Annual Report 2024: GPV Adapts to New Market Situation and Prepares for Future Growth

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Danish-based GPV, the second-largest European-headquartered EMS company, reported sales of DKK 8.9 billion and earnings (EBITDA) of DKK 625 million for 2024. As expected, both sales and earnings were down compared to the record year of 2023, due to continued market rebalancing and declining end-customer demand. GPV has successfully initiated a strategic transformation that ensures a strong foundation for the coming years.

In 2024, GPV, owned by Nasdaq Copenhagen-listed Danish industrial conglomerate Schouw & Co., realised sales of DKK 8.9 billion, earnings of DKK 625 million, and a strong cash flow for the year.

The decline was unsatisfactory but expected due to an exceptionally high activity level in 2023, coupled with the global rebalancing of the electronics market that started in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and a supply chain disruption.

“In 2023, we experienced a period of explosive demand and a resulting shortage of raw materials and stockpiling. This was followed by a period of market normalisation, and in 2024, the situation was turned upside down with customers reducing inventories and lowering demand, and the component and material availability situation normalised. These repercussions are now fading, but the situation will be different going forward. Therefore, in 2024, we took several strategic steps regarding our manufacturing footprint and an adjustment of the organisation that will benefit us in the long run – measures that will continue in 2025,” explains GPV CEO Bo Lybæk.

Driving Efficiency

Specific strategic changes aimed at reducing costs and increasing efficiency and scalability were implemented, such as simplifying the structure, reducing the white-collar workforce, closing the Austrian cable manufacturing site by relocating the cable production to the cable factory in Slovakia and the electronics factory in Sri Lanka, which is capable of cable-harness production. In recent months, GPV has also announced plans to adjust production in Sweden and consolidate mechanics in Thailand, leading to the closure of the Danish mechanics factory in Tarm:

“First and foremost, our competitiveness is important to us – whether it is about quality and service or commercial terms. We are therefore consolidating our factory footprint and competences while strengthening and simplifying the business. This will increase our efficiency and sharpen our customer relevance further. The timing is right for such a focus,” continues Bo Lybæk.

More than traditional EMS

“Beyond EMS” is another strategic key concept for GPV. Electronics products play an increasing role in society now and in the future as artificial intelligence, automation, and energy optimisation become naturally integrated into various products. As a result, the demand for more complex solutions has exploded, and this is where GPV has something special to offer:

“Our primary business is in the high-mix segment, and we have a long tradition of offering complex products and systems combining electronics, mechanics, and cables. These competences are particularly important now that many of our customers want to focus on their own core business and outsource complex production processes and support services. That is why we are increasingly delivering more than traditional EMS, i.e. going “Beyond EMS” and delivering a larger part of the value chain to our customers,” explains Bo Lybæk.

Positive expectations for the years ahead

According to Bo Lybæk, GPV maintains a strong position in the global competition and has often shown a unique ability to quickly and precisely adapt to changing market conditions:

“We have a solid order book, which gives us confidence and provides a robust foundation for achieving key figures in 2025 on a par with 2024. On the other hand, it remains uncertain when we will embark on a new growth phase. It will probably be in the second half of 2025 or in early 2026. Either way, we are ready when it comes,” concludes Bo Lybæk.

GPV expects 2025 revenue in the range of DKK 8.7-9.3 billion and EBITDA in the range of DKK 590-650 million. The forecast includes about DKK 40m in costs for footprint restructuring, hence GPV expects decent underlying progress in 2025 compared to 2024.