Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to our full year 2025 earnings call. Thanks for joining us. I would also like to welcome the two members of our executive board, Oliver Schwegmann, CEO, and Ralf Brühöfner, CFO. Oliver and Ralf will guide you through the presentation. If you have any questions, you can submit them by using the chat window. At the end of the presentation, I will begin to read them out anonymously. Now I would like to hand over directly to Oliver and Ralf.
This is Oliver Schwegmann, the CEO of the Berentzen Group speaking. Together with my colleague and CFO, Ralf Brühöfner, we as the Executive Board of the Berentzen Group, would like to welcome all of you to our full year 2025 results video call. Also, I would like to welcome our colleague and Director Investor Relations, Thorsten Schmitt, who has already given the introduction of this session. After our presentation, Thorsten will collect your questions, which Ralf and I will answer as thoroughly as possible to meet your expectations. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, the Berentzen Group, with a heritage spanning over 260 years, is dedicated to enriching people's lives through a wide variety of beverages. Even though we revised our corporate strategy last year, this core principle remains.
From freshly pressed juice to start the morning, to refreshing lemonades during the day, and spirits that bring people together for special moments. Berentzen offers beverages for every occasion from morning to evening. Our mission is to combine the strength of tradition with the spirit of innovation. For us, it's not just about beverages, but about the moments and memories they help to create. The facts you can see on this slide are surely known to most of you. For this reason, I would like to move straight on to the highlights of the past financial year, 2025. The Berentzen Group generated consolidated revenues of EUR 162.9 million. This is significantly below the previous year's figures.
The background to this development is on the one hand, the overall decline in sales volume due to the ongoing challenging situation in an overall declining market. Especially the spirits market was in significant volume decline in the third consecutive year with no trend reversal in sight. Consumer spending, particularly in Germany, continues to be marked by significant restraint. On the other hand, the sale of our Grüneberg production site in the third quarter of 2024 and the resulting discontinuation of the regional products business at this location contributed significantly to a decline in revenues in a year-to-year comparison. These effects were also reflected in our gross profit. Nevertheless, we managed to keep the gross profit margin largely at the previous year's level. As well as gross profit, the bottom line also follows the trend of consolidated revenues.
Although we are of course not satisfied with the performance of EBITDA and EBIT, we would like to point out that we are re-reporting against a very strong previous year. From a long-term perspective, the earning figures are solid and underline the Berentzen Group's sustained profitability. Market developments in recent years had a negative impact on our business activities, were the main reasons why we presented our new corporate strategy, Berentzen Evolve 2030, last fall. I'd say a few more words about that later. First, however, I would like to take a closer look at our segments with you and show you that despite all the challenges, many initiatives were successful last year. Revenues in the spirit segment of the Berentzen Group declined by 7.2%, which was mainly due to the declines in various category revenues.
However, despite this overall development, certain product groups and markets were able to generate encouraging growth impulses. The Berentzen Minis recorded an increase in revenues of + 24.1% compared to the previous year, which confirms the attractiveness of both the brand and the packaging. A key driver behind this development was the increasing trend towards treating life as a series of events. During Carnival in Germany, there's no way to imagine the streets without our Minis. Our strategic goal is therefore now to position the Minis at events, festivals, and celebrations all year long. For regaining sales volume and turnover across the entire segment, this would not be enough. Against this backdrop, expanding the product portfolio towards no or low alcohol concepts and acquiring additional distribution channels and international markets are essential elements of Berentzen Evolve 2030.
The non-alcoholic beverages segment recorded a decline in revenues of -19.2% in the 2025 financial year. This decline is exclusively due to two one-off effects which occurred in 2025, first, to the sale of our Grüneberg site and the associated mineral water and soft drink brands at the end of 2024, second, to the change of the cooperation model with Sinalco from a licensee business to a sales service model. On a like-for-like comparison without these one-off effects, our alcoholic beverages segment grew in turnover. This is mainly driven by our strategic focus brand, Mio Mio, which returned to its former growth path with a turnover increase of +9.9%. In particular, the successful launch of our Mio Mio cans contributed to this satisfying development.
As you all know, non-alcoholic beverages play an even more important role in our new corporate strategy than they did before. In this context, we announced last week that we are entering the rapidly growing market for functional beverages with the acquisition of the Juma brand. In addition, we launched new products of Mio Mio in early March. I come to this later. It can be seen here that revenue in our fresh juice system segment fell by around EUR 1 million in 2025. The decline in juicers, however, is solely driven by a significant setback in the U.S. market due to the tariff policy by Donald Trump. Trump's ups and downs in the tariff policy against China, where our juicers are produced, led to a sales drop of around 70% in the U.S. market versus last year, which accounts for more than 200 juicers.
At the same time, however, we recorded a significant increase in Germany. Sales of the machines rose by about 82% in 2025 versus last year. Our recently launched and innovative juicer model, Citrocasa xPro, was one of the main drivers behind this development. Moreover, we set up new distribution infrastructure for the markets in the Middle East Africa region, which reached a sales volume of 224 machines in the first active year already. This region will remain a central and dynamic growth region for Citrocasa in the coming years. At present, however, the outlook cannot be assessed due to the ongoing war situation in Iran and consequently across the entire Middle East.
The decline in revenues from fruit and bottles on the one hand, is primarily driven by noticeable consumer reluctance, as many consumers are paying closer attention to their spending and increasingly prioritizing value for money when shopping. Against this backdrop, we have consistently implemented our strategy and further strengthened our position as a leader in innovation and quality. With our latest generation of machines, we are significantly reducing the operational workload for our retail partners, particularly through a noticeably lower cleaning effort. The Citrocasa xPro represents a key milestone in this regard. Building on this success, we have developed our next major innovation and unveiled it for the first time at the fair at the EuroShop, the new Fantastic series. With this, we are setting the best-in-class benchmark for cleaning, efficiency, digitalization, and durability, and laying the foundation for sustainable, profitable growth.
This growth in juicers will be the fundament of a turnaround in fruit and bottle sales, as we will drive physical distribution and point-of-sale penetration. Now, I would like to pass on to my colleague, Ralf Brühöfner, who will give you more insights about the group's financial performance.
Thank you, Oliver, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen, also from my side. Oliver has just explained the operational result 2025. Let's now take a look at the items from EBIT to consolidated profit, which is significantly positive by EUR 2.4 million after a minus of EUR 1.3 million in 2024. The negative result in the previous year was caused by a one-off effect of EUR 4.8 million arising from the sale of the Grüneberg production site. Particularly positive for the 2025 financial year were two developments in addition to the absence of exceptional effects. First, the IAS 29 high inflation effect for our Turkish business, which is basically known from previous years. Compared to 2024, the amount is significantly lower with an improvement of EUR 0.6 million, mainly because inflation rate in Turkey came down a little bit in 2025.
Second, the financial result is much better than in 2024 due to lower interest costs. As we already expected a year ago, the average three-month EURIBOR in 2025 was significantly lower than in the previous year. This is important to know as the EURIBOR is our base interest rate for our very main part of the financial debt. In addition to that, the group's average net debt was lower in 2025. The main reason for that is an increased level of the average free cash flow, which is mainly related to the sale of the Grüneberg production plant in 2024. No longer running this business means lower trade working capital as well as lower CapEx. Now please, look at our balance sheet.
The balance sheet total came down by EUR 7.7 million to a new total of EUR 129.7 million. As you can see on the right side of the slide, the equity ratio rose again to 36.5%, mainly due to a reduced balance sheet total and a slight increase of equity after adding the total result 2025 minus the dividends paid in 2025. The equity ratio is persistently solid, meaning that more than one-third of the assets are financed by equity items. What we also can see is that we were able to reduce the net debt position, which amounts to only EUR 3.7 million per year end in 2025. The net debt position contains EUR 40.3 million financial debts and EUR 2.6 million cash.
Compared to the previous year, the position was improved by EUR 2.9 million. The dynamic gearing ratio has also improved. The negative effect of a lower EBITDA was overcompensated by the just mentioned improved debt. Thus, as in the previous periods before, the ratio is quite far away from any kind of covenant breaches which are basically contained in our credit agreements. On the next slide, we can see a very satisfying development. We have succeeded in generating a positive cash flow as we did in 2024. The main driver behind the 2025 development was a higher operating cash flow, which mainly contains EBITDA, tax and interest payments, and a smaller minus in our total working capital.
After EUR -5.4 million in 2024, it now amounts to EUR -1.7 million only, composed of the developments in trade working capital and other working capital items. Net cash flows from investing activities were higher than in 2024, as in 2024 we sold assets to the buyer of the Grüneberg plant. The overall improvement shows that we have consistently worked to improve each individual item of our working capital. We are convinced that we will be able to continue this positive development of our free cash flow also in 2026. Let us now take a look at our dividend proposal. Together with the supervisory board, we will propose the payment of a dividend of EUR 0.11 per share to the upcoming AGM.
This proposal is on the same level as last year when we proposed a dividend despite a negative consolidated net profit in 2024. From that perspective, we made an advance payment to some extent last year, which we now need to balance out in the company's best interest. Nevertheless, it is also important to emphasize that the dividend yield based on the year-end closing price, et cetera, is higher than in 2024. I will now hand over to Oliver.
Thank you, Ralf. Let us now look at the forecast for the 2026 financial year. We expect consolidated revenues to be in the range of EUR 163 million-EUR 173 million, which means that we predict growth even at the lower end of the guidance. For our key earnings figures, we expect our EBITDA to be in the range of EUR 16.1 million-EUR 18.1 million and our consolidated EBIT to be in the range of EUR 7.0 million-EUR 9.0 million. Due to the numerous measures and marketing investments for future growth, we will not be able to show higher EBITDA and EBIT levels this year. The current financial year will be of crucial importance for the Berentzen-Gruppe's strategic direction within the new corporate strategy, and in this sense will also mark a transitional year of transformation.
Many strategically important projects have been or will be kicked off this year to launch the Berentzen Evolve 2030 journey. This includes new products, opening up new markets and distribution through new sales channels. Let me conclude my remarks by showing you the key projects we are planning for this year. Last week, we announced the entry in the functional drinks market with the acquisition of the Juma brand. Functional drinks are currently among the most dynamic categories in the non-alcoholic beverages sector. Juma is a tea-based functional hydration drink that combines electrolytes with vitamins and caffeine while containing no sugar. Our clear aim with functional lifestyle drinks in the light of Berentzen Evolve 2030 was to deliver not only a functional benefit, but also the promise of pleasure that the Berentzen Group has always stood for. This is what makes Juma unique in the market environment.
The packaging concept is a real innovation on the German market. The product is bottled in an aluminum bottle with a screw cap, making it easy to reseal. This combines the fresh appeal of a can with the convenience of a PET bottle. We are absolutely convinced of the brand's tremendous potential. One of our priorities this year will therefore be to rapidly expand the distribution of Juma. In line with the Berentzen Evolve 2030, we launched the first limited edition of Mio Mio in early March, as well as a sugar-free version of our popular Mio Mio Mate Ginger in both bottles and cans. Sugar-free refreshing drinks are the most dynamic products in an overall volume stable market. Mio Mio Mate Zero, for example, delivered a growth rate of more than 50% in 2025.
Therefore, to expand our sugar-free portfolio within the Mio Mio product portfolio is a strategically consistent step. In our branded spirits business, we will shortly be presenting our Puschkin brand in a completely new guise and with new recipes, thereby restoring the necessary relevance for our target group and build on past successes once again. This will also involve the launch of a Puschkin mixed drink in a can to generate sales momentum in the dynamically growing category of so-called ready-to-drink. Last but not least, in our fresh juice system segment, the focus is on rolling out the new generation of machines and on entering new markets. As you can see, we have a lot planned for this year. The innovation pipeline is packed across all business units, and we would really appreciate if you join us on this exciting journey.
Now I would like to hand over to Ralf for the final information.
Yeah. Finally, let us take a very brief look at our financial calendar, which you also can find regularly updated on our corporate website. As you can see, we are taking part in different conferences also this year to get in touch with our shareholders and to inspire new shareholders for the Berentzen Group. I would also like to take the opportunity to invite you to our virtual AGM on May seventh. The convening will also be published this afternoon. We will be delighted if many of you attend.