimately drive volume growth.”
Lars Renström