Bossard Group recorded mixed sales in different market regions during the third quarter of 2024.

“While demand in Europe remained stable due to weak growth momentum, America experienced a drop in sales and Asia showed satisfactory growth,” Bossard summarized.

Q3 sales dropped 3.8% to CHF 240.4 million. In local currency, sales declined 2.7%, organically 3.7%.

“The challenging economic conditions evident since the second quarter of 2023 persisted into the third quarter of 2024, with demand remaining subdued,” the group added.

North America sales fell 19% (in local currency: -17.3%) to CHF 55.9 million.

“After record sales in the past two years, the subdued demand in various industries continued in the third quarter of this year,” Bossard noted. “Nonetheless, opportunities in Mexico developed favorably, with Bossard benefiting from nearshoring trends in the electronics industry.”

In Europe, Bossard’s sales increased by 0.5% to CHF 137.2 million (in local currency: +1%). Adjusted for acquisitions, sales declined 0.7% in local currency.

With the acquisition of the French Aero Negoce International Group at the end of September,  Bossard expanded its market presence in the growing and strategically important aerospace industry as well as in France.

Signs of stabilization in Asia towards the end of the second quarter 2024 produced solid growth in Q3, with growth and gains in market share in the railway and aerospace sectors.

As a result, Asia sales climbed 6.8% (in local currency: +8.6%) to CHF 47.3 million. Bossard benefited from its “Make in India” initiative through “nearshoring trends that had an especially positive impact in the semiconductor and electronic industries.”

Bossard expects fourth quarter sales to remain subdued, coupled with higher costs due to wage inflation and deployment of the new ERP system in additional business units. Sales for the full year 2024 are expected to be between CHF 970 million and CHF 985 million, with the EBIT margin around 10%. Web: bossard.com