Significant Events and Course of Business in the First Quarter of 2025

 

Annual General Meeting 2025 Convened

NORMA Group SE announced the convening of the Annual General Meeting 2025 at the beginning of April 2025. This will take place on May 13, 2025 in the form of an in-person event in Frankfurt am Main. Further information on the Annual General Meeting of NORMA Group SE is available on the Investor Relations website WWW.NORMAGROUP.COM

 

Annual Report and Full HTML Online Annual Report 2024 published

NORMA Group published its combined Annual Report 2024 on March 31, 2025. In this context, the Investor Relations team of NORMA Group SE published the fourth HTML-based online Annual Report. For the first time, this also includes the consolidated non-financial statement in accordance with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). WWW.NORMAGROUP.COM The (online) Annual Report 2024 as well as further information on significant developments in fiscal year 2024 can be viewed and accessed in detail on the Investor Relations website. WWW.NORMAGROUP.COM

 

Early departure of the CEO and temporary assumption of the CEO position by the previous Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Mr. Mark Wilhelms, during the search for a new CEO

The Chairman of the Management Board, Mr. Guido Grandi, resigned from his position on the Management Board and as Chairman of the Management Board of NORMA Group SE at the end of February 17, 2025. The Supervisory Board has immediately begun a structured search for a new Chairman of the Management Board. The previous Chairman of the Supervisory Board of NORMA Group, Mr. Mark Wilhelms, has taken over as Chairman of the Management Board of NORMA Group for a transitional period of no more than one year. Ms. Kerstin Müller-Kirchhofs is the new Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of NORMA Group for the transitional period. Mr. Wilhelms and Ms. Müller-Kirchhofs took up their respective new positions with effect from February 18, 2025.

 

NORMA Group receives major order for tank ventilation line systems

NORMA Group has won a major order for tank ventilation systems. From mid-2026 to 2035, the company will supply a well-known European car manufacturer with tank ventilation systems for gasoline-powered passenger cars and plug-in hybrids. The contract has a total volume of around EUR 140 million. The tank ventilation systems ensure that fuel vapor does not escape into the environment; but is used in the combustion process instead. The major order includes the development and production of tank ventilation systems for various models of the OEM. The systems consist of several plastic tubes and quick connectors. NORMA Group manufactures them in Subotica in Serbia and in Qingdao in China. The customer installs the systems in the vehicles at its plants in Europe, Asia and America.

 

NORMA Group wins major contract from home improvement retailer in the US

NORMA Group has won a major contract in the industrial applications business. The company is supplying one of the largest home improvement and hardware retail chains in the US. This home improvement retailer will purchase more than five million BREEZE worm drive hose clamps per year for distribution in its home improvement stores. NORMA Group is thus continuously expanding its market share in the DIY segment in the US. The aim is to strengthen the industrial business and generate further growth.

 

Transformation into a Focused "Industrial Powerhouse"

The economic and geopolitical environment has been subject to massive disruption and change since 2020 due to a variety of events. These include, among others, the coronavirus pandemic, the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, uncertainties in the development of the automotive industry, and the general weakness of key markets. Other influencing factors may gain more dynamic weight due to the international interdependencies in the globalized economy. Recent developments related to trade tariffs have thoroughly underscored this. Change is therefore continuous and omnipresent.

In order for NORMA Group to adapt to this "new normal" and emerge from it, a transformation is necessary. To achieve this, management, with the involvement of all business units, is conducting a comprehensive analysis due to the changed framework conditions. This will identify significant optimization potential and make the organization as efficient as possible. This includes reviewing organizational structures and eliminating unnecessary costs. This is intended to secure the Group's future competitiveness and thus enable a return to a long-term, successful growth path.

The goal is for NORMA Group to position itself as an "Industrial Powerhouse," that is, as a focused supplier of joining technology with target customers in the areas of Industry Applications and Mobility & New Energy. It differentiates itself from its competitors as a provider of innovative, highly developed solutions. This includes the consistent expansion of the Industry Applications business, both organically and through acquisitions. To this end, NORMA Group invests in innovations and seizes market opportunities. At the same time, existing strengths in the Mobility & New Energy area are to be leveraged to achieve profitable margins. Significant synergies exist between the two business units, Industry Applications and Mobility & New Energy, which can be leveraged even more effectively in the new constellation. This should enable NORMA Group to achieve a double-digit adjusted EBIT margin in the medium term.

Against this backdrop, NORMA Group is currently developing a comprehensive transformation plan. This should include measures that can essentially be divided into the following three blocks:

An exemplary measure from the "Footprint" block concerns the consolidation of production in China. Two plants are currently operating in close proximity to each other in southern Jiangsu. One of them, the production site in Wuxi, is scheduled to be closed by the end of August 2025, and production will be integrated into the existing sites in Changzhou and Qingdao.

The Group will provide additional information on the transformation - including a more detailed breakdown of expected costs and savings - with the publication of its 2025 Half-Year Report.

In principle, the transformation plan will include measures that go beyond the "Step Up" program introduced in summer 2023. As part of the transformation, "Step Up" will therefore continue as a continuous improvement program. Examples of the "Step Up" measures implemented in the first quarter of 2025 can be found in the INVESTOR RELATIONS PRESENTATION.

 

Development of key performance indicators in the first quarter of

2025

In the first quarter of 2025, NORMA Group recorded Group sales of EUR 284.2 million, a decrease of 7.9 compared to the same quarter of the previous year. The decline is attributable to market and environmental volatility and the resulting cautious demand in industries that are relevant to NORMA Group. Adjusted EBIT amounted to EUR 10.3 million and the adjusted EBIT margin reached 3.6% in the first three months of 2025. The decline in margin compared with the same quarter of the previous year was due to a decrease in sales revenue and an increase in personnel costs. Special costs incurred in connection with the introduction of an ERP system at the Maintal site in Germany also had a negative impact. Net operating cash flow amounted to EUR 3.1 million in the first quarter of 2025, a clear improvement on the negative figure for the same period last year. This development is mainly attributable to a lower build-up of (trade) working capital in relation to EBITDA in the reporting period compared to the end of 2024.

NORMA Group’s business developed in line with expectations overall in the first three months of 2025 in a challenging environment. Based on this, the Management Board is sticking to the forecast for the full year 2025 announced on March 7, 2025. FORECAST FOR FISCAL YEAR 2025

 

Preliminary remark: Adjustment of customer allocation to industries and impact on revenue presentation in the strategic business units

In the current fiscal year, the allocation of NORMA Group customers to the corresponding customer industries was revised with the aim of enabling even more precise and targeted evaluation and control. As a result, the presentation of revenues from the various customer industries has also been updated in the strategic business units in line with the new allocations. The reclassifications mainly affect customers who were previously assigned to the construction and agricultural machinery as well as stationary energy supply industries in the Mobility & New Energy segment. According to the updated definition, these revenues are now defined as belonging to the Industry Applications strategic business unit. Furthermore, a smaller portion of revenues from the gas business was allocated to the Water Management segment.

The reclassification reflects the current market situation and the specific needs of the individual sectors. NORMA Group is confident that these adjustments will help to further improve the transparency of its business development, particularly against the backdrop of the planned transformation into a focused industrial supplier from 2025 onwards. As a result, the sales figures for the first quarter of 2025 can only be compared with the corresponding quarter of the previous year to a limited extent.