About this report

Sonovaʼs ESG Report is published on an annual basis and forms the Annual Report together with the Business Report and the Financial Report. Sub-reports such as the corporate governance report and the compensation report are also part of the Annual Report. The ESG Report follows Sonovaʼs financial year from April 1 to March 31, except for environmental data reported in the Protecting the planet chapter, which presents its data by calendar year, due to the complexity of collecting and calculating the environmental performance measurements. This report was published on May 16, 2023, and was approved by Sonovaʼs Board of Directors. The Sonova ESG Report for 2022/23, in combination with the 2022/23 Business Report and Financial Report, complies with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) 2021 Standards and forms an integral part of Sonovaʼs UN Global Compact Communication on Progress. Please see our GRI content index for details about how the report content maps against the GRI Standards. Our TCFD index covers details to find relevant information according to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). See our SASB index for details about how the report content maps against the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards governing sustainability disclosure topics and accounting metrics for the medical equipment & supplies industry. Additional relevant information about economic performance and remuneration is provided in the compensation report, corporate governance report, and financial review chapters of the Annual Report.

Organizational profile and entities

Sonova is a global leader in innovative hearing care solutions: from personal audio devices and wireless communication systems to audiological care services, hearing aids and cochlear implants. The Group was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Stäfa, Switzerland. Sonova operates through four businesses – Hearing Instruments, Audiological Care, Consumer Hearing and Cochlear Implants – and the core brands Phonak, Unitron, AudioNova, Sennheiser (under license) and Advanced Bionics as well as recognized regional brands. The Groupʼs globally diversified sales and distribution channels serve an ever growing consumer base in more than 100 countries. Sonova Holding AG is a Swiss public limited company. More details on our products, services, brands, and activities as well as financial information, including a list of significant shareholders are provided in the 2022/23 Business Report and Financial Report. 

The list of Sonovaʼs significant Group companies can be found in note 7.7 List of significant companies in the 2022/23 Annual Report.

Restatements and significant changes

On December 5, 2022, Sonova Holding AG completed the acquisition of 100% of Hubei Hysound Health Technology Corp. Ltd, Wuhan (China) and Shanghai Chengting Technology Corp. Ltd, Shanghai (China) (HYSOUND Group). The HYSOUND Group is one of the leading nationwide chains of audiological care clinics in China with around 200 clinics in over 20 provinces and more than 70 cities across China. On March 1, 2022, Sonova Holding AG completed the acquisition of 100% of the Consumer Division from Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG, Wedemark (Germany). The Sennheiser Consumer division concentrates on the business of headphones and hearables for private customers and operates with around 600 employees worldwide through a broad online and in-store distribution network. As part of the acquisition, Sonova secured a perpetual license for the Sennheiser brand, under which both existing and new consumer hearing devices will be marketed. On March 1, 2022, Sonova Holding AG completed the acquisition of 100% of Alpaca Group Holdings LLC, Delaware (USA). Alpaca Audiology is one of the largest independent networks of audiological clinics in the US. The company has over 500 employees and operates around 220 clinics across the country.

Data from the HYSOUND Group is included in the data presented in this report (except for the data presented in the Protecting the planet, unless explicitly noted. Data from the Sennheiser Consumer Division and Alpaca Audiology (both acquired as of March 1, 2022) has been integrated into the data reported in this report unless explicitly noted.

The list of material topics was last updated in 2019/20 as described in the Materiality assessment section.

Restatements in Advancing our people reflect data availability improvements and methodology changes that had minor effects on the data for 2022/23, as well as on the previous-year comparison data for 2021/22 and 2020/21. Sonova has also implemented a new job level hierarchy, which refines performance measurement and monitoring of gender diversity at various levels of management.

In Protecting the planet, the energy, waste, and water figures for 2020 and 2021 do not include data from our Consumer Hearing business (the Sennheiser Consumer Division) and Alpaca, and the restatements provided are a consequence of methodological improvements implemented to best reflect enhanced data available for local Group companies. These improvements include adjustment of extrapolation factors, improved mapping of country-level heating energy sources and waste disposal methods (where the heating source or waste disposal method is assumed), and correction of partially incomplete water figures. As for Sonovaʼs GHG emission figures, our Consumer Hearing business has been integrated in the 2019 – 2022 data. In addition, 2020 and 2021 GHG emissions have also been restated due to higher completeness of the GHG footprint, such as inclusion of additional indirect spend categories or freight data that was previously unavailable, and changing the sources for some emission factors.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the GRI 2021 Standards and Sonovaʼs own developed methodology.

Sonova has selected Ernst & Young Ltd to provide limited assurance on selected KPIs in the 2022/23 ESG Report, after five consecutive years when this was provided by PwC. Ernst & Young Ltd is the external statutory auditor for the compensation report, the consolidated financial statements, and the financial statements of Sonova. Ernst & Young Ltd has provided independent assurance on selected KPIs for the reporting year 2022/23 presented in this report; for more detail, see the Independent Assurance Report. All audited figures are highlighted with ✔ Data externally assured (limited assurance) in the report. Details about the scope for the 2022/23 assurance can be found in the footnotes of each assured KPI and in the Independent Limited Assurance Report.

If you have questions regarding this ESG Report or its contents, please contact Sonova AG, Laubisrütistrasse 28, 8712 Stäfa, Switzerland. Phone: +41 58 928 01 01 | Email: sustainability@sonova.com