The Swiss Swatch Group saw its net profit collapse to 25 million Swiss francs (27 million euros) in 2025. In the previous year this was 219 million francs. The decline is due to the production business of watch components.
Sales fell by 5.9 percent to 6.28 billion francs compared to the previous year, the Swiss watch manufacturer said in a statement. The company pointed to better performance in the second half of the year with a “strong acceleration in the fourth quarter.”
Adjusted for currency effects, sales fell by 1.3 percent. The analysts surveyed by the Swiss agency AWP had, on average, expected a profit of 127 million francs and sales of 6.15 billion francs.
The group is known for its colorful plastic watches, but also owns other brands such as Tissot, Longines and Omega. The company attributed the decline in profitability to its manufacturing business. The reasons were a “decrease in orders from third parties” and the need for its own brands.
The group not only produces watches, but also watch components such as hands and clock movements, which it also supplies to other watch companies.
“Maintaining production capacity is very important in order to be able to respond to the positive dynamics in the second half of the year,” the group defended itself in a statement. In it, she explained that she had “maintained her deliberate strategy of not making any layoffs.”
In 2025, the watch industry as a whole was rocked by a drop in demand in China. There were also tariffs in the United States. According to statistics from the watch association published on Thursday, watch exports fell by 1.7 percent to 25.6 billion francs in 2025. This was the second year in a row that they fell.
Given the accelerated sales in the last quarter, Swatch Group expects “a very positive development in sales and volume” for 2026. This will make it possible to “massively reduce” losses in production and “significantly improve the profitability of the group”.
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