Stabilus ETR: STM lowered its 2030 revenue target and reported a roughly €67 million goodwill impairment in its preliminary fiscal 2026 results, citing pressure on automotive production and manufacturing-equipment investment, particularly in North America.
Chief Executive Michael Büchsner said the company now targets €1.5 billion in revenue and an EBIT margin of 12% to 15% in 2030. Its previous target was approximately €2 billion in sales with a margin of up to 15%.
The revision reflects weaker automotive volumes and the removal, for now, of a potential acquisition in 2028 or 2029 from the company’s planning, Büchsner said. He added that a stronger-than-expected fourth quarter, driven mainly by industrial business, helped lift the preliminary full-year adjusted EBIT margin to 10.4%.
Revenue and margins decline
Preliminary fiscal 2026 revenue was €1.197 billion, down from €1.296 billion a year earlier. Organic revenue declined 5.7%, while currency effects reduced revenue by 1.6% and the divestment of Fabreeka and Tech Products accounted for a further 0.3% decline, according to Büchsner.
Automotive sales faced particular pressure in Asia-Pacific and the Americas. Büchsner said lower production volumes at customers, especially in China and North America, weighed on sales of the company’s automotive Powerise products.
Adjusted EBIT fell to €124 million from €142 million, and the adjusted EBIT margin declined from 11%. Büchsner said the fourth-quarter industrial performance helped the company exceed its earlier expectation of a margin around 10%.
Net profit rose 8.3% to €26.2 million, despite the impairment. The figure included a €44.7 million gain from the sale of Fabreeka and Tech Products, offset in part by a €66.7 million goodwill write-down.
Stabilus plans to propose a dividend of €0.22 per share. Büchsner said the proposal is at the lower end of the company’s policy of distributing 20% to 40% of net profit, preserving funds to repay debt.
North American equipment weakness drives impairment
Büchsner said the impairment followed a goodwill test incorporating weaker conditions in automotive and automotive manufacturing equipment, particularly in the Americas. Customers, including major North American automakers, have been cautious about investment, he said.
Responding to a question from Berenberg analyst Yasmin Steilen about the DESTACO acquisition, Büchsner said expected synergies were on track and attributed the impairment to lower sales assumptions for automotive-related manufacturing equipment in North America.
He said automotive-related applications currently account for approximately 35% to 40% of automation-equipment sales. Stabilus aims to reduce that share and expand its industrial business as part of its 2030 strategy.
Growth plans and restructuring
The revised 2030 plan assumes a broadly flat automotive market, with potential vehicle-production growth of 1% to 2%, Büchsner said. Stabilus expects door-actuation systems to help it grow faster than that market, with annual sales of €75 million to €100 million in 2030, compared with approximately €25 million to €30 million currently.
On the industrial side, Büchsner said the company expects to grow 2 to 3 percentage points faster than assumed GDP growth of 3% to 3.2%, supported by automation equipment, Industrial Powerise and robotics. He said Stabilus had won its first humanoid-robotics contract and sees that business potentially reaching €20 million to €30 million in the next two to three years.
The company’s transformation program generated approximately €17 million to €18 million in savings in fiscal 2026, Büchsner said. He confirmed that annual savings of approximately €30 million to €32 million, expected as the measures take full effect, remain on track and are included in the 2030 targets.
Stabilus plans to publish confirmed results and discuss fiscal 2027 guidance on December 7.
About Stabilus (ETR:STM)
Stabilus SE, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of gas springs, dampers, vibration isolation products, and electric tailgate opening and closing equipment in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North and South America, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. Its products are used in automotive, navy and railways, commercial vehicles, aerospace, marine and rail, energy and construction, mechanical engineering, industrial machinery and automation, health, recreation, leisure, and furniture industries.
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