Aebi Schmidt Holding AG Common Stock 2026 Q2 Earnings Call

Good morning, and welcome to the Aebi Schmidt second quarter 2026 earnings call. Joining me on the call today are Barend Fruithof, Chairman and Group CEO, who will provide the highlights of the second quarter and outlook and concluding remarks. Steffen Schewerda, CEO, North America, and Henning Schröder, CEO, Europe and Rest of World, who will detail the performance in the respective segments. Marco Portmann, Group CFO, who will provide a financial overview. Today's comments include forward-looking statements subject to the safe harbor language contained in this morning's press release and in Aebi Schmidt's filings with the SEC. As a reminder, all 2025 comparative figures referenced in today's material, like all figures prior to the July 1, 2025 acquisition, are presented on a combined basis for Aebi Schmidt and the acquired Shyft Group.

Accordingly, all year-over-year comparisons are based on combined 2025 financial information of both companies rather than standalone historical results. With that, I hand the call over to Barend.

Good morning, everyone. Our second quarter 2026 results are another substantial step forward with significantly improved profitability. As shown on slide 5, order intake increased by 16%, order backlog grew 20%, and net sales rose by 9% compared with the second quarter of 2025. Most importantly, we delivered a substantial improvement in profitability. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 22%, and net income increased by EUR 18 million year-over-year. In other words, profitability increased over proportionally compared to sales, reflecting production ramp-ups and other operational efficiency, the accelerated realization of acquisition synergies, and strict cost control. On slide 6, I would like to briefly summarize some of our key achievements. First of all, we have now passed the first anniversary of the Shyft acquisition, and we are very proud of what we have accomplished over those last 12 months.

In connection with the anniversary, we released our updated Group Strategy 2030, setting out a clear roadmap towards our ambition of becoming the global leader in specialty vehicles. On the top line, we continued to build momentum across all major business lines in the second quarter, including securing important orders. In North America, we secured a landmark $96 million walk-in line frame contract, achieved a record quarter at Royal with our service bodies and continued to benefit from strong momentum in airport and municipal. In Europe, we secured a major German motorway contract, expanded our cross-selling success with leading airport customers and successfully launched the new Aebi Terra Trac in our agricultural business. Turning to slide 7. One year after the acquisition of The Shyft Group, I am very happy with our progress.

Comparing the 12 months before and after the acquisition, order intake has increased by 26%, adjusted EBITDA has grown by 22%, and our EBITDA margin has improved by approximately 120 basis points. We have successfully integrated our operations, expanded our American footprint, simplified our brand architecture, and increased our synergy target to more than $40 million on an annual run rate. At the same time, we continued to invest in innovation to strengthen our competitive position across all business lines. This progress reinforces our confidence in the long-term value creation potential for the combined company. Slide 8 highlights our continued innovation across the group. We recently introduced multiple new products and technologies, including the Cleango 550 compact sweeper, our next-generation Terratrac, expanded electric vehicle offerings, and importantly, new airport equipment solutions.

At the same time, in partnership with Viatemove, we continue to develop autonomous airport operation solutions for our customers. Together, these initiatives strengthen our market leadership and support our organic growth. I turn the call over to Steffen.

Henning? Thank you, Steffen, and good morning.

Europe and Rest of World delivered another strong quarter, driven by exceptional order intake momentum and continued profitability improvement. Our result reflects the strength of our market position and commercial execution. In airport, a major U.K. airport group selected Aebi Schmidt as its preferred supplier for winter maintenance and airfield sweeping equipment. In addition, we successfully cross-sold Ladog vehicles into the airport segment. This underlines the potential to penetrate new customer segments, expand the addressable market, and unlock additional growth opportunities. Within municipal, we secured a significant EUR 11 million German motorway contract, strengthening our position with one of Europe's key clients. At the same time, we continue to benefit from increasing demand for electrified municipal vehicles. In agriculture, the launch of the new Aebi Terratrac generated strong customer interest and highlighted our continued innovation leadership.

Across the region, we continue to see healthy demand levels and strong customer engagement. Turning to Slide 14. Order intake increased approximately 20% compared with last year, supported by strong demand across Southern and Central Europe, as well as several significant contract wins. Net sales increased by approximately 7%, reflecting continued operational discipline and strong production performance. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 25% for the quarter and marked another step forward in our profitability improvement journey. The key drivers remain higher gross margins, strong aftermarket performance, and disciplined cost management. I am proud of the progress our teams continue to deliver. That concludes my comments, and I now turn the call over to Marco.

Thank you, Henning, and good morning, everyone. Turning to Slide 16. Order intake increased 16% compared with the second quarter of 2025 and reached EUR 516 million. This performance was supported by growth in both our segments, particularly in airport and chassis, municipal, and the continued recovery of walk-in vans. Order backlog increased nearly 20% year-over-year to approximately EUR 1.3 billion, and provides good visibility for the remainder of 2026 and beyond. Moving to Slide 17. Group net sales reached EUR 496 million, representing an impressive organic growth of 9.4% compared with the second quarter of 2025. North America was the main driver, with sales up 11% versus last year, with walk-in vans as a major driver alongside strong growth nearly throughout. Europe and Rest of World delivered a strong 7% organic growth through continued sales execution, further expanding its already strong market share.