President & CEO’s review of the year 2024
In 2024 we encountered both successes and difficult moments. We saw gradual improvement driven by both commercial and operational excellence in the beginning of the year, but the second half of the year was challenging for us.
President & CEO Tommi Björnman
We encountered operational issues and took immediate actions to address them. The recovery was fast and there was no impact on our customer relationships. Nevertheless, we endured unplanned production downtime and additional expenses.
Regardless of the challenges, we reached our EBITDA guidance, as our comparable EBITDA increased from the previous year and was EUR 17.0 million (+8%). The main contributor to the improvement was higher sales margins driven by the actions we took in commercial excellence. Our net sales in 2024 were EUR 462.3 million (+2.5%).
We will continue to take determined actions to improve our financial and operational efficiency.
Sustainability and innovation at the core of everything we do
The cornerstones of our strategy are sustainability and innovations, and we continuously develop our capabilities, offerings and operations accordingly – especially in terms of sustainability.
Sustainability is a priority for our customers and other stakeholders alike. The wiping materials for the nonwovens market is evolving rapidly and growing fast, with a strong shift toward more sustainable alternatives. Aligned with our strategy, we have set targets to increase sales of sustainable products and to continuously develop new environmentally friendly nonwoven materials. We strive to enable our customers to enhance their sustainability efforts mainly through our new product offering and contribute to a more sustainable future. In 2024, we increased the sales of sustainable products by 87%, exceeding our target of a 50% increase compared to the base year 2019. Our target is also to launch over 10 sustainable products annually, and in 2024, we launched 11 such products.
Aligned with our strategy and vision to be the frontrunner in sustainability and innovation in the nonwoven arena, we made investments during the year to enhance our capabilities in sustainable products. In August, we announced an investment for a new production line at our site in Alicante, Spain. The EUR 20 million investment addresses the growing demand for sustainable nonwovens in Europe, with completion expected at the end of 2025. Earlier, in May, we announced plans to upgrade a production line in Bethune, South Carolina, USA, further strengthening our leadership and capabilities in sustainable nonwovens in the Americas market. The project is on track, targeted to be completed in the first half of 2025.
Our strong ability to innovate and respond to market needs and trends is reflected in the share of new products of our net sales, which is 34%. By new products, we mean products launched less than three years ago.
Occupational safety is a priority for us, and our goal is zero accidents. In 2024, we had 4 lost time accidents. We initiated a safety awareness campaign to highlight the importance of safety procedures.
Strengthening employee engagement is another key people-related target for us. In 2024, we conducted our fifth consecutive global employee engagement survey. The response rate was good, and the results help us identify factors that are positively affecting employee engagement as well as areas where we still have opportunities for improvement.
In 2024, we took part in the EcoVadis sustainability assessment for the third time and improved our score from silver to gold level. The result places Suominen in the top 1% of companies in the manufacture of other textiles industry and in the top 5% of all companies in all industries rated by EcoVadis.
Towards the future
Looking ahead, we see that the market demand continues to be solid. However, the competition has tightened due to the geopolitical tensions and increased imports from low-cost countries. We have a comprehensive portfolio of new products which partly mitigates the effects of the imports and we are currently investing in our product lines to be able to further increase the share of new and more sustainable products in our sales mix. We continue to improve the overall effectiveness of our organization and ways of working.
I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to our shareholders, customers, and partners for their invaluable collaboration. Above all, I want to express my gratitude to our employees for their commitment and contributions. Together, with determination and a shared vision, I am confident that we will continue to achieve our goals and reach new heights.
Tommi Björnman
President & CEO