KAP AG CONTINUES ITS RESTRUCTURING COURSE FOLLOWING THE ANTICIPATED SUBDUED FIRST HALF OF 2026

KAP AG CONTINUES ITS RESTRUCTURING COURSE FOLLOWING THE ANTICIPATED SUBDUED FIRST HALF OF 2026 

• Revenue down 4.6% to €133.2 million in a challenging market environment
• Lower capacity utilisation causes EBITDA to fall by 10.6% to €13.5 million
• Consolidated loss persists after taxes at €–5.1 million
• Specified guidance for 2026 reaffirmed

Fulda, 28 August 2026 – KAP AG (“KAP”), a mid-sized industrial holding company listed on the stock exchange (German securities identification number: WKN 620840; ISIN DE0006208408), recorded a subdued performance in the first half of 2026 in a challenging market environment and is consistently pursuing its restructuring course. The goal is to draw on a comprehensive package of measures that will create the necessary conditions to sustainably improve the KAP Group’s profitability.

Ralph Rumberg, CEO/CRO of KAP AG: “We have precisely analysed the challenges and are now tackling them systematically with our restructuring plan. To this end, we have clustered the measures into clearly defined categories: We are strengthening our sales organisations and focusing on our customers’ needs, aligning our production capacities with actual demand, increasing efficiency in our plants and streamlining our holding company structures. In addition, we intend to implement structural measures to reduce our leverage ratio more quickly than would be possible through operational improvements alone. This will bring us closer to our goal of putting the segments on a stable footing, with EBIT at a positive and, from our perspective, satisfactory level.”

Performance of the KAP Group in the first half of 2026
In the first half of 2026, against a challenging market backdrop – particularly in the automotive and industrial sectors – the KAP Group’s revenue fell by 4.6% to €133.2 million (previous year: €139.6 million). In addition, the geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East adversely impacted demand from key customer groups. This led to lower order volumes and caused the utilisation of existing capacity to fall. All three segments of the KAP Group were affected by this development, albeit to varying degrees.

Normalised earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (normalised EBITDA) fell by 10.6% to €13.5 million (previous year: €15.1 million) due to lower capacity utilisation. Consequently, the normalised EBITDA margin stood at 10.1%, 0.7 percentage points below the previous year’s level (previous year: 10.8%). As a result of the impairments recognised at the end of 2025, depreciation and amortisation decrease significantly to €6.1 million (previous year: €11.3 million). The normalised operating result, defined as normalised earnings before interest and taxes (normalised EBIT), improved accordingly to €7.4 million (previous year: €4.0 million). The normalised EBIT margin thus stood at 5.6%, compared with 2.9% in the same period of the previous year. The consolidated profit/loss after taxes for the first half of 2026 totalled €−5.1 million (previous year: €−9.5 million).

Mixed performance across the segments
The performance of the engineered products segment reflected weaker demand from key customer groups in the first half of 2026. Despite the challenging market environment, the Company achieved volume growth in selected regions and customer groups, with the Suzhou site in China in particular continuing to perform well. However, it was not possible to fully offset the negative effects of the weak performance in the automotive sector. Revenue fell by 1.3% to €52.6 million. The ongoing shift in production from high-wage European countries to the existing Asian sites had a positive impact, as did restructuring measures that are gradually taking effect. Normalised EBITDA rose accordingly by 23.5% to €4.2 million. The normalised EBITDA margin thus improved by 1.6 percentage points to 8.0%. Normalised EBIT grew by 46.7% to €2.2 million due to a significant reduction in depreciation, amortisation and impairments, and the normalised EBIT margin rose by 1.4 percentage points to 4.2%.

In the flexible films segment, customer demand for high-quality pool films developed satisfactorily overall in the first half of 2026. However, business with laminates – which are used in the construction industry, among other sectors – was weaker than expected. Revenue consequently fell by 1.2% to €55.6 million. Rising energy costs and the significant appreciation of the Israeli shekel caused normalised EBITDA to fall by 10.3% to €10.5 million, resulting in a reduction in the normalised EBITDA margin by 1.9 percentage points to 18.9%. At €7.9 million, normalised EBIT was 10.2% down year on year, while the normalised EBIT margin fell by 1.4 percentage points to 14.2%.

In the surface technologies segment, the first half of 2026 was characterised by weak demand from key customer groups. Competitive pressure in the established business remained intense. In this highly competitive market environment, revenue fell by 15.2% to €25.2 million. It should also be noted that the Leisnig plant, which was closed as of 31 December 2025, had still contributed €1.4 million to segment revenue in the same period of the previous year. However, the initial positive effects of the capacity adjustments and the reduction in cost structures were insufficient to offset the rises in energy and raw material prices. The continued underutilisation of production lines led to a 58.8% decline in normalised EBITDA to €0.7 million. Normalised EBIT improved by 86.7% to €−0.6 million, primarily due to a significant reduction in depreciation, amortisation and impairments. The normalised EBIT margin increased by 12.8 percentage points to −2.4%.

Specified guidance for the 2026 financial year reaffirmed
For the 2026 financial year, the Management Board anticipates a persistently challenging market environment that will also affect the KAP Group. Against this backdrop, the Management Board reaffirms the forecast for the full year, with revenue between €230.0 million and €250.0 million and normalised EBITDA of between €19.0 million and €23.0 million; however, in view of rising energy costs and negative currency effects, the figures are currently expected to be at the lower end of the respective guidance ranges.

The complete 2026 half-year report can be accessed on KAP AG’s website.

Contact:
KAP AG
Kai Knitter
Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
investorrelations@kap.de
+49 661 103 327

About KAP AG
KAP AG is a listed industrial holding company focused on upper mid-size operating companies and currently focuses on three core segments: flexible films, engineered products and surface technologies. KAP AG currently has some 1,500 employees at 17 locations in ten countries. With active investment management, KAP focuses on continuously optimizing the existing portfolio and creating value. At the same time, the individual strengths and identities of the companies operating successfully on the market are preserved. KAP AG’s shares are listed on the Regulated Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (General Standard, ISIN DE0006208408).