Knaus Tabbert (KTA) Q1 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Strategic realignment advanced, focusing on cost reduction, efficiency, and product portfolio adaptation, with a reduction in layouts by about a third and a 15% workforce reduction to 3,589 employees.

• Demand for motorized vehicles remains strong, but caravans and the rental segment show some weakness; German leisure vehicle registrations fell 12.9% year-over-year.

• Market normalization post-pandemic is impacting dealer and customer ordering behavior, with order backlog down 45% to EUR 341 million, covering about 30% of annual revenue.

• Focus on standardization, production efficiency, and cost elimination, with a new PMO office to drive mid-term initiatives.

• Jochen Hein joined management as of May 1, supporting strategic execution.

Financial highlights

• Q1 2025 revenue declined 21.5% year-over-year to EUR 295.6 million, with EUR 55.5 million of revenue linked to inventory changes.

• Adjusted EBITDA for Q1 2025 was EUR 8.5 million (2.9% margin), down from EUR 38.8 million (10.3% margin) in Q1 2024.

• Net loss of EUR 4.7 million compared to net income of EUR 18.2 million in Q1 2024.

• Free cash flow improved to EUR 14.6 million, mainly due to inventory monetization and working capital optimization.

• Net debt decreased by EUR 10 million, with inventories down by EUR 72 million; equity ratio fell to 17.6% from 29.0% year-over-year.

Outlook and guidance

• Full-year 2025 guidance reiterated: revenue expected around EUR 1 billion and adjusted EBITDA margin between 5.0% and 6.5%.

• No plans for aggressive discounting; pricing strategy for model year 2026 under review, with selective support for certain products.

• Production expected to remain lower until at least end of summer to allow dealer inventory digestion; orders for the new model year anticipated in Q2 and Q3.