EQS-News: Starting the year as planned: CEWE confirms its 2026 annual targets based on Q1 results

Starting the year as planned: CEWE confirms its 2026 annual targets based on Q1 results

• Group turnover rose by +1.4% to €175.8 million in the first quarter of 2026
• Top-selling product continues to grow: CEWE PHOTOBOOK sales rise by +2.2% to 1.33 million copies sold
• Group EBIT of €5.6 million is fully in line with expectations, confirming the annual target for 2026
• Outstanding innovation: CEWE Group wins four TIPA World Awards
• Announced yesterday in a separate ad hoc and press release: CEWE sells its Commercial Online-Print business unit to Cimpress and is focusing entirely on its core business of Photofinishing

Oldenburg, May 12, 2026. CEWE Stiftung & Co. KGaA (SDAX, ISIN: DE 0005403901) has made a successful start to the 2026 fiscal year. Group turnover rose by 1.4% to €175.8 million in the first quarter of 2026, setting a new high for a first quarter (Q1 2025: €173.4 million). With 2.2% growth and 1.33 million copies sold, the CEWE PHOTO BOOK once again underscored its market-leading position in Europe. At €5.6 million, Group EBIT is fully in line with expectations and thus confirms the annual target for 2026 (Group EBIT Q1 2025: €6.1 million). The result reflects an increase in personnel costs of over 2 million euros, which has been in effect since the tariff agreement in the second half of 2025. “With the first-quarter results, we have gotten off to a good start in 2026. Despite a macroeconomic environment that remains challenging, we have succeeded in generating further growth for our Group through our strong brand positions in the European photo market. As an innovation leader, we are particularly pleased to have once again been honored by the international expert jury of the ‘Technical Image Press Association’ with—this year, in fact—four TIPA World Awards for the CEWE Group,” emphasized Thomas Mehls, CEO of CEWE Stiftung & Co. KGaA. With a successful first quarter, the company is clearly on track to achieve its annual targets and confirms its outlook for 2026. Additionally, CEWE announced yesterday in a separate ad hoc and press release that the Commercial Online Print division is being sold to Cimpress, allowing CEWE to focus entirely on its core business of photofinishing.

The Photofinishing business continues to grow in the first quarter

Revenue from photofinishing rose by 1.7% in the first quarter of 2026 to €147.3 million (Q1 2025: €144.8 million), while photofinishing EBIT reached €5.1 million (Q1 2025: €5.6 million) and, in addition to the wage increases described, also includes approximately €1.0 million in additional marketing expenses, the vast majority of which was “invested” in high-growth international markets. Outstanding innovation: The CEWE Group won four TIPA World Awards at the start of the year, once again demonstrating the company’s innovative strength. The CEWE PHOTOBOOK on photo paper with a memory pocket was honored as “Best Photobook,” the CEWE Wall Calendar XXL as “Best Photo Service,” the CEWE Online Direct 2.0 functionality as “Best Professional Printing App,” and the WhiteWall Shopify Lab Connection as “Best Photo Lab Service.” The award from the media association ‘Technical Image Press Association’ annually recognizes innovative excellence in the photography industry.

CEWE Retail remains well-positioned

In Q1, the hardware retail segment generated turnover of €6.4 million, which was slightly lower than planned compared to the previous year (Q1 2025: €6.7 million; -3.7%). In the photo hardware segment (cameras and accessories), CEWE is deliberately avoiding lower-margin retail business and continues to focus on retail as a sales channel for the Photofinishing business (reported in the Photofinishing segment). With an EBIT of -€0.1 million, the retail business achieved a slightly improved, typical Q1 earnings level in the first quarter with hardware (Q1 2025: -€0.2 million). Due to the seasonality of the business, hardware retail is traditionally slightly negative in the first quarter.

Very solid equity ratio rises to 70.8%; ROCE at a strong 17.4%

The equity ratio has risen once again – from an already very solid level in the previous year (March 31, 2025: 68.2%) – to 70.8%, underscoring the CEWE Group’s continued strong financial position. Return on capital employed (ROCE) remained at a strong level of 17.4% as of the end of March 2026 (ROCE as of March 31, 2025: 17.6%).

Commercial Online-Print continues to hold its own in the market

The Commercial Online-Print (COP) business segment continues to benefit from the cost efficiencies achieved in production at SAXOPRINT and the resulting “best price guarantee” for its customers, and – despite a market for commercial print products that remains in decline – even saw its Q1 revenue increase slightly by +0.9% to €22.1 million (Q1 2025: €21.9 million). The revenue achieved enables Commercial Online-Print to generate an EBIT of €0.5 million in a highly price-competitive market environment (EBIT Q1 2025: €0.7 million).

Announced yesterday in separate ad hoc and press releases: CEWE is selling its Commercial Online-Print business unit to Cimpress and will focus entirely on its core business of Photofinishing

Yesterday, CEWE signed an agreement to sell its Commercial Online-Print division – which includes the SAXOPRINT production facility in Dresden and the sales units viaprinto and LASERLINE – to Cimpress, the global market leader in web-to-print, known for its brands “WIRmachenDRUCK” and “VistaPrint.” With this transaction, CEWE is sharpening its profile as a leading provider of premium photo finishing products, consistently focusing capital and management resources on the growth of its core Photofinishing business—both organically and through further acquisitions planned for the future. The sale is expected to further improve the profitability of the continuing operations: Based on 2025 key figures, the pro forma Group EBIT margin excluding Commercial Online-Print would be approximately 11.2% (instead of 10.2%). The return on capital employed (ROCE) for the Group, excluding Commercial Online-Print, is projected to increase by 2 percentage points to 19.6% (instead of 17.6%) on a pro forma basis in 2025. The cash inflow from the transaction is to be used in a value-oriented manner. The strategic priority is the further development of the Photofinishing business, in particular through investments in technology, efficiency, and brand strength, as well as through selective, value-enhancing acquisitions. The continuation of the share buyback program and a consistently reliable dividend payout are also assured.

The closing of the transaction is subject to the usual closing conditions, in particular regulatory and antitrust approvals, and is expected in the course of the second half of 2026. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Upon completion of the transaction, CEWE Stiftung & Co. KGaA will receive a cash inflow exceeding the current book values of the Commercial Online-Print business segment. After accounting for the disposal of the assets and liabilities allocated to this business segment, including goodwill, CEWE Stiftung & Co. KGaA expects a gain from the sale of the discontinued business segment in the mid-double-digit million-euro range.

An overview of results for Q1 2026

Rounding differences may occur. Exact values have always been used for percentage deviation calculations.

Should you have any queries, please contact:
Axel Weber (VP, Head of Investor Relations)
E-Mail: IR@cewe.de

Internet:  cewe-group.com , cewe.de , pixum.de , deindesign.de , whitewall.com , cheerz.com , saxoprint.de, viaprinto.de , laser-line.de

Financial schedule

(insofar as already scheduled)

03.06.2026 CEWE Annual General Meeting 2026, Weser-Ems-Halle Oldenburg

13.08.2026 Publication of H1 2026 Interim Report

22.09.2026 Berenberg & Goldman Sachs German Corporate Conference 2026, Munich

23.09.2026 Baader Investment Conference 2026, Munich

12.11.2026 Publication Q3 2026 Interim Statement

23.11.2026 Deutsches Eigenkapitalforum 2026, Frankfurt

About CEWE:

The CEWE Group is Europe's leading photo service and online printing supplier.

From its beginnings in 1912, CEWE has progressed to become the leading photo service company for all those wanting to make more of their photos. This is mainly due to the much-awarded CEWE PHOTOBOOK, with about six million books being sold each year. Customers can purchase other personalised photo products under the brand names of CEWE, Cheerz, DeinDesign, Pixum and WhiteWall – and from many leading retailers in Europe. They are inspired to produce a variety of creative designs from their personal photos in these brand environments, entrusting the company with more than 2 billion photos every year.

The CEWE Group has also set up a highly efficient production system for advertising prints and business prints for the online printing market. Every year billions of high-quality printed products are delivered reliably to their purchasers through the SAXOPRINT, LASERLINE and viaprinto sales platforms.

The CEWE Group focuses on sustainable corporate management and has already received many awards for this effort: economically sustainable in the long term; cooperative and fair in dealings with customers, employees and suppliers; socially responsible and protective of the environment and resources. This is also reflected in the Neumüller founding family's role as a long-term anchor shareholder.

The CEWE Group has a staff of 4,000 employees and operates in 21 countries. CEWE is listed on the SDAX. More information is available at www.cewe-group.com.