September 18, 2025

The long-established company, with its Swiss-made premium household appliances, stands for timeless elegance and impressed us particularly with its innovative environmental awareness.

Central Switzerland Tradition

V-ZUG looks back on over 112 years of company history. Founded as Verzinkerei Zug, the company developed from a tinware producer into the leading manufacturer of modern household appliances. Today, V-ZUG is renowned both in Switzerland and internationally for ovens, dishwashers, washing machines, steamers, and also wine cabinets. In brand rankings, V-ZUG regularly occupies top positions, especially in customer satisfaction and quality. Accordingly, its products are positioned in the premium segment.
Since the spin-off from Metall Zug about five years ago, V-ZUG has been independently listed on the stock exchange. Around 60% of its revenue is generated in Switzerland.

Transformation and Sustainability

The company continues to undergo a demanding transformation phase. This transformation process was also visible in the form of a large construction site. The factory is being expanded with a new annex, which will later be occupied by R&D, marketing, and administration. Completion of this annex is expected around 2027.
With Christoph Kilian, V-ZUG gained a new CEO in April, who gave us insights into the company’s strategic direction. This includes, among other things, a revised partner model that rewards distribution partners more strongly for advisory and presentation quality. In addition, V-ZUG now presents itself with its own showroom in Zurich.
Sustainability is deeply embedded in the company’s DNA and is actively practiced: the entire factory is aligned with the principles of the circular economy – from raw material processing to water treatment and energy supply, all the way to re- and upcycling of resources and product transport. Thanks to these high standards, V-ZUG is able to operate a vertical factory right in the middle of the city.

Convivial conclusion

The day was rounded off with an apéritif riche, where we enjoyed exchanges with management and our guests. The feedback was unanimously positive: the quality of production processes and local manufacturing were particularly emphasized. Another impressive aspect was that spare parts remain available for at least 15 years after the end of production.

Evaluation and Outlook

In the first half of 2025, V-ZUG faced setbacks in the implementation of its growth strategy. Reasons included investment restraint due to economic uncertainty, delays in large projects, missed tenders in previous years, and adjustments to sales incentives. According to management, the latter led to greater price discipline from January onwards, but from March sales failed to materialize.

For the second half of the year, V-ZUG expects higher sales thanks to seasonality, a well-filled pipeline, and strengthened relationships with wholesalers. While management anticipates a largely closed earnings gap, we only expect seasonal growth. Sales are likely to be around 15% higher than in 1H25 and 2% above 2H24. The EBIT margin is estimated at 4.7% (after 1.1% in 1H25 and 5.4% in 2H24). From 2026 onwards, we expect a yearly margin increase of 1 percentage point.
V-ZUG is attractively valued with a P/E ratio of 19.5x for 2025 and 16.0x for 2026. The enterprise value to EBIT ratio is also improving year by year and is expected to fall to just 10.3x in 2027.