As reported by the board at today's annual general meeting, the order intake of the Swabian machine tool and automation specialist decreased by around 7% to 193.3 million euros compared to the same period last year (previous year: 208.2 million euros). According to the VDW professional association, order intake in German machine tool construction fell by 7% overall in the first five months, and in the area relevant to HERMLE, the order intake for cutting machine tools decreased by 11%.
The HERMLE board attributed the now nearly globally noticeable weakness in demand primarily to the constantly changing customs and trade policies, as well as the overall unclear foreign policy of the USA. In Germany, the willingness to invest is additionally burdened by strong export dependence and the structural upheaval in the automotive industry. As a result, new orders from HERMLE in the domestic market fell by about 29% to 52.9 million euros (previous year: 74.2 million euros), while new orders from abroad increased by around 5% to 140.4 million euros (previous year: 134.0 million euros). The order backlog in the group amounted to 113.4 million euros at the end of May 2025, down from 149.6 million euros on the same date last year and 98.7 million euros at the end of 2024.
Group revenue, which fell by about 6% to 178.6 million euros from January to May 2025 (previous year: 189.1 million euros), also showed strong regional differences: domestic revenue decreased by around 29% to 47.5 million euros (previous year: 67.1 million euros), while foreign revenue increased by about 7% to 131.1 million euros (previous year: 122.0 million euros). According to HERMLE, this is partly due to customers from the USA bringing forward orders in anticipation of the announced tightening of customs regulations. Additionally, the increasing service revenue continued to have a stabilizing effect. This increased at HERMLE due to the generally growing number of machines installed at customers and the rising share of complex automation solutions.
HERMLE's results have significantly decreased disproportionately to revenue in the first five months of 2025, as expected. The main reason is the lower capacity utilization, which could only be partially compensated by the already initiated and now accelerated reduction of flexitime accounts and the use of short-time work. Added to this is a significantly intensified competition and the ongoing burdens from excessive bureaucracy.
Since the board currently sees no signs of an imminent demand recovery, the forecast for the entire year 2025 remains unchanged: HERMLE's group revenue is expected to decrease by at least a single-digit percentage in 2025, but in an unfavorable scenario, it could decrease by up to about 25%. The result before interest and taxes will decrease disproportionately to revenue - from today's perspective by at least 40%, but under adverse circumstances, it could also decrease by up to 90%.
The annual general meeting unanimously approved the distribution proposal from the board and supervisory board. This means that for the fiscal year 2024, a dividend of 11.00 euros per ordinary share (previous year: 15.00 euros) and 11.05 euros per preferred share (previous year: 15.05 euros) will be paid out. For the preferred share, this results in a dividend yield of 6.7% based on the year-end price for 2024. Following the dividend payout, HERMLE employees in Germany, as in previous years, will receive a bonus linked to the amount of the distribution. As of the end of May 2025, HERMLE employed a total of 1,605 employees (previous year: 1,551, January 1, 2000: 1,603).
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