EQS-Adhoc: SAF-HOLLAND adjusts forecast for fiscal year 2025 due to continued weak market environment in North America

SAF-HOLLAND adjusts forecast for fiscal year 2025 due to continued weak market environment in North America

Bessenbach (Germany), July 29, 2025. SAF-HOLLAND SE ("SAF-HOLLAND") is adjusting its sales forecast for fiscal year 2025 based on the updated expectations for the rest of the year.

Against the backdrop of general consumer restraint due to the current US trade policy and uncertainties regarding the introduction of the EPA27 emissions standard for trucks from model year 2027 in the US, the business environment has further deteriorated in commercial vehicle markets particularly important to SAF-HOLLAND, such as North America and Asia.

The Management Board therefore now expects Group sales of around EUR 1.800 million for fiscal year 2025 (previously: EUR 1,850 million to EUR 2,000 million).

Due to the resulting weaker earnings contributions from the high-margin Americas and APAC regions, an adjusted EBIT margin* of around 9.3% is expected (previously: 9.0% to 10.0%).

The target value for the investment ratio* of up to 3.0% of Group sales published in the forecast of the Company’s development on March 20, 2025, remains unchanged.

The adjusted forecast is subject to stable exchange rates and further macroeconomic and geopolitical developments, as well as other significant changes such as adjustments to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

According to preliminary results, SAF-HOLLAND's sales declined by 11.9% to EUR 891.6 million in the first half of 2025, as expected due to weak customer demand in the original equipment segment (previous year: EUR 1,012.5 million). The more resilient aftermarket business remained 5.9% below the prior year sales of EUR 372.0 million, at EUR 350.2 million. The previous year’s result also benefited significantly from targeted special sales measures in EMEA and the Americas. In organic terms – i.e. excluding the impact of currency and acquisition effects – Group sales declined by EUR 130.1 million or 12.8% in the first half of 2025. Currency translation changes reduced Group sales by 1.2%.

Adjusted EBIT* fell by 19.3% to EUR 83.0 million (previous year: EUR 102.8 million) in the first half of 2025, mainly due to lower sales. The adjusted EBIT margin* remained within the target range of 9.0% to 10.0% at 9.3% (previous year: 10.2%). The adjusted EBITDA margin of 13.1% was almost at the previous year's level of 13.2%. Additional burdens were caused by extra purchasing costs in the mid-single-digit million-euro range in connection with the US trade policy, which are expected to be largely offset in the further course of the year by countermeasures such as price increases.

The decline in earnings contributed to a reduction in free operating cash flow*, which amounted to EUR 9.1 million in the first half of 2025 (previous year: EUR 44.3 million). It was also impacted by a higher cash outflow from changes in net working capital (NWC). This was mainly due to fundamentally higher inventory requirements in the aftermarket business and a precautionary adjustment to NWC management in light of the current tariff disputes.

The half-year financial report 2025 will be published on August 7, 2025, at:

https://corporate.safholland.com/en/investor-relations/publications

The parameters marked with an asterisk (*) are alternative performance measures. A definition of these terms can be found in the Annual Report 2024 on page 311 and following. This is available at https://corporate.safholland.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Corporate_Website/Investor_Relations/Financial_Reports/2025/English/SAF-HOLLAND_SE_Annual_Report_2024.pdf.