Bilanz der Schwan-STABILO Firmengruppe 2023/24

Schwan-STABILO focuses on innovative products and sustainable products and sustainable growth

• Group of companies: Decline in sales after record years
• Cosmetics: Customers more reluctant to buy make-up
• STABILO: Pencils under price pressure worldwide  
• Outdoor: Not enough winter for business

Heroldsberg, November 20, 2024 - Developments in the consumer goods market have shown a mixed economic situation in Germany, Europe and on a global level for some time now. Geopolitical uncertainties and a cautious social mood have significantly slowed down private consumption. In the retail sector, full warehouses after coronavirus and higher interest rates led to fewer orders. In terms of the economy as a whole, innovation remains the key driver of growth and stability, and customer awareness of sustainable products in particular is still growing noticeably

The Schwan-STABILO Group with its three consumer-oriented business segments - Pencils, Cosmetics and Outdoor - clearly felt the effects of the reluctance to spend among consumers and retail partners in the past financial year 2023/24 (reporting date: June 30, 2024). After exceptionally successful previous years, sales amounted to EUR 797.2 million, a decline of 6.2% compared to the previous year (EUR 850.3 million).

Schwan-STABILO Group sales by division

For the first time, all three subgroups experienced a challenging financial year, with the first half of 2024 in particular characterized by a difficult economic environment. Cosmetics recorded a decline in sales of 3.7%. STABILO's pencil business was close to the previous year's level with a decline of 2.0%, while the outdoor segment was hit the hardest with a decline of 14.1%.

Sebastian Schwanhäußer, CEO of the Group, remains optimistic:

“Of course, this is not a satisfactory result after the successful previous years, and we have had better conditions in the past. These are not the best times for us as a medium-sized consumer goods company, but as an entrepreneur you have to be optimistic and I am convinced that products with good ideas and solutions to problems will always be in demand. Whining and complaining won't get us anywhere. We would rather invest this energy in innovation. All three of our business areas serve needs that are highly relevant in these times. On the contrary, creativity, personal well-being and outdoor experiences are global megatrends. Basically, consumer goods are the stable world that we can build on even in tougher times. Swan-STABILO has become a global success with products that constantly surprise us with new ideas and solutions. Now it is time for us to venture into major innovations again. This is also anchored in our corporate strategy. There is no shortage of ideas and topics, and our teams in all three business divisions around the world are working intensively on them. We have always been able to rely on our ingenuity and innovative strength. We will be celebrating our 170th company anniversary next year with precisely this forward-looking strength.”

AnAnke Buttler, CFO der Gruppe, über finanzielle Herausforderungen und Zukunftspläne

“The weak consumer sentiment, geopolitical uncertainties, a poor ski touring winter, high insolvency rates in the sports retail sector and rising personnel costs clearly show how important it is to keep a close eye on costs. Of course, we are continuing our long-term initiatives to shape the future, for example in the areas of digitalization and sustainability, to which we feel particularly committed as a family business. Although legal requirements demand a lot from companies in this area, recent studies show that fewer and fewer consumers are willing to pay a higher price for sustainably produced products, which is an economic balancing act from a financial perspective that, like many other current challenges, must be mastered. We have made great efforts to maintain and expand the leading market positions of the three subgroups through innovative products, while at the same time working on efficiency and cost savings. Despite all the adversity, our goal remains clear: we want to continue to grow as a Group and strengthen our position in the most important markets.”

Investments, balance sheet, equity

Die Investitionen blieben im Geschäftsjahrin etwa auf demNiveau des Vorjahres.Investiert wurde sowohl an den Standorten im Inland mit 17,2 Mio. EUR als auch an den Standorten im Ausland mit 11,9 Mio. EUR.Ein bedeutender Teil der Mittel floss inPhotovoltaik-Anlagen, um die Nachhaltigkeit des Unternehmens zu fördern und den Eigenbedarf an Energie effizient zu decken. An der Firmenzentrale in Heroldsberg wird dank 5.000Solarpaneelen ein Drittel des Gesamtstrombedarfs am Standort seit Herbst 2024 selbstproduziert. Auch an den langfristigen Initiativen zur Zukunftsgestaltung „Asien“, „Digital“, „Nachhaltigkeit“ und „Unternehmenskultur“, wurde konsequent weitergearbeitet.

Tomás Espinosa, CEO of Schwan Cosmetics

“In the 2023/24 financial year, the Cosmetics subgroup recorded a decline in sales of 3.7% to EUR 372.9 million (previous year: EUR 387.2 million). However, after two years of overall growth of almost 40 percent, which is three times as strong as the market, this did not come as a surprise to us. We had expected growth to level off and had taken appropriate measures. The main reasons for the decline in sales were the reduction of high customer inventories and a decline in consumer demand. The loss of sales was distributed globally: in Europe and the Middle East, we were able to grow thanks to our broad customer base, while we suffered losses in North and South America.

Measures taken, innovation process and new products

Through targeted improvements in production and purchasing, we were able to mitigate the effects of the decline in orders. At the same time, we have invested even more resources in research and development in order to convert all our core products to environmentally friendly, ideally sustainable organic materials as quickly as possible. We have been rewarded for our sustainability efforts to date: the international assessment platform EcoVadis awarded us Gold status in the area of corporate responsibility/CSR, a certification that is important for us and our customers alike. Thanks to an optimized innovation process and closer global cooperation between our locations, we will be significantly faster in the development of new and the expansion of existing product lines in the future. This is a decisive factor for customer loyalty, especially as the indie sector, which is heavily promoted via social media, is constantly bringing new products to the market. Lip and face make-up products are still particularly in demand - both PM balance sheet figures 2023/24/November 2024/Marion Korbel 5 areas in which we have not previously held a leading position. However, our early trend analyses have paid off. By contrast, sales in our traditional business areas for eye and brow products continued to decline.

Sustainable packaging strategy

In addition to the cosmetic mass, which provides color and texture in lipsticks, eyeliners and concealers, the packaging must also be right. The tubes and capsules are made of plastic to ensure that the often expensive product can be stored safely and permanently and also applied well. A newly developed packaging strategy is designed to meet the growing demand for sustainable materials. We are working intensively on the development of alternative materials such as recycled plastic and bio-based materials, which must meet strict technical specifications in order to meet the demanding quality standards in the cosmetics industry. The plant in Weissenburg is being expanded into a global competence center for the production of plastic parts.

Outlook

All these measures for product and process innovation, efficient cost management, the development of international markets and the consistent implementation of our corporate strategy are significantly strengthening our innovative power. This gives us great optimism that we will grow again in the future, provided that market conditions remain stable.”

Horst Brinkmann, CEO of STABILO

In the review and outlook for the past financial year, he talks about the challenges posed by the economic downturn, the company's strategic direction until 2030 and the progress made towards sustainability. “The year was very challenging for STABILO. STABILO recorded sales of EUR 213.6 million in the last financial year 2023/24, which corresponds to a slight decline of 2.0 percent. Despite rising real wages in Germany, consumers are still holding back. Mid-price segments in particular have come under strong pressure to offer their products at ever lower prices. As a result, the economic downturn has led to a decline in demand in key European markets; only our sales in Germany have grown. In addition, dealers have built up large inventories that first need to be sold off, which also impacted our new business. We were able to cushion the impact to some extent with measures to increase efficiency and cut costs.

Strategic orientation and investments

Two years ago, we defined the framework for our future direction with the “STABILO 2030” strategy. One of the focal points is e-commerce, which now makes a decisive contribution to sales and which we want to expand even further. We are already reaching consumers in around 35 countries via social media such as TikTok and Instagram; social commerce is becoming increasingly important, especially in China. The same applies to products and collaborations with other brands in order to offer consumers more than the huge range of pens that sell primarily on price. The best example of our success is a limited edition of our iconic STABILO BOSS ORIGINAL highlighter with a designer look. It was the result of a collaboration with the luxury fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana, two brands that go very well together. Uniqueness, colorfulness and a strong identity are important characteristics for both companies. - With good reason, we have also firmly anchored our commitment to the brand strategically.

In addition to our analog product world, we have been developing digital products for years, for which there is increased demand - with great potential for further growth. 

Megatrends as guard rails and drivers

In order to future-proof STABILO as a global brand, it is important to understand the needs of consumers and take advantage of long-term trends. We asked ourselves which technological, social, ecological, political and economic developments will shape the markets in the coming decades. From this, we have identified three global macro trends: Lifelong Learning/Playful Creativity/Social and Mental Wellbeing. These three trends influence our entire company - from the definition of new business areas, product development and brand communication through to production and personnel development.

Sustainability is making good progress

Bioplastics, cardboard and green electricity: with these measures, we have made significant progress on our path to sustainability and expect to achieve CO2 savings of around 50% in 2025 compared to the 2019/20 financial year. The materials STABILO uses for its products and packaging, together with the energy supply, are decisive factors. Specifically, an important material changeover was achieved for two volume products, whose sleeves are now made from bioplastics. For packaging, we are increasingly using cardboard instead of mixed plastics in order to improve recyclability and reduce CO2 emissions.

Outlook

Buying seduction instead of discount battles: that is our way! I am convinced that STABILO as a brand can provide this impetus. We are strategically well prepared for all market developments and plan to grow again in the medium term.”

Martin Riebel, CEO of Outdoor-Segments

He provides a comprehensive review and outlook and explains the challenges of the past financial year, the strategic direction and internationalization of the brands as well as the progress made in product innovation and sustainability. “In the Outdoor subgroup, we suffered a 14.1% decline in sales to EUR 210.5 million in the past financial year. Following the particularly good performance of the outdoor sector over the last ten years and our record result of over EUR 245 million in the previous year, the market was now saturated. This led to high stock levels, aggressive promotional sales and lower margins. There was also a record number of insolvencies in the traditional retail sector. The unfavorable weather and economic conditions also contributed to the decline in sales for all four brands: deuter, GONSO, Maier Sports and ORTOVOX.

Strategic orientation and internationalization

Despite the difficult year, our employees have achieved great things. All four outdoor brands have further developed their strategy and sharpened their respective profiles. In the areas of product management, design and development, we have placed great emphasis on the innovative further development of collections and products. The demands on function, safety, comfort and sustainability are logically particularly high in our sector.

Each brand was able to impress the market with new products. ORTOVOX, for example, launched the electronically powered Litric avalanche backpack on the market and also strengthened its brand core with its own collection for mountain rescuers. With the Alproof backpack series, designed for ski tourers and freeriders, deuter scored points in this image-rich niche market. Maier Sports impressed with contemporary products such as the Ledur 3LM jacket and a completely newly developed freeride collection. GONSO was able to set new trends in the cycling clothing market with the SITIVO THERM collection. There will be a brand relaunch in the summer collection.

Internationalization also progressed, with great potential in markets such as China, France, Italy, the USA and the UK. The subgroup grew particularly strongly in China. The e-commerce business also performed well. Since fall 2023, deuter has had its own subsidiary in the UK and Ireland. Our ambitious goal is to also establish deuter in the UK as a prem

Investments

Outlook

What once started as a small trend has now developed into a basic need for many people: spending time in nature and exercising outdoors - an ideal analog balance to an increasingly digital life. We want to be a reliable companion with our outdoor brands. We are very confident that things will move in a better direction next year. We see great potential, particularly in e-commerce and our focus on international markets.