Minnesota, US – Graco has reported a decline in both net sales and earnings for the 2024 financial year. Net sales at the company, whose machinery includes equipment for spray polyurethane foam, fell by 4%, from $2.20bn in 2023 to $2.11bn last year. Net earnings also showed a 4% decline, falling to $486m from the previous year’s $506m.
On an adjusted basis, earnings fell more sharply, dropping from $524m to $477m, a fall of 9%. This excludes factors such as the impact of charges from the business reorganisation that was announced last September, ahead of its implementation on 1 January this year. This contributed to a 23% drop in operating earnings for the fourth quarter.
In its contractor business, which includes SPF equipment, sales were flat at $989m for the full year, and up 3% to $250m in the fourth quarter. However, operating earnings fell by 5% for the year, and 30% in the quarter.
“We continued to experience slower demand across many end markets in the fourth quarter,” said Mark Sheahan, the company’s president and CEO. One notable headwind, he said, was soft demand for industrial products in China.
The company is projecting low single-digit sales growth in 2025, on an organic, constant currency basis, with demand in China appearing to have stabilised. “Our reorganisation into global businesses, centred around common customers and distributors, has been completed and our teams are positioned to drive incremental profitable growth as a result,” Sheahan said.
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