Our Shares

At a glance

Stock markets performed well in 2024, driven by robust growth in technology-related stocks. The Healthcare, Life Science and Semiconductor sectors experienced varied performance, with small pockets of significant outperformance driven by Glucagon-like Peptide 1 (GLP-1) medications and artificial intelligence. Our performance was broadly in line with the stability of the wider sectors.

The Group returned to organic sales and earnings per share pre (EPS pre) growth in 2024. The resilience of our multi-industry business model was demonstrated again with the Healthcare and Electronics business sectors largely offsetting the market-driven challenges of Life Science, which persisted longer than expected. Despite positive financial results, our share price declined by around 2.9% over the course of the year. Our shares underperformed compared with the DAX^® index of German blue-chip companies, which rose by around 18.8% over the year. Our share performance correlated strongly with the share performance of the life science industry across the year and tracked the index (-3.8%), despite the negative results for Xevinapant in June 2024. In comparison, the index for the pharmaceutical industry slightly outperformed our shares, decreasing by -0.9%. The semiconductor industry index rose by around 19.3% as a handful of chip developers and a leading-edge foundry benefited from artificial intelligence applications. Our shares closed at € 139.90 on December 30, 2024 (2023: € 144.10).

In the first half of 2024, operational performance exceeded expectations, prompting an increase in full-year guidance following the second-quarter results. Momentum accelerated through the year, with financial performance improving steadily. The second quarter saw a return to organic sales growth and third-quarter earnings delivered the first EPS pre growth in seven quarters. Underpinning these strong results were strong organic growth in the Healthcare business sector across franchises and the majority of Life Science customers in the bioprocessing market reaching target inventory levels. In the Electronics business sector, growth in Semiconductor Materials was driven by demand for AI datacenters, with solid growth overall in this business sector.

The average daily trading volume of our shares was approximately 276,000 in 2024. This was down by around 16% compared with the prior year figure of around 329,000.

Our shareholder structure remained largely stable in 2024 compared with the prior year: Europe continues to account for the largest proportion of the free float at around half, followed by the United States with around 29%. Compared with 2023, the proportion of the value-oriented investors fell in favor of growth-oriented investors and GARP (growth at a reasonable price) investors. The top five investors held around 25% of the free float at the end of 2024, up around one percentage point on the previous year.

In 2024, our Executive Board and Investor Relations team held over 1,000 discussions with investors on topics such as strategy, the business model, business performance, corporate governance, and sustainability at our company during investor conferences, roadshows, and conference calls.

Our Shares

Share price development from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024, in %

Our Shares

Dividend development since 2015

Identified investors by region as of November 2024

Identified investors by type as of November 2024