CEO Matijas Meyer (left) and Chairman of the Board of Directors Andreas Häberli.

Matijas Meyer, how did the market perform in the 2025 financial year?

Matijas Meyer: The market situation was very challenging. In Europe in particular, there was a marked reluctance to invest among our customers, as the automotive industry remains in a weak phase. Outside Europe, the current economic environment also dampened willingness to invest, which was further exacerbated in April by the introduction of US tariffs.

What impact did the tariffs have?

Matijas Meyer: Demand for our automation solutions is high in the US industrial sector, due to rising labor costs and the shortage of skilled workers. However, the introduction of the tariffs unsettled our customers, and in some cases delayed their investment decisions. This resulted in a decline in revenues of around 16% in North America. Our market position in the US is fundamentally very strong. However, we were unable to pass on the tariffs – on top of the price increase due to the sharp weakening of the US dollar – in full. The tariffs therefore reduced the Group’s EBIT by around CHF 3 million.

What about demand for automation in the industrial sector outside the US?

Matijas Meyer: Over the past two years, demand for our solutions in the industrial, infrastructure, and transportation markets has been strong. While the Komax Group’s revenues declined by a total of 23% in this period, we achieved growth of 5% in markets outside the automotive industry. As a result, their share of revenues increased from 28% to 38%. There are signs that these markets will continue to develop positively in the future, and that demand for automation solutions will continue to rise, not least in connection with the setup of additional data centers, from which we have already benefited in 2025.

Andreas Häberli, what are the strategic priorities at the moment?

Andreas Häberli: In addition to steadily reducing our dependence on the automotive industry and expanding our service business, we are focusing on further strengthening our market position in China. We expect this market to continue to grow despite the current overcapacity in Asia, and are aligning our organization accordingly. Our growth potential is considerable, especially as only 10% of our revenues in China are currently attributable to markets outside the automotive industry.

What ist done to exploit this potential?

Andreas Häberli: Despite rigorous cost-cutting measures, the Komax Group has continued to make targeted investments in Asia, particularly in China and India, over the past two years. The acquisition of Hosver, the leading manufacturer of machines for processing high-voltage cables used in electric vehicles, and the investment in E-Plus have contributed to this. E-Plus distributes the most widely used manufacturing execution system (MES) for wire harness production in China, which we now sell exclusively outside China. In addition, we have significantly expanded production at our plant in Tianjin.

How is this expansion of local machine production in China progressing?

Matijas Meyer: We made significant progress in 2025. We launched both a fully automatic twisting machine and a machine for processing data wires. Data wire processing is becoming increasingly important as more and more sensors and data wires are required in vehicles due to the increasing use of driver assistance systems and the transition to autonomous driving. We now produce the majority of our machines according to the “local for local” principle, and therefore have comparable framework conditions to our Chinese competitors. We plan to close the remaining gaps in our Asian product portfolio by the end of 2026. It’s great to see how the transfer of know-how within the Komax Group is increasingly paying off. It’s no longer just our Chinese production sites in Tianjin and Suzhou that benefit from the wealth of experience of our European colleagues. Today, the transfer of knowledge works in both directions, helping to further increase cost efficiency in Europe as well.

The transformation is of enormous importance for the long-term success of the Komax Group.
—  Andreas Häberli, Chairman of the Board of Directors

Why is expenditure on research and development (R&D) not falling more sharply, even though you’re developing and producing more and more in Asia?

Andreas Häberli: Our strategic target R&D ratio is 8–9%. At 12.2%, the ratio in 2025 was clearly above this target value, although 2025 R&D expenses have already been reduced by 9.8% or CHF 7.9 million since the peak in 2023. On the one hand, this is due to both the lower level of revenues and on the other to the ongoing transformation process within the Komax Group.

What does this transformation process involve?

Andreas Häberli: This process consists of two components. Firstly, there’s the integration of Schleuniger, which has led to adjustments in the organizational structure, the product portfolio, and the sales network of the Komax Group, and was successfully completed by the end of 2025. Secondly, we now have a stronger strategic focus on the Asian market, which has resulted in numerous structural changes. The transformation is of enormous importance for the long-term success of the Komax Group. However, it entails additional costs in the initial stages.

Where are these costs incurred?

Matijas Meyer: We have consistently reduced duplications in the significantly expanded product portfolio resulting from the combination with Schleuniger. Irrespective of this, we will have to continue providing warranty services for several years due to the discontinuation of various Komax and Schleuniger products. This entails R&D expenses in the area of maintenance. Building up the product portfolio in Asia also entails additional costs. Although R&D expenses in Europe will fall in future once the localization is complete, certain parallel structures are unavoidable in the current transition phase, in which we are driving forward the expansion of our presence in Asia while the transfer of expertise has not yet been fully completed. We also implemented a series of restructuring measures at various locations in 2025, particularly in Europe, which resulted in costs of around CHF 9 million.

From 2026, our cost base will be at least CHF 25 million lower than in 2024.
—  Matijas Meyer, CEO

When will these restructuring measures pay off?

Matijas Meyer: Since 2024, we have brought in a comprehensive package of measures to gradually streamline the organizational structure of the Komax Group. A significant proportion of these measures has already been completed. Together with the ongoing initiatives, the number of engineering and production sites will have been reduced by 25% within just over two years by 2026, i.e., from 30 to 22 sites. From 2026, our cost base will be at least CHF 25 million lower than in 2024.

Did you manage to reduce costs in 2025 already?

Matijas Meyer: At the beginning of the year, we had planned cost savings of CHF 10 million from 2026, with CHF 3 million of those savings achieved in 2025. Over the course of the year, we took additional measures to leverage further synergies and significantly reduced our cost base once again. We implemented these measures, which included significant job cuts, very quickly. As a result, we have already achieved savings of around CHF 20 million in 2025 – CHF 17 million more than originally planned. This enabled us to generate a positive operating result despite the decline in revenues, negative currency effects, restructuring costs, and US tariffs. This is a remarkable result, and would not have been possible without the great support and flexibility of our employees. I would like to thank them warmly for this.

How are you planning to achieve the mid-term target?

Andreas Häberli: We are aiming for a double-digit EBIT margin from 2027. In view of the current results, this goal may seem a long way off at first glance. However, this impression is deceptive: With the cost-cutting measures mentioned above, we have already reached important milestones on the way to achieving this goal. The consistent implementation of these measures has significantly reduced the break-even point. As a result, we will need revenues of no more than CHF 650 million in future in order to achieve a double-digit EBIT margin. Although this figure is around CHF 70 million higher than the revenues we realized in 2025, it remains well below the revenue level of CHF 752 million that the Komax Group achieved in 2023. If we continue to implement our strategy in a targeted manner and thereby expand our service business, continue our growth in the industrial, infrastructure, and transportation markets, and further strengthen our market position in Asia, I am confident that we will be able to achieve our target – especially when the automotive industry begins to overcome its weak phase.

Where will the focus be in 2026?

Matijas Meyer: Our focus remains on implementing our strategy, and thus on increasing profitability, in order to pave the way for a double-digit EBIT margin. We will therefore continue to drive forward with the measures we have introduced in order to further reduce our cost base. At the same time, we will continuously review whether additional steps are required. We need to stay close to our customers and maintain an active dialog in order to understand their needs precisely. This is the only way we can offer them sustainable added value with our solutions and differentiate ourselves from the competition. The various new products that we are launching in 2026 will make an important contribution to this.