In the 2024 financial year, the HÖRMANN Group generated revenue of € 678.9 million (previous year: € 830.9 million) and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of € 24.3 million (previous year: € 30.7 million). While the Automotive and Intralogistics divisions had to cope with significant declines in sales due to the challenging economic conditions, the Communication division in particular once again performed very positively. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell slightly to € 40.3 million (previous year: € 44.5 million). The 2024 financial year closed with consolidated net income of € 9.2 million (previous year: € 9.5 million).
Johann Schmid-Davis, CFO of HÖRMANN Industries GmbH: "The 2024 financial year was characterized by considerable challenges, particularly due to the persistently difficult market situation in the automotive and intralogistics sectors. However, we initiated countermeasures at an early stage and largely compensated for the decline in sales thanks to an intelligent mix of cost-cutting measures. At the same time, we continued to invest consistently in all divisions last year in order to further strengthen the competitiveness of our companies, become even more efficient and introduce new production technologies. All investments serve the goal of strengthening the position of HÖRMANN Industries as a broadly diversified group of companies and promoting sustainable corporate development so that the future of the HÖRMANN Group is secured in the long term."
The Group's equity base amounted to € 138.8 million as at December 31, 2024 (December 31, 2023: € 136.6 million). Despite an increase in total assets, the equity ratio thus remained at the previous year's level of 36.2% (31 December 2023: 36.3%).
Development of the divisions
In the Automotive division, sales fell significantly by 25.6% year-on-year from € 474.9 million to € 353.3 million as a result of weak demand from OEM customers. In Germany in particular, the truck production figures of key customers fell more than expected in the reporting period due to the difficult economic situation. However, thanks to a comprehensive programme of measures to improve earnings, the HÖRMANN Group was able to stabilize the division's operating result at break-even level with EBIT of € -0.5 million, thus largely compensating for the massive slump in sales. For the 2025 financial year, the Automotive division anticipates a decline in sales to around € 300 to 320 million in line with OEM customers' forecasts. Nevertheless, taking into account current price agreements, planned production volumes and effective cost-cutting measures, earnings before interest and taxes are expected to break even.
The Communication division closed another good financial year with sales of € 214.8 million, up 15.4% on the previous year (€ 199.4 million) and ahead of plan. Due to a change in the product mix compared to the previous year and increased material and personnel expenses, the division's EBIT of € 27.5 million was slightly below the level of the same period in the previous year (€ 31.1 million). Particularly noteworthy is the significant increase in incoming orders, which rose by 42% year-on-year to € 324.4 million. The main drivers of this growth were major orders for electrical planning and installation in the infrastructure sector as well as products for civil defense and the export of railroad products. For the current financial year, HÖRMANN expects continued good business development in the Communication division due to the positive international order trend in the train radio product area and the high order backlog in the information display product area, with sales growth of around 10% to approx. 250 million and EBIT of around € 25 million.
The Intralogistics division was adversely affected by the ongoing noticeable reluctance to invest in the past financial year and had to cope with a decline in sales to € 80.7 million (previous year: € 119.7 million). EBIT amounted to € 1.2 million (previous year: € 3.2 million). However, thanks to intensive market cultivation, a targeted expansion of internationalization and innovative solutions, incoming orders increased by around 45% to € 125.9 million compared to the same period in the previous year (€ 86.8 million). However, a large number of orders were only generated in the third and fourth quarters, which is why sales and EBIT in 2025 are expected to remain at the previous year's level due to the late booking of incoming orders and the associated project realization planning, which has been postponed to the following years 2026 and 2027. The forecast also continues to be influenced by the noticeable reluctance of customers in Central Europe to invest.
With sales revenue of € 30.4 million, the Engineering division was down on the previous year's figure for 2023 (€ 36.4 million). Earnings before interest and taxes fell to € 2.8 million after € 4.3 million in the previous year. Despite these declines, the division is well positioned for a future recovery with an increased order backlog of € 60.8 million at the end of 2024. For the current financial year 2025, the Engineering division expects a moderate increase in sales to around € 36 million and earnings before interest and taxes of between € 3 million and € 4 million.
Forecast for 2025
HÖRMANN Industries GmbH expects total sales revenue of between € 690 million and € 720 million for the 2025 financial year. In this forecast, the company assumes that the order situation in the Automotive division will develop at the same level as in 2024 and that the Communication division will achieve sales growth of around 10% due to the good order situation and high demand. Positive earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of between €21 million and €23 million are forecast for the operating business.
The full annual financial statements, including a detailed interview with the HÖRMANN Group's Managing Directors, Dr. Michael Radke and Johann Schmid-Davis, can be downloaded at https://www.hoermann-gruppe.com/en/investor-relations/financial-reports/financial-publications/.
In addition, the HÖRMANN Group also published its fourth sustainability report today. The voluntary preparation of this comprehensive report in accordance with the international guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI standard) underlines the long-term orientation of HÖRMANN Industries. The sustainability report can be downloaded at the following link https://www.hoermann-gruppe.com/en/company/sustainability.
