The consolidated statement of cash flows and the following notes to the consolidated statement of cash flows relate to the cash inflows and outflows of the entire Group and thus to both continuing operations and the discontinued operation. A presentation of the cash flows from the discontinued operation is included in the “Discontinued Operation” section.
Group-wide financial management
A detailed overview of NORMA Group’s general financial management can be found in the ANNUAL REPORT 2025.
Net operating cash flow
Net operating cash flow, which continues to include contributions from the discontinued Water Management business, amounted to EUR -2.9 million for the period from January through September 2026. This represents a decrease of EUR 62.1 million compared with the same period of 2025 (Q1–Q3 2025: EUR 59.1 million).
The decline was primarily due to the significantly lower year-on-year adjusted Group EBITDA (Q1–Q3 2026: EUR 58.6 million; Q1–Q3 2025: EUR 96.1 million) as well as non-recurring effects in trade working capital related to the disposal of the Water Management business. In addition, investments from operating activities in the amount of EUR 18.4 million (Q1–Q3 2025: EUR 25.8 million) affected net operating cash flow.
Cash flow from operating activities
Cash flow from operating activities reached EUR -116.0 million in the first nine months of 2026. Compared to the same period of the prior year (Q1–Q3 2025: EUR 56.9 million), this represented a decline of EUR 173.0 million.
Cash flow from operating activities is influenced by the change in current assets, provisions, and liabilities (excluding liabilities related to financing activities).
The year-over-year decline in cash flow from operating activities compared to the prior year is primarily attributable to the sale of the Water Management business. Significant effects resulted from tax payments related to the divestiture, as well as changes in working capital for the discontinued operations in preparation for the divestiture. As a result, the comparability of operating cash flow with the same period of the previous year is limited.
According to the disclosures under IFRS 5, the discontinued operations contributed EUR -142.8 million in cash flow from operating activities to the Group’s cash flow.
As in the prior year, the Group participates in a reverse factoring program, a factoring program, and an ABS program. The liabilities in the reverse factoring program are reported under trade accounts payable and similar payables. The cash flows from the reverse factoring, factoring, and ABS programs are presented under cash flow from operating activities, as this corresponds to the economic substance of the transactions.
The corrections included in the cash flows from operating activities for income from the measurement of derivatives in the amount of EUR 0.9 million (Q1–Q3 2025: expenses in the amount of EUR 0.5 million) concern changes in the fair value of foreign currency derivatives and interest rate swaps recognized in profit or loss, which are allocated to financing activities.
The adjusted other non-cash income (-) / expenses (+) mainly include expenses from the currency translation of external financing liabilities and intragroup monetary items in the amount of EUR 0.9 million (Q1–Q3 2025: income in the amount of EUR 2.5 million). Cash flows resulting from interest paid are disclosed as cash flows from financing activities.
Cash flow from investing activities
Cash flow from investing activities in the first nine months of 2026 amounted to EUR 769.3 million (Q1–Q3 2025: EUR -27.9 million) and includes net cash outflows from the acquisition and disposal of non-current assets.
Cash flow from investing activities for the reporting period primarily consists of net proceeds from the sale of a discontinued operation, net of cash and cash equivalents sold in the amount of EUR 821.5 million. The acquisition and disposal of financial instruments in connection with time deposits in the US slightly reduced this effect by EUR -33.0 million.
Net cash outflows for the acquisition and disposal of intangible assets and property, plant, and equipment totaled EUR -19.8 million (Q1–Q3 2025: EUR -28.6 million) in the first nine months of the fiscal year.
Cash flow from financing activities
Cash flow from financing activities for the first nine months of 2026 was EUR -611.3 million (Q1–Q3 2025: EUR -34.3 million). It primarily includes net repayments of loans totaling EUR 328.1 million as well as payments for the acquisition of treasury shares totaling EUR 261.3 million.
Also included are dividend payments to NORMA Group SE shareholders totaling EUR 4.0 million (Q1–Q3 2025: EUR 12.7 million), interest payments (Q1–Q3 2026: EUR 7.9 million; Q1–Q3 2025: EUR 14.7 million) and cash inflows from derivatives totaling EUR 1.5 million (Q1–Q3 2025: cash inflows of EUR 1.4 million).
Cash flows from financing activities also include repayments of EUR 3.5 million for liabilities from ABS and factoring transactions (Q1–Q3 2025: cash inflows of EUR 1.4 million).
Legend
These contents are part of the Non-financial Group Report and were subject to a separate limited assurance examination.