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Investing.com -- Sika’s (SIX:SIKA) first-quarter sales for 2025 rose 1.1% year-on-year to CHF 2.68 billion, in line with market expectations, as the company held its ground through continued macroeconomic volatility, as reported on Tuesday.
Growth in local currencies stood at 1.9%, supported by organic growth of 0.9% and an acquisition impact of 1%.
Analysts at Jefferies noted the results were broadly in line with consensus, highlighting that expectations had already been adjusted downward for what was anticipated to be a soft quarter across the sector.
Organic growth slightly outpaced forecasts, coming in marginally above the consensus estimate of 0.7%.
Jefferies analysts said the growth was largely driven by volume, with limited pricing effects. However, they also observed that the +0.9% figure represented a slowdown from the second half of 2024, which had posted 1.7% organic growth.
Chief executive Thomas Hasler said the company continued to outperform the broader market, particularly in project and infrastructure segments.
“In a challenging market environment, we were again able to assert ourselves and grow against the market trend,” Hasler said.
He credited Sika’s decentralized production strategy as a key advantage, especially in the U.S., where nearly all products are locally manufactured.
Among the regions, the Americas remained the strongest contributor to growth, with organic sales up 2.4% year-on-year, although momentum slowed toward the end of the quarter due to mixed policy signals.
EMEA saw only mild growth of 0.7% in local currencies, constrained by a weaker automotive sector and one fewer working day compared to last year.
In Asia-Pacific, sales were flat in local currencies, as a downturn in China offset stronger trends elsewhere in the region.
Sika maintained its full-year 2025 guidance, forecasting local currency sales growth of 3–6% and an EBITDA margin of 19.5–19.8%.
Jefferies said the reaffirmed guidance carried a clear caveat of heightened market risk, with the company indicating the lower end of the range accounts for a 1–2% contraction in end-market volumes.
Although no company-specific triggers for earnings downgrades were present in the report, Jefferies analysts noted that consensus expectations may drift lower to reflect broader macroeconomic uncertainties that have grown since Sika last issued guidance.The company also reaffirmed its 2028 targets, focused on sustainable and profitable growth.