Waldkirch – Sensor solution provider SICK, based in Waldkirch, Germany, reported continuing growth despite a challenging business year in 2023. Sales rose by 5.4 percent to EUR 2,307 million; adjusted for exchange-rate effects, they were up 8.8 percent year-on-year. The overall financial situation and earnings were also characterized by growth. In the 2023 business year, the company invested 11.7 percent of sales in research and development. SICK’s solution portfolio rests on a diversified and future-ready foundation designed to help customers around the globe achieve industrial digitalization. The company submitted 70 patents for software- and AI-assisted sensor solutions alone in 2023, while also building on its sensor intelligence. SICK is currently home to 12,185 employees worldwide.
SICK’s business development was positive, allowing it to achieve the goals set for the year. Sales climbed 5.4 percent to EUR 2,307 million, while earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased 15.1 percent year-on-year to EUR 189 million.
“We boosted sales and profits alike, an achievement we’re proud of given the difficult year. The more than 12,000 people in our global SICK team showed impressive commitment in terms of providing new solutions for our customers, while also responding flexibly to rapidly changing market dynamics and technologies. Our positive business growth in 2023 motivates us to keep working with our customers and partners to shape industrial digitalization, despite conditions that remain challenging,” says Dr. Mats Gökstorp, Chairman of the Executive Board at SICK AG.
The 2023 business year was shaped by the spread of geopolitical conflicts, a less dynamic global economy, and more difficult conditions for financing, e.g. high inflation rates and central bank interest rates, and a correspondingly low readiness to invest.
“Beyond sales and profits, our profitability also improved: the EBIT margin rose from 7.5 to 8.2 percent, reflecting the successful balance SICK struck between pursuing short-term gains and long-term technological advances,” explains Jan-H. Eberhardt, Member of the Executive Board at SICK AG and responsible for Finance and IT.
Balanced market and workforce growth worldwide
SICK sensor applications are the basis for controlling digital and automated industrial processes in connection with factory, logistics and process automation. In the 2023 business year, SICK boosted sales in all three fields of business, with factory automation, at a 6.9 percent increase to EUR 1,185 million, reporting the most growth. Process automation sales rose by 5.8 percent to EUR 348 million, while logistics automation, following record-breaking years during the COVID-19 pandemic and substantial gains in E-commerce, continued to report solid sales growth: 2.8 percent to EUR 747 million.
Given its favorable global competitive position, in terms of business development SICK profited from a diversified basis once again in the 2023 business year. In addition to its comprehensive solutions portfolio, its presence in all established markets and growth regions around the world were contributing factors. In Germany, the company’s home market, sales climbed 4.2 percent to EUR 380 million despite a slight economic downturn. In the EMEA region, sales rose an impressive 12.2 percent to EUR 823 million – a welcome trend that could be seen in various countries, particularly major European markets like Great Britain and Italy. The sales growth reported in the Americas region, 7.1 percent to EUR 545 million, was chiefly due to advances in the major markets USA and Brazil. In the Asia-Pacific region, sales dropped 4.0 percent to EUR 559 million. This can be traced to the Chinese market, which was influenced by unfavorable exchange-rate developments for the Chinese renminbi and by general market uncertainty in the region.
Software-based sensor solutions for industrial digitalization
On December 31, 2023, SICK was home to 12,185 employees – 2.3 percent more than in the previous year. In terms of expanding its workforce, the company particularly focused on research and development, where the number of staff rose 9.2 percent to 1,760. Innovative ideas from research and development were part of numerous marketable products and 137 patent applications. Here, software-based solutions accounted for ca. 70 patents, while more and more applications included the integration of artificial intelligence into SICK sensor hardware. All told, the company holds nearly 4,000 patents for technological solutions that help its customer companies control digital and automated industrial processes.
Sensor technology is and will remain a growth market, even if the short-term economic indicators for the first quarter of 2024 are cautious and a lasting improvement isn’t expected until later in the year. “Like many of our fellow industrial firms, SICK has entered the new business year with due caution and cost-awareness. Thanks to our diversified portfolio of solutions for industrial digitalization and a dedicated global team, we’re confident that we’re ideally equipped to meet our customers’ needs, today and tomorrow,” says SICK Executive Board Chairman Dr. Mats Gökstorp.
Detailed balance-sheet information, and information on SICK AG’s sustainability targets, can be found in our 2023 Annual Report and Sustainability Report: https://www.sick.com/pace
KPIs at a glance
| SICK Group (IFRS) | 2023 | 2022 | Change in % |
| Sales (in € million) | 2,307 | 2,190 | + 5.4 |
| EBIT (in € million) | 189 | 165 | + 15.1 |
| Net income (in € million) | 134 | 120 | + 12.5 |
| R&D expenditure (in € million) | 270 | 241 | + 12.0 |
| Total staff on Dec. 31 | 12,185 | 11,909 | + 2.3 |
Please note: All figures mentioned in the main text are rounded. For the precise figures, please consult our Annual Report.
SICK is one of the world’s leading solutions providers for sensor-based applications in the industrial sector. Founded in 1946 by Dr.-Ing. e. h. Erwin Sick, the company with headquarters in Waldkirch im Breisgau near Freiburg ranks among the technological market leaders. With 60 subsidiaries and equity investments as well as numerous agencies, SICK maintains a presence around the globe. SICK has more than 12,000 employees worldwide and generated a group revenue of EUR 2.3 billion in the 2023 fiscal year. Additional information about SICK is available at www.sick.com