Company's CFO, Torben Teichler, will guide you through the presentation and the figures shortly, followed by a Q&A session via audio line and chat box. With that, I'm handing over to you, Torben.
Well, thank you very much and very good afternoon, everyone. My name is Torben Teichler. I'm the CFO of MBB, and I will take you through our Q4 results today. Before we do that, let me, as always, give you a quick recap of what makes MBB special. MBB offers long-term succession solutions to sustainable Mittelstand companies. The way we do this is quite unique because we are a family business ourselves, and our two founders, who founded the business 30 years ago, are still the major shareholders and operationally still very much involved. That means that in many ways we share the same DNA with the businesses that we want to acquire. Secondly, we're fans of the capital market, and that's why we're here today as a listed company doing a conference call with you.
That's also why three of our subsidiaries are stock listed, Friedrich Vorwerk, Aumann and Delignit. Having brought all of these companies to the stock market in order to finance their growth and development is, in my view, a special differentiating factor for us. Moreover, we have a long-term focus, so when we buy, we don't have any intention to sell, but seek to develop and grow our companies and hence remain the anchor shareholders in all of our businesses. Lastly, we focus on sustainable businesses, and that doesn't mean that we have a particular environmentalist agenda or something like that, but we believe in structural trends like the energy transition or IT security, which simply offer enormous business potential, and we try to develop our companies in that manner.
Today, we're a group of six companies with almost EUR 1.2 billion in revenue and double-digit EBITDA margins. With that, let's move to our 2025 results. Well, overall, we really had a fantastic year with record revenue of almost EUR 1.2 billion, and thus an increase of almost 10% year-on-year. Much more importantly, a record adjusted EBITDA of EUR 217 million. We hence were able to grow our EBITDA by a phenomenal 46% year-on-year and increased our EBITDA margin by more than 4.5 percentage points to 18.6%.
2025 was really an extraordinary year, which was in large part driven by the excellent performance of Friedrich Vorwerk and DTS, but also Aumann and Deligni t bolstered these very high profitability levels with impressive margins despite the headwinds they face in their respective industries. With these results, we significantly overachieved our original guidance from the start of last year of originally EUR 1 billion-EUR 1.1 billion in revenue and 11%-14% EBITDA, which we had subsequently increased several times as we gained more clarity throughout the year. Particularly on the earnings side, the year has been a real success and went actually much better than we had originally anticipated, in part also due to a very strong Q4 with good margins across most companies.
Q4 itself was broadly flat on revenue, but provided for a very healthy EBITDA margin of almost 24%, which was largely due to very good project execution at Friedrich Vorwerk and Aumann, good cost management across the group, as well as successful project completions at the end of the year. Let's dive into some of the details now on the following slides. Looking at Friedrich Vorwerk here on the left, the company kept up its exceptional growth momentum, boosting revenues by 25% to EUR 199 million in the quarter, while the EBITDA margin reached an impressive 29% of EUR 58 million in absolute numbers. Overall conditions in Q4 were very good, from good weather conditions to sound execution, but also solid personnel and capacity ramp up last year. Also good time management played a role.
That not only in terms of the larger projects such as A-No rd or NordBalt , which we all know about, but also with viewing a whole range of small and mid-sized projects. Zooming out and looking at where the company came from only a few years back in 2021, at the time of the IPO, for instance, Vo rwerk has really m oved from a roughly EUR 280 million business to a more than EUR 700 million revenue company, all while maintaining a very high level of EBITDA margin above 20%. I think that is very impressive and shows you how strong the fundamental drivers of the business and of the industry are and how well the Friedrich Vorwerk management has done over the last five years.
Looking ahead to 2026, the order book of EUR 1 billion provides confidence on the outlook, and recent new order wins from the electricity, gas, hydrogen, as well as its adjacent opportunities field underscore the positive dynamic of Friedrich Vorwerk, as well as the energy infrastructure market in general. New projects becoming relevant this year are, for example, in the gas sector, the ETL 182, which is a mid-triple-digit million euro project, which we already talked about last time, and which is relevant for LNG distribution in Germany. Also, for example, SEL 3, a triple-digit million euro project for a 61 km long high-pressure gas pipeline, which is vital to expand and connect the south of Germany to the European Hydrogen Backbone.
On top come other projects, for example, a mid-double digit million EUR hydrogen gas pressure regulating and metering station, which also forms part of that hydrogen backbone. Also lastly, for example, in the district heating segment, there are attractive projects such as the district heating project in Hamburg, a double-digit million euro project, just to name but a few projects which are going to be relevant in 2026. Looking at 2026, management of Friedrich Vorwerk has issued a sound guidance of EUR 730 million-EUR 780 million of revenues with an EBITDA range of EUR 160 million-EUR 180 million, which implies an EBITDA margin range of 21%-25%.
Judging by the start into the year, there has been a relatively cold start into the year. I think the company looks well on track for a good year, 2026. Well, turning to DTS here on the right, the company had a solid finish to the year with a good EBITDA margin of around 18% in Q4. While overall demand remained solid, especially some hardware projects were pushed out into H1 2026. Profitability thus benefited from some regional seasonal project completions as well as slightly higher service and software share. Overall, DTS has gotten off to a solid start into 2026.
Nevertheless, the current shortage in memory chips and the volatile macro environment could have an impact on overall IT spend in 2026 and weigh on the top line growth this year. Positively, however, the urgency for IT security investments remains high, and DTS has worked hard to better address upcoming public sector demand. We're also invested in expanding its suite of European security software and service alternatives, which I think address an important trend towards more European security solutions. We expect 2026 to be a good year for DTS overall, but are a bit more cautious than we have been at the end of last year. Turning to Aumann here on the left, revenue came down as expected by 42% to EUR 46 million in Q4.
Thanks to proactive cost measures, good management of projects, as well as the completion of several larger e-mobility orders, the EBITDA margin came in at a very strong 19%, which really speaks for the company and how well they've handled the current environment and executed on recent orders. Nevertheless, the automotive environment has remained challenging. Weighed on Q4 order intake of EUR 35 million or EUR 148 million in the full year. Positively, however, orders in the non-automotive segment are up 54% year-on-year to EUR 57 million in the full year, which underscores the success of Aumann's diversification drive into new end markets and that there's room for Aumann to gain a stronger footprint also in other industries.
Thanks to the company's very strong net cash position of EUR 148 million, management is able to continue to expand into these new end markets, not only organically, but also through acquisitions. I hope we will be able to deliver some results here in the course of this year. For 2026, management expects revenue of EUR 160 million, with a still very solid 6%-8% EBITDA margin. We hope that rising EV registrations and a hopefully soon more stable macro environment will eventually improve the overall investment sentiment again. Looking at Delignit, the environment has remained challenging overall, with LCV demand still mixed and OEM customer call-offs still volatile. Nevertheless, Q4 came in strongly at EUR 17 million in revenue and hence up 12% year-on-year.
While profitability reached an EBITDA margin of 13%, thanks to management's proactive cost management, some price adjustments, as well as a positive mix. Although the LCV and caravan business in particular remain challenging, there are interesting opportunities outside the automotive industry, such as, for example, in the rail floor business, where the company has been active for a long time, which the company continues to pursue and capitalize on organically, as well as, for example, through the recent transaction in Italy, which could provide a very interesting hub for growing this business, and generally the business outside the automotive industry. For 2026, management of Delignit expects a slight increase in revenues to EUR 66 million, with a very solid 7%-8% EBITDA margin. Well, and lastly, Hanke and CT Formpolster continue to be affected by weak consumer demand also in Q4.
Positively, however, Hanke finished the installation of its new converting capacity, which looks set to gradually ramp up going forward. Both companies have significantly optimized their cost bases in 2025 in general. Nonetheless, we expect the macroeconomic backdrop as well as volatile raw material prices to be a challenge for both companies as we move into 2026. Looking at 2026 as a whole and taking the varying dynamics in our portfolio into account, we expect broadly stable revenues in the range of EUR 1.1 billion-EUR 1.2 billion, with an adjusted EBITDA margin range of 15%-18%.
While this guidance takes some of the geopolitical and macroeconomic challenges into account, I think it underscores that 2026 really has the potential to become yet another very good year for MBB. Our balance sheet, at any rate, provides us with ample financial strength as we move into 2026, with a record net cash position of EUR 764 million at group level, of which EUR 374 million are attributable to the holding. Our companies thus continue to have ample room to maneuver the current environment, to pursue M&A, but also to focus on capital allocation. Well, and speaking of capital allocation, that brings us to our dividend proposal for a dividend of EUR 1.21 a share, which marks the 16th consecutive increase of our base dividend since 2010.
At the same time, our current share buyback program continues to progress according to plan, with shares worth more than EUR 14 million already bought back in 2026, which is, well, obviously just another way of returning capital, you know, to our shareholders. Overall, MBB has returned capital of EUR 150 million in share buybacks and EUR 109 million in dividends, including the 2026 proposal, to its shareholders since its IPO in 2006. Well then finally, we believe that the MBB share provides significant upside potential, as you can see here from our sum of the parts valuation.
As we've tried to illustrate in this, speedometer graphic, our net cash at holding level, as well as our shareholdings in our listed portfolio companies, Friedrich Vorwerk, Aumann, and Delignit, together account for a value of EUR 202 per MBB share, and thus significantly exceed MBB's current share price of EUR 173. That does not even reflect the value of our private portfolio, first and foremost DTS, but also Hanke, which together are worth several hundred million euros and basically come on top for free. Some of you might have also noticed that MBB's shareholding in Friedrich Vorwerk was reduced to slightly below 40% since the end of 2025.
As in the previous quarters, this was mainly due to demand from international investors, which we decided to satisfy, especially in January and February, in order to improve liquidity in the stock. Nevertheless, we remain highly committed to our anchor shareholding in Friedrich Vorwerk and believe the company provides significant value potential as we press ahead into 2026. You will see this reflected in our net cash position at holding level and our Friedrich Vorwerk share in Q1. The basic message you see here in our sum of the parts remains intact. We have a strong cushion of cash, a Friedrich Vorwerk with significant potential in 2026 and beyond, and Aumann, which trades close to net cash, while Delignit, DTS, and Hanke address important structural trends and are basically not valued at all in our sum of the parts.
I think this makes the MBB stock quite attractive, and I'm optimistic that our share price has the potential to pick up further with our underlying value. Well, I hope I was able to give you a brief walkthrough of our Q4 results and the outlook on 2026, and I'm happy to take your questions now.
Thank you very much for your presentation. Ladies and gentlemen, it is your turn now as we move on to our Q&A session. If you would like to ask your questions via audio line, please click on the Raise Hand button. If you are dialing in via phone, please use the key combination star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute yourself. Additionally, you can also place your questions in our chat box. So far, there are no questions yet. You made it very clear, Torben. Thank you. I will hold the room for another moment in case someone might be typing. Yeah. Can you give an update on your equity investments?
Well, as you know, we do invest parts of our net cash also on the capital market, largely in order to, you know, get an adequate return while we keep the money dry for M&A. At the end of 2025, we still had our gold investments of almost EUR 10 million. We had bonds of almost EUR 150 million. These are basically bonds in corporates, corporate bonds, as well as sovereign bonds, very spread out, conservative, largely investment grade, which give us a bit more return than you would get at the bank.
We have an equity investment portfolio of around EUR 150 million also, which is largely invested in large blue-chip companies, fairly diversified, wh ere we try to invest in a way that is complementary to our private portfolio. That's the setup we had in 2025. It has not fundamentally changed. It's just part of our general treasury and cash management.
Thank you very much. We have one hand up from Raphaël Moreau. You should be able to speak now, Raphaël.
Yes. Hi, can you hear me?
Yes.
Yes. Cool. No, yeah, I think you said, I mean, you reduced your stake in Friedrich Vorwerk in Q4. I think you reduced it again in Q1. Would you mind saying what is your current stake and also your intentions on Vorwerk?
Well, yeah, as I said, we're slightly below 40% at the moment. While most of the reduction occurred in January and February, as I've said. As you know, Vorwerk is our major portfolio company. It has done us a lot of good. We remain very committed anchor shareholder in the company. You know, we came from 36% after the IPO. We increased our stake when no one wanted to have the stock at around EUR 10, EUR 15 up to more than 50%, and we've now gone slightly below 40%. I think that's a level we feel very comfortable with and you can imagine also in the current environment, we're very happy to have that exposure as MBB.
Yeah. That's how it looks like at the moment. Also, I think that the share price has come down quite a bit and I think in case you've heard the conference call of Vorwerk earlier in the day, I think there is quite some potential in the company and we would obviously like to capture that at least with a significant stake, which I think we hold with around 40%.
Okay. The buyback on MBB itself, the program is almost finished, right? It's still live or?
It's still alive, yes. It officially runs until the 14th of April. We still have two weeks to go and I hope we will catch some of the current share prices, you know.
Raphaël, does that answer your question?
Just on M&A, are there some nice targets for 2026 on the MBB side?
Yeah. We are looking at one or two things. I would say it's nothing close to the finish line, but obviously, also if you look at the cash position we have, we would like to buy something. I think slowly there are maybe some, you know, succession topics coming up, which might become more concrete as we move throughout the year. Obviously, you know, getting that cash to productive use is one of our priorities. As you know, we always try to be conservative, especially on the standalone investments we do. You will not see us deviate from our traditional philosophy, but we definitely are keen on expanding our portfolio again.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Raphaël. We're moving back over to the questions in the chat box. Plans for the cash reserve, further acquisitions or a new AR program?
Well, as I said, we're looking at targets. We keep our conservative approach, but I think we have a couple of deals in the pipeline which could be interesting. For the buyback program, well, there's a current buyback program in place. It's still running two weeks. Let's see what we do after that. At the moment, we're buying back shares and I think, given the share price today, and you know, what you saw in the sum of the parts, I think, we're happy to have it.
Thank you. I will skip the questions regarding the same topic, but can you give an update on your M&A pipeline and target profile, the size, geography and business model?
Sure. I mean, that's, let's say, a two-layered system. When it comes to the standalone targets, we're obviously looking for larger targets. I would say at least EUR 5 million EBITDA, you know, so that they have a relevance in our portfolio. Here we are primarily focused on, in terms of geography, on the German-speaking regions in Europe, and fairly opportunistic when it comes to industry. What we like are succession solutions or management buyout situations where we feel that we can provide a significant value to the business and maybe even with, you know, a management or a former owner develop this business further. I think we have quite some references, how this can work very well. That's definitely the sweet spot.
We're looking at these types of businesses and try to find, you know, targets which match that criteria. It doesn't really matter which industry they come from. Clearly, we've had good experiences with infrastructure and, you know, things which are not too exposed to the structural changes we see in Europe. Overall, I think there are chances everywhere and we keep an open mind in terms of the industries and the companies we look at. When you look at add-on acquisitions, it's a somewhat different topic. Here, obviously we already have a platform, a company with a management. We know the industry, we know the market. We have people who can manage such an acquisition.
Here it's more about either expanding the core business, so gaining market share, but also expanding the regional footprint or expanding into new end markets. Depending on the company. Yeah. The size of businesses we look at is obviously has also a wider range. It can be a larger acquisition, but it can be also very small companies, for example, if they provide an interesting technological addition to the portfolio. That's how you can look at it, standalone and add-on acquisitions on a somewhat different track, but yeah.
Yeah. Thank you very much. So far, we have received no further questions. One more. On DTS, given the rapid technological change in IT service and IT security, wouldn't you need to speed up growth and increase size or become part of a larger enterprise to ensure critical size? Is MBB still the best owner? What are your thoughts on this topic?
Well, I can say we are a very happy 80% shareholder in this business because it addresses a very strong structural trend. It has grown very nicely over the years, last years also with almost 17% year-on-year growth. We're keen on accompanying the company and the management, which is also a 20% shareholder, in doing that going forward. I think that the topic of IT security is rapidly evolving, that's for sure. I think that provides quite some chances for DTS to get a foot into the door. You know, this space used to be very U.S. dominated. You do see European alternatives emerging.
I think that's a trend we try to capitalize on, and I think it's going to play out over the next couple of years, so we're actively looking for partnerships here. Also, if you think about the investments from the public sector going into this space, which we actively try to addr ess. I do think that there are opportunities in terms of market and growth. At the same time, we're obviously also trying to, you know, improve our product portfolio with a growing share on software solutions. You remember we had bought a company, ISL, a couple of years ago, which, you know, was the entry ticket into our own software development.
Well, that is progressing quite nicely and we believe that that's going to increase the quality of the business going forward. Obviously, AI offers optimization potential inside the company, but obviously also, you know, as a demand driver because the level of threats increases through AI and I think also in terms of security solutions themselves, AI is going to help us, you know, for example, in the SOC in our security operations center where we monitor our customer networks. These are things we're working on, and I think it's a dynamic environment which we like to be in and we like to, you know, accompany the management in pursuing all these different, you know, strategic angles they have.
Thank you very much for your questions. With that, and no further questions, we have come to the end of today's earnings call. Thank you very much for your interest in the MBB SE. A big thank you also to you, Torben, for your presentation and your time. Should you, ladies and gentlemen, have any further questions at a later date, please feel free to contact investor relations. With that, I wish you all a successful day. Handing back over to Torben for some final remarks.
Well, thank you very much for your interest in MBB, and I look forward to seeing and hearing from you soon. Take care. Bye-bye.