The year 2024 was marked by geopolitical, socio-economic, environmental, and technological change, making markets increasingly volatile and society fragmented. As a leading science and technology company, we faced the challenges with resilience. We seized the opportunity to expand our market position, strengthen our innovative power and ultimately create added value for our customers and patients alike.
We have done so successfully for over three and a half centuries. Every day, our global teams work with dedication and passion to make a positive impact on people’s lives. In 2024, we launched our new vision, “Sparking Discovery, Elevating Humanity”, honoring the outstanding commitment of our more than 62,000 colleagues worldwide and the results of their work. In everything we do – whether it is making patient care more precise, personalized and predictable, or developing pioneering solutions for semiconductors, data and AI – our vision makes one thing clear: “there is nothing small in what we do”.
We kept our promise to return to growth in 2024.
Belén Garijo Chair of the Executive Board and CEO
In fiscal 2024, we once again demonstrated our ability to generate sustainable value for our investors, owners, customers, and employees as well as for patients and society at large.
We kept our promise to return to growth in 2024. In fiscal 2024, Group net sales amounted to € 21.2 billion, and were therefore just below the middle of the absolute forecast range. EBITDA pre increased to € 6.1 billion and was thus in the middle of the forecast corridor. Each of our business sectors performed well.
In Life Science, we change the lives and health of people around the world for the better by implementing scientific data for innovations to purposefully develop our portfolio. Additionally, operational excellence is crucial to us in ensuring value-driven customer experience. Our Process Solutions business unit saw a significant increase in order intake compared with 2023. Moreover, we announced investments of over € 660 million in new facilities in Germany and Korea and bolstered our viral vector bioprocessing offering through the acquisition of Mirus Bio. This brings us close to having a full, integrated package of solutions for viral vector-based cell and gene therapies.
In Healthcare, we consolidated our position as a global specialty innovator with a strong commercial portfolio, a focused product pipeline and a diverse network of partners. During the reporting year, we opened our new U.S. headquarters for biopharmaceuticals in the hotspot of Boston. At the same time, we strengthened our clinical pipeline, established new collaborations and expanded our commercial product portfolio. We supplied around 184 million patients worldwide with our medicines in fiscal 2024.
In Electronics, we strengthened our position as a preferred partner and solution provider for the advanced materials, equipment and services that will redefine our digital world. In 2024, the acquisition of Unity-SC strengthened our Display Solutions business unit, which was recently renamed Optronics.
This new name reflects the evolution from a display-focused business to a provider of cutting-edge optical technologies, which is expected to drive long-term growth. In addition, we announced the divestment of our Surface Solutions business unit.
The growth of our company is directly linked to the growth of our people. As a leading science and technology company, we use, for instance, data- and AI-supported continuing education programs to foster and develop the specific capabilities of our talented and diverse teams worldwide. One such example is our global digital professional development platform “MyGrowth”, which we launched in 2024.
On behalf of our Executive Board, I would like to thank our employees as well as all our partners and suppliers for their valuable support in 2024. In acknowledgment of the shareholders’ contributions, we will recommend a stable dividend of € 2.20 per share to the Annual General Meeting for 2024.
Looking ahead, we currently expect to achieve organic sales growth in 2025. This confidence is underpinned by a series of ever stronger market trends, including growing demand for complex biologics, novel drug modalities and semiconductors for AI. At the same time, we will continue to invest in the long-term growth of our businesses, innovation pipelines and people.
Life Science is making progress toward our medium-term ambitions with a continuously increasing order intake in Process Solutions and market recovery in our Science & Lab Solutions business unit. In Healthcare, our established franchises provide a resilient foundation, and we expect our innovation pipeline, which is well filled with drug candidates in the early stage of research and development, to deliver growth. In addition, we plan to invest in internal and external innovation. Regarding the latter, we are staying faithful to our preferred approach of pursuing licensing activities, although now at an accelerated pace. With AI applications and modern semiconductors as strong growth drivers combined with the recovery of the overall semiconductor market, we will experience a further tailwind for Electronics.
We view AI as a transformative force that will accelerate the convergence of our physical and digital worlds. As a trusted scientific and ethical leader with strong data and analytical expertise, we intend to help shape these disruptive changes. We are optimally positioned at the intersection of artificial intelligence, human intelligence and materials intelligence. Few can equal our ability to develop innovations both for and with AI. In collaboration with the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers, we enable the continued evolution of AI to address industry demand for faster, more compact and more energy-efficient chips. Meanwhile, our leading use of data and AI is helping us accelerate the discovery and development of next-generation drugs and materials while enhancing product quality, manufacturing yields and supply security.
Sustainability is an integral part of our business strategy, and we intend to create long-term value for society through our innovations. We have made significant progress toward achieving our ambitious sustainability goals and will continue to advance our climate targets. We have successfully reduced our direct (Scope 1) and indirect (Scope 2) greenhouse gas emissions by 26% compared with the previous year. Compared with 2020, the base year for measurement, we have nearly halved our total Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, and we are confident that we will achieve the set reduction target for 2030 significantly earlier than planned. Finally, I would like to emphasize that we are leading our competitors in promoting gender equity, with women holding 39% of leadership positions across our company.
As you proceed through this Annual Report, you will see that we are well positioned to accelerate growth in 2025 and to generate sustainable long-term value for our shareholders, employees, owners, and customers as well as for patients and society at large.
On behalf of the Executive Board, I would like to thank you, dear shareholders and friends, for your ongoing trust and support. There is truly nothing small in what we do.
Sincerely,
Belén Garijo
Chair of the Executive Board and CEO