Last year was a very good financial year for Heidelberg Materials. The company reported group revenue of €21.2 billion, reaching 2023’s level despite declining volumes.
The result from current operations climbed by 6% to a new record high of €3.2 billion, thanks to a strict cost management. The adjusted earnings per share increased significantly by 11% to €11.9. As in the previous year, the return on invested capital amounted to around 10%.
With a good cash flow of €2.2 billion, the leverage ratio remained on FY 2023’s level and reached 1.2x. The specific net CO₂ emissions were reduced by a further 1.3% to 527 kg/t of cementitious material compared with the previous year, while the share of sustainable revenue in the cement business line continued to increase to 43.3% (previous year: 39.5%).
“We have persistently continued our growth trajectory and can look back on another very good performance in the previous year,” said Dr. Dominik von Achten, chairman of the managing board of Heidelberg Materials. “We have further expanded our presence in the core market of North America and several other important growth markets. Thanks to our broad geographic footprint as well as our focus on cost and price management, we managed to more than compensate for declining demand in certain regions.
“I am particularly proud that we once again achieved important milestones on our sustainable transformation journey,” von Achten continued. “With the mechanical completion of our lighthouse project in Brevik, Norway, we have paved the way for the commissioning of the world’s first industrial-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility in a cement plant. In the course of the year, we will be able to deliver carbon captured evoZero cement with a net-zero footprint to our customers in Europe. With this achievement, we are driving the transformation and initiating a paradigm shift in the decarbonization of our industry.
“When looking at the current year, we maintain an optimistic outlook. Even though the construction sector remains volatile in some regions, our core markets continue to stabilize. Therefore, we expect that earnings will once again grow in 2025. With our ongoing share buyback program and our progressive dividend policy, our shareholders continue to participate in our good results,” he concluded.
