Dear customers, dear employees,
2024 was a very dynamic year for the TÜV NORD GROUP. With over 15,000 employees, we successfully seized opportunities in the market and offered by new technologies to make our organisation even more focused and to further digitalise our processes. As a result, the Group was able to further expand its position both in Germany and internationally, gaining market share in many cases and increasing revenue and earnings once again compared to the strong previous year.
In the 2024 reporting period, the global economy largely overcame the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic on markets and investments that had been recorded since 2020. However, economic sentiment in Europe and especially in Germany became increasingly gloomy over the course of the year. This was due to ongoing military conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and to the potential consequences of the change of presidency in the United States and related global trade conflicts. Established industries in Germany and Europe, which have enjoyed stable earnings for decades, are currently confronted with major economic challenges which look set to continue into the future.
As an international group which is active in more than 100 countries on all continents, we are seeking to position ourselves in an even more customer- and technology-oriented manner. To this end, in the 2024 reporting period, we further developed our organisation, processes and range of services in the context of our NOVA Group project. On 1 January 2024, the Group launched six restructured business units (BU), all of which are now consistently aligned with the major technological transformations and transitions we face. Our global customers are benefiting directly from this industry-wide unique set-up in that we now offer individual and tailor-made solutions from a single source. The renowned German magazine WirtschaftsWoche awarded the NOVA Group project a prize as an “outstanding corporate project”. The realignment of our business units lent new impetus worldwide to our activities and market products in the year under review (excerpt):
- BU Mobility: Rapid testing at an increasing number of TÜV NORD Stations can be used to determine and evaluate the state of health of traction batteries for fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The service provided by TÜV NORD Mobilität and our partner AVILOO is widely seen as a milestone in the rapidly growing used car market for electric vehicles.
- BU Industry: In Essen, we have invested 1.5 million euros in a heat pump test rig that is head and shoulders above anything offered by our competitors. TÜV NORD will thus become the leading European testing service provider in this segment and play its part in actively supporting the heating and energy transition.
- BU Energy & Resources: TÜV NORD received an order from the Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Mingyang Smart Energy to certify the world’s most powerful offshore wind turbine. With an output of 18 megawatts and a rotor diameter of 260 meters, the turbine sets new standards worldwide.
- BU Certification: With the new Low Emission Steel Standard (LESS) certification procedure, the German and European industry will in the future be able to designate its steel as produced using green methods. TÜV NORD CERT’s expertise is part of the certification system which is set for further expansion in the coming months.
- BU Digital & Semiconductor: With the European NIS2 Directive, the European Union aims to reinforce the cybersecurity and resilience of companies and critical infrastructures. TÜVIT and TÜV NORD Akademie are offering firms support in the implementation of the legally prescribed measures. TÜV NORD subsidiary ALTER is working in parallel on the development
of basic quantum physical technologies for the cybersecurity of tomorrow and to improve the resilience of space-based communication. - BU People & Empowerment: The business unit is increasingly focusing on innovative technologies for continuing vocational training. Its focus is on the integration of virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) into the educational product range. To this end, a comprehensive blended learning portfolio – a combination of classroom training and e-learning – is under development.
The activities of the business units were supported by the newly formed International division, which is developing platforms for international growth, and the development of new and cross-divisional services for the business units and standardising processes for the generation of synergy effects.
The further development and operational use of digital applications based on artificial intelligence have improved the degree of automation and the efficiency in terms of time of many company processes, for example through the use of the speech interpreter Voize in the preparation of expert opinions. Our amusement park customers are benefiting from the seamless monitoring of fairground rides by the AI-supported DMT RideGuard digital sensor platform.
Even though the importance of climate protection is in many places currently being downgraded in favour of economic priorities, services for the energy transition remain a core component of our service portfolio. At the same time, the Group can also be measured against its own climate targets. This applies in particular to the commitment to reduce primary CO2 emissions by 50 percent by 2030 compared to 2023. In the Sustainability ranking of the leading provider EcoVadis, the TÜV NORD GROUP was awarded a platinum medal for the first time in 2024. This puts the Group in the top 1 percent of the 130,000 companies evaluated internationally in recent months.
One of the special achievements of the 2024 reporting period was the strategic expansion of our laboratory and testing capacities. These include the Advanced Chemical and Material Testing (ACMT) Laboratory in India, our ALTER SPACE TEST CENTER in Madrid, which is certified by the European Space Agency ESA for satellite tests, and the forward-looking investment by ALTER | HTV in Bensheim in the latest generation of electronic test systems for semiconductor testing.
Despite the challenging market environment in many industries, the Group was able to make further gains in the relevant key financial ratios in 2024. Revenue rose to 1,693.4 million euros (up 7.0 percent), while operating profit before special items (EBIT) amounted to 89.8 million euros (up 6.3 percent). On behalf of the Board of Management and the Group Executive Committee, I would like to thank all our employees for these very good results. Their personal commitment, expertise and passion for technology are the key to our success in the provision of the highest quality services and the achievement of our corporate goals. Special thanks must also go to our customers, suppliers and partners for their trust in the TÜV NORD GROUP and to the shareholders, supervisory boards and staff councils for their support.
In line with the new HORIZON2030 Group strategy, the TÜV NORD Group will consistently pursue its growth strategy over the coming years, expanding technological excellence, digitalisation and innovation and continuing to drive internationalisation. Alongside our core market in Germany and Europe, our regional focus is on Southeast Asia, the MENA region (Middle East/North Africa) and North America. At the end of 2024, for example, the TÜV NORD subsidiary ALTER established a branch in the US state of Minnesota for the future testing of state-of-the-art semiconductor components for the growth industries of New Space, Aviation and Medical Technology. With this investment in the future, the Group intends to share in the growth being enjoyed by the US while at the same time promoting growth at our sites in Spain, France and Germany through the international division of labour.
The title of this annual report is “Speeding Up”. The ability to react quickly to change while maintaining a strong and innovative corporate culture has become the hallmark of the TÜV NORD GROUP, giving us the self-assurance and confidence to rise to whatever challenges are to come. Knowing this, we look forward to continuing to meet our customers in 2025.
Kind regards,
Dr. Dirk Stenkamp
Chairman of the Board of Management
TÜV NORD AG