CEO Review

2025 was a year of continued successful performance for Kalmar. It was also a year of geopolitical turmoil and trade tensions. In these challenging circumstances Kalmar showed resilience in improving profitability while driving industry-leading sustainable innovations. We can look back on a year where our ability to adapt rapidly to new conditions, focus on becoming a service driven company, and a drive to continuously foster innovation were instrumental. These efforts led to strong order growth, stable sales, and improved profitability.

The fourth quarter was a strong finish to the year with record order intake and solid sales growth. The order intake in the fourth quarter reached EUR 511 (486) million, an increase of 5 percent boosted by a few sizeable equipment orders. Due to the good development of orders received, our order book increased to EUR 977 (955) million. 

Sales grew by 11 percent to EUR 487 (440) million. Comparable operating profit was EUR 60.5 (53.1) million, driven by higher volumes and successful cost management. Comparable profit margin was at 12.4 (12.1) percent in the quarter. Our balance sheet has been further strengthened. At the end of 2025 our interest-bearing net debt totalled EUR 5 (76) million. The leverage ratio was 0.0 (0.3), well below our long-term goal of a maximum of 2x, ensuring good financial flexibility. Within the Driving Excellence initiative we achieved approximately EUR 34 million in annualised gross efficiency improvements by the end of the fourth quarter.

The macroeconomic environment has remained uncertain throughout the quarter. Despite this, the overall demand for Kalmar’s products and services remained relatively stable compared to the previous quarter. The order intake increased in the Americas, decreased in EMEA and was basically unchanged in APAC. It is especially encouraging to see that the Services order intake and sales continued to develop favourably across all different regions. Our growing global installed base of 70,000 equipment serves as a great foundation for our journey towards a services driven company.

During the year we also continued to invest in future-proofing our business with several partnership announcements and product launches. Within electrification several important milestones were achieved in the fourth quarter. We launched a comprehensive new range of DC charging solutions in partnership with Kempower and SINEXCEL and introduced a nextgeneration lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery solution for our electric straddle carrier. The demand for low and zero-carbon products is evidenced by our eco portfolio sales which increased to 43 (41) percent of total sales in the quarter.

Looking at 2026, we guide our comparable operating profit margin to be above 12.5 percent. We expect geopolitical challenges and trade tensions to continue, which creates uncertainty to some extent in our business environment also in 2026. However, we remain committed to our strategic priorities and driving sustainable growth by leading the industry with innovations towards automation and electrification, expanding our Services business and presence, and pursuing operational excellence to ensure long-term value creation.

To all 5,300 Kalmar colleagues and partners, thank you for making every move count and for creating value for all stakeholders in 2025. I would also like to extend my thanks to our customers and shareholders for continued trust and support in Kalmar. 

Kalmar, financial statements review January–December 2025, 13 February 2026