FUCHS concludes financial year 2025 with solid results

FUCHS concludes financial year 2025 with solid results

• Sales revenues and EBIT slightly improved despite challenging economic environment and negative currency effects
• Earnings per share up by 2% for preference and ordinary shares
• Outlook 2026: Grow sales to around EUR 3.7 bn and EBIT to around EUR 450 mn
• 24^th dividend increase in a row proposed: by 5% to EUR 1.23 per preference share and EUR 1.22 per ordinary share

 FUCHS at a glance

“2025 was a challenging year from a geopolitical perspective. In addition to numerous wars, US customs policy was a particular challenge. In our home market of Germany, high energy prices and a struggling automotive industry with declining sales had a negative impact. In addition, many currencies relevant to us depreciated against the euro. Despite the difficult market environment, we generated sales revenues of EUR 3.6 billion and EBIT of EUR 435 million. At EUR 249 million, FUCHS Value Added (FVA) was close to previous highs. The once again high free cash flow before acquisitions of EUR 316 million confirms our decision to propose the 24th consecutive dividend increase.

The decentralized organizational structure of FUCHS and the nationwide network of plants and national companies have proven to be a success factor. We are active in all major markets according to the "local for local" principle. This put us in a position to again generate the previous year's highest consolidated net profit to date despite this challenging environment and underlines our company's robust business model.

Based on that foundation we are planning to generate sales of around EUR 3.7 billion and EBIT of around EUR 450 million in 2026. In this outlook, we have not assumed any significant improvement or deterioration in the economic market environment.”

Stefan Fuchs, Chairman of the Executive Board FUCHS SE

Business development in the regions

At EUR 2,048 million (2,029), sales in the Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) region were up slightly by 1% on the previous year. The acquisitions of the LUBCON Group and STRUB AG in 2024 and the takeovers of BOSS and ASEOL in 2025 resulted in external growth of EUR 37 million. EBIT in the EMEA region exceeded the previous year's very good level by 2% and reached EUR 232 million (227). While the weak automotive industry put pressure on parts of Eastern Europe and Italy in particular, Germany and Northern Europe performed especially well.

At EUR 1,002 million, sales in the Asia-Pacific region were up 2% on the previous year (986), exceeding the EUR 1 billion mark for the first time. Adjusted for negative exchange rate effects due to the devaluation of almost all local currencies against the euro, organic growth of 7% or EUR 65 million was achieved. The main driver of this development was once again China, supported by strong growth impulses from Australia and India. EBIT increased overproportionally by EUR 14 million to EUR 132 million (118) and reached a new record level.

Despite a challenging environment, the North and South America region was able to improve sales by 2% from EUR 678 million to EUR 695 million. Before negative currency effects, organic growth was as high as 7%. Weaker industrial demand in the USA as a result of the uncertainties surrounding the tariff discussions was more than offset by the successful expansion of the Aftermarket business. After challenging years, Argentina and the other South American countries also developed positively again. External growth of EUR 8 million was generated by the long-standing trading partner in Peru acquired in January and the specialist for lubricant solutions in metal forming, IRMCO, acquired in April. EBIT, on the other hand, fell by EUR 16 million to EUR 75 million. Start-up costs for new customer business, mix effects, negative one-time effects and currency headwinds had a negative impact on earnings, particularly in the North American subsidiaries. South America, on the other hand, stabilized, thanks in particular to the positive development in Argentina.

24^th dividend increase in a row

For 2025, FUCHS will propose to the Annual General Meeting a further 5% increase in the dividend to EUR 1.23 (1.17) per preference share and EUR 1.22 (1.16) per ordinary share.

The solid sales revenues and earnings development and the once again high free cash flow before acquisitions in a challenging economic environment underpin FUCHS' successful business model. Building on this, FUCHS is maintaining its long-standing dividend policy of an annually increasing dividend for 2025. This dividend promise is an important part of the corporate philosophy of allowing shareholders to participate in the company's success.

Further sales and earnings growth forecast for 2026

Global economic uncertainty due to trade conflicts, tariffs and geopolitical tensions continues to impact the market environment. With its global and broadly diversified positioning, FUCHS believes it is well equipped to further increase sales revenues and earnings in 2026. Specifically, sales revenues of around EUR 3.7 billion and EBIT of around EUR 450 million are expected for the current financial year. This growth is based on the assumption that all regions will contribute through volume-driven organic growth. It also includes the acquisition of all shares in the OPET joint venture in Turkey, which was announced at the beginning of February.

The outlook for EBIT takes into account the expenses for the integration of OPET as well as the additional costs incurred for the Transform2Grow digitalization strategy. The improvement in earnings will be supported by the continued consistent implementation of cost management.

In terms of investments, we plan to return to the pre-2025 level of around EUR 80 million. For the FVA, we expect a value of around EUR 250 million. The improvement in EBIT to around EUR 450 million will have a positive effect, offset by an expected increase in the cost of capital. We expect free cash flow before acquisitions to be around EUR 270 million, which is slightly below the prior year. The main reason for this decline, despite the improved result, is the outflow of funds into net working capital, which is increasing due to growth.

FUCHS2025 as an important milestone in the group’s development – new strategy cycle FUCHS100 will be introduced in April

"As part of FUCHS2025, we have placed great emphasis on further developing the FUCHS culture, which was confirmed by the results of our first global employee survey entitled “Voices of FUCHS.” We asked our team for feedback on what they perceive as a valuable aspect of our culture. More than 70% of our employees took part, and almost 90% of them are proud to work for FUCHS. We also received valuable feedback on how we can improve further and are now working on this worldwide. One answer to this is Transform2Grow, our transformation program involving the standardization of master data and processes, which will ultimately result in a uniform ERP system based on S/4 HANA. The resulting improvements will enable us to become more efficient and transparent. We will also gain agility and speed through the use of standardized data and artificial intelligence.

FUCHS2025 taught us to concentrate on strategically important customer segments and more intensive customer penetration. We consistently continued this approach in 2025, laying a solid foundation for the new FUCHS100 strategy process. This strategy cycle will run until 2031, the year in which we will celebrate our company’s centenary. One very positive aspect is that we see many growth opportunities. To further concentrate our activities, we have adopted the motto “Focus to Win” for FUCHS100 and will focus primarily on a small number of high-growth segments. Based on our long-standing partnerships with MERCEDES-BENZ and DMG MORI, we will enter into additional global commitments with key customers. We have a clear advantage over all our competitors: we cover all applications and have a global infrastructure. We will present the content of FUCHS100 at our Capital Markets Day on April 16."

Stefan Fuchs, Chairman of the Executive Board FUCHS SE

Mannheim, March 20, 2026

 

FUCHS SE

Public Relations

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68169 Mannheim

Tel. +49 (0)621 3802 1104

tina.vogel@fuchs.com 

www.fuchs.com/group 

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About FUCHS

Founded in 1931 as a family business in Mannheim, FUCHS is now the world's largest

independent supplier of innovative lubrication solutions, covering almost every industry and application. Today, the company's almost 7,000 employees in over 50 countries still share the same goal: to keep the world moving both sustainably and efficiently. To live up to this claim, we think in terms of perfection, not merely standards. When developing individual solutions, we enter into an intensive customer dialogue – acting as an experienced consultant, innovative problem solver and reliable team partner.

Important note

This press release contains statements about future developments that are based on assumptions and estimates by the management of FUCHS SE. Even if the management is of the opinion that these assumptions and estimates are accurate, actual future developments and results can differ significantly from these assumptions and estimates due to a variety of factors. These factors can, for example, include changes in the overall economic climate, changes in procurement prices, changes in exchange rates and interest rates, and changes within the lubricants industry. FUCHS SE provides no guarantee that future developments and the results actually achieved in the future will match the assumptions and estimates set out in this press release and assumes no liability for such.