EQS-News: KSB closes the 2023 financial year with record performance

KSB closes the 2023 financial year
with record performance

• Order intake, sales revenue and earnings at record level
• EBIT margin increased to 7.9 %
• Dividend proposal of € 26.00 per ordinary share

FRANKENTHAL: Frankenthal-based pump and valve manufacturer KSB closed the 2023 financial year with record figures for order intake and sales revenue. The EBIT margin (earnings before finance income / expense and income tax) of 7.9 % reached the level originally targeted for 2025.

In the 2023 financial year, KSB significantly increased order intake by + 3.4 % to € 2,960 million. Order intake increased by 9.1 % to € 393 million in the Valves Segment and by 8.0 % to € 990 million in the KSB SupremeServ Segment. In the Pumps Segment, order intake of € 1,577 million stagnated almost at the previous year’s level.

KSB increased sales revenue by + 9.5 % to € 2,819 million in the 2023 financial year. Sales revenue rose by 11.0 % to € 944 million in the KSB SupremeServ Segment, while the Pumps Segment recorded an increase of 8.9 % to € + 1,514 million. The Valves Segment enjoyed a similar growth rate of 8.5 % to € 361 million.

The increase in the EBIT margin to 7.9 % was defined in particular by the growth in sales revenue and margin strength in the KSB SupremeServ Segment, which combines the business with spare parts and support services. KSB has significantly improved earnings before finance income / expense and income tax by 32.4 % to € 223.9 million. The KSB SupremeServ Segment made a significant contribution with growth of 22.7 % to € 179 million. EBIT in the Pumps Segment rose by 88.7 % to € 52 million. The Valves Segment posted EBIT of € – 7.5 million due to project provisions.

KSB stepped up its global investments in the 2023 financial year from € 120 million in 2022 to € 136 million. The focus was on productivity enhancement, capacity expansion, digitalisation and sustainability. KSB invested the most in Europe, followed by Asia and America.

Addressing the significant increase in the financial indicators, Dr Stephan Timmermann, CEO, said: “The 2023 financial year was defined by continued geopolitical unrest and inflation-related uncertainty. We have tackled the many challenges with confidence and have not only kept the company on a stable course, but also enabled it to advance.” In its Mission TEN30 corporate strategy adopted in the financial year, KSB has set out numerous goals and measures to generate a double-digit return on sales by 2030.

KSB expects the geopolitical tensions, which the company cannot evade entirely, to continue in the 2024 financial year. Stephan Timmermann emphasised: “KSB is well diversified and resilient. We are confident that we will continue to develop the company successfully in the 2024 financial year, too.

The KSB shareholders are to participate to a particular extent in the record performance achieved for the 2023 financial year. The Board of Management and the Supervisory Board will propose to the Annual General Meeting on 8 May 2024 to distribute a dividend of € 26.00 per ordinary share and € 26.26 per preference share. The KSB shares have been traded in the SDAX since December 2023 and in the Prime Standard since February 2024, thus making them available to a broader, international investor base.  

KSB is a leading international manufacturer of pumps and valves. The Frankenthal-based Group has a presence on five continents with its own sales and marketing organisations, manufacturing facilities and service operations. With a workforce of around 16,000, the KSB Group generated sales revenue of € 2.8 billion in 2023.