Kardex (KARN) H1 2026 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Bookings surged 25.8% year-over-year to EUR 571.5 million, driven by strong demand for Standardized Systems and robust project wins across regions, despite geopolitical and trade uncertainties.

• Net revenues rose 6% to EUR 440.5 million, but EBIT declined 38.4% to EUR 30.1 million due to a mix shift toward lower-margin Standardized Systems, underutilized capacity, and ongoing investments in R&D, IT, and Sales & Marketing.

• Profitability was below expectations, prompting a profit warning and revised full-year guidance; however, the order backlog surged 41.8% to EUR 727.2 million, providing strong visibility for the second half.

• Net profit fell 38.2% to EUR 22.3 million compared to H1 2025.

Financial highlights

• Bookings: EUR 571.5 million (+25.8% year-over-year); Net revenues: EUR 440.5 million (+6.0%).

• Gross profit decreased 7.3% to EUR 131.5 million, with group gross margin down to 29.9% from 34.1% year-over-year.

• Free cash flow was EUR 1.9 million, down 77.4% from the prior year.

• Equity ratio declined to 47.6% from 53.6% at year-end 2025.

• ROIC remained strong at 31.0%, though down from 37.6% in H1 2025.

Outlook and guidance

• Full-year 2026 order and revenue growth expected at 15–20%, with EBIT margin guidance of 8–10%.

• Second half-year expected to be significantly stronger, with a return to the target EBIT margin range of 10–14%.

• Mid-term financial targets for 2029–2031 reaffirmed: EUR 1.5 billion revenue and group EBIT margin of 10–14%.