Dürr Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:DUE) used its conference call on preliminary 2025 figures to highlight a year of portfolio reshaping, cost actions, and improved operating profitability despite softer sales and a volatile macro backdrop. Management also issued cautious 2026 guidance that assumes continued geopolitical and market uncertainty and points to weaker free cash flow as customer prepayments reverse and taxes related to a divestment are paid.
Strategy shift to a leaner group and divestment gain
Chief Executive Officer Jochen Weyrauch said the company “delivered on what we promised,” simplifying the group structure to three divisions from five and sharpening focus on automating production processes and making them “more sustainable and efficient,” which it refers to as “Sustainable Automation.” As part of the refocusing, Dürr sold its non-core environmental technology business, generating a post-tax book gain of EUR 227 million. Weyrauch said the book profit was higher than initially assumed, “mainly due to valuation and currency effects.”
2025 profitability improved; reported results affected by extraordinaries
Management pointed to improved operating performance in 2025 “despite the adverse macro environment.” Weyrauch said the EBIT margin before extraordinaries improved by 100 basis points to 5.6%, slightly above the target corridor of 4.5% to 5.5%. Operating EBIT rose 19% despite a slight decline in sales, which Weyrauch attributed mainly to a 50% earnings increase at HOMAG and further improvements in Automotive, alongside lower expenses for the OneDürrGroup synergy program.
Sales were EUR 4.2 billion, which Weyrauch called “not satisfying,” citing customer-induced project delays, though he described them as “solid” given conditions.
CFO Dietmar Heinrich emphasized the distinction between continuing operations and the group as a whole. Net income from continuing operations was -EUR 50 million, which he said resulted from EUR 204 million of extraordinary expenses, including impairment charges. For the group overall, net income was EUR 206 million because it included the post-tax gain from the environmental technology sale.
Heinrich also noted that the reported EBIT margin of 0.7% was influenced by the extraordinary expenses, while the book gain of EUR 264 million before taxes from the divestment was not included in EBIT because it was not attributable to the continuing business.
Order intake volatility and regional mix
Dürr said it met its revised order intake guidance, helped by a strong fourth quarter. Weyrauch said that after a period of uncertainty, customers in Q4 “started to place large strategical orders again,” but he cautioned that quarterly order intake fluctuations could return given ongoing macro volatility.
Management described a “strong impact” from tariff conflicts on order intake in Q2 and Q3, with new orders in each of those quarters “almost EUR 300 million lower” than they would have needed to be to meet initial guidance from March. In Q4, Dürr booked two major Automotive orders from the U.S. and Eastern Europe, and HOMAG recorded its largest-ever order in timber house construction equipment. Management said the North American HOMAG order was close to EUR 100 million and would be executed in 2026 and to some extent in 2027.
On regional mix, management said order intake was “well-balanced,” while Europe—particularly Germany—declined from prior strength. The China share continued to fall, but Dürr cited higher dynamics in other Asian countries, “especially India and Saudi Arabia.” In the Q&A, Weyrauch described China as highly competitive and said the decline was more related to competition and lower investments after prior capacity expansion than to whether suppliers are local, adding that Dürr has been in China for more than 30 years and uses its Chinese facilities to follow Chinese OEMs globally.
Division performance: Automotive strength, Industrial Automation impairments, HOMAG margin progress
Automotive order intake fell 29% year over year, which management said reflected an unusually high 2024 base due to exceptionally large orders and weak Q2/Q3 as OEMs postponed CapEx decisions amid tariff uncertainty. In Q4, Dürr reported an 11% EBIT margin before extraordinaries in Automotive, citing “best-in-class project execution” and a “value before volume” strategy focused on margin quality.
Industrial Automation was pressured by weakness in lithium-ion battery systems. Management said it restructured the business and transferred it to the Automotive division at the beginning of 2026 to leverage Automotive’s execution strength. Heinrich detailed total impairments of EUR 135 million in continuing operations, including EUR 120 million tied to BBS Automation (recorded in the first half) and EUR 15 million in Q4 for the lithium-ion battery business after a reassessment of market prospects in Europe. Management referenced market developments such as Northvolt’s difficulties and Porsche’s Cellforce announcement as part of the context for the reassessment. Dürr said Schenck’s balancing technology business delivered strong earnings, while BBS still has room to improve; the company installed new management at BBS in early 2026.
At HOMAG, management highlighted “excellent margin progress” despite slightly lower sales and a difficult furniture market. Weyrauch said the margin increase of just under 200 basis points reflected self-help measures and reduced fixed costs, while order intake slightly grew due to accelerating demand in timber house construction. He said it remains difficult to predict when the furniture market will recover.
Cash flow and balance sheet; 2026 guidance and risks
Free cash flow from continuing operations was EUR 162 million, above projections. Heinrich attributed the outperformance mainly to “very high customer prepayments before Christmas” as well as lower investment cash outflows. He said net working capital was held below 2024 levels throughout the year, with days working capital of 27 at year-end, supported by reductions in inventories, receivables, and contract assets.
For the group overall, free cash flow was EUR 193 million. Together with EUR 295 million of proceeds from the environmental technology sale, Dürr reduced net financial debt by EUR 330 million to EUR 66 million, which management said equates to leverage of 0.2.
Looking to 2026, Dürr said macro uncertainty remains elevated, pointing to the war in the Middle East as an additional risk to economic stability. Under assumptions that the conflict does not escalate and that no other international conflicts disrupt supply chains and stability, the company guided to a wide range of outcomes:
- Order intake: best case up to EUR 4.2 billion (up to +8%), but guidance also allows for declines due to uncertainty.
- Sales: up to EUR 4.3 billion, also with downside risk included.
- EBIT margin before extraordinaries: up to 6.5%, supported by further potential at HOMAG, improvements at BBS, capacity cuts in administration and the battery business, and lower OneDürrGroup program expenses.
- Free cash flow: EUR -150 million to EUR 0 million, reflecting the reversal of advanced prepayments received in late 2025, higher working capital needs, tax payments tied to the divestment, and cash out for administrative adjustments.
Management also flagged a one-time burden of around EUR 10 million at HOMAG related to an ERP transition and ramp-up of a new factory in Poland, with efficiency improvements expected from 2027.
On dividends, management said it would discuss the proposal with the supervisory board ahead of the final report at the end of March, reiterating a general approach of a continuous dividend policy and a payout corridor of 30% to 40% of net income, while noting the impact of extraordinary items.
Dürr said it will publish its full annual report on March 26 and Q1 figures on May 12, and is planning a Capital Market Day as it examines mid-term sales targets and prepares a strategy update.
About Dürr Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:DUE)
Dürr Aktiengesellschaft, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mechanical and plant engineering company worldwide. The company's Paint and Final Assembly Systems segment plans, builds, and updates paint shops and final assembly lines for the automotive industry. It also provides products and systems for various process stages in paint shop technology; control and conveyor systems, air supply, and exhaust-air systems; DXQ software family, which includes solutions for plant monitoring, manufacturing execution systems, advanced analytics, and other digital solutions; conveyor technology, filling, and testing, as well as assembly technology and marriage stations for connecting the car body and power train; consulting services; and assembly and test stands and calibration stations for brakes, electronics, and chassis geometry.
