The year in brief
2024
For VAT, 2024 was a year of transition. As we started to recover from the 2023 downturn in our main market, semiconductors, we took advantage of the slower pace of activity to prepare for the future. We continued to invest heavily in innovation to empower our customers, manufacturers of leading-edge semiconductors. We also continued to increase our capacity in Switzerland, Malaysia, and Romania in readiness for the next ramp-up in our markets. And we invested further in our employees and our endeavors to operate even more sustainably. All these efforts have had the same aim: to make VAT ready to capture the many future opportunities and remain a trusted partner to all our stakeholders.
Quote of the year 2024
We are not exporting a Swiss culture to our international locations. We are creating a global VAT culture that learns from all our major locations.
Net salesin CHF million
2023: 885
Net sales developmentin CHF million
EBITDAin CHF million
2023: 271
EBITDA marginin %
2023: 30.6
Net salesby segment in %
Net salesby region in %
Free cash flowin CHF million
2023: 189
Dividend per share*in CHF
2023: 6.25
* 2024 dividend proposal of the VAT Board of Directors to its shareholders at the AGM on April 29, 2025; CHF 6.25 per share to be paid from accumulated gains.
Outlook 2025
VAT expects investments in semiconductor manufacturing equipment to grow further over the course of 2025, as new production tools will require significant capex. On this basis, VAT expects full-year 2025 orders, sales, EBITDA, EBITDA margin, net income and free cash flow to be higher than in 2024.
Driving innovation, customer centricity, and market leadership
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Combining words, figures, and pictures is even more powerful. The following infographics illustrate the keys to VAT’s success, now and going forward.
Empowering modern technologies
VAT valves ensure pristine vacuum conditions for our manufacturing clients, helping them increase production yields and reduce rejects.
Vacuum environments are designed to minimize the particle count. Modern chips have nodes measuring 2 nm across – about 40,000 times smaller than a human hair.
VAT has over
%
market share in semi and semi-related valves in 2024
Semiconductor industry
Semiconductors are the building blocks of all our electronics. VAT has been a partner to the semiconductor industry since the late 1980s. As node sizes reach 2 nm and continue to shrink, pristine manufacturing environments are essential. Another factor is that smaller nodes take longer to manufacture.
Scientific instruments
VAT started its work in scientific research. To this day, scientists rely on perfect data collection with minimal noise. Our valves help maintain ultra-high vacuum environments for super-precise experiments and measurements.
Solar panels
Manufacturing cheap solar energy is essential to reduce our dependency on CO2-producing fossil fuels. VAT’s valves help create more efficient panels and keep manufacturing costs down.
Aligned with global growth
VAT benefits from exposure to the secular growth story in the semiconductor market. Shrinking node sizes also allow VAT to outgrow market trends.
Semiconductor market to reach
> one trillion
USD by 2030
Growth factor 1
Data society
Growth factor 2
Evolving manufacturing technology
Growth factor 3
Increasingly complex manufacturing
We are where our business is
VAT has established a presence in key semiconductor manufacturing hubs. A network of eight service centers allows us to provide repair and upgrade services to customers globally.
VAT production and engineering centers
Haag, CH Penang, MY Arad, RO
VAT innovation hubs
Haag, CH Penang, MY San Jose, USA Mendrisio, CH Zurich, CH
VAT service centers
Haag, CH Penang, MY San Jose, USA Hwaseong, ROK Shanghai, CN Singapore, SG Tokyo, JP Zhubei City, TW