Record sales in difficult times: Dussmann Group with profitable growth in 2024

Berlin, May 14, 2025 - The Dussmann Group has grown in sales and earnings in the financial year 2024. Consolidated Group sales of the family-owned company increased by 8.4 % to a record level of €3.3 billion. The company increased its EBITDA margin on consolidated Group sales to 4.6 %, which is above the previous year's level. "Given the many challenges of our time, this is a good development. The diversified and sustainable growth focus of our family-owned company has served us well in today’s volatile environment", said Wolf-Dieter Adlhoch, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Dussmann Group, at the annual press conference in Berlin. 

The growth in sales is mainly due to the successful development of the Facility Management and Food Services business, which grew particularly in Italy, as well as in Germany, Luxembourg and EMEA; and from Dussmann Technical Solutions, the plant engineering and technical services business. 

Dussmann Technical Solutions is increasingly developing into one of the Group's profitability drivers. The strong growth in earnings in this division clearly underlines this and confirms the Dussmann Group's strategic decision to develop and expand its range of technical plant engineering services with a focus on industrial clients.

One of the challenges that Dussmann Group had to face in the financial year 2024 was the difficult conditions in the German care market. Kursana, Dussmann Group's care provider for the elderly, continues to master these challenges solidly and with stable earnings. As it did during the coronavirus crisis, Kursana is once again proving to be a reliable employer and a quality provider of urgently needed care places in Germany. With Sebastian Kabak (42), the new member of Dussmann Group`s Executive Board for Care & Kids, in office since the beginning of 2025, the division is tackling the coming challenges under new leadership. 

Commenting on the economic situation in Europe, Adlhoch said: "We know what we are good at: Innovation, manufacturing, services. Now we all need to roll up our sleeves, cut red tape and focus on our strengths in market-based competition. As a company, we will do our part to bring about this change and trust that policymakers will now create the right conditions," said Adlhoch. 

The number of Dussmann Group employees worldwide rose from 68,200 to around 70,000 in 21 countries at the end of 2024. 

Development of the business divisions 

The Dussmann Group grew profitably and increased its consolidated Group sales by 8.4 % to €3.3 billion in the financial year 2024 (2023: €3.0 billion). The EBITDA margin on the consolidated Group sales was also higher than in the previous year at 4.6 % (2023: 4.4 %). 

The Dussmann division, which includes Integrated Facility Management (IFM), Food Services and Technical Solutions, increased its sales by 8.9 % to €2.7 billion (2023: €2.5 billion). This corresponds to 82.3 % of total sales. Dussmann Facility Management (FM) and Dussmann Food Services accounted for a total of €2.3 billion, which represents an increase in sales of 7.4 % (2023: €2.1 billion).

The facility management business generated a number of major international contracts in 2024. Since the beginning of 2024, Dussmann has been providing integrated facility management services for Bosch Group throughout Europe. The six-year contract covers cleaning services, security services, and building technology for 41 properties in Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. This contract underlines the growing importance of international contracts in integrated facility management for the Dussmann Group. In Germany, Dussmann has supported Bosch with integrated facility management in 50 properties since 2022. 

Another significant new contract includes cleaning and security services for a renowned manufacturer of high-quality automobiles and drive systems. In addition, Dussmann was able to severely expand its account with a leading provider of business software, which means that Dussmann is now responsible for cleaning and facility services at locations in five countries instead of two. Dussmann Food Services won the European-wide tender for the catering of the German Bundestag and will operate the canteens for a further five years from the beginning of 2024 with a focus on sustainable nutrition. The Bundestag canteen has been operated by Dussmann ever since 2001. 

Dussmann Italy was awarded a major contract for catering services in military canteens in 2024. The contract runs for four years. 

Dussmann Technical Solutions, home to Dussmann Group`s technical engineering specialists since 2019, accounted for sales of €441 million (2023: €375 million). With sales growth of 17.6 % and a very good result, Dussmann Technical Solutions is developing into one of the Group's profitability drivers. The starting point was the acquisition of the STS Group in 2019. Organically and through targeted acquisitions, the division is growing very successfully with major clients and is also following them into new countries and new markets. Dussmann Technical Solutions' target segments are pharmaceutical and life science companies, data center providers, retail and logistics. 

In the past financial year, Dussmann STS completed the largest project in its history with a nine-figure order volume. This involved the fit-out of a data center in Germany. For the first time, Dussmann STS functioned as the technical general contractor responsible for the total interior fit-out, including all electrical and mechanical installations. STS has won further major pharmaceutical and data center projects in Ireland, Germany and Scandinavia. 

By acquiring regelmatic, a company specializing in electrical measurement and control, at the beginning of 2024, Dussmann Technical Solutions strengthened its position as a technical partner for the installation of complex systems in the process industry. 

With the acquisition of Clausen Systemkühlung, also at the beginning of 2024, Dussmann further expanded its market position in refrigeration and air conditioning technology. In fall 2024, the two other refrigeration and air conditioning companies of Dussmann Technical Solutions, DKA and KED, merged to form Dussmann Kälte- und Klimatechnik GmbH. Clausen Systemkühlung will also merge with this company in the second quarter of 2025. This will create a refrigeration specialist with the largest service network in Germany. Dussmann will continue to drive profitable growth in the areas of commercial refrigeration, industrial refrigeration and refrigeration services. 

The Care & Kids division, with senior care and nursing (Kursana) and all-day care for children (Dussmann KulturKindergarten and Kinder, Kinder), increased its sales to €536 million in 2024 (2023: €505 million), which corresponds to an increase of 6.1 %. This growth in turnover is mainly due to a slight increase in occupancy and increases in care rates. 

2024 was another challenging year for nursing home operators. In this difficult market environment, Kursana held its own as one of the largest providers of nursing and care for the elderly. Kursana retained all of its locations with urgently needed care places in Germany but disposed of its three facilities in Switzerland and Austria at the beginning of 2025. 

Dussmann das KulturKaufhaus set another sales record in 2024 with an increase in sales of 4.7 % to €45 million (2023: €43 million). Europe's largest media department store was successful with its own online store, B2B business and sales in its brick-and-mortar store. Dussmann das KulturKaufhaus consistently expanded e-commerce as an important growth area by integrating over 400,000 immediately available products from the range on online platforms such as Kaufland.de. A highlight for the KulturKaufhaus in November 2024 was the presentation of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel`s autobiography including her first book signing in Germany. The event was received with great enthusiasm, both from the many visitors queuing for the event and the national and international media. The presentation of the book "Patriot" by Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian regime critic Alexei Navalny, also attracted a great deal of public interest in October 2024. 

Group strategy Road to 2030: shaped by global megatrends 

In 2024, the Dussmann Group set out its path through these challenging times with its Group strategy "Road to 2030". "We will continue to pursue a clear course as the leading full-service and solutions partner of choice for our clients", said Adlhoch. Especially in volatile times of crisis, the Dussmann Group has always scored points by adapting its services with agility to changing conditions and global megatrends without neglecting its role as a stable service provider for its clients and society. Examples of the latter include cleaning and catering services for hospitals and schools and the role as nursing home operator. 

The key role of facility management is particularly evident in the strive for decarbonizing buildings. The Dussmann Group has been responding to this since 2024 with the "Competence Center Energy Efficiency". It analyzes and optimizes the energy consumption of properties and the operation of technical building systems and supports clients with energy audits, inspections, and other energy management services. "With its knowledge, the Competence Center enables our clients to operate their systems technology in a resource-efficient manner - a huge lever for environmental protection and cost efficiency," said Adlhoch. 

As a personnel-intensive company, the Dussmann Group is also confronted with an increasing shortage of specialists and workers, which is being exacerbated by demographic change. To adequately handle this development within the measures of its strategy, the Dussmann Group makes workplaces as attractive and efficient as possible, expands the qualifications of its employees and motivates them to further develop their skills. The Dussmann Group also supports its employees with robotics, sensor technology, and AI. Examples of this include cleaning on demand and cleaning robots in commercial cleaning, drones and mobile video towers in security services and the AI-based recommendation chatbot with which Dussmann das KulturKaufhaus is the first German media retailer to advise its clients. 

Start of 2025: expansion of the cyber security division and new IT infrastructure for the DACH region 

The Dussmann Group in Germany has responded to the growing threat of cyberattacks and the mirror image importance of cybersecurity for clients with the joint venture "Code Blue GmbH", founded in 2023. At the end of 2024, a second joint venture was founded in Italy to offer clients in Dussmann's largest foreign market protection before, during and after cyberattacks. "The digital threat situation is becoming more complex and dangerous. Critical infrastructures such as the healthcare sector in particular are increasingly falling victim to cyber criminals. Many of our clients in Italy are hospitals. We want to support them and many other clients with Code Blue Italy", said Catherine von Fürstenberg-Dussmann, Chairwoman of the Dussmann Group Board of Trustees, at the annual press conference. 

The Dussmann Group also recognizes the importance of a modern, secure and powerful in-house IT infrastructure. This forms the basis for the efficient provision of services to clients, for digital business models and the use of AI. Due to these goals, Dussmann Group will introduce SAP S/4Hana in the coming years. This will involve considerable investment in 2025 and the following years. At the same time, the service company will embark on a long-term process optimization in purchasing, sales, commercial operations and services. The aim of this data-driven project is to further increase the quality of core processes and ensure competitiveness and agility. 

New member appointed to the Board of Trustees 

The Dussmann Group has appointed Markus Asch as a new member of its Board of Trustees. Markus Asch (*1971) is CEO at the Interroll Group since 2025, a leading global manufacturer of key products for unit load handling, internal logistics and automation based in Switzerland. The mechanical engineering graduate's previous professional positions include Rittal International and Rittal Software Systems as Chairman of the Management Board, and the family-owned company Kärcher, a provider of cleaning technology, where Asch last served as Deputy CEO and Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Markus Asch succeeds former ambassador Dieter Haller as a member of the Dussmann Group`s Board of Trustees, who passed away unexpectedly in November 2024 and had been a member of the Board since April 2020. Catherine von Fürstenberg-Dussmann, in her role as Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees, commented this appointment as follows: "Markus Asch will contribute his technical expertise and understanding of our industry to the work of the Board of Trustees.” 

Cautiously optimistic outlook for 2025

The Dussmann Group is cautiously optimistic regarding the current financial year. "As an economically stable family business, we are in an advantageous position to continue to invest, whether through targeted company acquisitions or in the quality of our processes and ultimately our services", said Adlhoch. A growing market in the years to come could also be the recently challenging care market - particularly regarding the refinancing of care costs and staff shortages. Still, this development requires the right conditions to act as a stable framework. "People need our services, especially in difficult times," says Adlhoch. "Be it in facility management, where we relieve our clients of complexity by providing integrated services across several countries, in the food services sector, where we now also accompany our clients internationally on their way to sustainable nutrition, or in technical plant engineering, where we equip socially important infrastructures such as data centers with electrical engineering," concluded Adlhoch.

Development of consolidated Group sales and EBITDA margin

Contact persons:

Dr. Markus Talanow
Head of Group Communications
Phone +49 172 3867464
markus.talanow@dussmanngroup.com

Michaela Mehls
Press spokeswoman Dussmann Group
Phone +49 172 3902076
michaela.mehls@dussmanngroup.com

About Dussmann Group

The Dussmann Group employs around 70,000 people in 21 countries with ideas and passion for people. The Berlin-based service provider achieved consolidated sales of €3.3 billion in 2024 with its three business divisions. The largest division, Dussmann, is a passionate solutions partner in the areas of Facility Management, Food Services and Technical Solutions. Dussmann Facility Management bundles all integrated facility management services with a high level of in-house performance: cleaning, security services, building services and electrical and communication technology. Dussmann Food Services offers diverse and sustainable catering concepts for children, staff, patients, and guests in retirement homes with warm hospitality. Dussmann Technical Solutions comprises the business units for technical installations and technical services. They offer solutions for the entire life cycle of facilities and buildings, from planning, construction and commissioning to maintenance and repair in the fields of electrical engineering, automation technology, refrigeration and air-conditioning technology and elevator technology. With two joint venture companies in Germany and Italy, Dussmann offers cyber security solutions that protect companies before, during and after cyber-attacks. The Care & Kids division provides care and nursing for senior citizens under the "Kursana" brand and childcare close to the workplace under the "Dussmann KulturKindergarten" brand. Germany's largest media department store "Dussmann das KulturKaufhaus" in Berlin is also part of the family-owned Dussmann Group. More information at news.dussmanngroup.com

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