Sika Impacted by Weaker Dollar in H1, Lowers Full-Year Sales Guidance

On July 29, Swiss construction chemicals manufacturer Sika released its financial results for the first half of 2025. Due to pressure on revenue and profits caused by a weakening U.S. dollar, the company has issued a more cautious full-year sales outlook.

In its announcement, Sika noted that it suffered significant foreign exchange losses in the first half of 2025, primarily due to the depreciation of the U.S. dollar and ongoing global market uncertainties. The U.S. dollar weakened by around 10% against the Swiss franc in the second quarter, negatively affecting Sika’s business in the United States, its largest market.

“The weaker U.S. dollar and continued turbulence in the global economic environment had a negative impact on our financial performance,” Sika stated.

This trend is not unique to Sika. Earlier this month, several Nordic industrial firms also mentioned that exchange rate issues had adversely affected their earnings, underscoring the broad impact of a weakening dollar across the global industrial sector. The decline in the dollar has been attributed to concerns over U.S. debt levels and the unpredictability of Donald Trump's trade policies.

Due to exchange rate effects, Sika experienced a 4.3% negative currency impact in the first half of the year. While the company posted a 1.6% increase in local currency revenue, this translated into a 2.7% year-on-year decline when converted into Swiss francs.

In the first half of 2025, Sika recorded sales of CHF 5.68 billion (approximately USD 7.1 billion), slightly below market expectations of CHF 5.72 billion. Core operating profit (EBITDA) came in at CHF 1.07 billion, also below the forecast of CHF 1.09 billion.

Faced with these challenges, the company has revised its full-year 2025 sales growth forecast from a previous range of 3%–6% to a more cautious “moderate growth,” citing persistent instability in global markets, particularly in the context of slower progress in infrastructure projects across emerging markets.

Despite these headwinds, Sika remains optimistic about full-year profitability. The company reaffirmed its commitment to achieving core operating profit growth that outpaces sales growth in local currencies and to maintaining a profit margin between 19.5% and 19.8%.

Sika’s construction chemicals are widely used in major infrastructure projects, such as the Gordie Howe International Bridge between the U.S. and Canada, and the Diamer-Bhasha Dam in Pakistan. This makes the company’s performance a bellwether for the global construction industry’s health.

While the overall market contracted in the first half of 2025, Sika still achieved 1.6% growth in sales in local currencies, indicating continued expansion of its market share in a highly competitive industry.

“In a challenging market environment, we have once again outperformed the overall industry trend and continued to grow our market share,” said Sika CEO Thomas Hasler.