Sustainability and growth course determine top management conference
IMGM in Venice: 2024 financial year challenging, 2025 promising
Dortmund/Venice. Wilo looks back on a successful International Meeting of General Managers (IMGM) 2025 in Venice. The top management of the Wilo Group used the annual management conference to discuss business development and the strategic orientation of the Group in geoeconomically challenging times.
A highlight of the four-day event was the Wilo industry conference “Water – Shaping the Future”, which was organised as part of the IMGM and brought together leading representatives from science, politics and business, including Pietro Francesco De Lotto, Member of the European Economic and Social Committee, and Tommaso Ghidini, Head of Mechanical Department at the European Space Agency (ESA).
This year's IMGM was thus the first international conference since the reorganisation of the Group and its now more regional management structures in 2024. Following the regionalisation and localisation of global processes and value chains, the Wilo Group is taking this step to extend its region-by-region strategy, which has been successfully implemented for years, to Wilo's organisational structure. The 30th IMGM in Venice was hosted by Wilo Europe – in accordance with this decision.
2024: Diversification contributes to dynamic market environment
In his opening keynote speech, Oliver Hermes, President & Global CEO of the Wilo Group, emphasised that the technology group had also developed sustainably in the past financial year, which was characterised by major challenges and imponderables in the OEM sector. This was only possible thanks to forward-looking diversification by region and market segment, Hermes said. “In this way, we have systematically avoided cluster risks and dependencies.”
Business with heat pump manufacturers, which proved to be particularly unsteady in 2024, plays a subordinate role in terms of total sales. Outside this market segment (non-OEM), sales grew compared to the previous year. In particular, the strategically highly relevant Water Treatment segment developed disproportionately and thus corresponds to the stable growth of Wilo's cold water business for years, which now accounts for the majority of the Group's total revenues.
The most relevant Group key figures reflect this development. Adjusted EBITDA as a key performance indicator amounted to EUR 189.1 million, while the adjusted EBITDA margin was 10.0 percent. In terms of operating cash flow, which is an important basis for the company's financial flexibility, Wilo reached a new record level of 189.1 million euros. Since 2022, the Wilo Group has more than quadrupled its operating cash flow.
Sustainability: Successes visible in the implementation of the overarching strategy
The content setter of all key notes, presentations and discussions of IMGM 2025, which will take place under the motto “Our Impact – We create. We care. We connect. For you.”, was once again Wilo's overarching sustainability strategy. In the past year, the Wilo Group has made great progress in implementing this strategy, for example:
All Green Fabs in Europe and Asia produce carbon-balanced. At the end of 2025, this will also apply to all other main production sites of the Wilo Group.
Wilo has received the Platinum Medal from EcoVadis for the third time in 2024, and for the first time even the “Outstanding” rating. Wilo was also able to maintain its rating in 2025 – and even improve the score to 88 points (2024: 86).
The Wilo Group's Global Health Management has been honoured with the Corporate Health Award. The Health Cube – the hub of Wilo's global health management – will open in 2026.
Wilo trained 150 suppliers on sustainability topics in 2024. The initiative is in line with the “Caring” impact area defined in Wilo's sustainability strategy.
Since 2020, the Wilo Group has been able to reduce its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 51 percent. Wilo has thus more than halved its CO2 emissions in these categories.
Wilo took back old pumps weighing 102 tonnes in 2024. The Group's take-back concept is therefore working.
Wilo recorded a 16 percent increase in sales in the water treatment sector last year. This brings the company another step closer to its goal of providing 200 million people with better access to clean water by 2030.
Wilo achieved an employee engagement score of 77 percent. The regularly determined value indicates a high level of employee satisfaction.
2025: “Solid development on schedule” towards 2 billion euros in sales
In view of the sustainable (business) development of the past year, the participants of the IMGM in Venice looked confidently to the current year. “We expect to be around the 2 billion euro sales mark by the end of the year,” explains Oliver Hermes. The market situation is promising in numerous regions and countries or segments relevant to Wilo. Business in Germany is recovering after the economic slump in the European heating market. In Eastern Europe, data center projects are driving growth. India and North America are benefiting from successful water management projects and high demand for system solutions. “We therefore see a planned and extremely solid development in the 2025 financial year, despite the tensions in the Middle East and despite a weak real estate market in China,” Hermes said.
