Good morning, everybody online. I welcome you to our press conference this morning, and I want to thank you in advance for your interest in Zika. Today, I am opening this event because I want to take the opportunity to comment on the leadership changes we have announced this morning. Before then later, Paul Schuller we present the business year 2020. The Board of Sika and myself, we are very proud to announce that Thomas Hasler will be the successor of our CEO, Paul Schuler, as of May 1 this year.
In our succession planning, right from the beginning, we have focused on internal candidates as we wanted to assure continuity of the Zika story. As you could see this morning from the results, we are on a successful path with our Strategy 2023, and there is no reason to change that. But not only continuity in the implementation of the strategy is important to us, but also continuity in the development of our specific culture and organization. We want to assure that we can keep the entrepreneurial spirit in our organization, and that we can continue what Paul Schuler has started so well, namely the continuous development of our fine and also fragile balance between Decentralocal Accountability and Central Support. We consider this to be the main strategic advantage of our organization, and it has proven its strengths, which can be seen through our profitable growth, but also during the crisis in the past year.
And Thomas is the person who stands for discontinuity. He has more than 30 years with Zika, and he can present a proven successful track record. In his career, he has served in several functions in our organization, and he has helped to shape the organization both from a local as well as from a global perspective. I congratulate Thomas, also in the name of the Board, to his nomination, and I wish him all the success he deserves. I now want to hand over to Thomas so he can introduce himself.
Thomas?
Thank you, Paul. I'm very excited and honored by the trust of the board in my ability to lead this company into the future. Let me explain a little bit who is standing in front of you and how these 32 years have shaped me and also how I contributed to the success of this company. 32 years ago, I started as a young chemist in the R and D of this company. I got exciting, challenging targets, but I was missing the guidance how to achieve this.
Let's soon realize that's up to me. The empowerment in this company to reach the targets is outstanding. And leaving the beaten tracks was one of the way to find new innovative solutions. It was then after 6 years in R and D that I moved into a commercial role. It was Paul Schuler had asked me to join his team and to build up the acoustic business in automotive in Europe.
It was a one man show to start with, and we had a clear vision on what we want to achieve. The path to this vision was still a bit open, and we formed the way and made in 10 years this business the cornerstone of our automotive business in Europe. During that journey, we also saw the power of successful bolt on acquisition. We acquired a small company in Belgium in 2,005. And while we integrated, we could unleash the powerful synergies of combining our businesses.
It was then in 2,005 when I was asked to take on a leadership role in the United States, and I relocated then with my family to the United States. Our business, our automotive business in the U. S. Had some challenges, some severe challenges. I don't want to go into the details how we overcame and how we turned this into a beautiful growing business again over the time I was over there.
I want to outline for me the personal experience living in the U. S. And enjoying the culture of the Americans, the positive inspiration that can achieve so much, the can do approach. It helped me A lot to succeed with the team over there, and it is still an inspiring moment, which I take with me wherever I go. Inspiration is the most powerful motivation.
It was then at the end of my 5 years in the U. S. When I had the opportunity to present my vision of a global automotive. We had a strong European business. We had a strong North American business.
But of course, in automotive, the new world is China. And I was able to address my vision to the group management and finally also to the board and got again the approval to implement a global strategy for automotive, which then led again to outstanding growth, organic growth in China, again, acquisition growth in Brazil via an acquisition of a local family owned business. Soon afterwards in 2014, I was approached to go back to the roots, to R and D, to the technical parts, to the innovation part of our company. I had a clear message to my team when I started, it only matters when it matters for our customer. And that was also my mission to bring our innovation, our technical advancements in line with what the market and the customers value and drive this as a force.
It was also a pleasure for me to dive into our 5 core technologies and to see how exciting and how many opportunities we have, which just needs to transform that into meaningful commercial innovation that then ultimately are well received by the market. We also saw that We have a great team of more than 1,000 chemists worldwide, and it was my pleasure to connect these 1,000 brains via the 20 global technology centers that we installed, giving them processes and platforms to collaborate and use the critical mass across the globe. And I'm honestly a bit proud also that The innovation in the new strategy is no longer just measured on the patents that we are applying every year. It is measured by the impact of the new products, which are introduced in the last 5 years, and we want to see top end material margin growth based on that innovation. Honestly, I love the technologies and the innovation, but my heart So it's wrongly beat for the commercial side.
So in 2017, I moved back and I had pleasure to take over the global business, which was then the automotive business together with the acquired Exxon Technology Business. And then soon, it was also with the additional business of the 5 ChemTech Technology, a further boost and an integration task ahead of me. I'm not going into the details of how that business is running. We will have that later on on a separate slide where we stand and what the outlook is. Finally, I would like to share with you my 2 main priorities going forward.
For me, it's very clear our strong and successful strategy 2023 needs to continue, and I will put all my energy into the continuation of the successful implementation and the execution of our strategy. I'm totally convinced that we will deliver the results and the targets that we have addressed in our strategy, and that's my main focus. On the other hand, we have this very strong strategy, but it is the people that make the strategy fly, and it is the spirit and the inspiration of our 25,000 people that deliver these results. And for me, The culture part, our unique Zika culture is an obligation to take care, to protect, preserve and foster going forward. That's my pledge to the organization.
That's my pledge to take care of the Zika spirit as such.
Thank you, Thomas. I'm looking forward working with you. And this is now also the moment to thank Paul Schuler, also in the name of the full Board, for his outstanding leadership and his accomplishments in the past 3 decades. As CEO in the last 4 years, Paul has led Zika to an accelerated growth and to new performance levels. Under his leadership, Sika has significant profitable growth shown and also a successful integration of the largest acquisition in the history of Sika Parex.
Furthermore, Paul was also crucial in the settlement of the issue we had with Saint Gobain. But Paul does not only focus on growth. In the context of Strategy 23, He started to fine tune the organization, and he did put emphasis on harvesting the internal synergy potential and efficiencies. He knows the potential of our organization in and out. With the aspect of continuity in mind, the board wants to continue to rely on his insights and has therefore decided to present Paul Schuller as a candidate to be elected as a member of our Board at the NEXT AGM.
He will take the seat of Fritz Van Dyke, who will not stand for reelection anymore. The whole board and myself, we are looking forward to welcome Paul as a member of our board. On the other hand, unfortunately, I have to announce that Esther Perozbe, who we had presented as a candidate last November, has withdrawn her candidacy this week. Against earlier plans, she has taken over a new CEO role as of 1st January and after a few weeks in her new role has decided to focus on this new challenge and not to take an additional mandate. We regret this decision very much as Esther would have been a very good fit to our Board, and we wish her all the success in her new executive role.
Her decision now will lead to a delay in our plan to renew our Board and obviously also in our way to respond to expectations with regards to gender diversity. I can assure you, however, that we are committed to accelerate the renewal of our Board in order to catch up with the 4 years we lost during the conflict with Saint Gobain. This would be my comments this morning to the changes in leadership we have announced, and I would like to allow now for questions on this particular topic before we continue and we report on the business year 2020. Are there any questions?
Okay. The line for questions is open now, and please raise your hand. First question goes to Markus Mayer, Baader Bank.
Good morning.
I have a question regarding this management change. Out of change and after his career also as a CTO, should we expect Innovations become even more crucial for Zika. Is this also something how we should read it?
Thomas, you want to answer?
I wouldn't deny that innovation is at the heart of what I see as a key competitive advantage of our company. The innovation needs to materialize into Value for our customers for the markets, but they are especially in the coming times with a lot of challenges where our customers in construction, in the automotive, in the industrial applications are facing they need more innovation, new ways to manufacture, recycle our circular innovations. And I think Zika is a great enabler, and It will be my focus that the innovation power of this company at least stays, if not even, grows in the future.
Okay. Perfect. Thank you.
Next question goes to Priyal, Jefferies, please. She is not ready then to Qingtong from On-site Research, please.
Hello. Hi. Can you hear me?
Yes.
Hi. Good morning. Congrats on the result and congrats Thomas for the new role. I've got a question. Because given your background in automotive, Thomas, do you expect more M and A in The global business, for example, looking at competitors in chemicals who are strong in automotive.
And also, it would be great to get a view Get your view on, let's say, with your like technological background, do you expect like more innovation or more advanced technology Given the change in construction modes like modular construction, 3 d printing, etcetera, do you expect an acceleration there?
Okay. Thank you for the two questions. I believe that the M and A market is not only in the industrial and automotive business heating up, but we see it across the board. Companies are refocusing, questioning the setup, and we see activities increasing. We see it, of course, in the automotive area where we have new alliances or consolidation related with the Stellantis Group.
And of course, this also influences the supply base into automotive. These are great opportunities for us, but it's too early to talk about Anything specific, but there are many activities. But the same applies also to the construction business where we see The same is happening. The challenges that you addressed in the second question are challenges where companies need to refocus and question where is their core, what is maybe in other hands better suited and better developed. And we see also there This is going to drive the M and A market going forward.
The innovation needs of the construction market are no less than the industrial market. These challenges of dealing with the circumstances of this coronavirus will stay. The modular concept, the improvement in efficiency, also the possibility to recycle and reuse Prefabricated element is going to grow rapidly in importance, and we have, from our side, the technologies to support this trend.
Great. Thank you very much.
And please show you on camera. We have the possibility to show you then in the conference. Next question goes to Christian Arnault from Stifel. There is the next one on the list, Patrick Rafaisz from UBS. Christian, you are now up.
Okay. Christian? Can you send
Okay. So on mute.
Christian, you are muted.
I think now it should work, right?
Yes. Thank you.
Very good. Thank you. Sorry for that. I have two questions. On the one side, So congrats to Thomas.
I'm sure he was not the only candidate internal candidate. So how do you make sure that the other candidates are not too disappointed And yes, remain very motivated to contribute to the success of Sika, that will be my first question. And the second question I have is on the nomination of Ms. Schuld become a Board member. I mean, sometimes we see a cooling period and then it Looks like that you are not going for this cooling period.
So how do you ensure that we will see here a good corporate Governance moving directly from the Executive Board to the Board of Directors.
Thank you. Okay.
It's my turn to answer this question. Okay. Am I on? Okay. So to your first question, we had a very transparent process also with external help combined with training and coaching.
And we did everything to assure that we can keep everybody who It was inspiring to take this role. At the end, obviously, it's only one seat for 1 person. To your second question on Paul Schuler and cool off period, we've discussed that. We've decided not to have this cool off period. First of all, the Board's dynamic is quite strong.
There is no risk that Paul would dominate a new CEO or limit in his creativity. And we've also kind of done the step towards the direction of We will not have him in one of the committees, so we consider him as a dependent board member. So he's not part of any committee.
Thank you.
Okay. Last question in this section goes to Tom Wrigglesworth from the Citi from Citibank.
Hi. Hopefully, you can hear me. Yes. Thanks very much. Two questions.
Well, firstly, Well done to Paul, who must be in the room somewhere. And secondly, congratulations, Thomas. Thomas, you've talked a lot about doing things the same that the Seeker has done before, but I wonder what you would like to do differently. And if we think 3 to 5 years down the road from here, what does success look like for you in your role as CEO at the Sika.
Okay. Thank you. That's, of course, a very interesting question. And I'm also going to address and answer that in the near future. But at the moment, it's very clear We are well set.
We have a strong strategy. The execution is my priority. But it's clear, our strategies have an expiry date. It's called 2023. For some reason, there will be room for another one at the right time.
I will come back, and I will explain how that is shaping up.
Okay. Then I thank you for your interest. As there are no more questions to this topic, I'd like to hand over to Paul to present the business year 2020. And I'm personally very happy that he, again, despite The crisis can present record numbers in all areas. And thank you, Paul.
The floor is yours.
Yes. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for Participating on this call. We talked a lot about continuity. And for us, I'd like to see continuity is measured also with the results.
And I guess we could provide continuity in outstanding results in the last years. And I'm very pretty sure that we keep also discontinuity in the future to present outstanding results. We Oliver, do the highlights, and then I would explain why we had the success factors in this Corona time. Then the financial results from Adrian Wichtmer, our CFO. And then a short Information view why SEEK is an enabler and why we feel that is the right thing to go and how we can improve our environment with our great products.
And then the outlook from my colleagues from the region, and then we have time for question and answer. So the highlights. We had the record results for profit and cash flow. The sales are growing by 3.4 in local currency. We had 1.13 €1,000,000 EBIT, that's plus €7,100,000,000 Our EBIT margin improved by 13% from 13% to 14.4%.
That's the record high we ever had. And the net profit went along with 825,000,000 And we are really proud on our cash flow. I think that's the number we always look at it. And this is a clear, clear high Record and gives us a lot of leverage in future ideas to do. Key investment, 6 new expanded factories and one acquisition.
Acquisition was a little bit difficult, and we had one extension of the partnership. Further achievements, I think we closed now the products integrate successfully around the world, And we had 83 new patents and 123 innovation. One of the highlights is our reduction of CO2. Our waste went down by 12.1%. The energy consumption per tonne sold went down by 21% CO2 emission, 25% or 26% From 27 kilo per tonne produced down to 20 kilo.
This is still for us a good number, but still we will work hard on it We even reduced it. Then for our 25,000 employees, we had an average of 10 hours training in the last year, and it was important that we as we could not travel or had to work in home office that we really started to push the synergies. So here, the set of numbers, SEK 7,800,000,000. Our margin went up from 45 point up to 45.8. Then EBITDA went almost to 1500,000,000 And EBIT at €1,130,000,000 plus €7,100,000,000 and the net profit to a record high of SEK825.
Operational free cash flow, I mentioned already. And we look at the Sales around the world, a local currency growth. And this picture, it's also a little bit a challenging picture for us. If you look at these numbers set, I think it's a good number set in the corona time. But here, we lost around CHF 500,000,000 Just on the exchange rate.
And then we lost another CHF 500,000,000 on the corona issue. So yes, We are happy with these numbers on the sales side as due to the corona and due to exchange rate. But it's not the picture Sure, we wanted to see, which we explained last year we were on a go. So time sometimes change, but Still in Americas, we have 1% growth to almost SEK 2,000,000,000 Then we had an excellent year in EMEA regarding also profitability as well as the grow rate to 4.4%. And in Asia, mainly, mainly driven by China, which is excellent The form now up to 12.6 percent to SEK1.7 billion in sales.
So real good momentum. The biggest challenge we had in automotive, we reduced the sales by almost 11.4%. Normals are clear. Many factories were closed in April and in March, quite an issue. The good news is in the second half, we came back and confident that we go in the right direction also there.
So the group overall in local currency, we had SEK3.4 billion. The time line, we I built a factory in our product here in Colombia in January, opened it, and we acquired Adeplas Closing in Romania, very well in the integration path. Then an expansion in that mix in United I have been Emirates, and then we acquired modern waterproofing in Egypt. Then we had investments in Switzerland, in Saarne as well as in Duettingen with new membrane lines and production lines. And then we had an expansion in Jocquid, that mix is in France as well as the partnership with SITRA.
So what are the success factors in this corona time? I think If you look at that chart, just an overview, we clearly see April, May in many of our Honda countries, they had Severe lockdowns was very difficult to do business. They were also the major part where they closed factories as well as construction site. So this was the hardest time. Afterwards, you see the counties reopen it.
And Now we've seen January a little bit more red, which means more countries start to lockdowns. But overall, it was quite as heavy, heavy pandemic as every country also. I think The distribution business we invested a lot in the last years really showed a little bit more Stenema in this crisis, I think the booming home improvement market, then we established I think more and more as a household brand, so more and more E2C customers. And we gain a lot of more market share online sales And if you look at the numbers on the right side, in April, the sales went really down. And then the grade line is the construction, direct sales in construction.
It was not so dynamic as The top line distribution. So we had double digit grow rate in distribution. And today, we have around 40%, 41% of our growth comes from distribution. So very strong system. And if you look at the nice pitch on the left side, This looks around the world now in many, many distribution center, and we are quite proud of it to have such a strong position achieved in the last 5, 10 years.
So that's a long time project, and many years we work on it. But on the other side, also refurbishment was very strong. A lot of Structure has to be renewed, security reason, also new regulation on the building standards, Complex refurbishment over new buildings. And we have a very strong position in this refurbishment market where we have A lot of good knowledge, a lot of great products. And therefore, also in the pandemic time, we really had that as a growing and Very strong pillar in the strategy.
Then digitalization. You hear a lot about the data centers. I think they build around 200 data center last year around the world. And we have a very, very strong position. Now in Switzerland, they build 5, 6, and we really have a lot of products to secure The great buildings they need and the strong buildings, and we're very proud on it.
So from the roof to ceiling, We can fire protection. We have waterproofing and flooring. So many applications that's just a small thing where we benefit from also pandemic. So our logo is always we have to go where the money is, and we have to see who is investing. And then we try to be before they really spend the money by the designers and by the owners.
So also one of the Good moves. And I think the really, really strong one is we are a decentralized, a Quick organization. We have a lot of good managers around the world, and they adopted the organization very swiftly on the current Situation they had in the country. So there was no way that in ZIKTA, Switzerland, we could decide what to do in Brazil or in the Philippines or in China. So we are very proud on these local strong management teams and also on the long continued Discussion we have together, so we understood each other in phone calls, and we knew exactly what we expect from each other.
So great. Also, we really wanted to be close to the customers. We didn't want to go just in the home office or leave our sales force Out at home, no, it was a must that we visit customers when we can or at least stay in contact with them. We wanted to be close and help to do their job, and this works very well. So we had daily calls with all the personals in all the countries, and I think we had more than 150,000 customers on webcams, calls and on seminars.
I think the results are clear. We have great results on our side. But if I compare it with our peers, we always have the same peer groups. So we outperformed the peers since years 2018, a nice picture. Then in 2019, helped by the acquisition of Parex, we really out They already saw minus as a peer group.
And also here, the peers overall, they have a minus Where we have, at least in local currency, the peers also measured in local currency, really can show that we can manage In core times, and we can manage in good times, so we can outperform our competitors by our setup and with our people and our great products. Products integration is completed now. We integrate successfully the 23 countries where they had our operations. They are one fully team now. We merged them together.
So they are fully integrated, and they achieved together great results. And I think this is good. The synergies guidance, we overachieved. We guided for around CHF 40,000,000. Now we have CHF 55,000,000 annual Sales synergies in 2020, so great efforts from the whole team around the world.
And the integration of the many brands Parex had on local levels. We completed 9 brands completely to Zika. And on the 22 brands, we will develop Over time to the thicker. First, we kept the Lancome brand, for example. Then we go to a semi branding in the middle where we see It's getting more and more yellow.
It's getting more thicker. And in the next 1 or 2 years, depends on the strength of the brand, We will be finally the real thicker brand out there without losing sales and turnover. So we do that Around the world and all these brands are in. So our brand will be even stronger in the next coming years because we integrate very fast. Efficiency during pandemic was very important.
I mean, We had less sales, so we really had to focus on our operational efficiency. We had new in the strategy twenty 23 when we started in 2018. And this really shows that also our team works together around the world. So the material margin went up by 1.2% and operation efficiency, 2 point 5, where we promised to deliver also with less sales. And then the dilution over M and M were minus 'seven and then the synergies plus 'five 'four.
So overall, we ended up by 14.4%, And I think that's really done by a lot of small steps work and a lot of investments in efficiency. Next one, we focused on the supply chain alignment. We did a lot of So now we started to align the factories and made a big impact around the world, not just in U. S, but on the example, U. S.
You see, We had the program in there, all the motors reduction. Energy reduction, also quite great projects. And one of the major one is the formulation efficiency, where we really go after all the formulation around the world. I think we changed Every country can have their own formulation. We motivate now everyone to look on their best and Most favorable formulation and adapted and not just have the own chemical formulation.
So great improvement here and really support strongly our initiatives to go towards more efficient and more profitable company. I guess, short word on our strategy 2023. It's now mid time. And despite also the pandemic, we are quite good We look at the megatrends. There is no change in the megatrends.
Even the pandemic will go away in a Few months, few years, whenever that our megatrends still remains the same. We believe urbanization is still there And dynamic economy will be remain. We have to work on the climate change. We have to See and understand the demographics and then technology and progress we also have to work on. So the major mega drivers still remain.
Also, the strategy is quite robust if you look at the results. We lost a lid on the market penetration. Then we really worked hard on the sustainability. You saw the results, how we improved, and there is more to go With all the focus on this one and the push to all the countries to reduce debt are great. Innovation, we talked a lot, and the measurement is 25% of all the new products must come from innovation.
We go in the right direction, really good. Acquisition, yes, not as much as we had. We had, 1st, a little bit difficult to travel and to analyze as our style is to learn and understand the Company we acquire. And then we had at least 3 or 4 companies on our desk where we considered Either too expensive or doesn't fit in the strategy. So we walked away from 4 or 5, which one we really felt that's the wrong thing to do.
I think it's more important to buy the right thing and integrate and have the opportunity than just the numbers and acquisition. But be assured that we're still there. Our pipeline is still strong, and it's 1 year a little bit less. But I'm sure next Coming month, we will see some nice new results. Well, in principle, remains the same.
And this is, As we said, continue to be fair to each other, motivate the people and go for the next extra mile. Accelerator of Automation still will be the same. So we feel this is We discussed also already before. This is a future trend. We will be there, and we are one of the The enablers where we really see the trends, and we are well positioned in the automatization of the building industry.
Also, if you look at the survey, if you look at the urbanization, the trend to continue, we feel 75% will be A population in the urban areas, I think probably not just in Switzerland, but if you look around the world, this trend will continue. And there, we They need infrastructure. They need even office buildings. They need a lot of things where we are in the right position to provide it. Then we count on the $1,000,000,000,000 they planned for stimular around the world.
The Jazz in the Americas, it seems to be €1,000,000,000,000 I send the €50,000,000,000 in EMEA and another €6,800,000,000,000 in Asia. And if just a part comes to the infrastructure, we will have a great opportunity. We really have a great organization for these projects and around the world, we are on top. So everywhere they start to invest, we will be there and we'll continue around the market going from transportation to serial ponding and everything. So still strong there.
With this, I hand over
to Adrian Wichtmer, which goes closer to the financial numbers. Adrian, well, thank you, Paul, and good morning, good afternoon to all of you out there participating in this earnings call. As Paul has said and after the highlights and the success factors of the corona year 2020, I will now focus more on the specific financial results. As you have seen and in spite of the pandemic, Sika has delivered a strong set of numbers. Firstly, top line, SEK 7.8 SEK 7,800,000,000 in sales, which represents a local currency growth of 3.4% and a small decline of minus 2.9 percent in Swiss francs owed to the adverse foreign exchange Development.
But also and most importantly, a very solid margin development on all levels with a strong EBITDA growth of 7.9 percent to almost SEK 1,500,000,000, A very strong improvement of the respective EBITDA margin to 19.0%. Likewise, a strong EBIT improvement to a new record of 1.1 €31,000,000,000 of EBIT, also here an increase of 7.1% and a strong margin expansion on that level. Lower financial expenses and moderately increasing tax rate has also led to A record net profit of €825,100,000 in 2020. If you look at DBS growth on an undiluted basis, there is almost a 10% increase to CHF 5 CHF 0.82 per share in 2020. ROCE at 16.6 percent again and further impacted by the acquisition, particularly of Parex, while cash generation It was very strong and other more than €230,000,000 increase visavishe already Record 2019, strong improvement of 22.7 percent to SEK1.26 billion of operating free cash flow, which again is a testament to a very strong deleveraging profile.
Let's now address the individual elements more specifically, starting with The top line, as you have seen here, the 3.4% local currency growth was supported by acquisitions, While organic development was negative at minus 3.8, but a very Solid recovery throughout the years from a quite a big impact in Q2, recovering in Q3 and particularly in Q4, where we already showed an organic growth of 4.1% in the last quarter. Acquisitions contributed 7.2% for the full year. And currency translation effect, As already mentioned, there were significantly negative most negative impact since a number of years, knocking off more than €500,000,000 on the top line in Swiss francs and the percentage impact of minus 6.3%. This was particularly owed to weakness in our Core currencies, particularly the U. S.
Dollar and the British pound to a somewhat lower extent, the euro, but also to many emerging market currencies, particularly in Latin America, which depreciated very strongly. And looking across the last years, we have continued with our growth in local currency In spite of the corona pandemic, by limiting the organic sales decline to minus 3.8% and while leveraging Acquisition growth, on the one hand, a residual impact from the Parex acquisition in 2019 as Carlos Krevo Hengshin in China and adding here with Adeplast in Romania and modern waterproofing in Egypt and other 2 companies contributing here not only to the top line, but to an improving margin. If we move further down the P and L, the year 2020 was, In spite of the pandemic characterized by strong margin improvements across the board, Starting here with the material margin, which expanded by 120 basis points from 53.6 percent to 54.8%. We also saw an upward trend throughout the year with 80 basis points of improvement in the first half year, expanding to 120 basis points for the full year. But particularly also on the cost side, operating expenses, which include personnel cost and other OpEx decreased over proportionally by 4.7% visavis A net sales decline in Swiss francs of 2.9%.
Following the significantly negative impact of the pandemic in late Q1 and particularly in Q2. We have been able to react quickly, apply a very tight Cost management, while at the same time progressing and driving forward operational efficiency and integration activities, which resulted and supported our overall EBIT margin in the second half year by 200 basis points on the cost side, which also includes lower travel cost by about €35,000,000 in the second half year. But we were also faced with higher transportation and logistics cost, particularly owed to the supply chain disruptions we're seeing here worldwide. In Q4, we also recognized a one Time impact, the positive one relating to a land sale in Switzerland, which had a positive impact of CHF 10,000,000 in Q4. On a like for like basis, we were able to decrease operating expenses in line with the sales decline in Swiss francs.
So here fully absorbing this impact. And slightly On the proportional decrease in personnel costs were driven by M and A and Also foreign exchange development. As a result, personnel cost as a percentage of sales increased Slightly by 40 basis points. Other operating expenses as a percentage of sales, on the other hand, decreased Quite significantly by 100 basis points from 17.4% to 16.4% In spite of also here a slight dilution effect from acquisition, but particularly the disciplined cost management, but all these Operational efficiency and integration activities reduced OpEx very significantly. As a result, strong EBITDA improvement to close to SEK1.5 billion to 19% of of sales, very strong increase.
If we move down online, we also see here that depreciation and amortization expenses have Again, significantly increased. This is related to the first half year of residual M and A impact, particularly relating to Parex. But if you look at the second half year, basically development in line with the sales development, but for the full year, an increase of 10.4%. This is the reason why EBIT has developed a bit less dynamic than EBITDA, but still a very strong improvement, strong growth of 7.1%, significantly above here the sales development. Now summarizing and translating this Into the respective margin drivers, as already alluded to by Paul earlier on talking specifically about operational improvement and efficiency impact as part of our strategy.
But looking across all the buckets here, particularly the expansion of material margin, well into our target band of 54% to 55%, 54.8% in 2020 was supported by decreasing raw material cost but very much in combination with disciplined pricing, where we added 50 basis points in price effect, particularly also to counter some of the negative and adverse foreign exchange impact. In addition, these structural Saving projects, procurement initiatives, formulation efficiency, but also The positioning of new products were contributors to this strong margin expansion. Operational efficiency, again, a strong contribution of the 50 basis points as targeted here through the many initiatives on global regional and particularly also on local level. There and again, we had an initial dilution of M and A of around 70 basis points, this is particularly related to the 1st 5 months. We also coincided with the worst impact of the Pandemic, which led to a dilution of 70 basis points, but on the other hand, very strong development of the impact of the synergies contributing here 40 basis points.
We have achieved annual synergies through of Parex of €55,000,000 in 2020. This is an increment of 46,000,000 versus 2019. Now moving back to the P and L and below the EBIT, We had also due to the reduction in the net debt level or in the debt level, A decrease in interest costs, but more importantly, all the financial expenses Decreased very strongly by more than 40%. This was particularly relating to Significantly lower hedging cost driven by the decrease of the interest rate differential, but also to lower Intercompany lending in foreign currency. As a result, financial expenses net financial expenses decreased by more than 18 €1,000,000 or almost 21%.
The effective group tax rate saw a slight increase from 21.5 to 22.2%. This is largely owed to a onetime benefit we had last year relating to the Swiss tax reform, while sort of the underlying estimated group tax rate stayed virtually the same. Overall, net profit increased very strongly due to this to 820 and CHF 5,100,000 which represents a very solid increase of 8.8% to 10.5% of net sales. Now moving to the balance sheet. You can see here that a disciplined Asset Management and foreign exchange impact reduced the balance sheet total by about SEK170,000,000 compared to 2019.
On the asset side of the balance sheet, a focused working capital Management lower M and A and capital investments below the depreciation and amortization And rate as well as foreign exchange reduced here the total, while the cash balance increased significantly by CHF 223,000,000 year on year compared to the previous year. Current liabilities remained flat year on year, but financial liabilities It declined quite significantly. On the one hand, this is owed to a repayment of a bond in Q1 as well as reduction continued reduction in other financial liabilities. In total, overall, financial liabilities stood at SEK4.17 €1,000,000,000 and the net debt at €2,860,000,000 which is a significant decrease of €5 €52,000,000 versus the end of 2019. The ROCE on a reported basis was 16.6%.
As I already mentioned, this compares to 19.2% was Again, related to the residual impact of the Parex acquisition, But it's already up more than 300 basis points compared to June 2020. And so strongly on the upward trend as well and again. Looking at the cash flow, one of the clear highlights of 2020. And here, Driver of the significant net debt reduction is the strong cash generation of the Sika business, which was again at an absolute record level and exceeded even the strong Operating free cash flow in 2019 with an increase of more than EUR 230 €1,000,000,000 22.7 percent to an all time record, not only in absolute figures, but also representing 16% of sales by far exceeding our target of 10%. Now the record operating free cash flow of 1,259,000,000 was driven by a focused working capital management and corresponding positive cash effect, which was CHF124,000,000 in 2020.
Higher profitability, but also higher Depreciation and amortization expenses, while cash taxes had a negative impact, they were also a bit higher. All this included here in cash flow from operating activities. On top of this, a very disciplined capital Allocation with an additional cash impact vis a vis the previous year of SEK 75 million also contributed to this strong development. And operating free cash flow And whilst therefore more than sufficient to finance our M and A spend in 2020 as well as being able to repay Financial liabilities and paying the dividend for 2019 and still resulting in an increase of our cash balance of SEK 323,600,000. Now the strong cash conversion and corresponding net debt The reduction is also strongly contributing to our continued deleveraging post the Parex The acquisition, which is well on track.
As you can see here on that on this chart, similar to the buyback of the Sika shares from Saint Gobain back in mid-twenty 18 where the multiple the net debt to EBITDA multiple went up to 2.3 and times as well as since the initial consolidation of Parex in mid-twenty 19, We have been able to decrease our leverage on a reported basis by between 1 and 1.5 turns within basically a 12 to 18 month period. Therefore, operating or leverage here, financial leverage at the year end 2020 with 1.9x net debt to EBITDA is now again well in line with our A- rating. Last but not least, coming to the dividend here, in line with the solid increase in net profit And also following the dividend policy of the previous year, the Board of Director Ofdecre proposes a dividend increase of CHF 20 from CHF 2.30 to to CHF 50 per share. This represents an increase of 8 point 7% versus the previous year on a per share basis. And with this, I like to hand back to Paul for further comments on the business and then later on for the outlook.
Thank you very much.
Okay. Thank you, Adrian. Great results. Thanks for the good work here. Why we feel our big Future is Zika's enabler for the environment.
I think the sustainable future for our planet, but also for Zika It's most important. We know that in construction side, 40% of the CO2 emissions starts. Also, one 5th comes from automotive. And if you look at our portfolio, we are the best enabler to help The construction industry to help the people involved in here to reduce their own carbon footprint. Looking on cement, we really can reduce with our products.
So looking at other car manufacturers, we can build softer cars, I like the course. So a great, great potential we have, and we work hard on innovation to even improve that in the next coming years. So I think that's the next 5 step move where we really want to focus our innovation and go in the transformation in this towards a more sustainable future. Just a few examples, heat loss, the temperature raise in the on the world, on the planet, We can reduce if you use the right products and the right systems, just the heat loss on houses by 35%. For example, we have green roof systems.
We have great facade systems. We have great windows where we bond, so the Heat loss is less. We have good flooring system to keep the heat. And of course, also the waterproofing helps there. So great, great systems.
And I think that's just one of the potential where we have with the heat loss, which is a great Problem around the world. Another great one is the which we are very proud of. We have the first Roofing system from cradle to cradle means we produce a membrane, and we have membranes now around the world since 30, 40 years now they want to be exchanged. So we take these membranes, we recycle it and put it in as a new membrane. And so we really can use these membranes to re urinate.
And so we have a really full circle. And therefore, we got The first membrane worldwide and I think also some certificates and some nice awards. So that's another point on the roofing. Clean water, also a huge problem around the world. With our really great products, we really can make sure that this water sewage plants, we can do much better.
We can produce it Better water leakage, water car management is much improved. And also there, We really feel we have the right products. We work harder on that one. And this is also initiatives where we want to launch worldwide, Also, several countries, but also in mature countries that with our products and with our support, We can improve the Clearwater concept of the United Nations. Here we are very proud of.
We just have A new patent on how we recycle demolished concrete. Usually, you see The truck running down the old buildings, then they tried to bring it in smaller pieces. And then they tried to use Landfill or do something else with it. And our new patent is now we take the demolished concrete, We put CO2 to it, then we mix it, then we have thick additives. They then split it to sand.
So we have clear sand on one side. Then we have the limestone, the cement on the other side. And then we have the gravel. So we really Bring it apart. Before, it was just one small knuckle, but now we have 3 different products.
And with this one, I feel we really can help the environment to really go in the right direction instead of landfill or try to reduce it a little bit in concrete. If we can roll out these initiatives around the world, And we have now the first prototypes running. So this will be a game changer in construction for renewable buildings and also for refurbishment. So very proud on this one, and you will hear more about this. I think that's one of the great initiatives We're running to be the enabler of the construction industry and automotive industry.
If you look at our own target sheets in our Scope 1 and Scope 2, we are at 74 Out of 100, that's a top class. If you look around our peers, no one is as high or just close. So also many our growth rates are really helped as rating candidates, and we got everywhere nice good ratings. So we are proud on this one. However, I challenge my friend.
I want to see an aid in front, and we're working on it and then probably go higher. So it's a clear target to improve this course. We are very happy with it, but that's not the end. We will work harder to go in this direction. So if I look at the future, if I look a little bit on the next 5, 6, 10 years, this will be a big driver to really be The best enabler around the world in construction and automotive industry.
Other point is we really have to care about our people. I think this is what Sika is built for. This is that we are Strong. We have a strong culture. We want to continue this culture.
And also, we want to help outside. We have to admit The pandemic not really supported this all these projects. We had a few, but this is one Point where we want to improve further. We want to invest more to really be good citizens around the world. We had only 1200 working days, which we could spare because we could not meet with the people.
But the target is here, clearly go towards 10000 days we want to spend for community. And we are on a good way. And as soon as we feel The pandemic is over. We will really push that throughout the world. So good achievements, but we can improve here.
But it's SIGCO is proud to be a part of all these partners, and we are proud to really make this happen. With this, I would like to ask our friends to give you the outlook per region and You have it firsthand. And then afterwards, we make a Q and A. Thomas?
Okay. Thank you. And as promised before, looking into the global business and the industry as we started the year, I think it's obvious the automotive business is not coming really to a rest. It is recovering. We expect also that China will reach pre COVID levels this year, but in parts of North America, in Europe, we still have a very slow catch up.
We have a high Volatility, uncertainty. I guess you have heard about the semiconductor shortage, which will have impact in Q1. But we are optimistic that the industry will catch up the loss in these volumes as the consumer demand is still improving and should recover if the supply chain disruptions are solved. More important for us is our internal Work where we can contribute, our pipeline is full. We have lots of project nomination, which will fuel our future organic growth.
Most pronounced is that already 25% of the last year's nominations are battery e vehicles, And even 10% of our nominations are pure eSolutions. These are solutions which 3 years, 4 years ago were in existent and are already contributing 10% of the nominations and which will then go into production in the coming years. But we have also seen that some of our markets, the renewable energy market, the modular construction market, were not as heavily impacted last year, and we also see a continuation of that positive trend. The same applies to the more distribution oriented Manufacturers of home appliance and building components also here. We have seen a nice improvement last year as end consumers are focusing on home improvement rather than on buying cars.
So this has been 2 positive elements where we expect also in 2021 to see further improvements. Overall, the global business and the industry It's again well positioned to outperform the market. The electrification of anything that is mobile has further accelerated and is supported by the governmental interventions. We also see that the global industries of global Markets like automotive, transportation, renewable energy and so on are requiring a full range of to make our customers less dependent on the supply chain issues that currently are all over the globe visible. These are the few things I wanted to share about Global Business and Industry, and I hand over to Christoph to talk about the Americas.
Good morning, everyone. So after 2020 was quite a struggle for us. I must say I'm still quite satisfied that we were able to end the year with a little growth of 1% and as well as the full percentage point on profitability that we were able to add. And for this, I would like to take this They deserve my full respect. I've seen tremendous spirit during this last year.
People still coming to work in our The reason making this result possible. About 2021, which has already started, we remain Optimistic, mainly for the reason because we learned how to deal with this COVID crisis. We still visit our customers and our customers also learned how to deal With this crisis, we adapted our strategy to a new slogan, go where the money is. The money has moved a little bit. I mean, there are less department stores, for example, repairing There are roofs, but there are more other type of projects, for example, where there is still a lot of investment going in.
Looking a bit into the different areas, Canada had a very strong year last year, And this will continue. We're quite positive for that. I think we have also very strong setup with the King acquisition that we did Last year, U. S. Will see rather a slow start.
February, I guess everybody knows, driven by heavy snowstorms. But this snow will go away and then we will we believe very much in an acceleration of the market environment. And we have a very strong setup in the U. S, As you know, so we will see
a good result by the
end of this year. And then Latin America is really a bit my highlight, I must say, we went through a really tough month in Q2, Q3. But The last 5 months were coming back very strong. And this year, I must say, I'm very confident we're going to see good results, Excellent results led by Brazil, Peru and Chile. Still very challenging environment, as you heard from Adrian also, exchange rates, etcetera.
But our people know how to deal with that situation. And therefore, I remain positive. Distribution, retail, e commerce It has helped us a lot in all of the Americas last year. This business was growing close to double digits. There's Been a lot of activity, while, of course, projects during many lockdowns, They K, they almost stopped.
Now they're of course, they're coming back. And distribution will also help us This year, we've seen already this business going very well in the 1st weeks months of this year. Also projects will come back. They have already come back. And I said, we adapted our strategy towards go where the money is.
And there is money in projects. So infrastructure, I would mention first, it's coming back now when we hope for Stimulus money, particularly also in relation to, I would say, the new presidency in the United States. So there is a lot of really interesting very large projects waiting to be built. I'd like to mention New York City Airport, LaGuardia, Newark. These 2 projects flown worth 7,000,000,000 So there is of U.
S. Dollars, there is a lot of money in there for us here. Or in California, water tunnels in the range of $20,000,000,000 waiting to be built, taxes, speed, Train, for example, from Dallas down to Houston, in all these projects, and we're on all of them working. There is a lot of money for SEEK. I would like to mention data centers.
This is booming right now. Also during COVID, we are very strongly involved in these projects. So we have right now, we're 15 projects in the U. S, 10 In Canada, there are always several million of CHF dollars in each of these projects for us. And then I would say one of the most booming project areas are the distribution centers or warehouses.
And here without naming the customer, but the largest online distributor in the United States, We're tracking right now over 100 projects of this one particular Of course, hospitals, very big in Latin America, very important project type for us, Pharmaceutical Companies in Food and Beverage. These industries have money. They profited during The crisis and they are now investing also money into their infrastructure and into their Buildings. Other initiatives which we have launched in Americas, and these are the ones contributing to our performance. Mention the mining.
Mining is coming back. The copper prices, for example, just coming from a call with our Chilean friends, copper prices A rocket high. And we have a very strong position in the mines in Latin America, and we see this business now coming back, which will help us a lot with our growth next year. Or I'd like to mention building finishing from Parex, which we bought. We roll out now this business in countries where Parex was not present before, namely in Mexico or in Colombia or also, let's say, the tile adhesives business, a new business, which we launched right now in the United States.
Our wind is an initiative we have invested a lot In 2, there is not only we learned the blade business, which we've been involved in industry for quite some time. Every wind park has a lot of towers, steel towers, but also Concrete towers and each of these concrete towers requires a lot of Sika products, grouts, anchoring adhesives, etcetera. Operation, you've seen it from Paul, has helped us a lot on The profitability side, we ran important consolidation projects last year, and this will continue. We overachieved our Target and then sustainability, I must admit, is rather a new topic for us in Americas, What we used last year to really excite the whole organization for it, we've done a lot. We were surprised by the impact that these initiatives have cost and we have a very nice action list for this year now to achieve a beautiful CO2 reductions in region Americas.
And last but not least, not at all, Our people, most important asset of Zika and in particular also of Zika Americas, we Pushed, we promoted, we developed despite COVID virtually, not face to face. We promoted a lot of people, Also helping the gender diversity, I must say, on top management level of the Americas, And this will continue and will also be our most important success factor in 2021. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you very much, Christoph. I will hand over now to Ivo.
Good morning, good afternoon to everybody. Like Christoph, before I would also going very quickly go back to 2020. I think it was, as you all know, a very special year, a very challenging year. And I would like also to express my thanks to all my colleagues out there in about 60 countries. We are operating in EMEA.
I think thanks to a very, very agile and fast reaction to the new situation, we were able to Delivered good results. 1st of all, we were able to protect all our employees. Still, As Paul also said, keeping the contact to our customers using, of course, all, let's say, the new tools, virtual meetings and And I think with all that and the disciplined cost management also on the pricing side, defending or even Increasing the margin, we were able to really after we in March, April, things were, of course, A little bit more concerning. We are really able to then deliver this year. For 2021, We are also positive in EMEA.
So we see a recovery of the construction business. So In most markets, actually, and especially, as it was said before, in infrastructure. I mean, infrastructure, as we heard, I mean, I personally strongly believe in the water management, for example, because this is a need everywhere. We see the data centers. We see one example here on top right.
I mean these are the really substantial railway project in Norway. You see we are active in all areas. Here, it's about tunnels. It's about bridges. It's about stations, railway stations.
So this is really looking very promising across actually the areas. And we are of course, then we are proactive. We are proactive in the project business. The second point here, specification selling, as we call it. So really, our goal is to be as early as possible in the project, really talk to the engineers, talk to the owners, talk to the architects because there we can also Act as enablers in a very, very early project stage.
And maybe we have the first contact with the waterproofing of a project With the roof or the facade. And then from there, we are in the project and then we do the cross selling. And then it's our, As we call it, basement to roof approach. You see here one example, the new or actually the extended Bernabea Stadium in Spain, the Real Madrid Stadium, they still have money to spend. So I think we have here, we are very well positioned with the facade.
It's a special glass facade. And then we go also in the other parts of this project, Like the roof, like the coatings, and this really helps us to sell the value of our systems. We do not Talk about only a single product, but really systems value selling. And then we can clearly differentiate also to competition because, again, we are not just dealing in one specific part of a building. And this is, of course, of a great advantage.
Then we heard it before, I mean, distribution. Distribution really 2020 showed again much more resilience. We heard it. The home improvement helped a lot. And in EMEA, we still have, I think, potential to further grow.
We have countries where we have We are quite well balanced with the indirect and the direct business. But in areas like Eastern Europe, for example, we still can grow. You heard about our recent acquisition in Russia with Kreps. This will give us a much better access to distribution channels. And of course, we will benefit from this and extend wherever we can.
We do also a very Thematic marketing approach now, we call it the category management, where we fill the gaps in the stores And we do really with very, let's say, proper analysis, we go there the right way. And then the online business, I would like to mention as well. You heard it before from Christoph. I mean, helped us tremendously in some countries this year with the pure Internet players. 1 was mentioned by Christoph.
Course, I will not mention the name, but you can imagine that is one. But we have different channels here to really benefit from, of course, Trend into the online business. And we see this more and more. Also in our industry, we see more also professional users buying online. This is a strong And of course, we want to and we will participate on this trend.
Then the applications in industry, you heard this from Thomas. We also now combined the Advanced Dressing business in the local organizations. There we see Many synergies in the tooling part of business and finding additional applications for our systems in industry. And then I personally really strongly also believe in the modular building. I mean, the building industry will become or have to become more efficient.
Mean, if we compare to automotive, it's still not the same level of efficiency. And GSE It's definitely playing or will play an even more important role because we bring all our solutions together. Sometimes we start with the roof. Sometimes we replace screws and nails with adhesives, and then we can also do the cross selling. We have some very promising examples now in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.
In the U. K, just one another one on another customer on modular building, and I think we can really Strongly benefit from this trend as well. Then in the emerging markets, Africa, our Africa strategy, we continue. It's Still growing very successfully. We saw mainly also in the newer companies or in the smaller, let's say, companies for us in this, as we call them, Door tops, we saw actually still a very good development also in 2020.
Of course, we continue that. We also built of increase also our capacity in the countries where we further grow. The integrations in EMEA are Also well on track. The latest one, the big one, ADEPLUS in Romania, is really developing very well. We can regain The synergies there, Parex, Parex in France, which was the biggest part in EMEA, is well on track.
We see now more and more cross Selling coming. The customers really see also the benefit with us, with the additional mortar business there, and that's helping a lot to further build on the synergies. Modern waterproofing in Egypt also goes very well. I mean, it was of course, it It was all 2020 done. Not so easy with the travel restrictions and so, but we do now use this Bituminous membranes in Egypt, but also in neighboring countries.
We also do intercompany business and this is going really in the right direction. Operation Efficiency and Sustainability in EMEA is, of course, a key topic, Key initiative, key moves for this year, for 2021. We are building on this even more now. We see Now more and more potential there. And often, the efficiency improvement has also then a very good impact on the sustainability improvement as Sometimes you reduce complexity.
You need maybe less different articles to produce, and this has an effect on the efficiency, on the energy saving and then, of course, also with the on the efficiency. And then people, of course, told us it's a little bit pity that it's the last Point on the slide because clearly people are the basis of our business. We can only be successful if we have the right people. Well, I think we are doing a lot in really developing our internal talent, working on succession planning and obviously Also on the gender diversity. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you very much. We go now to Mike in Singapore.
Okay. Good morning, friends, and welcome to Sika in Asia Pacific from our offices here in Singapore. It's It's really my pleasure to share with you the outlook for the coming year. After a challenging 2020, strongly affected by the COVID related topics in the first half of the year, We saw a really strong improvement in the second half in many areas throughout the region, ending with a positive double digit sales growth And strong efficiencies leading to an over proportional EBIT development. In 2021, we clearly see a significant recovery The economic momentum of the region, with the easing of pandemic related lockdowns and travel restrictions throughout most of Asia Pacific, particularly in Southeast Asia and India, which were by far our hardest hit areas.
Despite these lockdowns and these restrictions, Our people stayed close to the customer. And this enabled us to have a really quick restart to the business when restrictions were lifted. So there's this constant connection with our customers is really the key. So I'd like to thank our people. I mean, 1st and foremost, it would not be possible to deliver strong results in a pandemic time without people really committed to taking care of their customers And our company.
So I thank you team. While China was the first hit by the pandemic, they really did an outstanding job of protecting our people And quickly recovering the business in support of our customers. They'll continue to lead our comeback in 2021 with the expansion of our retail market ecosystem. So when we couple this with our strong cross selling activities in the channel, we have unlimited potential. Large government infrastructure investments Commercial construction remains strong in China and it will continue to grow.
I mean, as you heard from Paul and this will run through our Presentation, but KRW8.6 trillion investment in Asia is amazing. Our distribution business will continue a strong growth in the second half of twenty twenty with strategic initiatives in China, Southeast Asia, Pacific and India. And we do this with our retail model, which we call the Sika Retail Leadership Journey. This is a really successful model, Which has led now to 140,000 points of sale throughout Asia with a 20% growth in 2020 And we're expecting better than 20% growth again in 2021. So we have very bright hopes for our distribution team.
We really strengthened our key project management and key specification management organizations throughout the region The drive specification and cross selling integrated projects within the region with a focus on infrastructure, electronics, data centers and other related projects. This project in Asia Pacific has always been a big part of our DNA in the region, And we'll continue to develop this during this period of recovery. So, our properties in this market are incredible. They're huge for cross selling opportunities. And again, with this $8,600,000,000 in projects, the possibilities are endless in all of our target markets.
So again, growth will be a key focus for us. However, our growth will not just come from construction, We're also very excited about the innovation initiatives from our TM industry. The TM industry team has brought a lot of new And I think with this innovation, We not only bring great solutions to our customers, but also greener solutions for our customers. We all live in a digital world now, And we'll continue to invest in digital solutions to improve our customer centricity and also our overall efficiency. We've created a new digital digitalization team here in Asia Pacific and also on a global basis to focus on these areas.
So we have a lot more digital tools than we've ever had in the past. And we link these digital tools to our relationship and interaction with our customers. So the culture we can keep this connection, especially during these times of lockdowns and inability to travel, it allows us to continue that With all these initiatives, we expect to once again deliver strong double digit sales growth and an over proportional EBIT development in 2021. Of course, in order to see these growth developments, We need also additional investments in the back of the house, not just sales. So we'll continue our capacity expansion, the automation innovations in mortars, CLN's Epoxies and our PMA technology to optimize our supply chain in numerous countries throughout the region.
So we'll continue to invest. We'll continue to increase the supply chain and thus service our customers. Further, we're going to drive for our operational efficiencies and sustainability targets. You've heard this from my friends earlier. And this is to increase our productivity Efficiency, while still reducing our CO2 footprint.
Sustainability is now part of everything we do at Sika. From green products, The Green Power initiatives, we want to create a greener world. And I think we have the horsepower to do that. Finally, really for me, none of this is possible in Europe, my friends before, without the best people in the construction industry. And as Dibro mentioned, we always hate to say that people last, but we're in an important race.
We always have the anchorman last. So these are the anchorman It really brings the results for us. So we'll continue to train and develop our people to support themselves, their families and seek a business. And really for us, it's our goal to be the premier employer within the industry. I really believe the future is bright, We expect a little bit of outstanding results in 2021 and beyond.
And really, I'm very proud of our team in Asia Pacific. We can assure you that they're fit and focused and ready for the challenges ahead. So this completes my report for Freedom Pacific. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you very much, Mike. Good luck, and I fully believe that you're going to deliver these results. Coming now to the outlook. We still confirm our strategic targets on where we had in 'eighteen, so we go for the same amount and sustainability profitability and profitable growth.
The outlook is sales grow by 6% to 8% in local currency. Over proportional EBIT growth increase expected for the year. And we aim for EBIT margin the first time by 15%. I think we are in a very good way and convinced that this strong team will deliver the results. If you are in the banking phase, I thank you first for joining this call.
We open it now after for Q and A.
Okay. I see many hands up. Please think on turning the camera on. First question goes to Ceder Ekblom from Morgan Stanley, please.
Thanks very much, Faiz. I've just got one question on M and A. Obviously, M and A wasn't a mass feature in 2020 because of COVID, but it's always been a key feature of Sika's long term growth story. How do we think about the size of M and A that you could be looking to deliver in 2021? The markets and products where you see particular interest and then talking more generally around How you see your M and A profile evolving now that your business is a lot bigger.
Obviously, it's easier to deliver 2% to 3% revenue growth from M and A when you're a €5,000,000,000 revenue business, but now you're an €8,000,000,000 revenue business. So if
you can just talk to
us a little bit more about how the M and A strategy is evolving and then key focus areas for 2021. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you, Seder. It's very clear, it remains a strong focus. Yes, we agree that it was a little bit more difficult in this 2020. But as I said before, we also let the 3 or 4 opportunities run away, Too expensive or didn't fit.
We have a strong pipeline now, and we are changing a little bit the strategy that we Delegated a little bit more to the local organization to close the deal, and we are more on the Internet to To really getting more market share, going better to the market, having new technologies. And we really try to use it as a growth platform. If you look at the technology, I guess, We like to acquire always motor companies recently. We are also very keen on adhesives. We also open another technology if we really fit, but that's probably the major 2, 3 technology where we would like to go.
If you look out in the market, I guess we are very keen everywhere. However, it's probably easier in the mature To win market share and to get new contacts then in the emerging market. As in emerging market, we are clear number 1. And so we want to Make the market share by our own mainly, but we take the opportunity, but it's surely rather For the bigger ones in this, if you look at the size, we like the size between €50,000,000 to €100,000,000, €200,000,000 €300,000,000 but we're also capable to have bigger ones as we proved with the Parex. I hope this answers your questions, Peter.
Thank you. One follow-up, can you remind us the type of multiples That you would be willing to pay and if you have seen a shift in the market in terms of what you need to pay to get the right assets?
Sid, I'd rather see lower ones. As you can imagine, I'd rather go to 6%, 7%. However, I think the multiples in the moment are a little bit up, and we have What is the synergies? So I don't like to talk just on multiples if I don't see the synergies we have. But Be assured, we like to pay as little as possible, but still have a good deal also for the seller.
So we try to find a good compromise.
Thank you.
Next question goes to John Fraser Andrews from HSBC.
Yes. Good morning, Dominic. Can you hear me?
Yes. We hear you well.
Good morning, John.
Excellent. Yes. So Greetings, everybody, and congratulations, Paul, on a fantastic tenure as CEO and to Thomas for his appointment. I'll have three questions please. First one is, could we have Some comments on current trading.
At the start of this year, we've heard from Christoph that the U. S. Is slow. The Asia is sounds like it's booming, but could we have a wider group comment on current trading please? The second question is on Parex.
The sales synergies, we hear the cost synergies have gone extremely well. But where are you with the Parex sales synergies? Do you have a number in terms of CHF 1,000,000 that You've booked already and what are the long term prospects for that? Perhaps you can give some color on how the rollout Of Seika products into the Parex systems and vice versa, please. And then finally, on the carbon reduction, looks like you've achieved your target half your target in 1 year.
So well done on that. Can you say how that was achieved and what there is more to do on that, please?
Okay. I will take the first one with Trading, we have to understand in construction is difficult to judge January February, Chinese In February or in January, then more snow, less snow. So we don't like to do the weatherman here. But so far, we are happy with the trading. We are on a good track.
And but we clearly understand we it's not a trend where we say it goes 20 up or Down the chest in line as expected and the balance from Americas, therefore China is booming. We always have a little bit this Opportunity. But the trading for the 1st 2 months is we all like it. So I hand the second question and the third one to Adrian.
Yes. Firstly, hi, John. On the Parex synergies, as reported, we're well on track here. I mean, on the sort of the 55 €1,000,000 we have achieved in 2020, there is about 75% is attributable to Cost synergies and the 25% of the EBIT impact is relating to sales. This is actually Pretty much in line with the planning, probably a little bit slower on the sales impact, while on cost overachieving on the time line, also a bit related to the situation, the pandemic situation in the markets.
And this will now continue to shift more towards a greater impact on the cross selling side. So well in track overall to hit this €100,000,000 annual contribution in 20 Then on the sustainability targets, yes, we have provided a number of Targets also here relating to scope 1 and 2. On the timeline here, we've obviously the clear ultimate goal to at least by 2,050 to become climate neutral here. I think we have Made already a big step. I mean, this quite significant reduction was also partially Ode to also the fact that particularly the Parex business and acquisitions overall Have a lower overall CO2 per tonne footprint here in terms of our own Processes, so this had an impact, but then particularly also driving energy mix initiatives.
And here, we're probably Even a bit underestimated what is possible. So a lot of initiatives there. And then The initiatives relating to improvement on the production side, making it not only more efficient, but also consuming less energy. A lot of ideas, I must say, have been developed and are being executed here. So I think on a very good track here.
Okay. Thank you, John. I fully feel that it really can Improve here. I think Thomas will come up in a few years or a few months or a few days, not days, months, With probably a better outlook, I think we really want to push it. I fully believe that we can get better, And it just shows the potential we still have.
Even if we are just 20 kilos, I think we can reduce that. And it's on the management team then to bring up The new targets for the new strategy, which we they will start to work probably next year or next year. Next question?
Next question to Pierre Wolff from Jefferies.
Good morning, everyone.
I'm glad it works this time. So the main question I've got Obviously, you've given guidance for 15% margin in 2021. Should we see this as a floor for this year for more of a realistic target in this year as well. And also, could you just give us a bit more detail in terms of how you get From the 14.4 percent in 2020 to that 15% with particular focus on what you think raw materials And prices will do. And then I just had a very quick follow-up on the M and A strategy.
I think you previously mentioned there was a bit of A hiatus or obstacle because of the inability to travel, does that mean that we shouldn't Expect a larger scale deal such as Parex this year even if there is a decent pipeline for that? Or actually, are you getting to a stage where you just need to push ahead with that M and A? Thank you.
I'll take the travel one and you take The numbers. Now I guess we adapted our approach a little bit. We want to be more active. We also have to change a little bit the approach. We have a strong pipeline.
And I think we also can handle bigger ones. But we have to Come first up with it and you have to see it first.
On the EBIT guidance, Priyal, I mean, we clearly said and we basically Very much continue to say so that in the year 2021, we will be moving into this sort of 15% to 18% bracket. It is clearly at this point in time too early to pinpoint exactly where we will be landing. But maybe if you look at sort of the elements driving this very much as in this year, it will basically be coming down to these 4 pillars. Obviously, material margin management will continue to be Extremely important, particularly now and when we look at the input, not only cost situation, but really availability, which is Currently, quite challenging given the supply chain disruptions and clearly combining this With the right price management, the pricing strategy. So that will be one element which will Continue to be a clear focus.
Operational efficiency, we are quite confident that we will be seeing another 50 basis points of improvement on the EBIT level Coming from these initiatives, which is really a continuous improvement program across the value chain, across our Organizations, we will have another incremental benefit on the M and A side. And then clearly, I'd say growth And or the level of growth is then also driving the leverage. So Quite confident here that we will continue to move at least to 15% to what extent and we will be able to overachieve it, and we will see throughout the course of the year.
Thank you very much.
Okay. Thank you, Per.
There is another question from Martin Flukeiger, Kepler Cheuvreux.
Yes. Good morning, gentlemen. Thanks for taking my questions. I've got 2 actually, and I'll go one at a time. First question is really on infrastructure projects that are targeted by Sika in Asia Pacific and Europe.
I was just wondering How important are those projects already for the company's growth in 2021? That will be my first question.
Well, we feel there is a lot of project out there. Of course, we hope and like that the stimulus Top ten and even more project down. But if you look at the current pipeline, I think it was in 2020 important and it will remain in 20 21, important. And our pipeline is full, so we don't have to wait until the new bridges are released. We already have a strong pipeline in infrastructure, in tunneling.
So we are quite positive in this segment. As long as the construction sites are open, as long as they close it, we'll have a good run-in this infrastructure and the repairman market.
Okay. But these infrastructure projects you're referring to being in the company's pipeline, are these Post COVID or COVID related stimulus programs or these programs that were already initiated pre COVID?
It's initiated. They are all initiated. They are all already running or starting to run. So we Don't just wait until they release it, but it's already there and we are strong there and we see a strong pipeline. It's not I hope they will release it, but we don't have to wait until they're really there.
That's more than for 2022, 'twenty 3, and I think but we're well positioned.
Perfect. And then secondly, just coming back to that Material margin question asked earlier with respect to the EBIT margin guidance for 2021. I was just wondering how you guys intend to manage this going forward because it is quite critical As an element, particularly when you look at the more than 100 bps that you achieved in 2021. So my understanding is that we have a lack of supplier capacities. My understanding is that there's already been some force majeure situation So given the environment of rising raw material prices, what is the management's actual target for The net pricing impact in 2021 on the material margin.
Martin, Eiten will answer that. I mean, on the clear, let's say, pricing target, I mean, that's clearly, as you also described the situation, There's no clear pricing target, but we certainly have to tailor this to the impact. And as I Mention currently, it's particularly also a supply issue. You mentioned the force majeurs playing into this, but more importantly, even the broader disruptions on the transportation side as well, which is having an impact on actually receiving enough and material. So that's our clear focus at the moment.
This will also go with increases on the input cost. And this, we will manage with the appropriate price increases. But to give now for the full year a number, And that's clearly not possible, but that's one of the key focuses. And all the other elements of improving on the material margin On the formulation, on specific procurement actions on new products, this will also continue, but it will clearly be one of the key focal points for this year.
Great. Thanks.
Thank you, Martin.
Next question for Arnaud Lehmann, Bank of America.
Hello. I hope you can hear me well. Yes. Excellent. I have two questions.
Just coming back on Post inflation, but not about raw materials. I'm thinking more about SG and A. There was material savings in 2020. And Looking at your full year results, the SG and A costs have come down. I'm assuming some of it is marketing or travel.
How much of this SG and A costs are likely to come back in 2021 as the volume Normalized, that's my first question. My second question is just on the global business. You gave a generally positive picture of the outlook there. On the other hand, as you mentioned, North America and Europe on the automotive side Are still kind of lagging or a bit slower. It's a very progressive recovery.
In this context, do you think that market share gains And penetration of your products can more than offset if we end up with a stable automotive market in mature countries? That's my second question. And lastly, if I may, LafargeHolcim has acquired Firestone. Just for my understanding, are you a direct competitor of Firestone in U. S.
Roofing membranes? And do you think this acquisition by La France could change the competitive environment? Thank you.
Okay. I'll take the Question with the automotive. First, we had a terrible first half year. So improving the results in the next Coming year, months, it should be possible. We are very convinced, and as Tommy elaborated, we're winning market share.
We're winning new We have also new application in electro cars, and we always can increase the content of cars. We estimate we go with around 80,000,000 cars around. So we are positive after the momentum we had in the last quarter or in the last half year that we will turn around automotive and bring it back to similar profitability we had before. And to Fair growth rate. We have to see how the pandemic goes on, but also in Europe as well as Americas and China anyhow, we believe.
We will come back to the old strengths we had and win more market share against our competitor.
Then, Arnaud, the one on the cost side. As I mentioned, particularly in the second half year, we had about 200 basis Points of decreasing or decreased operating expenses in various areas. And really what has been driving this is on the one hand, The synergy side, the operational efficiency, each with about 50 basis Points each in contribution. And then really the rest is a combination of Cost managementalso leverage. Probably one element that is Somewhat temporary, but in looking at the situation, I don't see us going back to extensive traveling anytime soon.
And so there is about, on an annual basis, a €50,000,000 lower transportation and travel sorry, travel cost. While at the other hand, transportation logistics costs have rather increased given The supply chain side here. But to the extent, obviously, we will continue again to travel more. This will also Mean then the overall business environment will improve further. So whilst it's a cost block that will It will not be, let's say, disproportional to sales growth.
So a lot is driven by these initiatives on the cost side.
Okay, Arnold. And I'd like to answer the Firestone question. If you look at the U. S. Market, it's clear there are 3 or 4 big players there, and it's a very, very competitive market.
For us, it doesn't really matter who owns Firestone. We know that it's very, very competitive. SIC has a special position in the U. S. We sell high end roofing application, and our margin are probably Much higher than our competitors' margin because we go direct, we sell direct, we have Specification.
So we have a very unique position there. So for us, we Compete a little bit with them, but out of the U. S. Market, we have 1,500,000. We do probably onethree with roofing, Very high end margin.
So for us, it's not higher or less competitor, and we will see how this goes on. But for us, it's a good situation.
Thank you very much.
Okay. Thank you, Arnon.
There is another question from Remo Rosenau, Helvetischer Bank.
Raimo, please go ahead.
Yes. Can you hear me?
Yes.
Okay. Okay, great. There were quite a few questions about these raw material costs. Let me just Try it with a different approach. If you wouldn't do anything, anything with your pricing strategy, sector is Paribus taking today's raw material costs And assuming they would stay where they are now, how much negative margin impact would you expect in 2021?
Opposite to the 120 basis points positive impact last year, so that we can assess how much of a job you have to do in order to counteract at this impact.
I'll hand it over to Adrian Remo, but in principle, it's not the first time we had a supply situation. We our organization know how to handle it. We are alert since 3, 4 months. We're bringing the prices up. And also, I think the volume will come back, but I hand it over to justify correctly.
Okay, Remo. Well, I'll try to sort of answer this angle as well. But obviously, what We're currently seeing in terms of spikes in some area or particularly on the spot rate I mean, we're typically not relying that much on spot purchases. But sort of just simply extrapolating probably the Situation now would certainly not do sort of justice to the situation. And still to sort of give you an indication where we would see this if it were to remain this, there's probably An element of around 2.5%, 3% pricing we would need for the full year if it really stayed At that level, but it's different raw materials, it's different even regional developments.
So it's not a very uniform situation. And Again, still, at least from today's perspective, largely driven Supply side with these force majeurs, with the transportation disruption, but this doesn't necessarily mean It's going to be a situation that's prevailing for the full year, but obviously, this is too early to tell.
Okay. But thank you for the indication. That is something. That's all for my side. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you, Remo.
Then we have Patrick Rafaisz from UBS with a question, please.
Patrick, go ahead. Patrick, go ahead.
And then if Patrick is not in queue
Sorry. Can
you hear me now? We hear you. We can't see you.
Good. Thank you. Thank you. Two questions, please. The first is on working capital, Adrian, you talked a bit about that in your presentation.
Of course, as a percentage of sales has dropped, you talked about inventory management and sales mix in the current companies. What's your expectation for 2021? What's sort of Your sustainable working capital to sales ratio. And the second question is around the margin mix. And you did very, very well in distribution.
And assuming for 2021 That we see a recovery of the direct business versus distribution. Should we factor in a mix effect In the margin bridge as well, in addition to the moving parts you already talked about. Thank you.
Good. Well, thanks, Patrick, for these questions. On the working capital side, I mean, clearly, not only from a cash flow, but also from a risk perspective, we put, I would say even increased emphasis on this during 2020 and must say Managed very well the situation, particularly coming out of the Q2, where on the inventory and the receivable side, We clearly had to put that focus. Overall, I think it's but also a progression In terms of the overall ratio, I would still think that we would continue to Sort of slightly decreased that ratio on an ongoing basis also becoming more efficient here, particularly also on the inventory and the supply And change side, in terms of absolute impact, particularly looking at targeted growth of 6% to 8%, We will probably, in absolute terms, see a certain absolute increase in 2021. But it's a continued and continuing effort to also optimize in this area, not only from a risk perspective.
In terms of the margin mix, obviously, there is many different elements playing here into the margin mix. Maybe firstly, Whilst in some parts of distribution, we see a slightly, but this is only really a slightly Higher material margins in other places, it's not. We also had different Mix effect with particularly certain countries such as Southeast Asia really being impacted Quite strongly by the pandemic where we have very solid margins, Latin America as well. And so also, let's say, recovering or maybe changing again a bit the mix here in 2021, I don't foresee a major impact on overall margins coming from this.
Can I just follow-up on that? The margin in EMEA was particularly strong in the second half. Was there a mix impact in there? Or was that more related to the temporary Savings maybe that you benefited from more than in other regions.
Yes. No, it's not the temporary savings. They were anyway relatively Small across the board. We have seen on the material margin level a particular positive progression. Here, it's not strongly related to mix.
There is probably a small Part in here, maybe also some country effects, but they're relatively Small. It's really also very strong price management. Also the input costs have come down a bit more strongly in EMEA, particularly also in terms of the impact due to larger production volumes also for intercompany business. But overall, I think also a very strong management of the cost side, these operational efficiency projects, which had a very positive impact.
Great. Thank you.
Okay. We have 4 more questions. We would like to take it in this order. Tom first And then Xing Tong, Daniel Jalofsky and Alessandro Folletti.
Thanks very much, Dominic. Just one quick question really on the RECOVER project and technology that you indicated there. Is that very energy intensive to kind of deconstruct the concrete back to its component parts? How would that evolve potentially commercially? Is that something that you'd see being Net positive in terms of sales and would you just do you become a net seller of limestone, Concrete and the Component Parts back into
the market. Thank you.
Just a little bit more color.
Okay. Thank you, Tom. We're just elaborating. We have some ideas. We will present it in the next coming months how the energy we use, how much we use.
This is But something for Sika gives us back to the world. We will make some money with it with supply admixtures, But the main reason is to have this technology, even if it's patented, we want to give it out in the market. We want to make sure A lot of people can use it. We have to work on it. But if we really can take, demolish concrete and we can in an industrial way to Plated in sand, in gravel and in cement bag and then use it as new concrete.
I think that's really, really A good move for sustainability, and I think that is our main driver. We hope we make some money with it, but that's not the real driver. We will come back to this question and analyze it as soon as we have everything ready. I just wanted to
Good, Tom. So the next one is Jing Tong.
Yes. Hi. Can you hear me now?
We can even see you, yes. Perfect.
Great. I turn on the camera. So I've got 2 questions, if I may. The first one, I'd like to go back to the margin. If we take the 2.5% to 3% price increase that you might eventually impose on the group level, Let's say, you can probably handle a high single digit raw material inflation to still maintain the 15% margin.
But the thing is It might be too early to tell on the supply side issue if all those issues they persist. My question is on all those other cost savings, for example, internal efficiency improvement, etcetera. How aggressive can you be there to save the margin without disrupting your normal operations?
Yes. Thanks, Jing Tong, for this question. And obviously, clearly, we have these different Elements. And whilst we have, let's say, a very clear path here on the cost side in terms of the operational See programs with 50 basis points, which we feel very comfortable about. Many of them are Longer term, so there is a bit of upside there.
I think we have another element, which is then quite directly addressing The material margin equation, formulation efficiency, but also structural procurement savings. I mean, this is also an area where we can derive some tens of basis points of improvements. And we will manage this In combination, obviously, with sort of the input cost side, But clearly, there is a certain leeway we have. But obviously, also overnight, it is not possible Completely change the equation here as this is really an ongoing effort since A while and it will also continue to be the driver going forward. So here, clearly, the pricing side is a very important element when we talk input cost impacts.
If this is the case, is it possible that you see a similar gross margin contraction Like you did in 2017, 2018 where you also see very strong cost inflation like around 100 basis points?
I think It will all depend on sort of the progression of it. And as I mentioned, it's very much supply driven and spiking at the moment. I think the situation of 2018, it was really over sort of a 12 to 18 month period with sort of continued quite significant Increases where we had been playing catch up. From today's perspective, I would not expect The same situation in 'twenty one. But clearly, the situation is quite volatile on the input cost side currently.
Thanks, Vivek. And then a quick question on your strategy in China because obviously, you've posed like double digit growth last year. And we see that a lot of public and private players, they are also entering or expanding in your markets, both in project business and also in distribution. So I'm just wondering what's your strategy there to maintain, let's say, the double digit growth that you have achieved in China looking forward?
Yes. I guess, we are have an outstanding organization in China. We have a really great setup. We have outstanding products. We have outstanding technologies.
So it's not so easy to copy paste. We have competitor everywhere. I think we really select where we want to sell and we select what we sell. I think we have a strong position. And I I think we can beat also the Chinese in the Chinese territory.
And we proved that over years now, we are quite very nice, profitable And probably the only outside of China who makes margin and grow rate like that, we create profitability. So I trust on the people, trust on the management, and I'm convinced with our product and technology. No worries.
Great. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Quynh Zhong.
And now Daniel Yelof John from Bank Mirepo.
Daniel, go ahead, please.
Hello. Did you hear me?
Yes, Daniel. Okay. So first
of all, Paul, thank you very much for all the exciting years. Highlight for me was in New York at the Capital Markets Day. And the reason I will never forget.
Thanks so much. Okay.
And then 2 standard questions 3 questions to standard. Maybe I've overheard the ForEx impact On the EBIT margin, can you disclose that for 2020? And also at the current ForEx rates where it would be this year? And the second question is CapEx guidance for this year, I guess, it will come up obviously and also for 2022, if you have an idea to guide us here. And the third question also related to Asia.
APAC, I mean, now coming closer To Americas in terms of sales, are there also good opportunities in M and A in APAC? Or is that more to be played like with products where you buy Western companies with a strong Asian Footprint, are there many targets around in, let's say, China or India, Indonesia and so
Hi, Daniel. Thanks for the questions. On the impact on EBIT level, I mean, there's Probably two elements here. There is quite a significant translation impact in terms of Absolute impact, which is quite similar as on the top line in a percentage basis. So 6%, 6.5%.
So this is about a €70,000,000 of EBIT, which is lower due to the strong Swiss francs Translating local profit contributions. On the ratio, really, there is a relatively small one as we have Quite, as you know, a decentralized setup with most of the cost base in The countries areas where we're selling, there is probably about the sort of 10, 20 basis points of A negative impact overall on EBIT line on top of this. But the major part It's really the translation impact in absolute Swiss franc profitability. And the second one was on the margin guidance or
On CapEx.
On CapEx. Yes, I mean CapEx, we have announced Quite strongly reduced it in terms of also the focus less on capacity Expansion in 2020. For 2021, we will rather plan to go back to sort of 2.5% to 3% of sales amount. There is a small element of catch up in terms of projects, which we put on hold. And but it's more going back to sort of the regular CapEx ratio we have had in the past, which will be commensurate to drive our 6% to 8% growth, while also having investment money for Improvements and Sustainability Investments.
The third one. The third. Okay. Daniel, I hope Sika can invite you soon to the Capital Market Day in Asia because we really can show great improvements and excellent companies, mainly China, but everywhere else. So I'm looking forward to that.
Asia is also to compete with U. S. I think Asia, they have now raise on raise. So we hope both grow in double digit, and we motivate the manager to go for that. If I look at M and A, it's a little bit a mixed bag in Asia.
I think India is quite challenging to really find Great companies, really fits to our culture. We could integrate. So we're working on it, but we want to be very Cautious in that part of the world. In other Southeast Asia, we see some companies where we work a little bit on it. And in China, a little bit the same.
There are a few strong companies around. We have to make sure they fit. We have to make sure we really understand what's going on. But we work on 1 or 2 or 3, which are possible. So Yes, there are acquisition targets around.
But as I said, they're also here we want to make sure we're doing the right thing and only if we're really Sure we go. But it's potential that we buy in Asia, in China. Also Japan looks Good for us. We have some opportunities where we feel it also would fit. So yes, sales in Asia, of course, acquisition could be or can be big target.
Okay.
Thank you, Daniel.
And the last question from Alessandro Foleti for Octavian.
Yes. Good morning. Can you hear me?
Yes, Alexander.
I should say good afternoon. Thank you for Speaking with everybody for such a long call. I have 2 last questions. 1 Quick and technical one for Adrian. Your convertible bonds are all in deeply in the money.
Do you see any conversions there? Do you have enough Shares, can you tell us when this will be done, if you have an idea on that?
Yes. On the convertible bond, I guess you're referring to the traditional one that is basically maturing in 2025. Yes, it is deeply in the money. We will have in off share through our conditional capital. But it's I mean, we haven't seen any conversion yet.
It's also Quite unlikely sort of given the option value that here conversion will be taking place early or that Early. So no conversion on that side as of yet.
Thank you. And my last question is on the Look, your growth outlook, I guess, for Paul. When I listen to your divisional managers, They are all extremely bullish for 2021. So is it just my perception that the Qualitative statement that your guys are giving seems to me pointing to a much higher growth potential than what you are than publishing? Or is it that you have some reasons, maybe the slow start in the U.
S. Or There's still uncertainty situation in the global business that holds a little bit your indication back.
Okay. Thanks for the nice question, Aleksandro. I mean, we are bullish managers, and we need Bullish manager. If we just have a manager, they go with a budget of 2, then they will deliver 1. And that's one of the secret we have.
We have a bunch of Polish manager around the world and driven by our regional managers. And yes, we believe The market is there. But remember, last year, we were also very bullish and corona came. So we don't know. But our target is clearly we want to grow 6% to 8%.
We see a lot of opportunities. And if we go higher, More than happy. And if there is other big impact in corona, we have to manage also that crisis. So I think we I feel very good and the KL, the group manager feel good with this 6% to 8%, and we have to see what comes. But we will manage according on the sales side, but also we will focus very closely our bottom line.
Thank you, Bart. If I may, just a quick follow-up. The $6,000,000 to $8,000,000 is in local currency. That means organic plus acquisitions. Now If I take sort of an average rate for acquisitions that you may have reached in the past or Past indication that you used to give for like 2% growth from M and A, that would bring your organic Expectation down to at the bottom and 4%.
If I take the M and A that you have done in the last 5, 6 years, that would almost take it down to, I don't know, almost 0 because you have been acquiring so much. So can you maybe share The split then between organic and M and A for 2021.
I guess we can judge somehow the market where we see we want the organic growth to 5%, 6%, which is our aim always. 2% comes from acquisition usually. So we stick with that one. And acquisition, as I said, if we are in a good position and you find a bigger one, we go faster. And if we have just a Couple of smaller ones we have to work on that target frame 6 to 8 is great for our company.
But I cannot it's future, And I'm not really good in predicting the future. As you have seen this year, I couldn't even see the sales coming or the corona coming. So Cannot look in the future.
All right. Thank you very much.
Is that the last question then? I would like to thank you very much for your strong support I think it's amazing how you supported us, and I'm sure you're going to support us in future. This moment, I'd like to thank the group management for the great job they did last year, of course, all the employees around the world. It's amazing how we can achieve goals together. So it's a great news.
And this moment, I'd like To wish Thomas a lot of energies and also seek some kind of luck we always need. And I'm sure, also under his leadership, Zico will continue to grow our profitable, And we will have exciting times coming up. So count on Zika. Our motorist continuity are also