adesso SE reports dynamic sales growth of 13% and a disproportionately high increase in EBITDA of 21% for the first half of the year / Full-year forecast confirmed

adesso SE reports dynamic sales growth of 13% and a disproportionately high increase in EBITDA of 21% for the first half of the year / Full-year forecast confirmed

* Sales growth of 13% to EUR 794.3 million in the first half of 2026

* EBITDA up 21% to EUR 45.8 million after six months

* Capacity utilisation picks up noticeably from the middle of the second quarter

* The GenAI business is emerging as a measurable driver of growth

* Full-year forecast for sales and earnings reaffirmed

The 2026 half-year report published today highlights adesso Group’s continued dynamic performance, with sales growth of 13% to EUR 794.3 million and a disproportionately large improvement in operating profit (EBITDA) of 21% to EUR 45.8 million. Despite the weak macroeconomic climate, digitalisation initiatives are being driven forward, meaning that adesso’s expertise is in high demand in growth areas such as cloud transformation and artificial intelligence, particularly for platform modernisation and application integration. The acquisition of omni:us, a leading AI claims platform in the insurance sector, announced on 12 August, underlines the company’s commitment to continuing to shape the AI transformation. Double-digit percentage growth in sales was achieved in almost all of adesso’s core sectors. Additional investment in the public sector led to a catch-up effect in the second quarter in what is adesso’s most significant sector in terms of sales. Following a weaker start to the year, the utilisation rate of the company’s own staff developed positively from the middle of the second quarter onwards, alongside the continued significant reduction in new hires. This trend is continuing at the start of the second half of the year, meaning that the full-year forecast appears well within reach and is reaffirmed. In the second quarter, which had the fewest working days, sales for 2026 rose by 12% year-on-year to EUR 396.2 million. Operating profit (EBITDA) stood at EUR 18.8 million, 9% below the corresponding quarter (Q2 2025: EUR 20.8 million), primarily due to the even weaker capacity utilisation at the start of the 2026 quarter. Cumulative sales, however, rose by 13% to EUR 794.3 million, almost entirely through organic growth. At EUR 45.8 million, the result for the first half of 2026 was 21% higher than the previous year (EUR 37.8 million) and thus also slightly above the company’s own forecasts. The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff as at the reporting date rose by 7% to 11,515 (previous year: 10,794), a figure that continued to increase at a significantly lower rate than sales, and reflects the expected productivity gains resulting from agency-based software development. Around half of the new hires were based abroad, which supports the expansion of SmartShore capacities and, consequently, a further improvement in cost structures. As Germany’s largest indigenous IT service provider, adesso now secures a large number of contracts as a general contractor, meaning that material costs have risen by 18% compared with the previous year due to the use of external resources. By contrast, staff costs and other operating expenses increased by 12% and 3% respectively, which was slightly below the rate of sales growth and thus helped to increase margins.

Despite macroeconomic growth rates remaining below average, adesso is benefiting from digitalisation as a driver of economic growth. In July, the industry association Bitkom forecast market growth of 9.9% for the software segment and 3.1% for the IT services sector for the full year 2026. With its own sector-specific consultancy and software development offering, adesso was able to further expand its market share in these attractive segments in the first half of 2026. Sales grew at double-digit rates year-on-year across all core sectors, with the exception of the automotive sector, which is particularly sensitive to economic cycles. The utilities sector performed particularly strongly, recording growth of 32%. Insurance, Retail and Banking also saw significant sales growth of 22%, 15% and 14% respectively. In the public sector, the expected catch-up effects are finally becoming apparent, driven by additional budgets. Growth accelerated to 10% after the first six months (Q1 2026: +5%).

The generative AI business gained significant momentum in the first half of 2026 and is making an increasingly measurable contribution to the adesso Group’s order intake. New orders, which were directly influenced by generative AI, totalled 73.7 million EUR in the first half of the year. In total, 72 Group clients across seven European countries commissioned GenAI-related projects, ranging from the development of agent-based systems and AI-supported customer dialogues to the modernisation of central application landscapes. Around 44% of the volume was accounted for by new business, a clear indication that AI expertise is opening up new client relationships. Demand spans all sectors, with a particular focus on banking, industrial manufacturing, energy suppliers and retail.

With the recent acquisition of omni:us, an AI specialist in insurance claims, adesso is also underlining its position as a leading implementer of AI in the market and is thus continuing its strategy of integrating AI productively and securely into its customers’ core processes. The in|sure Ecosphere from adesso insurance solutions is thus being expanded to include automated, AI-supported claims processing. It resolves simple claims fully automatically and provides support for complex decisions. Clients include Allianz, UNIQA and MS Amlin.

Sales growth of 16% was achieved overseas and 12% in Germany. With sales growth of 16% in Switzerland, adesso’s second-largest national subsidiary is making a significant contribution to the strong overseas performance, following a period of weaker business development there in 2025. During the first half of the year, Group-wide sales amounted to EUR 398.1 million in the first quarter and EUR 396.2 million in the second quarter (previous year: EUR 351.2 million and EUR 353.3 million). Given the slower pace of recruitment, a slight reduction in the growth rate from 13% in the first quarter to 12% in the second quarter compared with 2025 is in line with expectations.

EBITDA for the second quarter was 9% below the figure for the same period last year, which is primarily due to periodic timing effects, alongside initially weaker capacity utilisation. In absolute terms, the second quarter contributed EUR 18.8 million to operating profit. Cumulative EBITDA for the first half of the year improved by a total of 21% to EUR 45.8 million (previous year: EUR 37.8 million). This corresponds to an EBITDA margin of 5.8%, compared with 5.4% in the previous year. With the utilisation rate of the company’s own staff in the first half of 2026 being slightly weaker than in the previous year, the slight improvement in profitability is primarily attributable to other operating expenses only increasing at a disproportionately lower rate of 3% compared to sales growth.

In the first half of 2026, the average number of full-time equivalents for the period rose by 9%. As a result, staff costs increased by 12% – slightly less than the growth in sales – to EUR 550.6 million (previous year: EUR 493.6 million). This corresponds to a moderate 2% increase in staff costs per FTE, whilst annualised gross profit per FTE rose by 3% compared with the same period last year, from €112,000 to €116,000. This generally positive trend was offset in the first half of the year by a disproportionately high 18% increase in the cost of materials to EUR 131.0 million (previous year: EUR 111.5 million), which rose more sharply than sales, primarily due to the use of external project staff and partners. As described, other operating expenses rose by just 3% to EUR 81.1 million (previous year: EUR 79.1 million), thereby increasing margins.

Compared with the previous year, depreciation and amortisation rose slightly more than business performance, increasing by 14%, or EUR 5.0 million, to EUR 40.1 million. A large part of this increase, amounting to EUR 2.1 million, is attributable to the full write-down of the recognised goodwill relating to the shares in material.one AG, carried out as part of the routine impairment test, as the company’s sales had fallen short of the original forecasts. A further EUR 1.4 million was written down on the capitalised development costs for its software platform.

The result from investments fell to EUR -2.0 million (previous year: EUR -1.4 million) and the financial result to EUR -6.2 million (previous year: EUR -5.3 million). The imputed tax rate stands at -194%, compared with -87% in the previous year. Largely influenced by the goodwill write-down, consolidated profit for the period was at the previous year’s level of EUR -7.2 million (previous year: EUR -7.2 million); earnings per share improved to EUR -0.87 (previous year: EUR -1.06), particularly as a higher proportion of the loss is attributable to minority interests.

Further key figures and information

Financial liabilities, taking into account ongoing repayment instalments and the raising of new loans in the first half of 2026, are 29% above the level as at 31 December 2025 and have risen by a total of EUR 51.7 million to EUR 204.4 million. Working capital has risen by 22% year-on-year, from EUR 213.8 million to EUR 259.8 million; however, compared with 31 March 2026, it has increased by only a further 3%. This underlines the gradual normalisation of pre-financing requirements following the sharp rise compared with the end of 2025 (31 March 2026: EUR 252.0 million; 31 December 2025: EUR 199.2 million). Owing to the smaller increase in net working capital in the first half of 2026, cash flow from operating activities improved to €-28.1 million (previous year: €-38.7 million). This was primarily due to a significant increase in advance payments received, as well as a smaller increase in trade receivables compared with the same period last year.

As at the reporting date, adesso reported cash and cash equivalents of EUR 49.2 million, compared with EUR 44.9 million in the previous year. Net debt as at the reporting date stood at €-155.3 million (31 December 2025: €-73.7 million; 30 June 2025: €-143.0 million).

Outlook

Compared with the forecasts announced for 2026, the overall economic environment has deteriorated noticeably following the first half of the year due to the impact of the war in Iran on the global economy. Largely independent of this, the sector-specific conditions for the IT sector remain favourable. The sales growth achieved, as well as the improvements in the contribution to earnings, give cause for cautious optimism. Business performance in the first half of 2026 is largely in line with the Executive Board’s expectations. The utilisation rate, which has improved markedly since the middle of the second quarter and remains at a higher level, is expected to result in a significantly higher contribution to earnings in the second half of the year, with two additional working days compared with the previous year and nine additional working days compared with the first half of 2026. The Executive Board therefore reaffirms its 2026 forecast range for sales and operating profit. Accordingly, sales are expected to increase to between EUR 1.6 and 1.7 billion, with EBITDA reaching between EUR 130 and 150 million.

The full half-year report and a table comparing key performance indicators over a period of several years are available at www.adesso-group.de/en/, in the Investor Relations section.

adesso Group
With more than 11,500 employees and annual sales of close to EUR 1.5 billion in 2025, adesso Group is one of the largest German IT service providers with outstanding growth opportunities. At its own locations in Germany, other locations in Europe and the first locations in Asia, as well as at numerous local customers adesso offers consulting and software development services for optimising core business processes. adesso also offers ready-to-use software products for standard applications. The development of an own, industry-specific product portfolio opens up additional growth and earnings opportunities and is another key element of the adesso strategy. adesso was recognised as a Top Employer in 2025 and as the best employer in its size category in Germany across all industries in 2023 and 2020. After having already achieved first place among IT employers in 2016, 2018 and 2020, adesso was ranked first again in 2023.