Notes on the Asset and Financial Position

 

Preliminary remarks and note on comparability

The assets and liabilities of the Water Management business were classified as a disposal group in accordance with IFRS 5 as of September 30, 2025, and presented separately. No retrospective adjustment of the prior-year figures was made, in accordance with IFRS 5. Since the prior-year balance sheet therefore still includes the Water Management business, the total assets as of September 30, 2025, including the items contained therein, are not comparable with the figures for the prior-year reporting dates of September 30, 2024, and December 31, 2024. Further information can be found in the section “DISCONTINUED OPERATION.” This section provides an overview of the assets and liabilities of the disposal group that are classified as held for sale.

The balance sheet total amounted to EUR 1,299.1 million as of September 30, 2025, which was 9.6% lower than at the end of 2024 (December 31, 2024: EUR 1,436.6 million). Compared to September 30, 2024 (EUR 1,440.9 million), total assets have decreased by 9.8%.

 

Non-current assets

As of September 30, 2025, non-current assets amounted to EUR 436.3 million, a decrease of 51.6% compared to the end of 2024 (December 31, 2024: EUR 900.7 million). This decline in non-current assets is primarily attributable to the reclassification of EUR 329.8 million to the “Assets held for sale” line item, related to the previously announced sale of the Water Management business. This reclassification is mainly comprised of goodwill (EUR 168.1 million), other intangible assets (EUR 98.9 million), and property, plant, and equipment (EUR 61.9 million). Non-current assets also decreased due to the impairment of goodwill in the EMEA region in the amount of EUR 50 million as of September 30, 2025.

Against this background, the share of non-current assets in the balance sheet total amounted to 33.6% as of September 30, 2025 (December 31, 2024: 62.7%).

In the period from January to September 2025, a total of EUR 24.8 million was invested in fixed assets in the continuing operations (Q1–Q3 2024: EUR 29.5 million). Of this, EUR 3.2 million was recorded as an addition to fixed assets for the capitalization of right-of-use rights to leased land and buildings (Q1–Q3 2024: EUR 3.1 million). Own work capitalized amounting to EUR 3.0 million was included in these investments (Q1–Q3 2024: EUR 2.9 million). The focus of investment activity in the first nine months of 2025 was in the USA, Germany, and Serbia. There were no significant disposals.

 

Current assets

Current assets totaled EUR 862.8 million as of the balance sheet date, representing an increase of 61.0% compared to the end of 2024 (December 31, 2024: EUR 535.9 million). This increase is primarily attributable to the reclassification of assets from non-current assets to the “assets held for sale” item. This reclassification, based on the combined effect of long-term and current assets, amounts to a total of EUR 418.0 million.

The share of current assets in the balance sheet total amounted to 66.4% as of September 30, 2025 (December 31, 2024: 37.3%).

 

(Trade) Working Capital

Trade working capital (inventories plus receivables minus trade payables, primarily from deliveries and services) amounted to EUR 179.9 million as of September 30, 2025, which is 23.9% lower than the figure for the end of 2024 (December 31, 2024: EUR 236.5 million). This is mainly attributable to the reclassification of assets and liabilities as of September 30, 2025, into the respective items “assets held for sale” (inventories of EUR 50.1 million

and trade receivables of EUR 28.5 million) and “liabilities relating to assets held for sale” (trade payables of EUR 27.7 million).

 

Other non-financial assets

Other non-financial assets are as follows:

 

Equity ratio

As of September 30, 2025, the Group’s equity amounted to EUR 585.0 million. Compared to the end of 2024 (December 31, 2024: EUR 721.4 million), this represents a decrease of 18.9%. The equity ratio was 45.0% as of the quarterly reporting date (December 31, 2024: 50.2%). Equity in the first nine months of 2025 was primarily impacted by negative currency translation differences, particularly from the US dollar (EUR -63.7 million), in addition to the negative net income (EUR -58.4 million). The negative net income was mainly attributable to the impairment of goodwill in the EMEA region amounting to EUR 50 million as of September 30, 2025. Furthermore, the dividend payment made to the shareholders of the NORMA Group in May 2025 (EUR -12.7 million) and effects from hedging cash flows (EUR -1.7 million) had a negative impact on equity.

 

Net financial debt

The following presentation of net financial debt relates to both continuing and discontinued operations and is presented in aggregated form.

Net financial debt as of September 30, 2025, is as follows:

 

Financial liabilities

The following presentation of net financial liabilities relates to both continuing and discontinued operations and is presented in aggregated form.

As of September 30, 2025, NORMA Group’s financial liabilities decreased by 3.4% to EUR 440.5 million compared to December 31, 2024 (EUR 456.3 million).

Loan liabilities decreased as of September 30, 2025, compared to December 31, 2024, due to cash-neutral currency effects on foreign currency loans.

The reduction in lease liabilities compared to December 31, 2024, results from both cash-neutral currency effects and the repayment of liabilities that were not offset by the acquisition of new rights of use and the associated new lease liabilities.

The maturity of the syndicated loans and the promissory note loans as of September 30, 2025, is as follows:

A waiver to the existing loan agreement was concluded for the syndicated loan. This provides for immediate repayment with the proceeds from the sale upon closing of the transaction process. As closing is considered highly likely to occur within the next 12 months, the syndicated loan was reclassified from long-term to short-term. Similarly, a potential special right of termination for the promissory note investors upon closing will result in a repayment obligation, which is why these have also been classified as current.

Upon receipt of the proceeds from the sale of the discontinued operation, sufficient cash and cash equivalents will be available to repay the financial liabilities.

Other loan liabilities are attributable to the discontinued operation and are included in the balance sheet item “Liabilities related to assets held for sale.” 

 

Net debt

Net debt decreased by EUR 3.0 million, or 0.9%, compared to December 31, 2024.

The transition of the change is shown below:

Gearing (net debt to equity) was 0.5, at the same level as at the end of 2024 (Dec. 31, 2024: 0.5). The leverage covenant (net debt excluding hedging derivatives in relation to adjusted EBITDA for the last twelve months) was 2.4 as of September 30, 2025 (Dec. 31, 2024: 2.1).

Other non-financial liabilities

Other non-financial liabilities are as follows:

 

Derivative financial instruments

 

Foreign currency derivatives

As of September 30, 2025, foreign currency derivatives with a market value of EUR 0.6 million were held to hedge cash flows. Furthermore, foreign currency derivatives with a positive market value of EUR 3.3 million and a negative market value of EUR 5.5 million were held to hedge changes in fair value. 

Foreign currency derivatives are used to hedge cash flows against exchange rate fluctuations arising from operating activities. Foreign currency derivatives to hedge against changes in fair value serve to protect external financial liabilities, bank balances in foreign currencies, and intra-group monetary items against exchange rate fluctuations.

 

Interest rate hedging instruments

Parts of the NORMA Group’s external financing were hedged against interest rate fluctuations using interest rate swaps. As of September 30, 2025, interest rate hedges with a positive market value of EUR 1.7 million were held.

These hedging relationships with positive market value were terminated at the end of September and the associated amounts recognized were recycled from other comprehensive income in the amount of EUR 1.6 million to the income statement.