The order intake of the Swabian machine tool and automation specialist decreased by around 8% to approximately 457 million euros (previous year: 495 million euros) according to preliminary calculations, with demand from abroad being significantly more stable than from the domestic market. This allowed HERMLE to perform significantly better than the industry average, which the company attributes mainly to its strong position in automation and complete machining as well as increasing internationalization. By the end of 2024, the HERMLE Group had an order backlog of around 99 million euros (previous year: 131 million euros).
The HERMLE Group's revenue amounted to approximately 488 million euros on a preliminary, unaudited basis (previous year: 532 million euros). Here too, the foreign volume developed better than domestic sales. In particular, HERMLE was able to achieve growth in some non-European markets. The service business also had a stabilizing effect, which increased due to the growing share of installed automation solutions at customer sites.
The preliminary, unaudited operating result (EBIT) was around 86 million euros in the Group, significantly below the very good previous year's level of around 116 million euros as forecasted. This was primarily due to lower capacity utilization, but increased regulatory expenses, growing competitive pressure, and rising personnel costs due to a larger workforce, wage increases, and a persistently high sick leave rate also had an impact.
On this basis, the Executive Board today recommended to the Supervisory Board to propose a dividend of 10.00 euros per ordinary share and 10.05 euros per preferred share at the Annual General Meeting on July 2, 2025, for the fiscal year 2024 (previous year: 15.00 and 15.05 euros). The distribution consists of an unchanged base dividend of 0.80 euros per ordinary share and 0.85 euros per preferred share, as well as a reduced bonus of 9.20 euros per share (previous year: 14.20 euros). Following the dividend payment, HERMLE employees in the domestic market are expected to receive a bonus linked to the distribution.
A forecast for the fiscal year 2025 is associated with high uncertainties due to the challenging and currently extremely risky and hardly predictable framework conditions. HERMLE, like the industry association VDW, hopes for a stabilization in the current year but expects a further decline in order intake in the increasingly likely unfavorable scenario. Currently, HERMLE expects at least a decline in Group revenue in the upper single-digit percentage range for 2025, but in the unfavorable case, around 20% or more. The result before interest and taxes is expected to decrease by at least 40%, and under adverse circumstances, by up to 90%. Among the biggest risks are currently the extreme tariff increases of 25% threatened by the new US president against European manufacturers not only in the automotive industry. These could more severely impact the utilization of many companies in Europe, their demand for machine tools, and overall price quality than previously considered.
In the medium term, the company still expects a high demand for high-performance machine tools and manufacturing systems worldwide despite regional shifts. Thanks to a strong position in automation and complete machining, high product and service quality, increasing internationalization, a very competent and highly motivated team, as well as an extremely solid financial base, HERMLE is expected to benefit above average from this.
HERMLE is expected to publish the complete, audited figures for the fiscal year 2024 at the end of April 2025.
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