SHAPE THE
FUTURE
Annual Report
2024
Strategic report
IFC
Vesuvius Overview
1
Highlights
2
At a glance
6
Chairman’s statement
8
Chief Executive’s strategic review
12
Our business model
14
Why invest in Vesuvius?
14
We operate in markets expected to
grow over the medium term
18
We serve our customers through
technological differentiation
20
We deliver robust and consistent
financial returns
22
We have a clear sustainability strategy
24
Operating review
24
Steel Division
25
Flow Control
26
Advanced Refractories
26
Sensors & Probes
27
Foundry Division
28
Financial KPIs
30
Financial review
33
Non-Financial and Sustainability
Information Statement
(Sustainability Report)
34
Our Sustainability strategy
and objectives
35
Progress on our sustainability targets
37
Tackling climate change
55
Our people
59
A responsible company
63
Our stakeholders and
Section 172(1) Statement
67
Risk, viability and going concern
72
Principal risks and uncertainties
Governance
75
Chairman’s governance letter
76
Board of Directors
78
Group Executive Committee
79
Corporate Governance Statement
79
Board Report
88
Audit Committee
96
Nomination Committee
103
Directors’ Remuneration Report
103
Remuneration overview
108
2023 Remuneration Policy
116
Annual Report on
Directors’ Remuneration
130
Directors’ Report
138
Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities
139
Independent Auditors’ Report
Financial Statements
148
Group Income Statement
149
Group Statement of
Comprehensive Income
150
Group Statement of Cash Flows
151
Group Balance Sheet
152
Group Statement of Changes in Equity
153
Notes to the Group Financial Statements
208
Company Balance Sheet
209
Company Statement of
Changes in Equity
210
Notes to the Company
Financial Statements
216
Five-Year Summary: Divisional Results
from Continuing Operations (unaudited)
217
Shareholder information (unaudited)
219
Glossary
For more information visit
www.vesuvius.com
Vesuvius plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2024
engineering and technology, providing high-technology
products and solutions to industrial customers who
We prioritise investment in innovation to maintain
our technological differentiation. Our customers are
predominantly in the steel and foundry industries
which we serve from our two Divisions.
Our technology-led products allow our customers
to tackle some of the most complex problems in
their production processes.
1
Strategic report
Governance
Financial statements
Highlights
10.3%
10.4%
11.1%
2024
2023
2022
Return on sales
1
10.3%
£154m
£190m
£217m
2024
2023
2022
Operating profit
£
154m
8.4%
8.9%
10.7%
2024
2023
2022
Return on invested capital
1
8.4%
-26.9%
-20.7%
2024
2023
Reduction in Scope 1 and 2 CO
2
e emission
intensity per metric tonne of product packed
for shipment versus 2019
²
-26.9
%
£188m
£200m
£227m
2024
2023
2022
Trading profit
1
£
188m
33.5p
44.0p
67.2p
2024
2023
2022
Statutory EPS
33.5p
1.3x
0.9x
0.9x
2024
2023
2022
Net debt to adjusted EBITDA
1
1.3x
£1,820m
£1,930m
£2,047m
2024
2023
2022
Revenue
£
1,820m
£61m
£128m
£123m
2024
2023
2022
Free cash flow
1
£
61m
0.52
0.60
1.08
2024
2023
2022
Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate per million hours
0.52
1. For definitions of alternative performance measures, refer to Note 35 of the Group Financial Statements.
2. Pro forma performance calculated as if dolime production had been operating normally in 2023 and 2024.
The actual reduction in Scope 1 and 2 CO₂e emission intensity in 2023 was 45.9% and in 2024 was 40.4%.
See page 51 for further information.
3. Figures above have been rounded to the nearest million.
2
Vesuvius plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2024
Flow Control
We supply the global steel industry with
consumable ceramic products, systems,
robotics and digital services for the
continuous casting process.
Sensors & Probes
We supply a range of products that enhance
the control and monitoring of our customers’
production processes.
What we do for our Steel customers
Advanced Refractories
We supply specialist refractory products
designed to enable steel-making equipment
to hold the molten metal.
Key products
UNSHAPED
(AlSi and basic monolithics)
c.55%
SHAPED AND OTHER
(including bricks and precast)
c.45%
Key products
VISO
(isostatic tubes, stoppers and nozzles)
c.45%
SLIDE-GATE
(refractories and systems)
c.35%
OTHER
(including fluxes, purging plugs and robots)
c.20%
At a glance
Revenue
£39.2m
Revenue
£769.0m
Revenue
£535.6m
We supply refractory
products, flow control
systems and process
measurement solutions
to our Steel Division
customers
Our solutions address
the key challenges of
our customers in the steel
industry, such as maintaining
steel quality and reducing
energy usage during the
casting process
We combine these with
robotics and mechatronic
installations to increase
their efficiency, lower their
costs and improve their
safety and product
consistency
Our products and their
applications preserve
the purity of the steel as
it moves through the
production process, from
initial refining to the cast
steel slab, bar or ingot
Revenue
£1,343.8m
Trading profit
£153.0m
We improve...
Safety
Improved safety
at customer plants
Quality
Better steel,
better castings
We are a world leader in the supply of refractory products, systems
and solutions to steel producers and other high-temperature
industries, helping our customers increase their efficiency
and productivity, and enhance their quality and safety.
Steel Division
Strategic report
Governance
Financial statements
3
Product demand is driven by
higher sophistication, demanding
higher-quality metal and more
complex castings.
Customers
Foseco’s primary customers are ferrous and non-ferrous
foundries serving various end-markets from large bespoke
castings to high volume automotive pieces. Most of Foseco’s
customers serve the general industrial market.
What we do for our Foundry customers
Key products
FEEDING AND FILTRATION
c.40%
BINDERS AND COATINGS
c.30%
OTHER
(including crucibles
and melt-shop products)
c.30%
General industrials
1
Light vehicle market
78%
22%
We provide customisable
products and process
technology to foundries
that improve the quality
of their castings
Our solutions address
our foundry customers’
key challenges of
casting quality and
production efficiency
We combine this
with technical advice,
application engineering
and computer
modelling to improve
process outcomes
Our products and solutions
clean the molten metal,
improve the solidification
of that metal, and reduce
wastage in the final casting
...for our Steel and
Foundry customers
Efficiency
Cheaper steel,
cheaper castings
Sustainability
Less energy usage and
CO
2
emissions
Operating under the Foseco brand, we are a world leader in the supply
of consumable products, technical advice and application support
to the global foundry industry, helping our customers to improve their
casting quality and foundry efficiency.
Foundry Division
Revenue
£476.3m
Trading profit
£35.0m
1.
General industrials includes: mining, agricultural, general engineering, heavy trucks and other industrial applications.
For more information see pages 14–17.
Ma
Production sites
R&D centres of excellence
At a glance
Vesuvius plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2024
4
Our global presence
Our worldwide footprint, with a focus on
the world’s growing markets, enables
us to capitalise on shifting dynamics in
the global steel and foundry markets.
6
Continents
6
R&D centres
of excellence
40
Countries
54
Production sites
68
Sales offices
5
Strategic report
Governance
Financial statements
Americas
3,146
employees
EMEA
4,309
employees
Asia-Pacific
6,260
employees
19% FOUNDRY
81% STEEL
£633.5m
Revenue
30% FOUNDRY
70% STEEL
£603.1m
Revenue
30% FOUNDRY
70% STEEL
£583.5m
Revenue
MONTERREY, MEXICO
Flow Control:
VISO
SKAWINA, POLAND
Flow Control:
VISO and slide-gate
VIZAG, INDIA
New site developed with further expansion capacity available
Advanced Refractories:
Precast, AlSi & basic monolithics
YINGKOU AND CHANGSHU, CHINA
Advanced
Refractories:
Basic monolithics
KOLKATA AND PUNE, INDIA
Flow Control:
VISO
Foundry:
Non-ferrous
fluxes
Foundry:
Filters
Flow Control:
Mould flux
Our capacity expansion in developing markets:
Breakdown by region
Chairman’s statement
Vesuvius plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2024
6
Dear Shareholder,
2024 marked a steady year for Vesuvius,
as we navigated adverse conditions across
our end-markets, a number of which
continued to suffer lower than expected
activity. The knock-on effects of a slowing
Chinese economy drove Chinese steel
exports to reach increasingly elevated
levels during the year, putting pressure
on end-markets for our Steel Division.
Similarly, Foundry end-markets were
very subdued as lower industrial activity
impacted our customers. Despite this, the
Group delivered a resilient performance,
thanks in large part to the decisive actions
of the management team and leadership,
as well as the hard work and commitment
from our employees globally.
Strategy
We continued to advance our strategy
successfully in 2024, with the Board
supporting key investments to drive
growth and strengthen the Group’s
capabilities. Our ability to gain market
share in our Flow Control and Foundry
businesses, despite a more challenging
economic environment than anticipated,
is testament to the Group’s differentiated
technology and excellent customer focus.
Product innovation remains central to
our strategy, enabling us to deliver
advanced solutions that create value
for our customers. Over the past year,
we launched 33 new products, as we
continue our commitment to staying
ahead of evolving customer needs.
Our Flow Control business has been
a standout contributor, with over 20% of its
sales now derived from products launched
in the past five years, demonstrating the
tangible impact of our innovation pipeline.
Our commitment to adding value extends
beyond product innovation to advanced
solutions based on robotics, which
continue to attract significant customer
interest. In 2024, we secured nine new
robotics projects, building on the five
projects secured in 2023. These
installations are transforming customer
operations by enhancing production,
improving process efficiency, and
promoting safer working environments.
This year, we also announced the
acquisition of a majority stake in PiroMET,
a Turkish business specialising in refractory
products, and advanced robotics and
gunning solutions. We recently completed
this acquisition, which will strengthen our
Advanced Refractories business in the
high-growth EEMEA region, further
enhancing our ability to meet customer
demand in these critical and expanding
markets, whilst also supporting our
ability to serve the European market.
The Group has continued to make
excellent progress delivering against the
cost savings targets announced at our
Capital Markets Day in November 2023.
The three-year cost reduction programme
is proceeding well, with the exit run-rate
at the end of 2024 ahead of expectations,
reflecting the diligent efforts of the
Vesuvius team as they identify and
execute key projects to support this goal.
To underpin long-term growth, we
continue to make targeted investments to
expand capacity in high-growth regions
like India and Poland. Our growth capex
programme has been instrumental in
enabling these efforts, ensuring we can
meet the evolving needs of our customers
and maintain our leadership position in
key markets.
People
The strategic progress and financial
performance we have delivered this
year is founded on the dedication and
professionalism of our employees across
the Group. The level of technological
innovation we see at Vesuvius simply
could not happen if we did not have
the right people in the right places, nor
could we maintain the depth of our
customer relationships without the
contribution of our operations, sales
and procurement teams.
We continued to advance our strategy in
2024 despite challenging market conditions
7
Strategic report
Governance
Financial statements
As in previous years, the engagement
survey we conducted during the year
showed that we have a motivated
workforce, committed to delivering on
our goals. It remains the case that our
people are at the heart of Vesuvius.
Members of the Board had another busy
year, visiting sites in Belgium, the Czech
Republic, France, Japan, Mexico, Poland
and the USA, and the entire Board made
a week-long trip to China. It is during
these visits that the Directors can speak
firsthand with our people, holding ‘town
hall’ meetings, listening to their questions
and feedback, and taking the temperature
of the organisation, as well as engaging
directly with our customers and other
stakeholders on the ground.
Safety
The number one priority at Vesuvius is to
provide our employees with a safe place
to work, and we are proud of the steps we
have taken over the years to ensure safety
is at the core of everything we do. Although
we are pleased that our Lost Time Injury
Frequency Rate continued to reduce this
year to 0.52 per million hours worked, which
is another improvement in performance,
we are aware that there is always more
work to be done. Only the highest levels
of safety performance can be accepted.
Progress on our
sustainability objectives
The Group has set clear internal
operational targets around sustainability
performance, particularly in relation to our
CO
2
emissions and energy consumption.
Our focus on sustainability is increasingly
intertwined with our R&D capabilities,
where our research enables us to continue
to develop innovative and energy efficient
solutions for our customers. We continue
to deliver positive progress against these
objectives, whilst recognising that the
Group’s ambitions for diversity remain
challenging, and as yet unfulfilled.
A highlight of the year was the
inauguration of our first carbon-free major
manufacturing site, for Flow Control and
Advanced Refractories products in Brazil.
This shows clearly what we can achieve as
we focus on our CO
2
e intensity reduction
targets. We continue to take steps towards
reaching our target of a net zero carbon
footprint by 2050, and have identified
priorities, targets and milestones as we
progress on this journey.
The Board and governance
In 2024, we welcomed two new
Independent Non-Executive Directors
to the Board. Eva Lindqvist joined in May,
as Senior Independent Director, following
her election at the AGM. She has over
35 years of experience in global industrial
and service businesses, including senior
leadership roles at Ericsson and Telia, and
brings strategic insight and governance
expertise, having served on numerous
listed company boards. Then in June, we
were pleased to welcome Italia Boninelli to
the Board. An experienced HR executive
with extensive international exposure
across the mining, healthcare, and
financial services sectors, Italia’s expertise
will be invaluable in her role as Chair
of the Remuneration Committee.
This year we also saw Douglas Hurt step
down as Senior Independent Director and
Chair of the Audit Committee after nine
years of dedicated service, with Robert
MacLeod succeeding him in the latter role.
Similarly, Kath Durrant, who joined the
Board in 2020, stepped down in July as
Chair of the Remuneration Committee
having served three years on the Board.
On behalf of the Directors, I would like to
thank both Douglas and Kath for their
significant contributions, wise counsel
and steadfast commitment to Vesuvius
during their tenure.
Dividend
Vesuvius has a progressive dividend policy.
As a minimum we will maintain our
dividend per share year-on-year and
increase it, through the cycle, in line with
earnings per share growth. The Board
has recommended a final dividend of
16.4 pence per share, bringing the total
dividend for the year to 23.5 pence per
share, which is a 2.2% year-on-year
increase on the total dividend for 2023
of 23.0 pence per share. If approved
at the Annual General Meeting, this final
dividend will be paid on 6 June 2025
to shareholders on the register at
25 April 2025.
Following the successful completion of
our first share buyback programme
in 2024, we were pleased to launch
a new programme for a second tranche
of £50 million, which we anticipate
completing over the next three months.
This decision underscores our confidence
in the ongoing strength of Vesuvius’ free
cash flow generation and reaffirms our
commitment to return value to our
shareholders while maintaining
a strong balance sheet.
Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting will be
held on 16 May 2025. The Notice of
Meeting and explanatory notes
containing details of the resolutions to
be put to the meeting accompany this
Annual Report and are available on
our website: www.vesuvius.com.
Looking ahead
Vesuvius remains steadfast in its
strategy for growth and is confident in the
long-term attractiveness of global steel
and foundry market fundamentals.
We are committed to executing our
strategic ambitions with a primary focus
on safety, driving innovation through our
dedicated R&D capabilities, and delivering
market-leading, technologically advanced
products and solutions. Alongside these
priorities, we will maintain a robust
financial framework that supports
continued investment in the business and,
where appropriate, targeted acquisitions.
While the year ahead may bring
economic, commercial and operational
challenges, we continue to deliver on
self-help measures that enhance our
resilience and position us to capitalise on
opportunities as end-markets improve.
With our talented people, advanced
products and industry expertise,
we are well placed to deliver long-term
value for our shareholders.
On behalf of the Board, I would like to
thank our shareholders, employees and
customers for their continued support,
and I look forward to reporting on
further successes in the coming year.
Carl-Peter Forster
Chairman
5 March 2025
Chief Executive’s strategic review
Vesuvius plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2024
8
Vesuvius’ performance in 2024
showed resilience despite difficult
market conditions, thanks to
a strong focus on cost reduction
and the continuing benefits of
our technology strategy.
2024 difficult market background
Global steel production remained
subdued in the world excluding China,
Russia, Iran and Ukraine, with growth
limited to 0.8% for the full year (source:
World Steel Association), due to sharply
increasing steel exports from China.
Steel production in India continued to
exhibit strong growth (+6.3% year-on-
year), as did South East Asia (+5.3%)
and EEMEA (EMEA excluding EU+UK,
Iran, Russia and Ukraine) (+4.1%).
Conversely, steel production declined in
the Americas (-2.9%) and in North Asia
(-3.6%). Europe (EU+UK) only modestly
recovered from the very low point of
2023, with growth of 1.2%.
Despite steel production in China
contracting by 1.7%, the level of net
exports continued to rise during the year,
reaching 104 million tonnes, an increase
of c.20 million tonnes versus 2023, due to
an even sharper decline in domestic steel
consumption. These increasing exports
put steel production outside of China
under strong pressure and depressed
steel prices worldwide.
Foundry markets, with the exception of
India, remained very weak throughout
2024, in particular in Europe, North Asia
and in the Americas, as declining industrial
activity impacted the end-markets of our
customers. All industrial end-markets
outside of China were affected, including
the light vehicle industry which had
performed well in 2023. The foundry
market decline was particularly severe
in EU+UK and in North Asia, important
regions for our Foundry Division, and we
now do not expect them to return to their
pre-pandemic levels in the near future.
9
Strategic report
Governance
Financial statements
Updated Strategic Targets
Achieve a Return on Sales
of at least 12.5% by 2026
Achieve a Return on Sales
of at least 12.5% by 2028
Generate strong and recurring
free cash flow of at least £400m
between 2024 and 2026
Deliver our cumulative £400m
free cash flow target between
2024 and 2027
Achieve £30m of annually
recurring cash cost savings
by the end of 2026
Increase our cash cost savings
objective to £45m by 2028
Return on sales has increased to 10.3%,
10 basis points higher on an underlying
basis than 2023 (2023 ROS: 10.2% on
a constant currency basis). This reflects
substantial cost savings achieved in 2024,
largely offset by the negative impact of
declining volumes in the Foundry business.
Free cash flow fell to £61m in 2024
compared to £128m in 2023, reflecting
the reduced EBITDA due to trading,
combined with ongoing investment capex.
We expect capex in 2025 to be £80m–£85m
then revert to more normalised levels.
In 2024, we delivered cost savings under
our Group-wide programme of £13m with
an annualised exit run-rate of £18m.
Of the savings delivered in-year, slightly
under half were in the Foundry Division,
reflecting swift action taken to address
costs in a challenging environment. The
cost savings achieved to date have been
weighted towards headcount reductions.
We aim to:
Original targets
Updated targets
Progress in 2024
Strategic Update
Our Sustainability Priorities
£
£
For more information, see pages 22 and 23, and the Sustainability section of this report on pages 34–62.
Helping our customers
reduce their CO
2
emissions
Become a zero-accident
company
Reach net zero CO
2
emissions (Scope 1 and 2)
Improve gender diversity at
every level of the company
In November 2023, we presented our
strategy and medium-term targets to
investors at a Capital Markets Event.
We highlighted favourable medium-term
trends in our end-markets, and, through
our market-leading investment in research
and development, demonstrated
our ability to gain market share while
pricing for the value we generate for
our customers. We also set out a cost
reduction programme as detailed below.
Cost optimisation programme
delivering above expectations
The cost optimisation programme,
launched in late 2023, initially aimed
to deliver £30m of annually recurring
cash savings by 2026. This programme
covers all of our worldwide activities and
focuses on operational improvement,
lean initiatives, automation and
digitalisation, as well as optimisation
of our manufacturing footprint.
In 2024, we delivered cost savings under
this programme of £13m with an
annualised exit run-rate of £18m.
Of the savings delivered in-year, slightly
under half were in the Foundry Division,
reflecting swift action taken to address
costs in a challenging environment. The
cost savings achieved to date have been
weighted towards headcount reductions.
We expect to deliver incremental in-year
cost savings of £12m–£14m in 2025.
We anticipate one-off costs in 2025
in the region of £7m–£10m and a total
programme cost of £40m, including
capex costs.
Given this good progress in 2024, we are
now raising our cash cost savings objective
from £30m of recurring annual savings by
2026 to £45m of recurring annual savings
by 2028, with an incremental cost of
delivery of c.£20m.
Medium-term strategic targets
Over the past year, we implemented our
programme and delivered on these cost
reduction actions. We also saw the benefit
of our technology-led business model, with
our differentiation driving market share
gains in Flow Control and Foundry.
The market backdrop, however, has
been challenging, particularly in our Foundry
Division where the decline in market activity
has been significant, such that the benefit of
cost savings in 2024 has largely been offset
by this market decline. Despite the short-
term uncertainties in our end-markets, we
remain confident in the mid- to long-term
growth potential of these markets and in
particular growth in the steel market outside
of China. The strength of our technology-
based business model should also enable us
to continue outperforming our underlying
markets in Flow Control and Foundry.
Given the near-term uncertain tariff and
geopolitical environment and the decline
experienced in Foundry end-markets over
the last 18 months, we are now targeting
to achieve our mid-term Return on Sales
target of at least 12.5% by 2028 and to
deliver our cumulative £400m free cash
flow target by 2027. This will be partially
dependent on a return to normal
conditions in our end-markets and will be
supported by an extension of our cost
reduction programme which we are
increasing from £30m to £45m by 2028.
Chief Executive’s strategic review
continued
Vesuvius plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2024
10
Steel Division
Despite adverse market conditions, the
Steel Division performed well in 2024.
On an underlying basis, the Steel Division
revenue remained broadly stable (-0.1%)
while profit grew by 9.9%, resulting in
return on sales increasing by 110bps.
Revenue growth was driven by market
share gains offsetting slightly negative
market volumes evolution overall due
to our overweight market position in
North America, where steel production
declined in 2024.
Overall, we gained market share across
the Steel Division, with gains across the
Flow Control business and in Advanced
Refractories in the growing regions of Asia
and EEMEA, which more than offset some
limited Advanced Refractories market
share losses in EU+UK and the Americas.
Headline pricing decreased slightly,
reflecting a decline in raw materials costs.
Pricing net of cost inflation (raw materials
and labour), however, remained positive.
Steel Division profits were also supported
by the strong cost reduction actions
undertaken as part of the Group-wide
£30m cost-saving programme.
Foundry Division
Severe market decline, in particular in
EU+UK and North Asia which represents
c.40% of the Foundry Division turnover,
reduced overall Foundry Division revenue
by c.10%. The Division was, however, able
to mitigate this general market downturn
with market share gains of c.5%.
Headline pricing also decreased during
the year, reflecting a decline of raw
materials prices. Pricing net of cost
inflation (labour and raw materials) was
slightly negative as labour inflation was
not fully compensated by price increases.
The Division reacted strongly to this
challenging environment, successfully
implementing cost reduction actions and
accelerating production and resource
transfers from EU+UK to lower cost and
faster growing areas.
We expect this strong action plan will
pave the way for an improvement of the
Foundry Division results going forward
despite the continuing difficult market
conditions in Europe and North Asia.
Good cash generation and
strong balance sheet
The business delivered adjusted
operating cashflow of £130.3m in 2024,
which represented a 69% cash conversion
rate for the year. Free cashflow was
£60.8m, after cash capex of £100.8m
(2023: £92.6m). We maintained a strict
focus on working capital management
and were able to reduce our trade working
capital intensity further, which was
22.9% at year-end, versus 23.4% last year.
Our balance sheet remained strong
with a debt leverage ratio of 1.3x
(31 December 2023: 0.9x), at the lower
end of our 1.0–2.0x range. This reflects
the free cash flow described above,
£63.4m of payments relating to the
share buybacks executed during the
year and dividends of £61.1m.
In February 2025 we concluded the
refinancing of our revolving credit facility,
extended to £475m, with a syndicate of
ten banks for a term of 4.5 years.
Acquisition in Türkiye
Following the agreement reached in
November 2024, on 28 February 2025
we completed the acquisition of a 61.65%
shareholding in PiroMET, a Turkish
refractory company, for €26.2m. The
acquisition will strengthen our Advanced
Refractories business in the fast-growing
region of EEMEA and will also allow us to
leverage PiroMET’s expertise in robotics
and gunning worldwide.
Capacity-expansion programme
in Flow Control and in Asia
nearing completion
The investment programme to expand
capacity and support the growth of
Flow Control worldwide and Advanced
Refractories and Foundry in Asia, initiated
in 2021, is now largely complete and will
underpin the progression of our results
and profitability in the years to come.
The expanded production capacity for
VISO, Slide Gate and Mould Flux in Flow
Control is now largely operational and
will support the Business Unit’s expansion
in India, South East Asia, EEMEA and
North America.
In Advanced Refractories, the expansion
of our Basic monolithic and AlSi monolithic
capacity at our new flagship plant in
Vizag is nearing completion and will
support profitable growth of the
Business Unit in India going forward.
In Foundry, our non-ferrous flux production
line in China is now fully operational and
will enable the Business Unit to accelerate
its penetration of the fast-growing
aluminium foundry market.
This three-year capex programme of
capacity expansion will be mostly
completed by the end of H1 2025.
Following this, capex is expected to
revert towards normalised levels.
Performance
Investment
11
Strategic report
Governance
Financial statements
Continued progress in the
productivity of R&D and new
product development
We increased our investment in research
and development in 2024 (on a constant
currency basis), spending £36.9m,
equating to 2.0% of revenue. This was
fully expensed in our income statement.
Our two focus areas remain:
(1) innovation in materials science, with
an objective to continuously improve the
performance of our consumables; and
(2) the development of mechatronics
solutions to enable our customers to
substitute the operators who manipulate
our consumable refractories with robots
and, by doing so, improve their safety,
reliability, cost and quality performance.
Our New Product Sales ratio, defined as
the percentage of our sales realised from
products which didn’t exist five years ago,
reached 19.1% for the Group in 2024
(and was over 20% in our Flow Control
business). This is up from 17.6% in 2023 and
well on track towards our Group target of
over 20% by 2026. We launched 33 new
products in 2024 and have an extensive
pipeline of products under development
which will be progressively introduced in
the market over the coming years and will
support our ambition to grow our revenue
and profitability.
Our robotics business is also accelerating,
with orders for robotic systems for Flow
Control growing from five projects in
2023 up to nine in 2024. We also saw
a considerable increase in robots shipped,
up to six in the year versus one in 2023,
reflecting the significant positive momentum
in orders over the last two years.
Best ever safety performance
In 2024, we achieved a further
improvement in safety, with a Lost Time
Injury Frequency Rate (the number of
injuries necessitating a lost work-shift,
per million hours worked) of 0.52, our best
result ever, having achieved 0.60 in 2023.
This positions Vesuvius among the
best-in-class companies worldwide and
is the result of many years of effort to
integrate safety as the number one priority
in the company culture. We remain
committed to our goal of zero accidents,
and we will strive towards this objective.
Significant progress on our
journey to net zero
We continue to implement our action
plan to progressively decarbonise our
activities. As a result, we have reduced
our carbon intensity (CO
2
e tonnes per
million tonnes product sold) by 27% as
compared with our 2019 reference year,
on a pro forma basis (-40% on a reported
basis), significantly ahead of our 2025
objective of a 20% reduction. This has
been achieved through decarbonising
our electricity, improving energy efficiency
and moving from higher to lower carbon-
emitting energy sources. As part of this
initiative, our plant in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
became our first carbon-free major
manufacturing site operating exclusively
on renewable electricity and biomethane.
This has been a challenging year for
Vesuvius with Foundry markets in Europe,
North Asia and the Americas weakening
significantly and global steel production
outside China negatively affected by the
sharp increase in Chinese steel exports
during the year. Despite this, thanks to
significant cost cutting, resilient pricing
and market share gains, we have delivered
a robust performance, maintaining our
results at the level of 2023 on an underlying
basis, demonstrating again the strength
of our technologically differentiated
business model.
For the year ahead, while we remain
confident in our own performance, we are
cautious on market conditions due to the
uncertain economic environment arising
from the negative impact of trade tariffs,
which continue to evolve, geopolitical
volatility and the continuing structural
weakness of Steel and Foundry markets in
Europe. We currently anticipate that our
trading profit in 2025 will be at a broadly
similar level to 2024 on a constant currency
basis and including the contribution from
the PiroMET acquisition. We expect that
cashflow for 2025 will be significantly
ahead of 2024, benefiting from our
working capital focus and a more
normalised level of capex.
Patrick André
Chief Executive
5 March 2025
Sustainability
Current trading and outlook
Our strengths
How we create value
P
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Collaboration
with our Steel and
Foundry customers
We work in partnership with
our customers to develop the
products and solutions that
improve their performance
Vesuvius plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2024
12
Think beyond.
Shape the future.
Our purpose
Our business model
People
We have more than 11,000 people
and more than 2,000 directly
supervised contractors in our
skilled and motivated workforce
Assets
Our global footprint of 54 production
sites on six continents places us in
close proximity to our customers
Intellectual capital
We have six R&D centres of excellence
and dedicated R&D staff worldwide,
generating innovative products
and services
Financial capital
We have a strong balance sheet
and use the cash generated by our
business to invest in innovation,
people, operating assets, technology
and sales, to generate further growth
Global supply network
We work closely with a wide range of
suppliers to establish reliable and
well-developed sustainable supply chains
to secure high-quality raw materials
CORE Values
We champion our Values of Courage,
Ownership, Respect and Energy, and our
ethical approach to business conduct
Vesuvius is a global
leader in molten metal
flow engineering and
technology, serving
process industries
operating in challenging
high-temperature
conditions.
We think beyond today to create
the innovative solutions that will
shape the future, delivering
products and services that help our
customers make their industrial
processes safer, more efficient
and more sustainable.
In turn, we provide our employees
with a safe workplace where
they are recognised, developed
and properly rewarded, and
aim to deliver sustainable,
profitable growth to provide
our shareholders with a superior
return on their investment.