Hilti Posts 4.5 Percent Growth in Local Currencies

In the first four months of 2015, the Hilti Group has continued its growth path with sales in local currencies up by 4.5 percent. Sales in Swiss Francs were slightly negative at -2.3 percent due to the strong appreciation of the Swiss currency.

Expressed in local currencies, sales continued to climb in all market regions. In Europe, sales grew by 2.2 percent, with main contributions coming from Northern European markets and parts of Southern Europe. Fueled by the sustainable upward trend of the US construction sector, North America posted strong growth (+6.3%). In Asia / Pacific, sales were up in the mid single-digit range (+4.9%). Despite the continued severe difficulties in Russia, the Group managed to increase sales in Eastern Europe / Middle East / Africa by 11 percent. Sales in Latin America grew by 6.4 percent.

Following the significant appreciation of the Swiss currency since mid-January, overall sales in Swiss Francs amounted to CHF 1,399 million, which corresponds to a 2.3 percent reduction compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

“We are pleased to see that all our regions continued to steer a growth course and by doing so helped offset part of the negative exchange rate effect for the Group as a whole,” said CEO Christoph Loos when commenting the sales figures of the first four months of 2015. “For the time being, nothing seems to indicate any significant change in terms of exchange rates and the global market situation. Hence, we continue to expect solid single-digit growth in local currencies and slightly negative sales figures in Swiss Francs.”