Stuttgart and Renningen, Germany, April 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Bosch Group increased its sales and earnings in 2023 and is successfully implementing its growth strategy despite a difficult environment. Presenting the company's annual global figures, Stefan Hartung, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH, said: "In the 2023 business year, we achieved our financial targets and strengthened our market position in a number of business areas, from semiconductors to integrated building systems. We're pursuing innovations, partnerships, and acquisitions to ensure we grow as our industries transform – despite economic headwinds." Over the long term, the supplier of technology and services wants to achieve average annual growth of between 6 and 8 percent, with a margin of at least 7 percent. It also aims to rank among the top three suppliers in its key markets in all regions of the world. Sales and result improved in 2023 – 2024 remains challengingIn the past business year, Bosch generated sales of $99 billion (91.6 billion euros) despite unfavorable economic and market conditions. This is an increase of 3.8 percent, or an exchange rate-adjusted 8.0 percent. Earnings from operations before interest and taxes (EBIT) amounted to $5.2 billion (4.8 billion euros, up from 3.8 billion euros in 2022). At 5.3 percent, the EBIT margin from operations was 1 percentage point higher than the previous year. It was therefore higher than expected, but still lower than the target margin of at least 7 percent required over the long term. Bosch wants to achieve this by 2026. "We need a high level of profitability and financial strength so we can self-finance our growth targets as far as possible," said Markus Forschner, member of the board of management and chief financial officer of Robert Bosch GmbH. "A successful final sprint at the end of 2023 contributed to our expectations on the whole being met. However, the 2024 business year will be at least as challenging as 2023." Bosch's overall outlook for the current year remains subdued, not least in light of the current economic backdrop. "For 2024, we aren't expecting any economic tailwind," Forschner said. Accordingly, he is expecting global economic growth of only 2.3 percent in 2024, along with stagnating vehicle production and continued weakness in the industrial technology market. However, there could be a slight improvement in the consumer goods markets after two years of consumer restraint. Bosch expect its own business to stabilize, to which innovations as well as the expansion of its international footprint should contribute. For example, a new stove factory in Egypt and a refrigerator factory in Mexico are currently being built. In the first quarter of 2024, sales were down by more than 1.3 percent year on year; after adjusting for exchange-rate effects, this amounts to an increase of 2.3 percent. "This makes it clear that the 5 to 7 percent increase in sales that we are aiming for in our planning for the year as a whole is very ambitious," Forschner said. The CFO made it clear that it will be difficult to improve on the previous year's EBIT margin from operations: "We are not only contending with a subdued market environment and an expected further increase in upfront investments in areas of strategic importance. Restructuring and process improvements will also have a negative impact at first, with their positive effect coming only after a delay." North America: growth and investment for the futureBosch registered profitable growth in North America in 2023. Sales to third parties in North America increased 6 percent year-over-year to $16.5 billion[1] (15.2 billion euros), while total net sales from the North American region increased 8 percent to $17.9 billion. The Mobility and Industrial Technology business sectors both posted double-digit growth in North America. The Mobility business sector increased sales by 15 percent to $10.4 billion while Industrial Technology increased 33 percent to $1.6 billion. Energy and Building Technology was up nearly 8 percent to $1.3 billion. The Consumer Goods business sector was down nearly 6 percent to $3.3 billion in 2023. "The continued growth and strength of the North American business is a testament to the strategic importance of the region," said Mike Mansuetti, president of Bosch in North America. "The strong results secured in 2023 by our more than 42,000 associates in the United States, Mexico and Canada are contributing to the global success of the company. ...