2023: another good year under challenging conditions. Targets were largely achieved; sales were in line with expectations, with earnings exceeding the forecast.
2024: Diehl expects further growth and a significant Increase in sales de-spite persistently challenging economic environment.
Despite the challenging macroeconomic conditions, Diehl once again performed well in the reporting year and vigorously continued its upward trend. The Group's corporate sales rose to €3,882.6 million, and thus were over the previous year‘s value by €376.9 million, i.e. 10.8 % (€3,505.7 mil-lion). EBIT increased significantly by € 91.1 million to € 257.6 million. This means that the company's growth in 2023 was about the same as the year before; it was another good year, even though it was hard. Although Diehl Defence stands out as the most successful in terms of its growth when compared to other corporate divisions, it should be noted that all of the units did their absolute best on the market given the many crises that have occurred in recent years. The Group's broad presence on the market has once again proven its worth in efficiently guiding the entire company through challenging times. The targets for the reporting year were largely achieved; sales were in line with expectations, with earnings exceeding the forecast.
The number of employees increased by 1,115 persons - i.e., 6.7% - to now 17,665 employees, particularly in the Defence (582) and Aviation (443) corporate divisions.
Outlook for 2024 and further development
As an internationally positioned and broadly diversified company, the Diehl Group has successfully navigated the crises of recent years and their diverse effects, and is now focused on further profitable growth. Diehl anticipates that its Metal and Controls divisions will be adversely affected by the persistently bleak economic forecast, while their Aviation and Metering divisions are likely to benefit from the current trend towards environmentally friendly technologies and products. Defence will remain at a high level. High energy prices continue to have a significant impact on business in al-most all corporate divisions, while the problem of strained supply chains has eased somewhat thanks to better availability of raw materials. The war in Ukraine has led to a reassessment of de-fence efforts in Europe and beyond, which is why massive investments are now being made in national defence in many countries, including Germany. This will have a long-term impact on the type, scope and speed of procurement measures implemented by the armed forces, both in Germany and in other NATO countries. Under these circumstances, the Diehl Group's orientation as a conglomerate will continue to have a stabilizing effect. In view of the growth potential and market opportunities, it can be assumed that there will be a considerable and long-term need for additional personnel. In addition to the ongoing wide recruitment campaign, Diehl is therefore continuing its efforts to further increase its attractiveness for applicants and employees through targeted measures.