Düsseldorf (Reuters) - Plant manufacturer Gea, which produces for the food and beverage industry, grew last year despite the general economic downturn.

CEO Stefan Klebert announced further growth, albeit in smaller steps. "We see organic sales growth in the region of two to four percent," said the manager on Thursday. This is slightly less than in the past two years. However, this is due to the subdued economic development.

"We are starting with a good order backlog and are therefore optimistic that we will be able to achieve this." The operating return on sales (EBITDA margin) before restructuring expenses is expected to climb to between 14.5 and 14.8 percent (previous year: 14.4 percent).

In the first quarter, however, Gea will not reach the "very strong" previous year's figure for incoming orders, Klebert announced. At that time, demand for systems for the beverage and dairy industry in particular drove incoming orders to a record level of EUR 1.58 billion.

In 2023, Gea achieved an increase in EBITDA before restructuring expenses of 8.7 percent to 774.3 million euros with a four percent increase in turnover to 5.4 billion euros, thus reaching the upper end of the forecast range. Shareholders are to receive a dividend increased by five cents to one euro per share.

The news was well received on the stock market. The shares, which are traded in the MDax second-line index, rose by 1.6 percent to 38.97 euros.

(Report by Anneli Palmen, edited by Olaf Brenner. If you have any queries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)