EQS-News: R. STAHL publishes half-year figures – sales and profitability below prior year – forecast for 2025 adjusted

R. STAHL publishes half-year figures – sales and profitability below prior year – forecast for 2025 adjusted

• Following the very strong order intake in the first quarter of 2025, order activity declined significantly in the second quarter. In the first half of 2025, order volume amounted to € 165.8 million (previous year: € 180.8 million).
• Sales decline by 13.1% to € 151.2 million from January to June due to generally weak demand from January to June.
• EBITDA pre exceptionals decreased from € 19.3 million in the previous year to € 8.9 million in the first two quarters of 2025. This results in an EBITDA margin pre exceptionals of 5.9% (previous year: 11.1%).
• R. STAHL adjusted its forecast for full year 2025 at the end of July. The Executive Board now expects Group sales of between € 320 million and € 330 million (previously: € 340 million to € 350 million). For EBITDA pre exceptionals, R. STAHL forecasts a figure of between € 25 million and € 30 million (previously: € 35 million to € 40 million).

Waldenburg, 7 August 2025 – Considerable global economic uncertainty together with the US tariff measures are having an impact on our customers’ investment decisions and are adversely affecting R. STAHL’s business operations. Following a temporary upturn in order activity in the first quarter of 2025, demand for electric explosion protection slowed in almost all customer sectors in the second quarter.

Order intake down 8.3% to € 165.8 million – Order backlog at € 113.0 million

Although order intake was still very high in the first quarter at € 98.8 million, the volume of orders fell significantly in the second quarter (€ 67.0 million). In the first six months of 2025, order intake decreased by 8.3% year-on-year to € 165.8 million (previous year: € 180.8 million). While the order volume in the Americas and Asia regions increased slightly, R. STAHL recorded significant declines in the first half of 2025, particularly in the Central region (Africa, Europe excluding Germany).

At € 113.0 million, the order backlog as of 30 June 2025 was 6.6% below the high figure from the prior year of € 121.0 million, but € 17.2 million above the order backlog at the end of 2024 (€ 95.8 million).

Sales down 13.1% with all sales markets recording a decline

Although sales in the second quarter of 2025 (€ 77.9 million) exceeded that of the previous quarter (€ 73.3 million), the figure fell short of expectations overall. In the first half of 2025, R. STAHL’s sales fell by 13.1% to € 151.2 million. In Germany, the decline was somewhat in line with the Group average (-12.5%), while sales in the Central region
(-7.1%) fell at a slower rate. In the Americas (-18.4%) and Asia/Pacific (-25.7%) sales regions, on the other hand, the company recorded more significant declines from January to June.

Profitability declines – cost-cutting measures initiated

R. STAHL’s profitability declined significantly in the first six months of 2025. This was mainly due to the decline in sales and higher personnel costs as a result of collective bargaining agreements. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) pre exceptionals dropped in the first half of 2025 by € 10.4 million to € 8.9 million. The company’s profitability, measured by the EBITDA margin pre exceptionals, fell from 11.1% in the previous year to 5.9%. Net profit decreased by € 10.8 million to € -5.0 million in the period from January to June. This corresponds to earnings per share of
€ -0.77 (previous year: € 0.90).

In the second quarter of 2025, the Executive Board initiated measures to adjust cost structures – especially personnel costs – to the current decline in demand and to secure R. STAHL’s profitability.

Free cash flow also decreased to € -13.1 million due to the lower net profit in the first six months (previous year: € -7.0 million). The equity ratio fell to 25.0% as of 30 June 2025 (31 December 2024: 27.3%).

R. STAHL adjusts forecast for financial year 2025

Due to the continuing challenging economic environment, R. STAHL expects only a slight upturn in business activities in the second half of 2025 and therefore adjusted its forecast for full year 2025 downwards at the end of July. The Executive Board now expects Group sales of between € 320 million and € 330 million (previously: € 340 million to € 350 million). For EBITDA pre exceptionals, R. STAHL forecasts a figure of between € 25 million and € 30 million (previously: € 35 million and € 40 million) and anticipates a balanced free cash flow (previously: mid single-digit positive million euro amount). A slight decrease (previously: slight increase) is expected for the equity ratio in the current financial year.

“Demand for R. STAHL products and services has deteriorated significantly since the second quarter due to increasing global uncertainties. The company will take appropriate measures to counteract this trend and overcome the challenging quarters that lie ahead. We are optimistic that R. STAHL will come out of the current slump in demand stronger than before and then continue on its profitable growth course”, says Dr Mathias Hallmann, CEO of R. STAHL.

Key figures of R. STAHL Group for Q2 and H1 2025 pursuant to IFRS

¹⁾ Africa and Europe without Germany
²⁾ Exceptionals: restructuring charges, unscheduled depreciation and amortization, charges for designing and implementing IT projects, M&A costs, gains and losses from deconsolidation transactions as well as profit and loss from the disposal of assets no longer required for business operations
³⁾ excl. pension provisions and without lease liabilities
⁴⁾ excl. apprentices

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

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Note
The interim report H1 2025 is available for download under the following link: https://r-stahl.com/en/global/corporate/investor-relations/ir-news-and-publications/financial-reports

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Financial calendar 2025
4 November              Quarterly Statement Q3 2025

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Investors‘, analysts‘ and press’ conference call of R. STAHL for Q2/2025

Chief Executive Officer of R. STAHL AG, Dr. Mathias Hallmann, will explain the results of Q2 and H1 2025 and will present an outlook for the current year 

today, August 7, 2025 at 10:00 CET.

Afterwards he 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=2669592&linkSecurityString=642a85040

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-h1-2025/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 > events and presentations (https://r-stahl.com/en/global/corporate/investor-relations/ir-news-and-publications/events-and-presentations)

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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.