EQS-Adhoc: edding Aktiengesellschaft: Guidance adjusted to the market environment

Lower sales expectations due to challenging market environment lead to an adjusted forecast corridor

Business performance of the two large business units below original expectations

According to preliminary figures, Group sales of EUR 71.4 million were generated in the first half of the 2025 financial year (previous year: EUR 77.7 million). After a good start to the financial year, there is an increasingly noticeable reluctance to invest. Growth in the first half of the year was negatively impacted both in the Mark & Make business unit (Office & Industry Supplies and Creative & Home business units combined in 2025), with sharp declines in Germany and Turkey in particular, and in the Collaboration @ Work (COWO) business unit.

Due to the challenging market environment, a deterioration in the macroeconomic environment and the resulting reluctance to invest, the results of the edding Group's most important business units (Mark & Make and COWO) will fall short of original expectations. Consolidated sales revenue is expected to be lower than planned, particularly in the COWO business unit, which is mainly due to business development in Germany. Sales revenue in the Mark & Make business unit is also significantly below plan, driven by the domestic market of Germany and an extremely difficult market environment in Turkey. In the 2025 financial year, these effects on earnings can only be partially offset by improved cost management.

The edding AG is therefore reducing the forecast corridor for Group sales revenue to between EUR 142.0 million and EUR 154.0 million (previously: EUR 158.0 million to EUR 173.0 million). The Group operating result according to IFRS (EBIT) is now expected to be in the range of EUR 0.0 million to EUR 3.0 million (previously: EUR 3.0 million to EUR 6.0 million).

Although the above-mentioned developments also affect the individual financial statements of edding AG according to HGB, they are expected to be more than offset by savings and one-off income; the net result of the parent company is now expected to be between EUR -1.5 million and EUR +0.5 million (previously: EUR -3.0 million to EUR -1.0 million).

Due to the revised expected development in 2025, the edding group no longer considers the mid-term financial BSC targets (consolidated gross revenue and consolidated EBIT) for 2026 to be achievable.

In the course of the developments described above, targeted measures for sustainable improvement were introduced at an early stage. These are aimed at increasing the edding Group's profitability step by step and realizing substantial savings potential in the future - without jeopardizing strategic development.

More specific information on the ongoing measures and an updated outlook on the medium-term financial BSC targets will be communicated in the half-year report, which will be published on August 14, 2025.

About the edding Group:

The family-owned company edding was founded in Hamburg in 1960 and has over six decades of expertise in the development, production and distribution of reliable, high-quality branded products. edding's fundamental values include responsibility towards the environment and society. In the course of its current strategic transformation, the edding Group is focusing even more strongly on sustainable action: as a profit-for-profit company. The medium-sized enterprise no longer sees economic success as the main goal, but as the prerequisite for working towards ecological and social improvements. The aim is to align one's own actions primarily with the well-being of the planet and society, while at the same time being economically viable. The family-owned company was awarded the German Sustainability Award for Companies in 2024 for its profit-for strategy.

Under the edding Group umbrella brand, the company offers durable, high-quality products and solutions for private and commercial use worldwide under the edding, Legamaster and Playroom brands. The portfolio includes markers and writing instruments, visual communication products such as flipcharts, whiteboards and e-screens as well as innovative digital applications.

In 2024, Group sales amounted to EUR 156.0 million with an annual average of 724 employees.

Explanation of EBIT as an alternative performance indicator: EBIT is the abbreviation for “Earnings Before Interest and Taxes”. Total operating performance less cost of materials, personnel expenses and depreciation and amortization (including right-of-use assets within the meaning of IFRS 16), plus other operating income and less other operating expenses. EBIT is the most important key figure for managing earnings in the edding Group. No adjustment is made for any extraordinary expenses or income.

Ahrensburg, 16 July 2025

edding Aktiengesellschaft

The Executive Board

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