Amadeus FiRe Q1 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Q1 results showed stabilization: Revenue was down 9% year‑over‑year but up 3.5% quarter‑over‑quarter, with operating result €3.0m (in line with expectations) and EPS of -€0.16, while gross profit fell 10% YoY but rose 6.3% QoQ.
• Staffing remains the weakest area: Conversion from inquiries to hires is subdued, staffing gross profit fell ~19% YoY (staffing EBITDA €1.7m), fee earners were down 17% YoY, and management is relying on cost measures and productivity initiatives to drive quarter‑by‑quarter profitability improvement.
• Training growth and unchanged guidance: Training revenue rose 3.4%—mainly from recent acquisitions (Masterplan, eduBITES) and an “AI‑first” strategy—Comcave is returning to profitability, and the group reiterated full‑year guidance of ~€380m revenue and ~€25m operating EBITDA (range €20–31m).

Amadeus FiRe ETR: AAD Chief Executive Officer Robert von Wülfing said the group’s first quarter of fiscal 2026 was “in line with our expectations,” with sequential stabilization versus the end of 2025 even as year-over-year comparisons remained pressured by last year’s downward trend.

Von Wülfing described the German macro backdrop as weak and largely unchanged. He cited GDP growth “around 0,” a decline in the ifo Business Climate Index to 84.4 points in April 2026, and unemployment at 6.4% in April, representing “more than 3 million people in Germany unemployed.” He added that tentative improvement seen earlier in the year faded after geopolitical developments in the Middle East.

Q1 performance: stabilization versus Q4, declines versus prior year

For the quarter, von Wülfing said revenue was down 9% year-over-year but up 3.5% quarter-over-quarter, reflecting what he called a “top line” that is “stabilizing over the course of this quarter.” Operating result was EUR 3 million, which he said was in line with management’s expectations. Earnings per share came in negative at EUR 0.16, compared with EUR 0.18 positive a year earlier.

Gross profit declined 10% year-over-year but rose 6.3% versus the fourth quarter. Von Wülfing said the group saw “a slower start in January than expected,” followed by a “stabilized and solid situation” in February and March, producing a quarter that “was exactly what we expected.”

He also pointed to cost measures and structural optimizations initiated in 2025 and continuing in 2026, saying they are “paying off and showing their effects in the operational performance.”

Staffing: subdued conversion, stable orders emerging

Discussing the staffing segment—temporary staffing, permanent placement, and interim management—von Wülfing said conversion from inquiries to hires remains “subdued,” reflecting cautious customer behavior and a low willingness among candidates to change jobs.

In temporary staffing, he said demand remains cautious and continues to weigh on the business, though he described the typical year-start drop-off from year-end order expirations as “a normal setback.” He emphasized that order development has been stable since, contrasting with the prior two years when the company experienced month-over-month declines. “Here it looks that it is bottoming out and stabilizing,” he said.

Permanent placement remained down year-over-year, but von Wülfing noted a “slight” sequential revenue increase above the fourth quarter, again citing a slow January followed by stronger February and March.

Interim management, which he called the group’s smallest service, appeared more resilient. He reported a small decline but said current orders are “quite a stable development… at the level of prior year at this moment.”

Financially, staffing gross profit fell about 19% year-over-year, but rose around 6% from the fourth quarter—an improvement versus the typical Q4-to-Q1 decline the company has seen recently, according to von Wülfing. He also said the company continues strict management of operating and capital expenditures, alongside productivity initiatives and cautious management of the branch office organization.

He reported that fee earners in the sales organization were down 17% year-over-year at the end of March, reflecting a strategy of cautiously replacing fluctuations and closely monitoring each position. At the same time, he said Amadeus FiRe is investing in systems, processes, and technology—including AI—to improve staffing processes and positioning “for the next years in the market.”

Von Wülfing said a EUR 5.2 million decline in staffing gross profit translated into a EUR 1.0 million decline in EBITDA, with staffing EBITDA at EUR 1.7 million for the quarter. He reiterated management’s expectation of “improving in profitability quarter by quarter over the course of the year.”

Training: growth driven by acquisitions, focus on AI offerings

In the training segment, von Wülfing said the group delivered a “robust overall performance” in Q1 2026, with a stronger environment in B2C and improving momentum in B2G, while B2B training remains challenged by Germany’s weak corporate demand.

He said training revenue increased 3.4%, but characterized organic development as “flat,” with growth driven by the additions of Masterplan and eduBITES, which joined the group at the end of last year. He said the new entities contributed “some over EUR 2 million sales” and delivered a small planned negative result in the first quarter, with expectations to be “slightly” positive for the full year.

At Comcave, von Wülfing said volumes were still declining year-over-year due to a high comparison base, but he described the trend as positive. He said Comcave has undergone significant staff reduction, downsizing of training facilities, and restructuring, resulting in a leaner platform. He added that Comcave’s Q1 results were already above prior-year levels.

Strategically, he said training continued to align with an “AI-first orientation,” aiming to expand AI-related offerings and address corporate “AI skilling” needs through the company’s “corporate AI learning approach.”

Von Wülfing said training operating profit fell 0.7% year-over-year, and EBITA was EUR 1.3 million for the quarter, noting that the first quarter is not the strongest due to seasonality in the training calendar. He added that training finished “slightly ahead of our own expectations” in both sales and result for Q1.

Outlook: guidance unchanged amid weak B2B conditions

Von Wülfing said the group’s outlook remains unchanged from its annual report assumptions, which are based on a “consistent weak year 2026” and “no real momentum in 2026.” He said an improvement in sentiment would be upside, while further weakening would be downside.

For full-year 2026, he reiterated guidance for group revenue of around EUR 380 million and operating EBITDA of around EUR 25 million, with a range of EUR 20 million to EUR 31 million. After the first quarter, he said the company was “well in the middle” of its forecast corridor.

By segment, von Wülfing said staffing is expected to “repeat the results of last year” under the assumption of continued weakness, while training is expected to “significantly improve” earnings to EUR 11 million to EUR 15 million, “or around EUR 13 million.” He said that after Q1 the training segment was “a little bit ahead of the middle corridor” of its forecast.

Q&A: sentiment stable, B2B still constrained; acquisitions not a near-term focus

In response to analyst Thomas Wissler, von Wülfing described internal sentiment as “somewhere in between acceptable and good,” noting the impact of lower fee generation on sales incentives. He said sales teams remain positive about the market but are “waiting for a turn in the sentiment of their clients,” which he said they do not yet see.

He said client restrictions on recruitment remain in place, and candidate willingness to switch jobs is still low. Entering the second quarter, he described the B2B market as “solid and stable, but no momentum,” while reiterating a more favorable view of B2G developments.

On leverage, von Wülfing said deleveraging should occur “automatically step by step” as earnings improve. On capital allocation and acquisitions, he said the company is “not hungry at the moment” after completing two acquisitions last year and focusing on integration and “build” work, though it would review opportunities. “Acquisition-wise, you shouldn’t expect too much of us this year,” he said.

Addressing a question from Olga Eichler on Comcave and profitability timing, von Wülfing said the company expects to regain sales levels over the course of the year and that any sales exceedance versus the prior year would likely come in the second half. He said Comcave is planned to deliver “a clear positive result” this year after a negative result last year and that it is “well on plan.” He also noted EPS was negative in the first quarter and said he expects the earnings-per-share dynamic to improve in the second half, citing seasonal factors in the second quarter.

The company said it plans to provide its next update with half-year figures in early August.

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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