The Hilti Group grew sales by 4.3 percent in the 2019 business year to CHF (Swiss Francs) 5.9 billion (about U.S. $6.1 billion). In local currencies growth was 6.3 percent against the previous year.
“2019 was another successful year for us with exclusively organic growth,” said Hilti CEO Christoph Loos. “The economic environment has become more volatile while global construction growth has noticeably slowed. Additionally, currencies largely displayed depreciation tendencies against the Swiss franc. Against this background we’re satisfied with our growth level and are pleased that we gained additional market share.”
“Hilti North America is pleased to be an important contributor to the growth of the Hilti Group in 2019,” said Martina McIsaac, region head and CEO of Hilti North America.” Turnover in North America increased 8.6 percent in Swiss Francs (7.3 percent in local currencies).
“Major factors in our growth are the focus on new products, services and software which bring added value to the industry, and our 3,800 team members who are engaging daily with professional customers,” added McIsaac.
Hilti achieved an increase of 6.9 percent in local currencies in the Europe business region, despite Brexit uncertainties and a substantial downturn of the construction economy in Scandinavia. North America continued to develop positively, advancing 7.3 percent. Significant growth was also achieved in Latin America (+8.5 percent), where the recovery in Brazil made a considerable contribution. In the Asia/Pacific region, the growth level of 4.3 percent was slowed by the difficult environments in both Hong Kong and South Korea. The situation in the Eastern Europe / Middle East / Africa region remained disparate (+3.7 percent), with Russia and the Eastern European markets driving growth while business remained difficult in the Gulf States and in Turkey because of ongoing political uncertainties.
