What Dürr Aktiengesellschaft (DUE) Said on Its Q3 Earnings Call

Key Points

• Q3 sales and orders increased 3% and 5% year over year, respectively, and the operating EBIT margin reached 5.7%. Dürr reaffirmed its full-year forecast but expects order intake and the margin near the lower ends of guidance.
• Automotive was a bright spot: sales rose 15%, with large turnkey projects returning, particularly in Asia and the Americas. Management expects the fourth quarter to be strongest, though customers are taking longer to award contracts.
• Restructuring and cash flow remain challenges: BBS’s program targets €30 million in recurring savings and about 500 job cuts, while Q3 free cash flow turned negative. Dürr also expects to pay approximately €50 million in fourth-quarter taxes related to prior-year audits, which it plans to challenge.

Dürr Aktiengesellschaft ETR: DUE reported higher third-quarter sales and orders and reaffirmed its full-year forecast, although CEO Jochen Weyrauch said order intake and the operating margin were likely to finish toward the lower ends of their respective guidance ranges.

Third-quarter order intake rose 5% from a year earlier, while revenue increased 3%. The operating EBIT margin reached 5.7%, its highest level so far this year, supported by the Automotive division and earlier cost cuts.

Weyrauch said the company expects the fourth quarter to be its strongest for orders, sales and operating profit, with several large projects under negotiation. He cautioned, however, that customers were taking longer to award contracts.

Asked where results might land within the company’s guidance ranges, Weyrauch said order intake was more likely to be in the lower half, sales around the midpoint and the operating EBIT margin toward the lower end. The numerical group guidance ranges were not specified on the call.

Automotive drives sales as large projects return

Automotive sales rose 15% in the third quarter, and the division’s EBIT margin before extraordinary items exceeded its 8.2% level from a year earlier. Weyrauch attributed the performance to sales growth, service margins and project execution.

The CEO said more large turnkey projects were entering the market after customers reassessed capital spending plans following trade-policy disruptions in 2025. Opportunities were concentrated in Asia and the Americas, he said, and involved largely established customers.

Order intake in the Americas rose 10% over the first nine months, helped by increased U.S. capital spending. Weyrauch said tariffs and the long-term outlook for combustion-engine vehicles were encouraging customers from abroad to expand their U.S. footprint. Orders in China increased 17%, helped by painting technology contracts, mainly from local Chinese customers.

Weyrauch said potential paint-shop orders for the remainder of the year had generally been under discussion for some time. Projects that do not close in the fourth quarter could still be booked in the first quarter, he said, noting that the company has a solid backlog.

Woodworking cuts costs; BBS restructuring continues

Woodworking’s third-quarter orders improved both sequentially and against a weak year-earlier period, although Weyrauch said he saw no reliable signs of a market recovery. Demand for furniture equipment remained subdued, while business supplying production systems for timber houses was robust.

The division’s operating margin improved from the first two quarters but remained below the prior-year level, partly because of product mix and one-time costs associated with an IT transition and the ramp-up of a new plant in Poland. The company booked €17 million in provisions for additional redundancy measures at HOMAG. Weyrauch said further fourth-quarter earnings improvement would bring Woodworking’s full-year margin into its guided range of 5% to 6%.

In Industrial Automation, strong results at Schenck Balancing Technology partly offset losses at BBS Automation. Weyrauch said investment in power generation, including demand associated with AI data centers, supported Schenck’s business. He also identified aerospace as a major driver.

BBS has begun executing its Vector restructuring program, which targets €30 million in recurring cost savings and approximately 500 job cuts. The program is associated with €30 million in restructuring provisions, largely recognized in the second and third quarters. Weyrauch said BBS had passed its trough, with orders accelerating from a low level in the third quarter.

For the first nine months, Dürr reported negative EBIT and a net loss. Weyrauch said those results reflected €149 million in net extraordinary expenses, including a €95 million noncash impairment at BBS and €40 million in restructuring expenses at BBS and Woodworking.

Cash flow faces fourth-quarter tax payment

Free cash flow turned negative in the third quarter as accelerated execution of large automotive projects increased working-capital needs and the company received fewer advance payments on large orders. Net financial debt stood at €137 million, with leverage of 0.5 times, Weyrauch said.

During the question-and-answer session, Weyrauch said the company expected to make an approximately €50 million tax payment in the fourth quarter stemming from audits covering prior years. Dürr plans to challenge the payment, he said, but expects any recovery to take time.

The timing of large orders will also influence cash flow. Weyrauch said he suspected most advance payments on those contracts would arrive next year rather than in 2026. He said the company did not currently expect further payments from the prior audits in 2027.

Dürr plans to present a strategy update and medium-term targets through 2030 at its Capital Markets Day on Dec. 9 and 10. Alexandra Dambeck is due to join as CFO, succeeding Dietmar Heinrich, who retired at the end of September. Weyrauch has been serving temporarily as CFO.

About Dürr Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:DUE)

Dürr Aktiengesellschaft, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mechanical and plant engineering company worldwide. The company's Paint and Final Assembly Systems segment plans, builds, and updates paint shops and final assembly lines for the automotive industry. It also provides products and systems for various process stages in paint shop technology; control and conveyor systems, air supply, and exhaust-air systems; DXQ software family, which includes solutions for plant monitoring, manufacturing execution systems, advanced analytics, and other digital solutions; conveyor technology, filling, and testing, as well as assembly technology and marriage stations for connecting the car body and power train; consulting services; and assembly and test stands and calibration stations for brakes, electronics, and chassis geometry.

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