Moleskine's adjusted profit before tax, Group's share was at -€3.0m. The year has been marked by cautious discretionary spending leading to a general pressure, notably on strategic partnerships, partly offset by a better performance in direct channels. This translated to a -6.1% decline in sales and a negative operating leverage.
Corporate & unallocated (including corporate and real estate activities) reported an adjusted profit before tax, Group's share of €46.6m compared to €34.5m in 2023, largely explained by a higher interest income on the net cash position throughout the year, with a marginal impact on interest charges in 2024 from the loans drawn mid-December 2024.
Free cash flow Group's share further increased by 22.2% to €740.6m in 2024 versus €606.1m in 2023 (Belron at 50.3% for both periods), the increase being primarily driven by D'Ieteren Automotive and PHE, partly offset by a decline at Belron (to €461.6m at 100%), while most of the segments posted a positive free cash flow generation.
The Board of Directors proposes a gross ordinary dividend of €1.60 per share related to the financial year 2024 (versus €3.75 in 2023), rebasing the dividend after the exceptional distribution of €74 per share in December 2024. From now on, the Group's dividend policy will be to keep the dividend at least stable, and to increase it if results allow.
Outlook 2025
For 2025, D'Ieteren Group expects continued improvement in the operational performance of most of its businesses and its adjusted profit before tax, Group's share, assuming a comparable financing perimeter in both years at Belron and the Corporate & Unallocated segment, is expected to slightly increase YoY.
The total full-year impact in FY-2025 of the financial charges related to the additional financing at Belron is estimated at c.-€140m Group's share, and for the Corporate & Unallocated segment, the financial charges on the loans are estimated at c.-€40m. Taking these financial charges into account, the Group's adjusted profit before tax, Group's share is expected to decline.
Half of the €500m bridge loan at the Corporate & Unallocated segment has been repaid on March 10th, 2025 thanks to cash upstream from D'Ieteren Automotive. This leaves the Group's gross debt at €750m.
This expectation assumes foreign exchange rates that are in line with the rates that prevailed on December 31st, 2024 and a 50.3% economic interest in Belron for both periods.
The following performances are expected from the businesses:
Belron
Belron expects a mid-single-digit organic sales growth driven by price/mix and increased ADAS recalibration penetration, and with modest volume growth.
Belron is on track to reach its 23% adjusted operating margin ambition for 2025 thanks to top-line drivers, productivity improvements and net transformation efficiency gains.
Free cash flow is expected to remain at high levels.
D'Ieteren Automotive
The Belgian market is expected between 420,000 and 450,000 new registrations (versus gross registrations of 448,277 in 2024).
After a new record year in 2024 and a normalised order backlog, D'Ieteren Automotive's sales should be impacted by the market evolution and a mix normalisation, hence are expected to decline by a low- to mid-single-digit YoY.
Adjusted operating result margin is expected to return to at least 4.0%, still above historical trends, driven by the expected decline in sales and mix normalisation.