Quick Facts
- Switzerland's leading electrical engineering group: Founded in Zurich in 1959, Burkhalter has grown into a network of 83 companies across 169 locations, with around 5'400 employees. It is the dominant provider of electrical installations and building technology services in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
- Exceptional 2025: Earnings per share rose 7.2% to CHF 5.78, EBIT grew 6.0% to CHF 73.8 million, and revenue reached CHF 1.21 billion. The board proposed a dividend of CHF 5.20 per share, up from CHF 4.85.
- Six acquisitions since early 2025: Burkhalter keeps expanding its regional footprint through a steady stream of targeted bolt-on acquisitions, deepening its presence in electrical, HVAC, and sanitary services.
- First time in the OMSP1: Burkhalter joins the index this month with an Obermatt 360° View of 81, replacing dormakaba.
Pros
- Energy transition tailwinds are structural. Replacing fossil heating systems, installing photovoltaics, wiring EV charging points, retrofitting older buildings for energy efficiency. All of these are Burkhalter’s core business, and all are driven by regulation and investment that will continue for years.
- The balance sheet is exceptionally clean. A Leverage Rank of 87, a Liquidity Rank of 98, and a Safety Rank of 98 overall. Burkhalter runs with virtually no debt and enough liquidity to keep acquiring without taking on financial risk.
- Acquisitions keep compounding. The group has been buying small regional electrical and HVAC specialists for decades. Each one adds revenue, local expertise, and market share. Six companies joined in the last eighteen months alone.
- Consistent dividend growth. The proposed CHF 5.20 per share for 2025 is the latest in a long series of increases. The Dividend Yield Rank of 69 reflects a payout that is above average without being stretched.
Cons
- The stock is not cheap. A Value Rank of 22 means the market is pricing in the quality and consistency. Price-to-book is the most stretched metric. Investors are paying for a business that has earned that premium, but there is not much margin of safety in the valuation.
- Growth is steady rather than exciting. Revenue grew 1.8% in 2025 and management guides for a moderate further increase in 2026. This is a compounder, not a high-growth story. The Growth Rank of 47 reflects that.
This month, Burkhalter joins the Obermatt Swiss Pearls Index (OMSP1) for the first time, replacing dormakaba.
Burkhalter is Switzerland’s largest electrical engineering and building technology group. It operates through 83 subsidiaries across 169 locations, doing the work that modern buildings cannot function without: installing and maintaining electrical systems, building automation, HVAC, telecommunications networks, and security systems in homes, commercial buildings, hospitals, schools, and infrastructure projects. The company started in 1959 as a small Zurich-based electrical contractor and has grown by acquisition over more than six decades into the clear market leader. In 2022, the merger with poenina holding ag was the largest single step, transforming Burkhalter from a pure electrical engineering company into a full building technology group with meaningful HVAC and plumbing capabilities.
What makes this interesting from an investment perspective is that Swiss energy policy has turned what was once a cyclical construction play into something closer to a structural growth story. The Federal Government’s Energy Strategy 2050 mandates the phaseout of fossil heating systems and requires the deep renovation of poorly insulated older buildings. Swiss voters approved a referendum in September 2025 that will abolish certain tax deductions for property owners who delay renovations, with the change taking effect from 2028 at the earliest. That creates a wave of refurbishment demand in the years ahead, and Burkhalter is the company that gets called to do the work.
The acquisition strategy deserves attention because it is how Burkhalter compounds. Rather than competing on scale alone, the group buys established local specialists, keeps them operating under their own name and reputation, and integrates them into the group’s purchasing, HR, and administrative infrastructure. Six companies joined between early 2025 and April 2026, spanning electrical engineering, HVAC, plumbing, and energy planning across cantons from Valais to Appenzell. The targets are small and the prices are rarely disclosed, but the cumulative effect over decades has been substantial. Management has made this approach a central pillar of the growth strategy, and it keeps working.
The Obermatt picture is shaped by the balance sheet. A Leverage Rank of 87 and a Liquidity Rank of 98 put Burkhalter among the strongest in the index. The company runs with virtually no debt, generates consistent free cash flow, and uses that position to keep acquiring without external financing. The 2025 results confirmed the pattern once again. Earnings per share up 7.2%, EBIT up 6.0%, dividend raised to CHF 5.20, and management guiding for a further moderate increase in 2026. This is not a business that surprises with dramatic results. It is a business that keeps delivering, year after year, and the Obermatt 360° View of 81 reflects exactly that: a Safety Rank of 98 at the top, a Growth Rank of 47 in the middle, and a Value Rank of 22 as the main caution flag. Burkhalter is not cheap, and the market knows what it has. But in a Swiss index of 36 companies, a business with near-zero debt, structural demand tailwinds, a consistent acquisition engine, and years of compounding earnings per share is the kind of addition that earns its place.
dormakaba is leaving the index, and the reasons are visible across the ranks. The global access solutions group makes locks, door closers, and entrance systems for airports, offices, hotels, and commercial buildings worldwide. Since 2023, a major transformation programme called Shape4Growth has delivered CHF 185 million in cost savings ahead of plan. Management has pivoted to a vertical market strategy focused on airports, healthcare, data centres, and hospitality. The direction is right. But the half-year results for 2025/26, released in February, showed a 20% fall in net profit, missing analyst expectations. North American hospitality demand has been soft, the Swiss franc continues to compress reported figures, and volumes in several markets have not recovered. Revenue growth is weak at a Revenue Growth Rank of 15. The stock has underperformed significantly, with a Stock Returns Rank of 24. And the balance sheet carries more debt than most comparable companies, reflected in a Leverage Rank of 18. dormakaba is a company mid-transformation with real operational progress, but the full picture has not yet come through in the numbers. At a 360° View of 43, it falls below the bar for a 36-stock index of the best Swiss companies.
For the OMSP1, Burkhalter brings something the index has not had before: a capital-light, acquisition-driven Swiss compounder with a near-zero debt balance sheet, structural demand from Switzerland’s energy transition, and a track record of consistent execution that shows no sign of stopping.
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