Aumann Ag Ord

Welcome to the earnings call ladies and gentlemen of the Aumann AG regarding the first half year figures for 2026. I'm delighted to welcome the CEO Sebastian Roll and CFO Jan-Henrik Pollitt, who will guide us through the presentation and the figures shortly, followed by a Q&A session via audio line and chat. And having said this, Sebastian, the stage is yours.

Thanks, so good afternoon everyone and thank you for joining us today. I'm very pleased to have you with us and for those I haven't met yet, my name is Sebastian Roll and I'm the CEO of Aumann and together with me today is our CFO, Jan-Henrik Pollitt. So we really appreciate your time and your continued interest in Aumann. So in the next few minutes, we will guide you through a brief overview of Aumann and the mixed market picture in the first half of 2026, the latest developments in e-mobility and Next Automation, including the progress we are making, especially in Next Automation. And of course, a look at our financial performance where Aumann delivered a solid first half of the year. So with that, let me start with a brief overview of our business model. So at the core of our business, we develop and build highly automated production lines for leading international customers. So our solutions are designed around the specific production needs of each customer combining many years of automation expertise. Historically, e-mobility has been Aumann's key strategic focus, where we provide automation solutions for applications such as electric power trains, battery system, and other electrified components. But our automation expertise goes well beyond the automotive industry. And this is becoming more and more important for Aumann. So the global automation market is supported by strong long-term trends such demographic change, labor shortages, and increasing cost pressure. With our next automation segment, we are using these opportunities to bring our technology and know-how into a broader range of industries. So this helps us to further diversify Aumann and take part in the long-term growth of the overall automation market. So let's take a closer look at Aumann's solutions portfolio. So our portfolio ranges from modular solutions to complex process solution and fully integrated large scale production solutions. This gives us the flexibility to support different customer needs and different levels of production complexity. So our modular solution offer a flexible and cost efficient starting point and can be adapted to changing market and production requirements. For more advanced manufacturing processes, we combine our core technologies such as winding, coating and testing to deliver integrated solutions. The goal is always to implement special process steps in the most efficient way. At the highest level, we bring together these technologies into complete turnkey production lines designed for high output efficiency and quality. This broad technology base is an important advantage for all. It allows us on the one hand to serve our established e-mobility customers, but also at the same time to apply our automation expertise in new applications and industries. And this is exactly what we are doing with Next Automation. So this slide shows how Aumann became a technology leader in e-mobility. Starting from the traditional automotive business, e-mobility was identified as a growth market. Through targeted M&A, Aumann took the first step into e-motor technologies. We developed different solutions for the rotor, quickly followed by solutions for the stator, and finally the full e-motor assembly. After the e-motor, we leveraged our expertise to develop large-scale production solutions for battery modules and packs. In addition, we introduced our own modular systems, for example, in inverter assembly, but also right now, very useful in the field of next automation. So furthermore, we have expanded into converting technology, enabling us to offer, for example, also production solutions for electrode manufacturers. To sum up, Aumann is a leading provider of turnkey solutions in e-mobility. And on this illustration, we show you the drivetrain of a fully electric car. And as you know, most of these components can be produced on Aumann production lines. From the outset, we have focused strongly on the e-drive unit. Here, we provide production solutions for different technologies. But our portfolio goes well beyond the eDrive unit. We also provide flexible and scalable solutions for electronic components, such as sensors and inverters, perfectly tailored to the needs of our customers. And the third major area is, as you know, the energy storage. Here Aumann covers the full range from battery modules, battery packs, to sell to X Solutions and even recycling solutions, which are upcoming right now. So this expertise allows us to meet customer needs and develop new solutions for next generation battery technologies. And importantly, once again, many of these technologies can be also applied to other industries. having a look on the e-mobility market today and in the future. So after a strong year already in 2025, the global death, so battery electric vehicle sales continued to grow also as you can see here in the first half of 2026, which means a plus of 9% in comparison to 2025. China remains the largest death market with 3.6 million, but recent growth has slowed. So the US market, which currently shows the lowest volume in comparison, is still challenging. But importantly for Orman, Europe is showing a very strong momentum, reaching 1.6 million units, which means an increase of 35% in comparison to last year. Germany is close to 50%. So going forward by 2030, BEFs are expected to make up roughly 40% of sales by 2035, even two thirds. So this means overall growing BEF sales are expected to drive new investments in the near future. In the meantime, this brings us to next automation. As mentioned, we are expanding beyond the automotive sector and focusing more industries that need greater efficiency, higher productivity, and less manual work. So in this context, we have moved our next automation segment to a very strategic approach as well. So today we are focusing on selected growth markets beyond automotive, such as aerospace, defense and life science. What these markets have in common is a growing need for automation. Let me give you some examples that our strategy is gaining traction. So a good example here is our development in aerospace. So as you know, aerospace is gaining momentum. So demand in civil aviation is rising. Boeing and Airbus are forecasting more than 40,000 new aircraft over the next 20 years. So against this backdrop, Aumanns secured first orders supporting civil aircraft production ramp. At the same time, defense budgets are boosting. So as you know, drones are our strategic focus in this area because drones combines exactly what we do best. electric motor, battery packs, and the full system integration, including, which is also very important, the end-of-line testing, just like in e-mobility, so means nearly same technology but new applications. So therefore, we easily developed integrated drone assembly lines and have already secured first orders for drone motor production and end of line testing. So besides aerospace and defense, cleantech is also a booming industry. And here Aumann wins orders for automated solar module disassembly solutions. and in the area of photovoltaic recycling and membrane manufacturing systems for fuel cell application, targeting, charging infrastructure and off-grid solution. and finally life science. So this sector benefits from long-term trends such as an aging population, strong investment levels and the attractive margin. So starting in the end of last year Aumann entered the pharma market with solutions for producing skin delivered patches and oral thin films. So, as you can see, there are ongoing developments all over these areas. Now, I would like to hand over to Jan.

Thank you very much, Sebastian, and also a warm welcome from my side. I would now like to share with you the financial figures for the first half of 2026. Let me begin by putting the first half of 2026 into perspective. Coming into the year, we anticipated that the challenging market environment would continue to weigh on our top line. Against this backdrop, maintaining operational discipline and protecting profitability were key priorities for us. We have made significant progress in improving our cost structure and operational efficiency over the recent month. The current results demonstrate that these measures are taking effect and that our organization is capable of delivering solid earnings even at significantly lower volumes. The market environment, particularly in automotive, nevertheless remains demanding. Investment decisions continue to take longer and both OEMs and suppliers remain cautious with their spending. We therefore do not see yet the broad-based recovery and automotive investment that we had initially hoped for. There are, however, clear signs of positive momentum in Next Automation. The segment is gaining traction with order intake and order backlog both developing favorably. Our expanded sales activities are increasingly converting into concrete customer opportunities and orders supporting the continued diversification of our business. Against this backdrop, the first half developed as follows. Revenue came in at 70.6 million Euro, 35% below previous year, while Next Automation increased revenue by 23%. Despite the lower volumes, EBITDA margin remained in double digits at 10.5%, underlining the resilience of our business. Order intake amounted to 65.4 million Euro, down 27% year over year. Order backlog stood at 115.4 million Euro at the end of June. At the same time, we continue to have a very strong financial position with a net cash of 154.4 million Euro. So while the market environment remains challenging, We are making tangible process in the areas we can influence ourselves. Operational efficiency, diversification, and our financial strength. Let me now take you through the key developments. Turning to the revenue development. Group revenue amounted 70.6 million Euro, down 35% compared with the prior year period. The decline was primarily attributed to the e-mobility segment, where the revenue fell 47% to 47.4 million euro, reflecting the ongoing weakness in the automotive investment environment. Next, automation by contrast continued to expand, increasing revenue by 23% to 23.2 million euro. Let me now turn to profitability and earnings, which provide further context on the quality of our performance. Looking at the earnings side, the lower revenue level was fully reflected in our absolute EBITDA while margins remained resilient. EBITDA amounted to 7.4 million Euro, down 35% year over year, broadly corresponding to the reduction in revenue. Nevertheless, the EBITDA margin held at a high 10.5% level, demonstrating the resilience of our operating model. The results also benefited from a strong project execution with several projects performing better than initially anticipated. Consequently, a number of risk provisions recognized at year end were no longer required during the first half, resulting in a positive impact of approximately 2 million Euro from the release of provisions within other operating income. With that, let me move on to the order intake and order backlog. The overall investment environment remains demanding, with automotive in particular still characterized by cautious spending and extended decision cycles. This continues to weigh on incoming orders. We are responding on two fronts, maintaining a disciplined cost and capacity structure while intensifying our diversification activities. In the first half, group order intake amounted to 65.4 million euro, a decline of 27% year over year. This picture is, however, significantly different within Next Automation. Order intake increased by 72% to €37.7 million, supported by the continued expansion of our sales activities. Our sales pipeline has also grown further, providing additional opportunities for future order intake and revenue growth. Group backlog stood at 115.4 million euro at the end of June, compared with 162.4 million euro a year earlier. Again, Next Automation stands out positively. Its order backlog increased by 32% to 61.9 million euro. Let me now take a closer look at the performance of our individual segments, starting with e-mobility. In the e-mobility segment, order intake of €27.7 million is 59% under the previous year due to the mentioned market conditions. As a result, order backlog decreased by 54% to €53.4 million. At the same time, revenue decreased by 47% to €47.4 million. EBITDA is declining due to volume to €5.9 million after six months, which means a strong margin of 12.3% after 11.9% in the previous year. In the next automation segment, order intake increased year-over-year by 72% to €37.7 million due to the new positioning. End of June 2026, order backlog amounted €61.9 million, an increase of 32%. Revenue stands at 23.2 million Euro, 23% above previous year. And EBITDA slightly increased to 2.7 million Euro, corresponding an EBITDA margin of 11.7%. Let me briefly turn to our financial position. At the end of June, Aumann continued to have a very strong balance sheet. with an equity ratio of 62.2% and cash of €158 million, including a net cash of €154 million. It is worth noting that the equity ratio already reflects the €23 million liability recognized in connection with our share buyback program, although the corresponding cash outflow took place in July. Our strong financial position gives us significant flexibility going forward. It allows to pursue attractive market opportunities, continue the expansion of Next Automation both organically and through M&A, and maintain our commitment to shareholder returns. This is also reflected in our share buyback program and our proposal to the AGM to distribute a total dividend of €1.11 per share. Let me close with our outlook for the full year. Based on the current order backlog and the continued expansion of the next automation sales pipeline, we confirm our 2026 guidance of approximately €160 million in revenue and an EBITDA margin of 6% to 8%. Sebastian, you're still muted.