EQS-News: R. STAHL posts record sales in 2024 and for 2025 forecasts stable sales together with earnings at prior-year-level

R. STAHL posts record sales in 2024 and for 2025 forecasts stable sales together with earnings at prior-year-level

• R. STAHL today published its Annual Report 2024:
  Group sales increased by 4.1% to € 344.1 million, while EBITDA pre exceptionals fell to € 34.4 million from the very good prior-year figure (€ 38.6 million) due to one-time items.
• At € 327.6 million, order intake did not reach the strong level of the previous year (€ 342.5 million).
• R. STAHL significantly improved its free cash flow to € 14.7 million (previous year: € 0.3 million), while net profit rose to € 5.8 million (previous year: € 0.2 million).
• For full year 2025, the Executive Board expects stable sales of between € 340 million and € 350 million combined with EBITDA pre exceptionals of between € 35 million and € 40 million.

Waldenburg, 10 April 2025 - R. STAHL today published its Annual Report 2024. The company closed the financial year 2024 with a positive overall result that was in line with its planning. The Executive Board is cautiously optimistic for the current financial year 2025 and expects business to rebound in the second half of the year.

Sales up 4.1% to a record € 344.1 million in 2024 – order intake loses momentum over the course of the year and is slightly below high figure of the previous year

The high order backlog at the beginning of the year and good production capacity utilization in the first half of the year ensured stable positive sales development overall in financial year 2024. R. STAHL improved sales by 4.1% to € 344.1 million in 2024 as a whole (previous year: € 330.6 million) and was thus within the forecast corridor of € 335 million to € 350 million.

Because incoming orders weakened over the course of the year, R. STAHL’s order intake of € 327.6 million fell short of the previous year’s strong figure of € 342.5 million. Increasing economic and political uncertainties towards the middle of the year resulted in a lower willingness to invest on the part of customers, especially in the second half of 2024. Order intake has, however, rebounded significantly since the start of 2025. Because sales exceeded order volume in the past financial year, order backlog decreased to € 95.8 million at the end of 2024 (previous year: € 115.1 million).

Sales markets in North America and the Central region make a significant contribution to sales growth in 2024

Development in R. STAHL’s sales markets varied in the past financial year. Sales in the Central region (Africa and Europe excluding Germany) rose again significantly by 10.9% to € 162.8 million. In addition to the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, the main sales driver was stronger demand from the oil and gas sector. The positive development in this sector also led to a further increase in sales in North America of 17.2% to € 40.2 million. In the Asia/Pacific region, sales fell by 6.8% to € 61.4 million. Revenue also declined in Germany. However, at € 79.7 million, the figure was only 4.6% below the high figure from the previous year.

Decline in profitability due to high one-time items

R. STAHL’s profitability in 2024 was below the very high level of the previous year. This was mainly due to one-time items resulting from the implementation of the optimization program in the financial area combined with higher personnel costs.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) pre exceptionals dropped in the past financial year by € 4.3 million to € 34.4 million. It was therefore close to the forecast corridor of € 35 million to € 40 million specified in November 2024. The company’s profitability, measured by the EBITDA margin pre exceptionals, fell from 11.7% in the previous year to 10.0% in 2024.

R. STAHL significantly improves free cash flow – net profit and equity ratio also up

R. STAHL improved its net profit to € 5.8 million in the past financial year (previous year: € 0.2 million). This corresponds to earnings per share of € 0.90 (previous year: € 0.03). It should be noted here that the full impairment of the 25% stake in the Russian company ZAVOD Goreltex had a negative impact on net profit in 2023.

The very positive free cash flow trend was mainly due to the higher result and the significant reduction in the inventory position, which had been built up in previous years. Free cash flow recorded a significant increase of € 14.4 million to € 14.7 million in 2024 (previous year: € 0.3 million). Here, R. STAHL had forecast a figure in the mid single-digit positive million euro range.

The positive free cash flow led to a year-on-year decrease in net debt (excluding pension obligations and lease liabilities) of € 10.0 million to € 28.8 million. R. STAHL improved its equity ratio to 27.3% as of the balance sheet date (31 December 2023: 25.0%).

 R. STAHL is cautious in its forecast for financial year 2025

For 2025, the company expects only slight growth in the relevant key markets based on the overall economic and industry-specific forecasts. Forecast uncertainties remain, in particular with regard to unforeseeable developments and the consequences of geopolitical events and current conflicts.

Despite a rebound in demand at the beginning of 2025, the company remains cautious about the year as a whole. The Executive Board expects Group sales of between € 340 million and € 350 million (2024: € 344.1 million) and forecasts EBITDA pre exceptionals of between € 35 million and € 40 million in 2025 (2024: € 34.4 million). In terms of free cash flow, R. STAHL expects a mid single-digit positive million euro amount in 2025 (2024: € 14.7 million).

“R. STAHL delivered a strong overall performance in financial year 2024 despite a challenging market environment. This shows that the Group strategy we have been consistently pursuing since 2018 is taking hold and that the company is increasingly flexible and resilient. In the current financial year, we will focus on the further implementtation of our digitalization and internationalization strategy. This will allow us to create a foundation for profitable growth at R. STAHL in the medium and long term”, says Dr. Mathias Hallmann, CEO at R. STAHL.

Key figures of R. STAHL Group for FY 2024 pursuant to IFRS 

¹⁾ Exceptionals: restructuring charges, unscheduled depreciation and amortization, charges for designing and implementing of IT projects, M&A costs, gains and losses form deconsolidation processes as well as gains and losses from the disposal of assets no longer required for business operations
²⁾ Payments for investments in intangible assets and property, plant & equipment
³⁾ Cash and cash equivalents less interest-bearing loans
⁴⁾ excl. apprentices

Percentages and figures in may include rounding differences. The signs used to indicate rates of changes are based on mathematical aspects. Rates of changes > +100% are shown as >+100%, rates of change <-100% as „n/a“ (not applicable).

Note
The Annual Report 2024 as well as the magazine ‘NEXT LEVEL’ are available for download under the following link (Corporate – Investor Relations – IR News and Ad hoc News – Financial Reports): https://r-stahl.com/en/global/corporate/investor-relations/ir-news-and-publications/financial-reports.

The quarterly statement for Q1 2025 will be disclosed am 6 May 2025.

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Investors’ and analysts’ conference call of R. STAHL AG
for FY 2024

The Executive Board of R. STAHL AG will explain the results of FY 2024 and will present an outlook for the current year

today at 10:00 CET.

Afterwards they will be available for questions. The conference call will be held in English language.

To participate (acoustically) in the conference call, please use the link below. After registration, that you may do at any time, you will receive dedicated dial-in details to easily and quickly access the call at the specified time:

https://services.choruscall.it/DiamondPassRegistration/register?confirmationNumber=2206184&linkSecurityString=52d606518

Along with the conference call, we will provide a presentation (visually only) through an online webinar. Please log on as a participant on the following website (no password required); this link is provided to you again with the dial-in details for the conference call:

https://www.webcast-eqs.com/rstahl-fy-2024/no-audio

A replay of the audio webcast will be available shortly after the conference call has ended on the company’s website in the section corporate > investor relations > IR news and ad hoc news (https://r-stahl.com/en/global/corporate/investor-relations/ir-news-and-publications/events-and-presentations)

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Financial calendar 2025
6 May Quarterly Statement Q1 2025
3 June 32nd Annual General Meeting
7 August Interim Report H1 2025
4 November Quarterly Statement Q3 2025

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About R. STAHL – www.r-stahl.com
R. STAHL is one of the world's leading suppliers of electrical and electronic products and systems for explosion protection. These products and systems prevent explosions in hazardous areas and contribute to the safety of people, machines and the environment. The portfolio covers the portfolio segments Electrical, Automation as well as Lighting and is completed by the cross-divisional function Customer Solutions. Typical customers are the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, the oil & gas industry – including LNG applications – as well as the food and beverage industry. Most of the R. STAHL products are also approved for use with hydrogen. In 2024, global sales amounting to around € 344 million were generated by 1,743 employees. The shares of R. STAHL AG are traded on the Regulated Market/Prime Standard of Deutsche Boerse (ISIN DE000A1PHBB5).

Forward-looking statements
This release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions and estimates of R. STAHL’s management. Although we assume that the expectations of these forward-looking statements are realistic, we cannot guarantee that these expectations will prove to be correct. The assumptions may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such discrepancies include: changes in the macroeconomic and business environment, exchange rate and interest rate fluctuations, the roll-out of competing products, a lack of acceptance of new products or services, and changes in business strategy. R. STAHL does not plan to update these forward-looking statements nor does it accept any obligation to do so.