Bertrandt's business performance in the first nine months of fiscal 2024/2025 was characterized by challenging macroeconomic conditions. The core automotive industry in particular was affected by economic and industry-specific challenges, which led to declining unit sales expectations, profit warnings, forecast uncertainties and cost-cutting programs for all industry participants. In addition, the reporting period was heavily influenced by macroeconomic factors such as protectionist measures, geopolitical tensions and the structural weakness of growth in Germany. The ongoing tariff conflict between the European Union and the USA had an indirect impact on business performance, as customer projects and decisions were delayed.
The macroeconomic and industry-specific conditions, capacity adjustments and the ongoing underutilization of capacity are reflected in the decline in total sales in the first nine months of the 2024/2025 financial year to EUR 741.983 million. In the same period of the previous year, total sales amounted to EUR 921.555 million and was still largely unaffected by the current general conditions. In the reporting period, all cost items were significantly reduced, and the number of employees was adjusted due to the market's lower capacity requirements. EBIT of EUR -38.937 million (previous year EUR 15.034 million) was depressed by various extraordinary and non-recurring expenses. The number of employees in the Bertrandt Group was 12,672 as at 30 June 2025. The headcount of 14,415 (30 June 2024) was thus reduced by 1,743 employees in all business units, in particular due to scheduled departures as part of the "Fit for Future" program.
The measures of the "Fit for Future" earnings optimization program launched in the previous financial year 2023/2024 were implemented in the reporting period. The significant annualized savings of EUR 70 to 90 million should reach the upper end of the range. In order to further optimize earnings in the current environment, additional measures are necessary, which are currently in the initial implementation phase.
"The combination of sustainable structural measures and a strict focus on costs will ensure a further improvement in earnings, as a market recovery in the second half of 2025 remainsuncertain. At the same time, we are observing a fundamentally high volume of demand in the market for research and development in the customer groups relevant to Bertrandt for technologically diverse projects such as passenger car model derivatives or powertrains. Despite all the challenges, Bertrandt is pressing ahead with diversification into other sectors and further internationalization and has already recorded its first successful project acquisitions," said Markus Ruf, member of the Management Board Finance, summing up the current situation.
The most important key figures at a glance:
| IFRS-based figures for the Bertrandt Group | 01/10/2024 until 30/06/2025 | 01/10/2023 until 30/06/2024 |
Total revenues (EUR million) | 741.983 | 921.555 |
EBIT (EUR million) | -38.937 | 15.034 |
Free cash flow (EUR million) | 16.868 | 25.533 |
Equity (in EUR million) | 316.277 | 446.978 |
Equity ratio (in per cent) | 41.5 | 48.3 |
Employees worldwide | 12,672 | 14,415 |
About Bertrandt
Through our development performance, we accelerate technological progress and make a relevant contribution to a sustainable future. We are an independent and international development service provider with many years of automotive expertise. With cross-industry know-how and a holistic understanding of systems and products, we create technological solutions along the entire value chain. We deal with a focus on trend topics such as digitalization, e-mobility and autonomous systems, mainly for the automotive, aerospace and mechanical engineering sectors, and consistently facilitate the development of tailored solutions in these areas. We work on this every day – with around 13,000 employees at over 50 sites worldwide.
