Koenig & Bauer (SKB) Q2 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Celebrated major milestones: 208 years in business, 100th AGM, and 40 years on the capital market.

• Leadership transition completed with new CEO and CFO; Executive Board reduced and streamlined for 2026.

• Strong Q2 and H1 2025 performance with revenue up 3.5% to €550.4m, record order backlog of €1,096.3m, and improved profitability.

• Strategic focus on portfolio optimization, competitiveness, resilience, AI integration, and digital transformation.

• Strategic review of Coding GmbH underway, considering sale or partnership.

Financial highlights

• H1 2025 revenue: €550.4m (+3.5% YOY); Q2 revenue: €298.2m (+7.0% YOY).

• Order intake down 5.4% year-over-year to €606.9m, but order backlog reached a record €1,096.3m (+7.4%).

• EBIT improved by €20.1m to €-13.8m (+59.3% YOY); operating EBIT (adjusted for drupa/Spotlight) at €-9.6m (+69.1% YOY); Q2 operating EBIT: €1.8m.

• Gross margin increased to 25.0% from 24.0% YOY; EBITDA margin at 6.5% (LTM).

• Net loss narrowed to €-30.8m from €-49.3m YOY; EPS at €-1.86.

• Free cash flow: €-83.7m (prior: €-27.7m), impacted by higher net working capital.

• Equity ratio at 22.8% (down from 23.3% at year-end 2024), with equity over €300m.

Outlook and guidance

• 2025 guidance confirmed: revenue up to €1.3bn, operating EBIT €35–50m.

• Strategic ambition: revenue up to €1.5bn, EBIT margin 5–6% in the medium term.

• Further profitability improvements expected in 2026.

• Positive free cash flow expected for full year, despite negative H1 due to working capital seasonality.

• Guidance depends on stable macroeconomic, geopolitical, and trade policy conditions; monitoring new 15% EU-US tariffs effective August 2025.