Robust sales and record profitability
Note: Unless otherwise indicated, changes from the previous year are based on organic figures (adjusted for currency effects, acquisitions / divestitures and deconsolidations)
The year was characterized by persistent macroeconomic uncertainty and mixed demand across the markets. Despite these conditions, Sulzer grew sales, further implemented Sulzer Excellence, maintained pricing discipline, and continued to invest in strategic priorities that support long-term value creation. Sales increased by 5.6% supported by operational excellence and book-to-bill ratio above 1. Order intake grew by 2.1% supported by improved market momentum, leading to a strong Q4 2025. Profitability strengthened significantly, with the EBITDA margin rising to a new record level of 15.6% (2024: 14.2%), an improvement of 140 basis points. Free cash flow amounted to CHF 212.5 million, a decrease of CHF 22.4 million compared with the prior year (2024: CHF 234.9 million), primarily impacted by higher net working capital, higher tax payments and lower interest income.
Sustained sales growth, improved order intake in Q4 2025
Order intake rose by 2.1% compared with 2024, reaching CHF 3’751.0 million. Excluding currency conversion impacts, order intake would be CHF 3’945.9 million. The impact from acquisitions, divestitures and deconsolidations totaled CHF 17.0 million. Gross margin on orders increased by 70 basis points reaching 35.7%, reflecting continued pricing discipline, ongoing portfolio optimization, and Sulzer Excellence.
Orders
|
millions of CHF |
|
2025 |
|
2024 |
|
Change in +/– |
|
+/–% organic 1) |
|
Order intake |
|
3’751.0 |
|
3’848.6 |
|
–97.6 |
|
2.1 |
|
Order intake gross margin |
|
35.7% |
|
35.0% |
|
0.7 |
|
|
|
Order backlog as of December 31 |
|
2’255.6 |
|
2’300.0 |
|
–44.4 |
|
|
1) Adjusted for acquisitions, divestitures / deconsolidations and currency effects.
Order intake growth in the Flow division amounted to 2.5%, with double digit growth in Water but flat development in Industry, more than offsetting deferred customer projects in the Energy market. The Services division experienced continued robust growth in order intake recording a 10.8% increase across all regions and product lines, primarily in Turbo and Pumps Services. Chemtech’s order intake declined by 12.5%, impacted by market uncertainty and reduced customer investment activity, partially offset by a solid Q4 2025.
At the end of 2025, order backlog amounted to CHF 2’255.6 million (2024: CHF 2’300.0 million). Excluding currency conversion impacts, the order backlog would be CHF 2’438.3 million, providing a solid revenue base for the new year.
Sales increased by 5.6% year-on-year, reaching CHF 3’555.4 million in 2025. On a currency-adjusted basis, sales would be CHF 3’740.8 million. The net effect from acquisitions and divestitures amounted to CHF 12.2 million.
The Flow division delivered double-digit sales growth of 12.3%, reflecting excellent sales development in Energy and a book-to-bill ratio above 1 in Water and Industry. The Services division continued its consistent high performance, achieving double-digit growth of 10.7%, reflecting customer investments for upgrades, modernizations, repair and maintenance for safe and reliable operations. In contrast, the Chemtech division recorded a 13.6% decline in sales, reflecting market sentiment.
Continuous gross profit margins expansion
Gross profit increased to CHF 1’223.2 million (2024: CHF 1’183.2 million), with gross margin improving to 34.4% (2024: 33.5%), on continued commercial and operational excellence. Excluding currency conversion impacts, the gross profit would be CHF 1’286.1 million.
EBITDA margin growing to 15.6%
EBITDA increased to a new record level of CHF 556.2 million (2024: CHF 502.7 million), representing year-on-year growth of 18.0%. This resulted in an improvement of 140 basis points in the EBITDA margin to 15.6% (2024: 14.2%), supported by the systematic implementation of commercial and operational excellence.
|
millions of CHF |
|
2025 |
|
2024 |
|
+/–% organic 1) |
|
EBITDA |
|
556.2 |
|
502.7 |
|
18.0 |
|
Sales |
|
3’555.4 |
|
3’530.6 |
|
5.6 |
|
EBITDA margin |
|
15.6% |
|
14.2% |
|
|
1) Adjusted for acquisitions, divestitures / deconsolidations and currency effects.
At divisional level, Flow delivered a notable improvement in profitability, with the EBITDA margin rising to a record 13.3% (2024: 11.7%), up 160 basis points, driven by structural cost optimization measures and ongoing progress in operational excellence. Services continued its strong performance with a record EBITDA margin of 18.3% (2024: 16.8%), achieving an increase of 150 basis points, underpinned by sustained investment in commercial and operational excellence. Chemtech reported an EBITDA margin of 13.7% (2024: 15.7%), reflecting a 200 basis points decline due to lower sales, partially compensated by restructuring, cost cutting and good supply chain management.
Bridge from EBITDA to EBIT
|
millions of CHF |
|
2025 |
|
2024 |
|
Change in +/– |
|
EBITDA |
|
556.2 |
|
502.7 |
|
53.5 |
|
Amortization |
|
–40.2 |
|
–38.5 |
|
–1.7 |
|
Impairments on tangible and intangible assets |
|
–4.5 |
|
–4.5 |
|
0.0 |
|
Depreciation |
|
–78.5 |
|
–77.1 |
|
–1.4 |
|
EBIT |
|
433.1 |
|
382.5 |
|
50.5 |
Financial results
Total net financial expenses increased to CHF 34.6 million in 2025, from CHF 25.2 million in the prior year, mainly due to lower interest income.
Net interest expenses amounted to CHF 17.9 million driven by lower interest income on cash balances. Fair value changes on financial assets and liabilities had a negative impact of CHF 5.4 million (2024: CHF 12.7 million). In addition, net currency exchange losses rose to CHF 12.3 million (2024: CHF 2.8 million).
Effective tax rate of 23.9%
Income tax expenses increased to CHF 92.4 million (2024: CHF 88.2 million), mainly reflecting the rise in taxable income for the year. Despite the higher absolute tax charge, the effective tax rate (ETR) improved to 23.9% (2024: 24.9%).
Net income and core net income at record levels
Net income increased to CHF 294.7 million (2024: CHF 265.4 million) reflecting the strong operational performance across the Group. Core net income, which excludes the tax-adjusted effects of non-operational items, rose to CHF 322.6 million (2024: CHF 307.2 million). Basic earnings per share grew by 12.3%, reaching CHF 8.68 in 2025 (2024: CHF 7.73).
Bridge from net income to core net income
|
millions of CHF |
|
2025 |
|
2024 |
|
Change in +/– |
|
Net income |
|
294.7 |
|
265.4 |
|
29.3 |
|
Amortization |
|
40.2 |
|
38.5 |
|
1.7 |
|
Impairments on tangible and intangible assets |
|
4.5 |
|
4.5 |
|
–0.0 |
|
Restructuring expenses |
|
4.3 |
|
3.7 |
|
0.6 |
|
Non-operational items 1) |
|
–11.9 |
|
7.0 |
|
–18.8 |
|
Tax impact on above items |
|
–9.2 |
|
–11.8 |
|
2.6 |
|
Core net income |
|
322.6 |
|
307.2 |
|
15.3 |
1) Non-operational items include significant acquisition related expenses, gains and losses from the sale or closure of businesses and certain non-operational items that are non-recurring or do not regularly occur in similar magnitude.
Key balance sheet positions
Note: If not otherwise indicated, balance sheet movements from the previous year are based on nominal figures.
As of December 31, 2025, total assets amounted to CHF 4’562.9 million (2024: CHF 4’714.3 million), representing a year-over-year decrease of CHF 151.4 million. Non-current assets declined by CHF 40.4 million to CHF 1’675.1 million, primarily reflecting lower other intangible assets of CHF 35.1 million, as well as negative foreign currency translation effects on goodwill of CHF 24.9 million. Current assets decreased by CHF 111.0 million to CHF 2’887.8 million, mainly due to reduced balances in trade receivables, inventories and supplier advances. Cash and cash equivalents amounted to CHF 927.3 million at year end.
As of December 31, 2025, total liabilities decreased by CHF 221.6 million to CHF 3’257.5 (2024: CHF 3’479.1 million), primarily reflecting lower levels of current liabilities.
Equity increased by CHF 70.3 million to CHF 1’305.4 million, supported by strong net income of CHF 294.7 million, partially offset by currency translation differences of CHF 113.1 million and dividend payments of CHF 144.7 million.
Net debt amounted to CHF 267.4 million as of year-end 2025, compared with CHF 100.4 million in 2024. This increase principally reflects the reduction in cash and cash equivalents, together with a rise in non-current borrowings. Consequently, the Net debt to EBITDA ratio increased to 0.48 (2024: 0.20), despite the higher EBITDA achieved during the year.
Resilient free cash flow
Free cash flow amounted to CHF 212.5 million in 2025 (2024: CHF 234.9 million). The year-on-year decrease of CHF 22.4 million reflects lower cash flow from operating activities despite higher reported net income. Net cash from operating activities declined by CHF 20.9 million to CHF 303.0 million (2024: CHF 323.8 million), mainly due to higher net working capital requirements and higher income tax paid of CHF 8.9 million.
Bridge from cash flow from operating activities to free cash flow
|
millions of CHF |
|
2025 |
|
2024 |
|
Change in +/– |
|
Cash flow from operating activities |
|
303.0 |
|
323.8 |
|
–20.9 |
|
Purchase of intangible assets |
|
–3.6 |
|
–9.7 |
|
6.1 |
|
Proceeds from the sale of intangible assets |
|
1.1 |
|
0.0 |
|
1.0 |
|
Purchase of property, plant and equipment |
|
–90.0 |
|
–82.7 |
|
–7.3 |
|
Proceeds from the sale of property, plant and equipment |
|
2.1 |
|
3.5 |
|
–1.4 |
|
Free cash flow (FCF) |
|
212.5 |
|
234.9 |
|
–22.4 |
Investing activities resulted in a cash outflow of CHF 101.0 million, reflecting a slight increase compared with the CHF 98.2 million recorded in 2024. Net investments in property, plant and equipment and intangible assets totaled CHF 90.4 million, slightly above the prior year’s level (2024: CHF 88.9 million). In addition, cash outflows related to acquisitions of subsidiaries, net of cash acquired increased to CHF 16.9 million, up from CHF 13.1 million in 2024.
Cash outflow from financing activities amounted to CHF 290.1 million (2024: CHF 151.6 million), representing primarily higher shareholder distributions, and higher proceeds from borrowings (net impact of CHF 29.6 million).
Overall, the negative net change in cash since January 1, 2025, amounted to CHF 133.3 million, including exchange losses on cash and cash equivalents of CHF 45.1 million.
Outlook for 2026
As for the previous years, Sulzer is focused on the path to becoming a top industrial company that truly creates value. The company will continue to invest in key areas across the company and execute on excellence and growth initiatives. While Sulzer is anticipating ongoing challenging conditions in 2026, including geopolitical and global economic uncertainty, the company is confident in its strategy and position in essential markets.
Due to the increased geopolitical uncertainties and the potential impact of possible further customer projects delays, the forecast of the timing of expected large orders has become more challenging in 2026. This especially counts for the year-on-year growth of order intake on quarterly basis. In general, for Order Intake, Sulzer expects in the first half of 2026 some muted development based on the backdrop of very high comparisons from 2025. Overall, the company expects a stronger, more backend-loaded, second half of 2026 for order intake.
Given this higher market volatility causing investment uncertainties, the company guides a year-on-year organic order intake growth of 1% to 5% and a year-on-year sales growth between 2% and 5%. The EBITDA margin is expected to further increase to around 16.5% of sales.
Abbreviations
EBIT: Earnings before interest and taxes
EBITDA: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and impairment
FCF: Free cash flow
For the definition of the alternative performance measures, please refer to the “Supplementary information.”