EBIT, adjusted for depreciation and amortization of tangible and intangible assets from purchase price allocations as well as expenses for the preparation of the sale of the Water Management business and costs for initiating the planned transformation of the organization planned starting in 2025, increased significantly despite the decline in sales described above to EUR 6.3 million (Q1 2025: EUR -0.2 million). As a consequence, the adjusted EBIT margin rose in the first three months of 2026 to 3.0% (Q1 2025: -0.1%). This substantial margin improvement was driven by a significant increase in the gross margin due to a decline in the material cost ratio (43.6 % in Q1 2026 vs. 44.9% in Q1 2025), which rose from 54.4 % in the same quarter of the previous year to 56.5 % in Q1 2026. The aforementioned decline in other operating incomes and expenses in relation to sales also helped. The personnel cost ratio was down slightly by 33.2% compared with the same quarter of the previous year (Q1 2025: 33.4 %).
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These contents are part of the Non-financial Group Report and were subject to a separate limited assurance examination.