Amadeus FiRe (ETR:AAD) management said fiscal 2025 played out against what it described as an “unchanged” and challenging German economic backdrop, with low macro indicators and persistent pessimistic sentiment weighing on customer decisions across its staffing and training businesses.
Management cites stagnant economy and weak business climate
CEO Robert von Wülfing opened the call with a broad review of conditions in Germany, describing a prolonged period of stagnation following recessions in 2023 and 2024. He pointed to a marginal positive development in 2025 of roughly 0.2 percentage points, but said the overall picture remained “flatline” with little momentum.
In addition to geopolitical and global uncertainty, management cited structural pressures including demographic change, slow technological change, lingering impacts from the energy price crisis, and export-related concerns tied to international trade conflicts and U.S. tariff discussions.
Personnel Services hit by weaker demand and longer hiring cycles
Management said the Personnel Services segment was “significantly affected” by the weak economy throughout 2025. Von Wülfing noted that, despite ongoing skilled-worker shortages in some areas, demand decreased during the year, time-to-hire expanded, and candidates remained reluctant to change jobs due to heightened preference for security and stability.
He said these factors made it harder to fill vacancies and reduced conversion of inquiries into orders. As expected, revenue and gross profit in the segment declined materially versus the prior year. The company reduced the size and headcount of the organization during the year and implemented additional cost measures, though management said these steps only partially offset market-driven pressure.
In the Q&A, von Wülfing also addressed temporary staffing trends in Germany, saying the broader market peaked before the pandemic with more than 1 million people employed on temporary contracts and has “almost halved” since then. He described the decline as a mix of structural and cyclical factors, including the preference among German workers for permanent roles, higher wages in temporary staffing, and companies reassessing the cost of maintaining a flexible workforce.
On cost structure, management said no locations had been closed so far and emphasized performance management at the level of individuals, teams, or locations. Von Wülfing said the staffing segment remained profitable, though at a much lower level than in prior years. He added that the staffing organization has been reduced by a little more than 20% from its peak in the first half of 2024.
Training revenue declines; COMCAVE restructuring drives one-off charge
Amadeus FiRe’s training segment also saw revenue decline in 2025, which management attributed in part to challenges in publicly funded training. Von Wülfing said B2C operations—primarily Steuerfachschule Dr. Endriss—grew revenue again, while publicly funded providers COMCAVE and GFN recorded revenue declines.
He cited a reorganization of responsibilities for issuing training vouchers at the beginning of 2025 and delayed budgetary clarity, which contributed to cautious funding policy and fewer vouchers. The company also reported fewer participants, which pressured capacity utilization and revenue.
In response, Amadeus FiRe announced a restructuring program for COMCAVE in the third quarter and executed it in the second half of 2025. Von Wülfing said the measures included reducing training space and laying off a “significant number of employees.” He said the restructuring laid a foundation for COMCAVE’s stabilization and for growth and earnings opportunities beginning in 2026.
Management quantified the one-off impact from the restructuring at “just over” €6 million on operating results for the training segment and the group, adding that final restructuring costs increased by around €1 million compared with the interim booking status at the end of September. When asked about annualized savings from the restructuring expenses, management estimated roughly €2 million to €3 million, noting that not all costs were recurring due to items such as rental provisions and one-off redundancy costs.
On funded training vouchers, von Wülfing said the market shifted from “dysfunctional” in the first half of 2025 to “normalized” later in the year, and he said budgetary security is now in place for 2026. He told listeners he does not expect a significant backlog of delayed vouchers, but does expect to benefit in 2026 as more requests convert into issued vouchers and participant volumes improve versus the prior-year period that was negatively impacted.
Preliminary 2025 results show revenue and EBITDA decline
Based on preliminary unaudited figures, Amadeus FiRe reported consolidated revenue of around €364 million in 2025, down about 17% from €436.9 million the prior year. Management said the result landed within the company’s forecast range of €355 million to €385 million.
Profitability was pressured by lower gross profit in both segments, one-off restructuring expenses, and investments in digital transformation. The company’s operating EBITDA declined to around €40 million from €55.5 million in the prior year.
Von Wülfing said operating profit, excluding the roughly €6 million one-off effect tied to the COMCAVE restructuring, ultimately amounted to around €20 million, implying a margin of about 5.5%, which he said is “far below the double-digit margins” the company had delivered for many years.
Digital acquisitions and financing updates
Von Wülfing discussed two acquisitions completed late in 2025—Masterplan.com GmbH, a software-as-a-service e-learning platform for corporate customers acquired in September, and edubites GmbH, an AI-supported platform for extracting and converting internal company knowledge into digital learning formats acquired in November. He said their 2025 contribution was marginal because they were consolidated pro rata from their acquisition dates.
Management framed the deals as expanding the group’s digital B2B training offering with a focus on corporate AI learning, and said the sales force has been onboarded to the platforms, with lead generation beginning across its branch network. Von Wülfing said integration is ongoing and that converting leads into corporate customers “takes some time,” with more visibility expected in the coming months. He did not provide an EBITDA contribution estimate for 2026.
On leverage and liquidity, management said it had not yet provided a detailed 2026 outlook and deferred specific leverage metrics until full-year reporting. However, von Wülfing noted the company increased its revolving credit line from €100 million to €121 million before completing the Masterplan transaction, revised contract details including covenants (which were not disclosed), and extended the facility by two years so it now runs until the end of 2029. He said the company still has “a lot of headroom,” while acknowledging the balance sheet is more stressed than in the past due to lower results.
Management also said it is seeing some market consolidation. While it has not observed large national players exiting, von Wülfing said some competitors have left certain regions, closed branches, or merged brands, and smaller regional competitors have exited the market.
The company said it plans to publish its consolidated annual financial statements and a detailed 2026 forecast on March 25, 2026, followed by a conference call on March 26.
About Amadeus FiRe (ETR:AAD)
Amadeus FiRe AG provides personnel and training services in Germany. It offers specialized personnel services, such as specialist temporary staffing, permanent placement, and interim and project management for professional and management staff in commercial professions and IT fields. The company provides advanced vocational training and retraining options with a focus on commercial and IT skills; and training for business clients through open or in-house seminars. In addition, it offers courses and degree programs for private individuals, including professional training in the fields of tax, accounting, and controlling; private-sector certification courses for finance and accounting; specialized training in international financial reporting comprising IAS/IFRS and US GAAP; master’s degree program in taxation; educational content on IT, multimedia, and commercial subjects; and executive and team training, seminars for trainers, and language courses, as well as publicly funded training services under the Comcave College, GFN, Steuer-Fachschule Dr.
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