Zeiss Report 2024/25 Financial Results
The ZEISS Group concluded fiscal year 2024/25 with solid growth. Revenue increased to 11.896 billion euros (prior year: 10.894 billion euros, up 9%), and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) reached 1.552 billion euros (prior year: 1.444 billion euros), giving an EBIT margin of 13%. The result, particularly the mixed picture in the four segments, reflects the increasing geoeconomic and geopolitical challenges that the company faced in the past fiscal year.
“ZEISS is still operating in a dynamic and challenging business environment,” said Andreas Pecher, President and CEO of the ZEISS Group. Geopolitical tensions, trade barriers, and the conflicts between the major economic regions intensified further in fiscal year 2024/25. This directly impacted the willingness of industry to invest, as well as consumer confidence. “There was increased uncertainty in the markets in the past fiscal year. This required us to adapt strategic activities and strengthen targeted resilience measures,” Pecher explained.
Despite the uncertain market conditions in fiscal year 2024/25, ZEISS maintained its substantial investment in research and development. “We invested over 1.7 billion euros to develop innovations. Innovative strength remains the key factor for ZEISS’ medium- and long-term success,” said Pecher.
Business Development in Fiscal Year 2024/25
Despite the challenges, ZEISS was able to maintain strong revenue growth – a sign that the company took targeted measures, including strategic investments, early on. The Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology segment once again reported double-digit growth, while the direct-to-market (DtM) segments presented a very mixed picture: The economic situation was more difficult for the Industrial Quality & Research segment than in the prior year, while the Medical Technology segment saw an increase in revenue compared to the same period in the prior year. The Consumer Markets segment, with its strategic business unit, Vision Care, delivered another solid result.
“Our segments have been impacted to varying degrees by the challenging market dynamics. On the sales markets, this was particularly evident in the fierce price competition and weak demand,” said Stefan MĂĽller, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the ZEISS Group. “In response, ZEISS focused on strict cost awareness, efficient processes, and, where necessary, temporary or permanent capacity adjustments in individual cases during fiscal year 2024/25,” MĂĽller added. Additional resilience measures included structural and process improvements as well as leveraging optimization potential in infrastructure projects.
Outlook
“ZEISS assumes that the overall conditions, especially the uncertain market environment, will not improve in the current fiscal year. This will impact our segments differently and could result in a decline in revenue. For this reason, the current outlook is significantly more challenging,” said Andreas Pecher. If additional steps are necessary, ZEISS, as a responsible company, favors those measures aimed at maintaining employment, such as reducing the number of hours in overtime accounts or implementing government-subsidized short-time work schemes. To ensure long-term competitiveness, job reductions may be necessary in individual areas.
“We have full confidence in our strategic alignment and innovative strength. At the same time, we do not underestimate the risks and will continue to act cautiously,” concluded Andreas Pecher.
For more information: www.zeiss.com
