CEO review
16 February 2024
Dear reader,
The impact of structural changes on net sales was -€44.3 million including the divestment of Uponor’s District Energy business and the closure of the factory in Middelfart, Denmark. Excluding the currency impacts, our net sales during 2023 were €1,250.9 million.
For the full year 2023, our comparable operating margin improved to 12.3% (11.1%), showing the benefits of our margin resilience initiatives and operating model. I would like to thank all Uponor employees, whose dedication and hard work in driving our transformation and financial performance has delivered strong profitability in demanding market conditions.
Building Solutions – North America continued its strong performance in Q4 and delivered an all-time record operating profit in 2023, supported by robust operational performance and successful delivery of cost initiatives. Net sales for the full year grew by 6.8% organically, driven by strong demand generation activities and price discipline.
Uponor Infra continued the successful delivery of strategy to focus on the profitable core. The 2023 net sales declined due to restructuring actions to improve profitability as well as lower market activity, but the comparable operating profit margin for the full year reached a record level of 8.2%. Adjusted for structural changes, Uponor Infra net sales decreased by 14.9% compared to the previous year.
In Building Solutions – Europe, soft demand continued during the quarter. The decisive transformation programme implementation during 2023 enabled defending the comparable operating margin. However, it did not to fully compensate the continued slow underlying market activity in our key European markets.
We achieved many industry firsts in our sustainability work during 2023. Uponor produced the world’s first circular PEX pipe based on its own production waste in cooperation with Wastewise, Neste and Borealis. We also received as the first company in our industry validation for our net zero target by the Science Based Targets initiative. To support its commitment to leading the construction industry towards net zero by example, Uponor has created a Carbon Neutral Factory concept, which highlights our efforts to reduce carbon emissions. As the first Uponor factory to achieve the status of a Carbon Neutral factory, Uponor’s factory in Nastola, Southern Finland, reached full carbon neutrality in its own operations on 4 December 2023. Our objective is to replicate the Carbon Neutral Factory concept in other Uponor factories. In 2023, Uponor was also awarded the Gold level by the EcoVadis sustainability rating for the first time, reflecting Uponor’s long-standing commitment to sustainability and transparency in its ESG reporting. I am particularly proud that our rolling 12 months’ accident frequency (LTIFR) reached a record low level of 4.0 (8.5) for the full year.
Going forward, Uponor will, as a result of the successful tender offer, be delisted and transfer under the ownership of Georg Fischer AG (GF). GF possesses a long-term track record of strong growth and innovation. With our exceptionally engaged employees, I am confident that together with GF we have the possibility to further accelerate growth and innovation, as we join forces to target global leadership in water and flow solutions.
I want to thank all our colleagues for their tireless commitment in improving Uponor’s performance in the past years. As we continue our profitable growth journey as part of Georg Fischer AG, I wish to extend a special thank you to all of Uponor’s shareholders over the years, who have believed in us during the past two decades of being a publicly listed company.
Michael Rauterkus
President and CEO