GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:G1A) outlined its 2030 growth and profitability targets during an Industrial Technology Conference presentation, with Investor Relations Manager Eduard Biller saying the industrial equipment supplier aims to lift revenue above EUR 7 billion and raise its EBITDA margin to 17% to 19% by the end of the decade.
Biller said GEA generated EUR 5.5 billion in revenue last year and reported a profitability margin of 16.5% of sales. The company, which supplies equipment and processing lines primarily for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries, is targeting average sales growth of more than 5% through its “Mission 30” plan.
GEA Highlights Food, Pharma and Dairy Exposure
In pharmaceuticals, Biller said GEA supplies equipment to laboratories and research and development departments at companies including Pfizer and Merck. He said every second tablet used to treat cancer is made on GEA equipment.
GEA recently reorganized from five divisions into four, without selling a business, Biller said. The company moved its former Heating & Refrigeration Technologies activities into other areas because the units were addressing similar customers.
- Pure Flow Processing: A components business with roughly EUR 2 billion in sales and an EBITDA margin in the “upper tweens,” according to Biller.
- Nutrition Plant Engineering: A processing-line business with about EUR 2 billion in sales, but lower margins due to a lower service share and the inclusion of third-party equipment.
- Pharma & Food Applications: Formerly Food and Healthcare Technologies, with pharma moved to the front of the name. Biller said pharma represents about 20% of sales in this business.
- Farm Technologies: A dealer-based dairy farming equipment business with about three-quarters of a billion euros in sales and a profitability margin of around 15%.
Service, Sustainability and Digital Sales Drive 2030 Plan
Under Mission 30, GEA aims to increase its EBITDA margin to 17% to 19% and improve return on average capital employed to more than 45%, up from 36.2% last year. Biller said the company’s order backlog has reached a record EUR 3.5 billion and that the pipeline is “pretty good,” supporting confidence in the company’s growth targets.
GEA is also seeking to expand sustainable solutions, which Biller said already represented 45.7% of total sales last year. He cited heat pumps and other equipment designed to save energy or water for customers such as Heineken and Arla. Biller said GEA’s equipment often lasts 20 years on average, with some dairy separators still running after 30 years with service and maintenance.
The company aims to grow service sales to EUR 2.9 billion by 2030, up from EUR 2.2 billion last year. Digital sales, which include sensors and software for equipment efficiency, are expected to exceed EUR 200 million by 2030, compared with roughly EUR 80 million last year. Biller said roughly EUR 120 million to EUR 130 million of the planned EUR 700 million increase in service sales should come from digital sales.
GEA also targets more than EUR 400 million in order intake from “new food” by 2030, compared with roughly EUR 70 million last year. Biller described the area as growing protein through fermentation rather than animal production.
Cost Savings and Capital Allocation
Biller said GEA plans to support margin expansion through higher equipment sales, a greater service share and internal savings initiatives. The company is targeting EUR 120 million in cost-of-goods-sold savings, including through supplier consolidation. Biller said GEA has more suppliers than employees, while employing roughly 19,000 people.
The company is also targeting about EUR 100 million in general and administrative savings, though Biller said those savings will be more back-end loaded, with the largest impact expected in 2028, 2029 and 2030.
On capital allocation, Biller said GEA is investing in its own facilities, with capital expenditures slightly above 4% of sales this year, before aiming to lower that figure to 2.5% to 3%. The company targets more than EUR 4 billion in free cash flow from 2024 through 2030 and has already generated EUR 1 billion across 2024 and 2025, he said.
GEA is paying growing dividends, considering mergers and acquisitions, and has also used share buybacks. Biller said the company has completed two buybacks totaling roughly EUR 700 million, with the repurchased shares canceled. He also said the dividend rose 15% from 2023 to 2024 and increased by a further EUR 0.15 in 2025, with a goal of distributing about half of net profit to shareholders as dividends.
Q&A: Pharma, Orders and Buybacks
In response to a question about whey protein extraction and processing, Biller said GEA can serve customers on the liquid dairy side and in whey powder production. He said orders for new facilities can be lumpy, but added that if consumers use protein powder, “the chances are pretty good” it came from GEA equipment.
Asked about cautious capital spending in pharma and relocation trends toward the U.S., Biller said pharma was “a little bit weaker” in the first quarter and first half of the year, partly due to seasonality. He said relocation and new plant construction can benefit GEA because customers building new facilities may choose newer equipment, including continuous tablet presses tested with Pfizer.
Biller said the company’s order pipeline remains stable, though large orders are difficult to predict because timing can depend on customer down payments. He pointed to a Baladna order that was signed in one quarter but booked later after the down payment was received.
On share buybacks, Biller said management would consider them if the share price remains weak and the company has a positive cash balance. He noted that management has also personally purchased shares, including CEO Stefan Klebert, who bought 11,000 shares and now owns 111,000 shares.
About GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:G1A)
GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft engages in the development and production of systems and components to the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries. It operates through Separation & Flow Technologies, Liquid & Power Technologies, Food & Health Technologies, Farm Technologies, and Heating & Refrigeration Technologies segments. The Separation & Flow Technologies segment manufacture process-related components and machinery including notably separators, decanters, homogenizers, valves, and pumps.
