Kalmar Corporation

Kalmar's interim report January–March 2025: Solid first quarter with strong order intake

KALMAR CORPORATION, INTERIM REPORT JANUARY–MARCH 2025, 29 APRIL 2025 AT 9:00 AM (EEST)

Kalmar's interim report January–March 2025: Solid first quarter with strong order intake

• Overall favourable demand environment
• Equipment segment orders increased by 31 percent year-on-year
• Record-high services profitability of 19.0 percent
• Continued focus on sustainable innovations. 5 year Move2Green R&D program launched
• Increased level of uncertainty in the global economy related to the recently announced tariffs and geopolitics.
  
  

January–March 2025 in brief:

• Orders received increased by 20 percent and totalled EUR 480 (402) million
• Order book amounted to EUR 1,041 (31 Dec 2024: 955) million at the end of the period
• Sales decreased by 9 percent and totalled EUR 398 (439) million
• Eco portfolio¹ sales represented 43 (40) percent of consolidated sales
• Eco portfolio sales decreased by 3 percent and totalled EUR 170 (176) million
• Operating profit was EUR 46 (46) million, representing 11.5 (10.4) percent of sales. The operating profit includes items affecting comparability worth EUR -2 (-8) million
• Comparable operating profit amounted to EUR 48 (54) million representing 12.0 (12.3) percent of sales, a decrease of 11 percent
• Cash flow from operations before finance items and taxes totalled EUR 85 (102) million
• Profit for the period amounted to EUR 34 (33) million
• Basic earnings per share was EUR 0.53 (0.52)²
• Interest-bearing net debt to EBITDA³ was 0.1x (n/a).
  
  

Guidance for 2025

Kalmar expects its comparable operating profit margin to be above 12 percent in 2025.

President & CEO Sami Niiranen:

The first quarter of 2025 started off well for Kalmar. We delivered a solid quarter with good profitability despite lower sales volumes. The order intake for the quarter was strong. We successfully continued the execution of our strategy and were able to communicate several achievements supporting us on our way towards sustainable and profitable growth.

Financial performance for the first quarter was solid. Our continued focus on commercial and operational excellence enabled us to deliver a resilient profitability of 12.0%, which is on a good level given the lower sales volume. The comparable operating profit amounted to EUR 48.0 million, and cash flow from operations before finance items and taxes was EUR 85.4 million. We have a healthy leverage ratio of 0.1x. We have progressed with the implementation of the driving excellence initiative and during the first quarter 2025, a run rate of approximately EUR 9 million of annualised gross efficiency improvements have been secured. Majority of the improvements secured so far originate from successful sourcing activities.

We saw some early signs of demand recovery in the beginning of the year particularly in the distribution end customer segment, which has been subdued for a very long time. However, the world today is different than a few months ago with an increased level of uncertainties related to recent tariff announcements, geopolitical tensions and the risk of a global macroeconomic downturn. It is too early to draw any conclusions on how all this will affect our industry, the demand environment and global trade in the short term, but we will monitor the situation closely and have made different scenarios and are ready to act swiftly, if needed. In the first quarter, our orders received amounted to EUR 480 million. Equipment segment’s orders received increased by 31% year-on-year, which also indicated positive activity in the market. We also saw positive momentum in Services order intake, driven by significant contract and upgrade projects. Our order book amounted to EUR 1,041 million, which is a 9% growth year-on-year. Sales amounted to EUR 398 million, impacted by slower market activity and the dip in order book in 2024. Services sales remained more stable than Equipment sales, providing resilience both in terms of sales and profitability. Services share of sales reached 36% in the first quarter and the comparable operating profit margin was at a record-high level of 19.0%. Growing services remains one of our key strategic focus areas.

During the first quarter our focus on sustainable innovations was evident, and we announced that Kalmar has been granted EUR 20 million funding from Business Finland related to the launch of a five-year Move2Green R&D program. The goal of the Move2Green program led by Kalmar is to advance carbon neutrality in heavy material handling by developing the electric equipment portfolio and data-driven services. We also further expanded our electrical equipment offering by starting the sale of our third generation electric terminal tractor (OT2 EV) in North America. Additionally, we will expand our global delivery capability with the startup of electric empty container handler and heavy forklift truck production at our Shanghai facility, which is showing our ability to react in order to serve our customers globally.

All in all, as we navigate the increasingly complex business environment of 2025 and the uncertainty of tariffs, our strategy, global footprint, and strong underlying foundations provide us with continued confidence. Our focus will remain the same by staying close to our customers and delivering on our targets. We believe in our ability to deliver the best heavy material handling solutions for our customers globally. With an installed base of 68,000 machines globally and a strong presence in over 120 countries for sales and services, our extensive reach remains a significant asset. This robust foundation fuels our active acceleration of future service growth through innovative offerings and digital solutions.

Vision and strategy

Kalmar is a market leader in heavy material handling equipment with deep-rooted foundations in customer proximity, attractive market, experienced and talented people and strong financial profile.

Kalmar’s sales and service network covers over 120 countries, supporting its globally dispersed customer base and extensive installed base of 68,000 machines globally. The company operates mainly through direct sales and a strong global network of dealers. With an assembly-based manufacturing model with four factories and two innovation centers, Kalmar prioritizes building strong and enduring relationships with its material suppliers across the globe. Kalmar’s workforce comprises around 5,200 employees of which 1,400 are service engineers. The company believes that attracting and retaining top talent is essential to being the most valued business partner for its customers and the employer of choice for current and future employees. Kalmar is dedicated to responsible business practices and expects its suppliers and business partners to uphold the same high legal and ethical standards.

The industry is facing several megatrends, which are driving renewal across the whole scene. This generates opportunities for Kalmar to provide solutions and solve the challenges customers face. Some of the key opportunities that Kalmar is prepared to address are:

• Safety
• Productivity
• Decarbonisation and electrification
• Changing logistics landscape
• Labour shortage
• Intelligent operations.

To address these opportunities and to create added customer value Kalmar is focusing on three strategic areas:

• Investing in sustainable innovations in the area of decarbonised and electric equipment, digital solutions and automation

• Growing services and expanding our aftermarket footprint with a focus on harvesting on our vast installed base, improving capture rate, increasing the share of recurring business through service contracts and creating customer lifecycle value through an intelligent service offering

• Driving excellence by improving profitability and cash flow generation via sourcing optimisation and process improvement to fund further investments into R&D and organic growth, and distributing profits to shareholders.

Performance targets

Kalmar's Board of Directors has set the following performance targets for 2028:

Financial targets

• Sales growth of 5 percent p.a. over the cycle;
• Comparable operating profit margin of 15 percent;
• ROCE above 25 percent;
  
  

Capital structure and sustainability framework

• Leverage (Net debt to EBITDA) under 2x;
• Dividend payout ratio of 30-50 percent per annum;
• Aligned with SBTi targets with 1.5 °C commitment.⁴
  

Corporate information and basis for preparation

Kalmar Corporation was formed as a result of the partial demerger from Cargotec Corporation (“demerger”), which was completed on 30 June 2024. The trading in Kalmar Corporation shares on the main market of Nasdaq Helsinki commenced on 1 July 2024.

Financial information prior to the demerger is presented on a carve-out basis. The carve-out financial statements do not necessarily reflect what the financials would have been had Kalmar operated as an independent consolidated group and had it therefore presented stand-alone consolidated financial information. Further, the carve-out financial information may not be indicative of Kalmar’s future performance. The carve-out reporting principles are described in Note 2. Basis of preparation.

Kalmar’s key figures

Periods prior to the demerger on 30 June 2024 are presented on a carve-out basis. Gearing, % and interest bearing net debt / EBITDA are presented only from 31 December 2024 onwards as the previous periods with carve-out information do not reflect the capital structure and financing of Kalmar Group. Eco portfolio orders received are presented starting from the first quarter of 2025.

Reporting segments’ key figures

Orders received

Order book

Sales

Kalmar management follows external sales for segments.

Operating profit

Comparable operating profit

Comparable operating profit, %

Telephone conference for analysts, investors and media

A live international telephone conference for analysts, investors and media will be arranged on the publishing day at 10:00 a.m. EEST. The event will be held in English. The report will be presented by the President & CEO Sami Niiranen and CFO Sakari Ahdekivi. The presentation material will be available at www.kalmarglobal.com by the latest 10:00 a.m. EEST.

To ask questions, please join the teleconference by registering via the following link: https://events.inderes.com/kalmar/q1-2025/dial-in. After the registration, the conference phone numbers and a conference ID to access the conference will be provided. Questions can be presented during the conference.

The event can also be viewed as a live webcast at https://kalmar.events.inderes.com/q1-2025/. The conference call will be recorded and an on-demand version of the conference will be published at Kalmar’s website later during the day.

Please note that by dialling to the conference call, the participant agrees that personal information such as name and company name will be collected.

For further information, please contact:

Sakari Ahdekivi, CFO, tel. +358 50 400 3557
Carina Geber-Teir, SVP, IR, Marketing and Communications, tel. +358 40 502 4697

Kalmar (Nasdaq Helsinki: KALMAR) is moving goods in critical supply chains around the world, with the vision to be the forerunner in sustainable material handling equipment and services. The company offers a wide range of industry shaping heavy material handling equipment and services to ports and terminals, distribution centres, manufacturing and heavy logistics. Headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, Kalmar operates globally in over 120 countries and employs approximately 5,200 people. In 2024, the company's sales totalled approximately EUR 1.7 billion. www.kalmarglobal.com

¹ The eco portfolio includes the equipment and services that are defined to be either aligned with the EU Taxonomy or expected to be aligned in the near future.

² Periods before the listing of Kalmar Corporation on 1 July 2024 are calculated based on the number of shares at the listing moment.

³ EBITDA last 12 months

⁴ Plan following criteria of the Science Based Targets initiative.

Attachment

• Kalmar interim report January-March 2025 en