Disciplined performance in volatile context
Bekaert delivered a disciplined financial performance in the first half of 2026, in line with expectations. The Group demonstrated agility in managing inflation and supply chains in a volatile geopolitical environment, supported by solid volume growth and continued cost discipline. Despite adverse price-mix effects, profitability remained solid, with an underlying EBIT1 margin above 8%. The balance sheet remained strong with leverage at 0.8x, including the effects of acquisitions and share buybacks and despite temporarily higher working capital to navigate supply chain pressures.
Olivier Biebuyck, CEO of Bekaert, commented: “The first half of 2026 successfully demonstrated the agility of our organization. Following the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, we acted swiftly to mitigate the impact of higher input costs. While there is a short timing delay in fully recovering cost increases, and a margin compression effect, we remained disciplined in protecting the profitability of the Group.
Across our businesses, market conditions continued to vary across geographies and segments. We saw robust demand in Sustainable Construction, particularly in North America, where sales growth was driven by data center-related applications leveraging our Dramix® solutions. In Rubber Reinforcement, volume growth in Asia more than compensated for softer market conditions elsewhere, underpinning topline resilience while regional demand dynamics are weighing on mix and prices. Strong order books in power and data transmission wire projects provide a foundation for the remainder of the year. At the same time, we continued to navigate headwinds, including project delays at customers in steel ropes and transmission wires.
As part of my active listening tour as new CEO, I have been impressed by the engineering capabilities of our teams. Their focus on customer support and continuous improvement gives me confidence that Bekaert is well positioned to capitalize on growth opportunities.”
Financial highlights
- Q2 2026 flat like-for-like2 sales versus Q2 2025 and sales growth versus previous quarter (+3%)
- Solid like-for-like volume growth (+4%), primarily in tire cord
- Unfavorable price-mix effects (-4%)
- Total sales of €947 million (-2%) including impact of disposals and acquisitions
- H1 2026 like-for-like sales flat versus last year and total sales of €1.9 billion (-5%)
- Like-for-like volumes up +4% (€+76 million)
- Unfavorable regional and product mix impacts, partly offset by gradual pass-through of cost inflation in the value chain (-4%, €-69 million)
- Currency impact of -2% (€-47 million)
- Portfolio change effects of -3% (€-50 million), reflecting the strategic disposals in Latin America, partly offset by the contribution from the recently acquired Bridgestone plants
- Underlying gross profit margin of 16.0% (vs 16.6% in H1 2025), driven by unfavorable price-mix effects and partly offset by sales volume growth
- EBITDAu1 of €237 million (-9%), delivering a margin on sales of 12.7% (vs 13.3% in H1 2025)
- EBITu1 of €155 million (-10%), resulting in a margin of 8.3% (vs 8.8% in H1 2025)
- Lower sales and margins from the Brazilian joint ventures with sales of €380 million (-8% vs H1 2025) due to increased imports into the country, and a share of net results of €16 million (vs €24 million in H1 2025)
- Ongoing cost and footprint efficiency improvements
- Announced closure of rope wire production in Doncaster (UK), transferring activities to the plant in Hlohovec (Slovakia)
- Further savings from actions on footprint, conversion costs and overheads while continuing to invest in R&D
- Free Cash Flow (FCF3) of €55 million, compared to €123 million in H1 2025
- Increased working capital (€+28 million) versus H1 2025 related to the acquisition of Bridgestone tire cord plants and currency impacts
- Higher working capital cash outflow in H1 2026 following the low working capital position at FY 2025
- Partly mitigated by reduced capital expenditure in H1 2026
- Net debt of €367 million (vs €327 million H1 2025) reflecting acquisition related cash out, resulting in net debt to EBITDAu of 0.82x (vs 0.67x in H1 2025)
- Ongoing €200 million share buyback, €165 million purchased to date
- EPSu3 of €2.33 (versus €2.68 in H1 2025) and reported EPS of €1.93 (versus €1.59 in H1 2025)
Operational and strategic highlights
- Agile reaction to mitigate impact of Middle East conflict
- Swift actions to assure deliveries to customers
- Pass through of inflationary effects through the value chain protecting profitability
- Rubber Reinforcement
- Volume growth partly mitigating unfavorable regional mix effect from demand shift towards Asia
- The integration of the Bridgestone plants is developing in line with expectations
- Steel Wire Solutions
- Volume growth despite project delays in Europe
- Increased share of wallet with key customers in power & data transmission in North America
- BBRG
- Geopolitical uncertainty has led to customer project delays, impacting first-half volumes
- Operational challenges in steel ropes, turnaround projects deployed
- Specialty Businesses
- Continued recovery in North America for Sustainable Construction, supported by data center projects
- Improving mix in all subsegments
- Footprint and cost-saving actions further supporting strong profitability improvement
- Solid pipeline for second half of 2026
- The Group is closely monitoring opportunities and risks related to the EU trade regulation initiatives including the Steel & Metals Action Plan (SMAP) and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
- Continued recognition of sustainability leadership with progress in circular tire reinforcement solutions and inclusion in TIME’s World’s Most Sustainable Companies 2026 ranking
Outlook
The conflict in the Middle East required swift actions to address its impacts on supply chains and input costs, Bekaert has so far been able to mitigate these effects. Pass-through mechanisms are expected to continue supporting revenue while largely preserving the underlying EBIT contribution. While geopolitical uncertainty is likely to persist, the Group continues to expect full-year 2026 sales to be at a similar level to last year on a like-for-like basis, and underlying EBIT margin to be slightly below the level achieved in 2025.
Reporting changes
This results release is the first to reflect the reporting changes announced previously.
- The Hose and Conveyor Belts subsegment, previously reported under Specialty Businesses, is now reported within the Rubber Reinforcement division.
- To strengthen market connectivity and agility to respond quickly to market developments, resources have been deployed closer to the Group's business units (BU's). Overhead cost allocations are now reflecting actual utilization of corporate services enhancing financial responsibility at BU level.
- For the same reason, factoring is from now on included in the working capital figures of the BU’s.
Comparative 2025 segment financial statements have been restated in this release accordingly4. There is no impact on the consolidated financial statements at Group level.
Conference call for analysts and investors
Olivier Biebuyck, CEO of Bekaert, and Seppo Parvi, CFO, will present the H1 2026 results to analysts and investors at 11:00 a.m. CET on Thursday 30th July. This presentation can be accessed live upon registration (registration link) and will be available on Bekaert’s website after the event.
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