Manufacturers

Signify Sales Decline, CEO Steps Down

Signify Sales Decline, CEO Steps Down

EINDHOVEN, the Netherlands — Signify today announced the company’s fourth quarter and full-year 2024 results. The report showed sales of $6.4 billion, a decline of 6.6%.

Also announced today was the impending exit of CEO Eric Rondolat. This is the second executive to leave Signify in the past week. On January 17, Keith Eagle, the company’s former Vice President and General Manager, US Professional Channel, left “to take on a new career opportunity.”

CEO Eric Rondolat to step down after the AGM 2025

Signify announced today that CEO Eric Rondolat will step down from the company’s Board of Management after the Annual General Meeting of shareholders (AGM) to be held on April 25, 2025. Eric Rondolat has held the position of Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board of Management at Signify since the company was listed on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange in May 2016. Before that, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer for Lighting at Philips from April 2012 to May 2016.

The Supervisory Board and Eric Rondolat have agreed that the time is right for a change of leadership. The Supervisory Board will now conduct the search for a successor and will consider both internal and external candidates.

“It has truly been a great honor for me to lead this exceptional company through the demanding transformation of the lighting industry. I am immensely proud of what our teams have achieved, building the industry leader in a new technological era,” said Eric Rondolat, CEO of Signify. “Together, we have developed a culture of responsible innovation and set new benchmarks for sustainable growth, while enhancing our teams’ solidarity and customer-centricity.”

“On behalf of the Supervisory Board, I would like to express our gratitude to Eric for his vision and dedication, as he led the business for more than twelve years,” said Gerard van de Aast, Chair of the Supervisory Board of Signify. “Under his leadership, Eric successfully delivered the company’s separation from Philips and IPO. His foresight led to the transformation of the business to LED and connected lighting technologies. In doing so, he has set the course for Signify to continue to lead the lighting industry through the digital age.”

See the full announcement here.

 

Full year 20241

  • Signify’s installed base of connected light points increased to 144 million at YE 24
  • Included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for the eighth consecutive year
  • Sales of EUR 6,143 million; comparable sales growth (CSG) of -6.6%
  • LED-based sales represented 93% of total sales (FY 23: 85%)
  • Adj. EBITA margin of 9.9% (FY 23: 10.0%)
  • Successful implementation of cost reduction program, delivering savings of EUR 131 million
  • Net income of EUR 334 million (FY 23: EUR 215 million)
  • Free cash flow of EUR 438 million (FY 23: EUR 586 million), representing 7.1% of sales

Fourth quarter 2024

  • Sales of EUR 1,655 million; CSG of -2.8%
  • Adj. EBITA margin of 12.4% (Q4 23: 12.1%)
  • Net income of EUR 119 million (Q4 23: EUR 59 million)
  • Free cash flow of EUR 188 million (Q4 23: EUR 295 million)

Capital Allocation

  • Successful reduction of EUR 440 million of gross debt in 2024
  • Proposal to increase cash dividend to EUR 1.56 per share over 2024 (FY 23: EUR 1.55)
  • Launch of share repurchase program of up to EUR 150 million for 2025 starting in Q1 2025; plan to repurchase EUR 350-450 million of shares until the end of 2027

Eric Rondolat, CEO of Signify, comments:

“Today’s results show the continued momentum of our business. Despite headwinds in China and in the Professional business in Europe, we achieved further sequential improvements in the fourth quarter, with a particularly strong performance from the Consumer business.

We are encouraged by the improvements we have seen over the past quarters. We successfully managed the decline of the Conventional business, as the rest of the business performed in line with our markets. We continued to see growth in our connected and specialty lighting businesses, driven by underlying demand for energy efficient and innovative solutions.

We maintained a strong gross margin as we fully compensated price pressure in some markets with COGS savings. The cost reduction program we successfully implemented delivered EUR 131 million of savings in line with our commitment, supporting a resilient bottom line. Our Adjusted EBITA is 9.9% for the full year and includes a drag effect of 40 bps from the slowing contribution of the Conventional Business, highlighting our ability to navigate challenging market conditions with our three digital businesses.

We achieved a strong free cash flow of 7.1% of sales, which includes a cash out related to the restructuring program and a reduction of our US pension liabilities. Available free cash flow was used to reduce EUR 440 million of debt. As a result, we have strengthened our balance sheet and reduced interest charges for the coming years.

Thanks to these achievements, we are updating our capital allocation policy. We will increase our dividend to 1.56 EUR per share in 2025 and will launch a share buyback program in Q1 of up to EUR 150 million to be executed by year-end. This is part of a planned EUR 350-450 million share buyback program planned until the end of 2027.

Looking to 2025, we expect the momentum in our business will build throughout the year, resulting in low single digit topline growth for Signify excluding Conventional and a stable EBITA margin compared to 2024. On top of this, we are expecting a free cash flow generation in the range of 7-8% for the year.

We are closing the year in a significantly stronger position than we entered it. While work remains to accelerate our progress and ensure our businesses deliver sustained growth for the years ahead, we have the structure and strategy in place to achieve our goals. Our accomplishments are made possible by the outstanding commitment of Signify employees around the world who have consistently approached complexity and change with dedication and adaptability.”

Brighter Lives, Better World 2025
Signify completed its fourth year of its Brighter Lives, Better World 2025 sustainability program, making continued progress towards doubling its positive impact on the environment and society by the end of 2025. Signify was on track to deliver on three of its sustainability program commitments:

Double the pace of the Paris Agreement
Signify is on track to reduce emissions across the entire value chain by 40% against the 2019 baseline – double the pace required by the Paris Agreement. This is driven by Signify’s leadership in energy efficient and connected LED lighting solutions, which significantly reduce emissions during the use phase.

Double Circular revenues
Circular revenues decreased slightly from third quarter to 35% this quarter, still well ahead of the 2025 target of 32%. The main contribution was from serviceable luminaires. The decline was caused by the discontinuation of one specific luminaire family.

Double Brighter lives revenues
Brighter lives revenues increased to 33% this quarter, putting us ahead of our 2025 target of 32%. This includes strong performance from both professional luminaires and consumer light sources.

Double the percentage of women in leadership
The percentage of women in leadership positions dropped to 28%, off track versus the 2024 target. Signify continues its efforts to increase overall representation through focused hiring practices for diversity across all levels. Focus remains on building strong succession pipelines, and engagement actions to reduce attrition.

In the fourth quarter, Signify received several external recognitions for its leadership in Sustainability. Signify was included in the DJSI World Index for the 8th consecutive year and achieved the EcoVadis Platinum rating for the 5th consecutive year.

 

Outlook
For 2025, Signify expects sales momentum to build throughout the year, leading to low single-digit comparable sales growth, excluding Conventional.

Signify also expects a stable Adjusted EBITA margin vs. 2024 with the Professional, Consumer and OEM combined compensating the drag of the Conventional business.

Signify targets a free cash flow generation of 7-8% of sales.

 

Read the full financial report here

 

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