Geberit AG
SIX:GEBN
Geberit AG
Tucked in the serene landscape of Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland, Geberit AG emerges as an unassuming yet pivotal player in the global sanitary products sector. Founded in 1874, the company has seamlessly melded tradition with innovation, establishing itself as a critical force in Europe's construction and plumbing industry. At its core, Geberit's operations are driven by a relentless pursuit of quality, evidenced in its comprehensive range of plumbing and bathroom products. From sanitary systems, such as concealed cisterns, to more visible bathroom ceramics, the firm covers nearly every facet of bathroom infrastructure. These offerings reflect Geberit's commitment to functionality and sustainability: its water-saving technologies and advanced acoustics underscore its pledge to environmental stewardship and living comfort.
Geberit’s financial lifeblood pulses through a diversified strategy that leverages a mix of direct sales and a robust network of wholesalers. By establishing strong relations with plumbing contractors, architects, and distributors, Geberit ensures its array of products continuously reaches an expansive customer base across numerous markets. The company also capitalizes on its strong research and development capabilities to maintain a competitive edge, frequently introducing innovative solutions that cater to evolving customer needs. This relentless dedication to quality and innovation, combined with astute market navigation, fortifies Geberit's status as a stalwart in the sanitary industry, driving steady revenue and sustaining its market leadership.
Earnings Calls
Geberit reported a strong Q1 with a 5% growth in net sales, reaching CHF 878 million, driven by robust prebuying and innovative products, such as the shower toilet Alba. Operating margins were stable, apart from CHF 14 million in one-time costs from a plant closure. EBITDA increased by 1% to CHF 277 million, resulting in a margin of 31.5%. Moving forward, they expect mixed market conditions, with a slight decline in new construction in Europe and strong demand in markets like India. For 2025, they foresee stabilizing demand, while maintaining operational spending at an additional CHF 20 million for growth initiatives.
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Thank you for the introduction, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to our Q1 results conference call.
Geberit had a successful start into the year with strong results. Let me start with the key statements for Q1. First, we achieved a mid-single-digit net sales growth despite 1 working day less. And second, we kept operating margins stable on all levels of the P&L, excluding onetime costs for the closure of our ceramics plant in Wesel, announced in January this year. We booked in the first quarter CHF 14 million onetime costs for this site closure, CHF 12 million on OpEx and CHF 2 million on depreciation level.
Let me now comment on our net sales development in more detail. Net sales grew by 5%, both in Swiss franc and local currencies, to CHF 878 million. This growth was fully driven by volumes and a slightly negative price effect on net sales price level. The small negative price effect on net sales level was caused by 2 factors. First, a technical reason. We increased sales prices as of April as announced. However, we increased customer bonuses already as of January this year, as this is regular market practice. This difference in timing led to a slight negative price effect on net sales level in Q1. Secondly, we selectively adjusted prices for selected product categories in Switzerland this year due to the appreciation of the Swiss franc over the last years. The strong volume growth in Q1 was driven by: a, the strong development of new products; and b, prebuying by wholesalers in anticipation of the April sales price increase.
We come now to the regional development. All growth figures refer to growth in local currencies. In Europe, net sales increased by 5%. Net sales increased in all subregions, except Western Europe, which was negatively affected by a market decline in France. In Middle East, Africa, net sales increased by 15%, driven by Turkey and South Africa. In America, net sales increased by 4%. Net sales in Far East Pacific declined by minus 1%, driven by declines in China, almost fully offset by strong growth in India. Let me now comment on the sales development per product area, which all showed a similar sales dynamic last quarter. Installation & Flushing Systems grew by 6%, while Piping Systems and Bathroom Systems increased by 5%.
I will now comment on the operating and financial results. I'll start with the EBITDA development. EBITDA in Swiss francs and local currencies increased by 1% to CHF 277 million. The EBITDA margin reached 31.5%, decreasing by 130 basis points, which can be fully attributed to already mentioned onetime operating expenses of CHF 12 million related to the site closure in Wesel. Excluding this onetime effect, the EBITDA margin in Swiss franc reached exactly previous year's level. The positive effect from the operating leverage was offset by mainly 2 factors: first, a 3% wage inflation; and second, 36% higher energy prices. Direct material prices were basically on previous year's level and did not have a material impact on the margins.
EBIT margin reached 27.1%, a decrease of 150 basis points, also fully driven by the plant closure in Wesel, which amounted to CHF 14 million on EBIT level. Excluding these onetime charges, the EBIT margin would have reached exactly previous year's level. Also, the net income margin would have reached exactly previous year's level of 22.7%, excluding the onetime closure costs. Earnings per share reached CHF 5.69. Excluding the effect of the closure-related charges, EPS would have reached CHF 6.05, an increase of 6% in Swiss francs. We also continued our share buyback program in the first quarter. In the first 3 months, 71,000 shares were bought back for a total amount of CHF 37 million.
Let me now comment on our outlook, which does not differ from our market outlook given at our full year analyst conference in March. In Europe, we still expect a slight decline in new build activity with building permits in Europe down minus 2% in full year 2024. This decline is offset by a positive renovation market as indicated by several indicators, for example, increased real estate transactions. In sum, we continue to expect overall building construction demand in Europe to stabilize in the course of 2025. Outside Europe, we expect a mixed picture for the building construction industry. We expect in several markets, for example, in India or the Gulf region, a strong demand. Other markets, for example, China, will be in a decline, mainly driven by the residential sector. On the direct material side, we expect prices in Q2 to be on the level of Q1. In terms of operating expenses, we expect further charges related to the Wesel plant closure related to the social plan, retention, transfer costs and depreciation in 2025 and also 2026.
Let me finish our outlook with a trading update for April. Net sales were like-for-like mid-single digit above previous year's level, supported by order deliveries from Q1. Please also keep in mind that Q2 this year has 1 working day less than Q2 last year.
Let me now briefly comment on the Geberit priorities this year. We will continue to have a strong focus on new products this year. For example, the new Duofix installation element, but also important new products introduced over the last years, like FlowFit, Mapress Therm, and the new shower toilet, Alba.
Other important initiatives this year are dedicated sales activities outside Europe and in the area of IT and digitalization. We will continue to invest in our 4 dedicated sales initiatives in emerging markets, namely in India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam, by strengthening the respective local sales organization with additional headcount and targeted marketing efforts. Secondly, we will further invest into IT and digitization, specifically into AI initiatives and digital marketing efforts. In total, we are increasing our operational expenditures by CHF 20 million this year for these initiatives. These expenses are ramping up in the course of the year.
Let me close our introduction with a short summary and our key messages. Geberit delivered strong results in the first quarter with a mid-single-digit net sales growth driven by a strong development of new products and prebuying of wholesalers in anticipation of the April price increase. Operating margins were constant on all levels of the P&L, excluding the onetime costs related to the Wesel plant closure. This means that earnings per share, excluding these onetime charges, grew in line with top line.
For 2025, we continue to expect stabilizing market demand in Europe and a mixed environment overseas. Geberit is well prepared to continue its outperformance in this environment as already demonstrated several times in the past and also last year. Our confidence is based on the fundamental need for our products, our resilient strategy and business model and our long-term focus and track record.
Thank you for your attention. We are now ready to answer your questions.
[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Elodie Rall from JPMorgan.
So first of all, I was wondering if you could give us a bit of color about how much you think you are outperforming your underlying market, in particular, thanks to the push-through of your new products? And if you think that the trend that you have reported so far, including April, is what you think you can deliver for the full year? And second, you said margin was flat, excluding the one-offs. Is that also something that you think is sustainable for the full year?
Thank you for your question. With regards to the market outperformance, one quarter is always too short to assess or to get evidence how much we have outperformed market. But I would refer to last year where we have been growing with 2.5%, while the market was clearly down, especially in Europe, mid-single digits. And I think one of the main reasons last year were new products, why we were able to outperform. And I would assume without having number evidence for the first quarter, this was also true this year in the first 3 months. Second question, Tobias, please.
To the margin, like always, at that moment in the year, we're not giving yet an indication on the full year margin expectations.
The next question comes from Ilaria Buricelli from Goldman Sachs.
It's actually Daniela here. I have 3 quick questions. First, I wanted to clarify on April on your comments. Was that a volume or an organic growth comment, meaning is the price increase over and above the mid-single digits? I'll ask them one at a time, so I'll ask the others after.
April includes now the price increase. But keep in mind that part of the April sales were driven by deliveries from Q1 with still old prices. So it's quite a mixture of old prices and new prices in April. But the predominant part, obviously, was volumes.
Okay. Got it. And then you've mentioned sort of in 1Q that energy prices were increasing. I know you commented that raw materials, you gave a guidance for 2Q, but what are you seeing on energy prices for the rest of the year?
For the rest of the year, it's very difficult to say. Just short term, we expect that there is certain downward pressure on energy prices. Already in March, they were a little bit lower than in February. We also expect April to be a little bit lower. But keep in mind that we have still a low base from last year. So compared to Q2 last year, energy prices most probably will be still above last year Q2.
And then just a question in terms of the level of customer bonuses. Can you comment on how this has trended over recent quarters? And has it increased, is the same? Sort of give us a bit of an idea given this was one of the reasons of the net price in the bridge this quarter.
So we didn't do any special new customer bonus increases, which we didn't do in the past. So it's a normal behavior that at the beginning of the year you increase the bonus, and then you increase list prices per April and the net effect is then that what we already talk about, the net sales price increase. However, we did not obviously increase sales prices last year. We did also not increase bonuses last year. So this is the reason why this year, we have an effect of this normally increased bonuses as of January, which led to a slight negative price effect on net sales level in Q1.
The next question comes from Martin Hüsler from ZKB.
Yes. I have 3 questions actually. First of all, would you say that the good dynamic that you saw in Piping Systems, which was more or less in line with overall sales, can be seen as an improving situation in new construction? Maybe I'd ask this one by one.
Difficult question or difficult to answer. I think for us, the main driver in Piping at the moment is not maybe a slight change of the underlying market, still the main driver is our new products, because we have seen strong sales in the first quarter, again for FlowFit and also Mapress Therm, a new metal supply piping system we introduced last year. I think this is the more important driver for our sales development than a gradual improvement of the new build market, which is underlying.
Okay. Then the second question is referring to your raw material cost guidance for the second quarter. However, it looks like if I have a look at the red line, it's clearly -- or the trend is going down. Am I missing here something? Or why should it -- did it change in April, for example? Or -- yes, what's the reason for that?
Well, we simply expect flat for the next quarter, and not much more to add to that. Also, one thing to take into consideration on that page is the scale. It starts at 120. So these are really very small changes year-on-year. We on purpose did that to exemplify the changes, but take the scale into consideration when analyzing the picture.
Okay. And then maybe a more important question on the sentiment in Germany. Obviously, I think we saw a certain bottoming out. And I think at the ISH, at least the companies that I met or the different, yes, let's say, installers and so forth, they were a bit more optimistic in March for the trend of the year. Has this continued according to your view that, let's say, maybe in numbers, building permits are still very weak, but sentiment-wise, there is a certain improvement in the market going on. What's your view on that?
We agree on that view. The sentiment has improved. In Germany, I would also say on the number side, you see 1 or 2 positive signs. Building permits in January and February this year for the first time did not decline anymore on the residential side. So they were very stable. Also, if we look at the latest number which we have from the backlog for plumbers, which has been stable, it's at 515.4 weeks at the moment, which is a stable level compared to Q1 last year. So it's the first time that we didn't see a decline for 2.5 years also on the backlog side. So I would say this positive sentiment, which you were talking about, is even underpinned with 1 or 2 numbers and facts.
The next question comes from Yassine Touahri from On Field Investment Research.
You're talking about the mid-single-digit organic growth in April, but I understand it includes some sales from the first quarter when clients bought in advance of the price increase. So my question is like when you're looking at your order book, do you see a slowdown in May and June as you don't have the prebuying effect? And also when you're talking about the negative working day impact, is it in May or June?
Unfortunately, our order book is very short term. We don't have an order book for June. Our order book is only around 2 weeks. That's a challenge. Therefore, I can't answer your question. We don't have so much looking ahead into the market.
And the working day impact, is it in May or June?
I'm sorry, the working -- so the mid-single-digit growth is like-for-like. This means it's adjusted for currencies and it's adjusted for working days. Technically, we had a working day left in April, but the like-for-like growth means currency adjusted and for working day adjusted, and this was a mid-single-digit growth in April.
And the last question would be on the foreign exchange. I think the Swiss franc has been very strong. What kind of FX impact do you see for the second quarter? Is it a mid-single-digit decline in currency? Is it something that seems reasonable to you?
We're not making currency forecast. I mean, that's probably the most difficult question you can ask anybody. And also -- yes, go ahead.
No, when you're looking at the current level of currency. I'm not asking you to do forecast.
Well, clearly, that has a big impact on the top line and on the absolute figures. However, in terms of margin, like always, we have an almost perfect hedge, so it should not affect margins.
The next question comes from Martin Flueckiger from Kepler Cheuvreux.
Three questions, if I may. Firstly, on Bathroom Systems, 5%. That's quite an unusually high number. Is that driven by the prepurchases? Or how do you explain that solid performance? That's my first question. I'll take one at a time.
Two drivers. One is prebuying for the other 2 products as well ahead of the price increase of April. And secondly, a very strong development of our shower toilet, Alba.
Okay. Makes a lot of sense. And then on your EBITDA bridge -- EBITDA margin bridge, I was surprised to see that the so-called other cost effect was only 100 bps. That seems unusually low. Is there a particular reason for that?
No. We've cited the 2 main reasons that are included in there, which are the energy prices and the wage inflation. A minor effect also then comes from the CHF 20 million additional costs that Christian mentioned in the call and already mentioned at the full year results. But these are only ramping up, so there was a minor effect. So no, I think it's the absence of anything else that makes it such a low figure.
Okay. Third one, talking about one-off costs, can you provide a little bit more granularity on how you expect these to pan out over the coming quarters and into 2026, please?
So in terms of yearly development, that's still a bit difficult to tell right now, but I can give you some hints. So there's, on the EBITDA, impacting costs above the line. There's still the ongoing negotiation with the social partners, their retention costs, and these are clearly accruing over time on a linear basis. This product and machine transfer costs, these will rather incur in 2026, and then other factory and site closing costs, which are then as well rather towards the end of the period, so 2026. Overall, '25 and '26, we still expect around the EUR 25 million we laid out. So roughly said, all which is social costs and first part of machine and transfer costs this year, the rest then mostly product and machine transfer cost in next year.
Okay. And in terms of numbers, because we need to run spreadsheets, I'm afraid, can you give some guidance on what that means in terms of total one-off costs, '25 and '26?
Yes. No, the split between this year and next year, I think we can provide with the half year results.
The next question comes from Patrick Rafaisz from UBS.
I also have 3 questions. The first would be a follow-up on the net pricing effect in Q1. You already talked about the customer bonuses, but can you also add a bit more color on the Swiss price adjustments, especially which product categories were impacted?
They were very selective. I don't want to go in too much details, also due to competitive reasons, but they were mainly related to products, obviously, which are manufactured outside Switzerland. And one example is an important product category, which is fully manufactured in the Europe area, in Germany. And that was the main reason why we selectively adjusted prices, because we have been taking into account the appreciation of the Swiss francs over the last years to avoid cross-border business. So it was very selectively, but I don't want to go into too many details which kind of categories we increased prices.
And would you say these 2 effects, customer bonuses and Swiss price adjustments were more or less equal contributors to the net pricing effect?
To be honest, I don't even know. I don't know. I didn't compare it. No.
Okay. Okay. Then the second question would be on the America performance. Because you talked about the prebuying ahead of price increases in Europe, was there any maybe prebuying ahead of tariff uncertainty in Americas that helped?
To the extent that we are aware of, I would say, no, because we did a regular price increase in the U.S., a usual one which was not tariff-based so far. That might change in the course of the year. But the price increase so far was a normal one. So there was no extraordinary tariff-induced prebuying so far in the U.S.
Okay. Great. And then the last question would be a follow-up on the one-offs. I think what you described in Martin's questions earlier was mostly on the OpEx side. I think the original indication was also for the CHF 15 million of write-downs which could occur in H1 potentially. In Q1, we only had about CHF 3 million. So is that a larger number than in Q2? Or is that also hard to say at this point?
In Q2, we don't expect a significant figure on the depreciation. That figure, actually an impairment could be lower than the announced CHF 15 million for potentially 2 reasons. One is if we're transferring more machines to other plants. And that is an investigation which is ongoing, but will take the rest of the year. And as long as that is not clear, the impairment also is not done. And the other one is if the expected land sale can be netted with the impairment need, which is possible, that would also then reduce that CHF 15 million as that was a gross figure originally. This as well more detailed than with the H1 figures.
The next question comes from Arnaud Lehmann from Bank of America.
A couple of questions, please, remaining on the competitive environment. I mean, obviously, you're doing very well with innovation, and you mentioned your outperformance. We are also seeing some of your competitors being quite proactive with innovation. I'm thinking in particular of Lixil/Grohe, who has been launching a few new products. So can you please qualitatively comment on the competition? Do you think you're gaining share? Do you think that their innovations are weaker than yours? Anything you can say to help us understand?
And the second question, which is slightly related, Grohe has been talking more and more about the repeat business they can get from cartridges. So systems like, for example, in water purification that needs to be renewed regularly. Is it something that you already have in your product range? Or is it something that you're thinking of expanding going forward?
So I think it's logical by nature that also competition innovates, and this is good for the market. This is good for the industry. We are innovating. If I take the ISH, this was the fair or this is the most important fair for sanitary products, took place in March, a global fair. And if I would try to summarize feedback from customers, I think we don't have to hide ourselves if it comes to the question, who is the most innovative company. I don't want to go into detailed comparisons with other competitors, but we feel very confident with the new products we have launched recently, the last 1, 2 years, and also the ones we have launched this year. And we also feel confident with our innovation pipeline if we look at our competitors -- if you have looked at our competitors at this fair in Frankfurt. So I think we are well prepared, and we can claim it's a bit difficult word, but I think we can claim that we are clearly the innovation leader.
Number two, we have kind of a repeatable business. We don't have in our portfolio products or elements of products which you need to replace after a certain point. So there is no replacement business. When we sell a product, it's installed hopefully for decades. And then maybe in a renovation case, then you renovate and then you replace the product. But we have no products which are based on the business model of selling replacements or rechargeables. There's a small, small exception if it comes to shower toilets, where we have some consumables which we are selling, but this is a very, very low share, and this is not a part of our business model.
The next question comes from Christian Arnold from ODDO BHF.
On the extraordinary costs. I mean, in March, you were guiding for a total amount of CHF 14 million, thereof CHF 15 million write-off. That has not changed as a total figure, right?
That is correct. That has not changed. What I hinted at before is that the depreciation part of the CHF 15 million could come lower than that for 2 reasons. One is more machine transfer potentially. And the second one is if we are able, from an accounting point of view, to net the expected gain from the land sale with the other depreciation. That as well, we should have more clarity in the course of the year.
Okay. And comparing that with the CHF 14 million you booked in Q1, I mean, then looks like that this CHF 14 million is actually quite a big number. I mean, thinking about the 2 years process. So for the quarters to come, we can clearly calculate with a lower negative impact.
Yes. Obviously, that's not a -- it's not ramping up. The only thing that ramps up gradually are the retention costs, which we accrue with every month. The bulk of what has been booked, so the CHF 12 million -- the bulk of this CHF 12 million are the first part of the social plan, and that one is booked as a one-off and you need to book that at the moment that it's decided and announced, which we fulfill. So according to IFRS, we have to fully book our expectation at that stage on that moment, and that was therefore reflected in Q1.
Okay. Then on the shower toilets, I mean you were mentioning the very strong development of Alba. So that means that you are clearly growing double digit again in that product line, right?
We are growing double digit on sales level, and we are growing significantly double digit on volume level in shower toilets, driven by Alba.
Okay. And this double digit, there's no 1 as a first digit?
Sorry, I think, double digit means there are 2 figures.
So there's no 1 as a first digit number, right?
You mean that -- the volume growth, I can tell you, there is not a 1. No, there's not a 1 in first digit, yes.
Correct.
It's significant double digit.
High double digits.
But maybe if I may add -- Mr. Arnold, if I may add a comment, what is also important, if you look at the Alba volumes now quarter-by-quarter and starting with the third quarter last year, that was the first normal quarter after the introduction, we see also a very nice growth now only for Alba over these 3 quarters. So also the dynamic of Alba is increasing.
And in terms of countries, maybe, I mean, is it a German Swiss theme, this Alba, or you have a broader footprint here?
No, I would say that's really across Europe. Obviously, the numbers are higher in the German-speaking countries. But if you look at growth compared to what we already have in terms of shower toilet sales in these countries, it's a very broad growth across Europe.
Okay. And maybe the last question. I'm thinking about, I mean, what you mentioned about the selectively reduced prices in Switzerland and the customer bonus increase, which also had a negative impact on pricing in Q1. So that means your volume growth in Q1 was actually at 6%, 7%, right?
Correct.
And please also keep in mind, we had 1 working day less. So if you have a missing working day, you are at that number, 7% around, I would say, volume growth.
The next question comes from Remo Rosenau from Helvetische Bank.
Just one question left here. Coming back on the selective price decreases in Switzerland. Does this also mean that you did not implement any price increases as of April in Switzerland? Or did you still do that in other product categories?
That's a very good question. We did some sales price increases in some other categories. In some, we kept the prices stable, and in some selected, we decreased. So it was a mixed picture of price changes in Switzerland depending mainly on the origin of manufacturing.
The next question comes from Charlie Fehrenbach from awp.
I'm not sure if I missed your wage inflation guidance you usually do for the full year.
We remain at 3% to 4%.
The next question comes from Ghosh, Pujarini from Bernstein.
So I have a couple. So in terms of the wage inflation, you mentioned you were at 3% for Q1, and you are confirming 3% to 4% for the full year? And my second question is on U.S. tariffs. I think you alluded to it previously. How much of your U.S. sales do you actually import? So what would be the direct impact of any potential tariffs on your sales? And actually, a third one, if I may, in terms of your costs. So please, could you remind us of your hedging policies on energy and your raw materials?
I'll start with question number two. Tobias will answer question number one and number three. We have, as you know, a share of sales of around 3% in the U.S. And out of this around CHF 100 million sales, the vast majority is locally manufactured. We have 2 plants in the U.S. So it's a very small part, basically the concealed cistern, our core product, which we import from Europe. So it's a very low share of import products in the U.S. Question number one and three...
On wage inflation, as you correctly noted, around 3% in Q1 and higher 3% to 4% for the full year. The reason is that the wage inflation in Germany this year has only been implemented as of 1st of April, whereas last year it was implemented 1st of January. Therefore, that slight difference between Q1 and the full year. When it comes to hedging policy on energy, in general, we're not hedging; to a very large extent, we're buying spot.
And raw materials?
Raw materials, same thing. There we sometimes simply do some prebuying. So we fill our stock for a certain duration. But for your consideration, I would consider that spot buying.
The next question comes from Axel Stasse from Morgan Stanley.
I have one remaining. Just on the order intake in April. Based on the previous comments, is it fair to assume the order intake was low single digit up versus last year in April?
Sorry, it was difficult to understand. Can you repeat your question, sorry?
Yes. Sorry. Can you hear me?
Yes, but it was -- try again, yes?
Sure. Yes, sure. So I was just asking about the order intake in April. Based on the previous comment that you provided, is it fair to assume that the order intake was up low single digit versus last year in April?
We only commented on sales -- net sales in April. We didn't do any comment on order intake, and we will also not comment now on order intake in April because we just don't know.
We have a follow-up question from Martin Hüsler from ZKB.
Two follow-ups, actually. So you mentioned Turkey and South Africa as drivers, let's say, outside Europe. However, you have dedicated growth strategies in Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, among others. So does this mean that those 3 countries or regions didn't grow as you would have expected?
Not at all. It's just in these regions, quarterly numbers are very much driven by projects. And sometimes you have, in the case of South Africa, just a good quarter because of projects. The same is, by the way, true in Turkey. So that has nothing to do with these initiatives. Overall, also, by the way, India, for example, one of these initiatives had a very strong quarter. So don't read too much into that in quarterly numbers in these emerging markets. Too volatile.
Okay. And then 2 housekeepings. Am I right to assume that most of the cost incurred as one-off above EBITDA was personnel costs? Or were there any other cost P&L items hit?
No, it's fully personnel cost in Q1.
And maybe last one, you won't answer, but what were the direct costs for your presentation at the ISH? Is this like a single to mid-digit million number?
So the honest answer, expensive. But it was -- I don't know, it was 7 digit for sure.
But we don't go too much into the details here.
Also, the next question is a follow-up from Elodie Rall from JPMorgan.
So just coming back on the sales development. My first follow-up question is on Q2 comps. Clearly, last year, you had said at this time of the year that April was slightly up like-for-like, but you delivered 5% organic growth for Q2. So first of all, do you see tougher comps in May and June?
So Q2 last year is a bit stronger comps compared to Q1 last year. I agree on that. And one of the reasons is that in Q2, we saw some restocking of wholesalers last year.
Okay. Then the follow-up is, obviously, we're all trying to figure out how much of the mid-single-digit sales growth you've seen in Q1 and April is due to pull forward demand? And how is that developing given the comps getting harder in May and June?
We would be very happy if we would know the answer to these questions, but we don't know. So that's always the issue that the wholesalers don't tell us how much of their orders was now driven by technical buildup of stocks or buildup of stocks because of low prices in advance of price increases. So we only have qualitative feedback. It's truly surely a driver, but we can't quantify it because we don't know it.
The next question comes from Martin Flueckiger from Kepler Cheuvreux.
Sorry, I was muted. Just 2 follow-ups, please. Regarding the restocking opportunity going forward, what are your expectations today with regards to the outlook for the next 3 quarters? Now I realize that -- or I understood your comment from earlier on, but once the price increase impact on the restocking is behind us, which should be by now or close to, as of May and going forward, do you expect wholesalers to start restocking based on your market outlook this year? That would be my first question.
So in general, I think wholesalers also take into account what will happen in the market going forward, because they need to ensure the availability of the product at best cost. So if wholesalers, on a broader range, believe the market should go up or will go up, I would assume they start to build up their inventories to a certain extent, and the same they did. And they will do if the market were to go down. And if we talk to our wholesalers coming back to the fair in March, important wholesalers, for example, in Germany, they have a similar view on the market that we have that we might expect, especially in Germany, a stabilization of the market in the course of the year.
Okay. That's interesting. And then my second follow-up question is on your pricing comment. You guys have earlier talked about a slight price negative -- price decrease. I was just wondering whether we could quantify that a little bit, because from an earlier question, it seemed like it could be larger than minus 1%, which I thought it wasn't. So we're talking about less or more than 1%?
No, no. It was less than minus 1%, around minus 0.5%, both effects, the technical effect from bonuses or sales price increase and the Swiss selected price increases in Switzerland. They both together had an effect of maybe around minus 0.5%. So relatively small.
We have another follow-up question from Yassine Touahri from On Field Investment Research.
Just a follow-up question on China. Could you give us an order of magnitude of your purchase from China? And as China cannot export to the U.S., do you see any potential decline in raw material costs from Chinese raw material?
So the biggest share of products or components we buy in China is for China. So we have a very low share of sourcing in China for markets in Europe and also in the U.S. So that's the reason why, from a global perspective, we don't expect any major impact of this tariff war.
Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Christian Buhl for any closing remarks.
Thank you for your participation. I think there are no more questions. Thank you, and we wish you all a great day.