By Anastasiia Kozlova
(Reuters) -Building materials supplier Geberit reported a nearly 5% rise in first-quarter sales on Tuesday and said it expects conditions in the European construction sector to stabilise this year despite an uncertain global market environment.
Geberit reported first-quarter sales of 878.5 million Swiss francs ($1.07 billion), up 4.9% year-on-year and exceeding analysts’ expectations of 869 million francs.
In local currencies, sales rose 5.3%.
“For 2025, we continue to expect stabilising market demand in Europe and a mixed environment overseas,” Chief Executive Christian Buhl said on a conference call.
Sentiment has improved in Germany, boosted by an increase in building permits issued in Europe’s biggest economy, Buhl added.
Building permits for apartments in Germany rose 6.9% year on year in January, marking a second consecutive month of increases after three years of declines.
Permits are an important indicator of future construction activity.
Earlier, Geberit said it expected Germany to get a boost from a planned 500-billion euro infrastructure fund.
It maintained its practice of not providing detailed full-year outlooks, anticipating no changes to its March forecast.
Geberit’s products, widely used in new construction and renovations, reflect the broader construction sector’s health.
It also posted Q1 core profit (EBITDA) at 276.9 million Swiss francs, slightly below the expected 280 million francs.
U.S. TARIFFS IMPACT
While Europe already faces subdued growth prospects, newly announced U.S. tariffs could negatively affect economic development in the United States and globally, the company said.
“There was no extraordinary tariff-induced pre-buying so far in the U.S.” Christian Buhl said, commenting on the U.S. impact on the company.
“Geberit’s low revenue contribution from the U.S. will see it largely unaffected by tariffs,” said Matthew Donen, Equity Research Director at Morningstar. He added, however, that second-order impacts from lower consumer confidence and construction spending could affect the business.
($1 = 0.8225 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Anastasiia Kozlova in Gdansk; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Joe Bavier)
