SBF AG reported robust operational performance for the first half of 2025, navigating a challenging market environment for the manufacturing industry while laying foundations for future growth through strategic investments. The publicly traded company specializing in innovative solutions for rolling stock, lighting, electromechanics, and sensor technology maintained strong financial discipline despite market headwinds. Group revenue reached EUR 21.9 million, slightly below the previous year's EUR 22.9 million, primarily due to short-term delays in customer call-off orders.
However, the company achieved a significant improvement in profitability, with EBITDA rising to EUR 0.5 million compared to EUR 0.1 million in the first half of 2024. This improvement reflects the positive effects of restructuring measures and efficiency improvements implemented across the organization. Robert Stöcklinger, member of the Management Board of SBF AG, emphasized the company's resilience in the current environment, noting that consumer reluctance, supply chain problems, and structural adjustments are shaping the business landscape.
The Rolling Stock segment showed particularly strong performance, generating sales of EUR 11 million, representing a 19% increase compared to the same period last year. Despite expected short-term postponements by customers in the second half, the segment maintains an exceptionally high order backlog, ensuring good production capacity utilization in the coming months and years due to contractually secured project durations. This performance underscores the company's strategic positioning in critical infrastructure sectors.
In contrast, the Public and Industrial Lighting segment reported revenue of EUR 4.5 million, below initial expectations, reflecting weaker order intake and the sluggish industrial economy in Germany. The company has implemented extensive measures to strengthen this business, including relocating production to Budweis, where operations are now fully functional with significantly lower rental and personnel costs. Product certifications obtained for projects with Deutsche Bahn and local authorities should strengthen future order entry and position this segment for recovery.
The newly established Sensor Technology and Electromechanics segment performed solidly, generating revenue of EUR 7 million, matching the previous year's performance. Measures to increase earnings are already showing positive effects, and based on the promising order backlog, a good result is expected by year-end. This segment is expected to play a central role in the Group's long-term growth strategy as synergy effects continue to strengthen across the organization's diverse technology portfolio.
The Management Board confirmed its outlook for the full 2025 fiscal year, expecting revenue between EUR 43.0 and 46.0 million and consolidated EBITDA in the range of EUR 1.5 to 2.5 million. This represents a significant improvement in profitability compared to the previous year's EUR 0.6 million EBITDA. The company's forward-looking investments position it to capitalize on emerging opportunities in infrastructure, mobility, and defense sectors. The complete 2025 half-year report is available on the company's website at https://www.sbf-ag.com/investor-relations/finanzpublikationen.
