Leifheit AG consistently pursues strategy in the first quarter of 2025 and confirms Group forecast for 2025

Leifheit AG consistently pursues strategy in the first quarter of 2025 and confirms Group forecast for 2025

• Group turnover in first quarter of 2025 at EUR 63.7 million
• Group EBIT of EUR 3.1 million impacted by foreign currency result
• Productivity and efficiency improvements lead to increased gross margin of 45.6%
• Free cash flow of EUR -7.2 million due to seasonal effects and significantly increased investments
• Innovation pipeline for window and surface cleaning provides growth impetus for current year
• Share buyback program 2024 completed as planned
• Group forecast for the full year 2025 confirmed:
  Group turnover growth of around 2% to 4%,
  Group EBIT expected to be in the range of EUR 15 million to EUR 17 million
  and free cash flow in the upper single-digit million euro range

Nassau, 7 May 2025 – Leifheit AG (ISIN DE0006464506), one of the leading brand suppliers of household products in Europe, consistently pursued its holistic corporate strategy in the first quarter of 2025. At the beginning of the year, the Leifheit Group faced generally weak consumer sentiment in European markets. At the same time, strategic adjustments to the product range and the insolvency of a major trade customer at the end of 2024 had a negative impact on turnover performance in the first three months of 2025 compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Against this backdrop, turnover fell slightly by 3.3% to EUR 63.7 million in the first quarter of 2025 (Q1 2024: EUR 65.9 million).

Meanwhile, the Leifheit Group achieved significant turnover growth of 12.9% to EUR 27.4 million in its home market of Germany (Q1 2024: EUR 24.3 million). In addition, the Central Europe region contributed turnover of EUR 26.7 million (Q1 2024: EUR 30.5 million), the Eastern Europe region EUR 8.7 million (Q1 2024: EUR 9.3 million) and markets outside Europe EUR 0.9 million (Q1 2024: EUR 1.8 million) to Group turnover for the reporting period.

Group earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) reached EUR 3.1 million in the first quarter of 2025 (Q1 2024: EUR 3.4 million). The slight decline in earnings was primarily influenced by a EUR 0.5 million reduction in the foreign currency result due to exchange rate developments in the first quarter of 2025. In addition, a compensation payment of EUR 0.6 million for patent infringements had a positive one-off effect in the first quarter of the previous year.

By contrast, the gross margin increased by 0.9 percentage points to 45.6% (Q1 2024: 44.7%), partly due to productivity and efficiency improvements in production. Less taxes, the Leifheit Group recorded a net result for the period of EUR 2.0 million for the first quarter of 2025 (Q1 2024: EUR 2.2 million).

Free cash flow in the first quarter of 2025 totalled EUR -7.2 million (Q1 2024: EUR 1.0 million). As part of its strategy, the Leifheit Group increased its investments year-on-year to EUR 1.8 million to expand production capacity (Q1 2024: EUR 0.5 million). In addition, the increase in turnover in March – compared with the same month last year – led to higher receivables as at the reporting date.

Alexander Reindler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Leifheit AG, says: “After a slow start to the new financial year, we are resolutely continuing to pursue our strategy: focusing on the core categories of cleaning and laundry care, expanding e-commerce in our European core markets and driving targeted innovation. In February, we launched a promising product innovation on the market in the form of the new 4in1 window and frame cleaner. In terms of earnings, the increase in the gross margin once again underlines that our measures are having an impact and making our Group even more resilient through greater efficiency.”

Turnover by segment

In the Household segment, the Leifheit Group generated turnover of EUR 54.2 million in the first quarter of 2025 (Q1 2024: EUR 55.4 million). The slight turnover decline of 2.2% is mainly due to product range adjustments in the cleaning category. The strategically important categories of mechanical cleaning and drying recorded slight growth. In particular, the strong performance of rotary dryers had a particularly positive effect.

Turnover in the Wellbeing segment with the Soehnle brand reached EUR 3.6 million (Q1 2024: EUR 3.9 million), representing a decline of 8.2%. In addition, the Private Label segment recorded a decline in turnover of 9.9% to EUR 5.9 million in the first quarter of 2025 (Q1 2024: EUR 6.6 million). French subsidiary Birambeau achieved a slight increase in turnover with its kitchen products, while Herby suffered a significant turnover decline, primarily due to the insolvency of a major trade customer in the Netherlands.

Share buyback program 

Leifheit AG has completed its share buyback program 2024, which was extended until the end of April 2025, as planned. In the period from 15 May 2024 to 30 April 2025, a total of 397,145 treasury shares were acquired at a total purchase price (including incidental costs) of around EUR 7.0 million. Including the treasury shares acquired and issued in previous years, Leifheit AG holds a total of 870,686 treasury shares as at 30 April 2025. This corresponds to 8.71% of the share capital. In addition to the shareholder-oriented dividend policy, the share buyback program contributes to the long-term increase in shareholder value.

Outlook for 2025

Alexander Reindler sees the Leifheit Group on course for the 2025 financial year: “Despite all the challenges, we remain confident about the current year. We will continue to invest in the efficiency of our production and optimise our processes. We are also advancing with our innovation management. We have another innovative surface cleaning product planned for June, which features a high degree of functionality and sustainability and has already met with a very positive response from our trading partners. With a well-filled innovation pipeline, we want to significantly step up the pace and expand in our European markets.”

Based on business development in the first quarter of 2025, the Board of Management of Leifheit AG confirms the 2025 forecast and continues to expect Group turnover growth of around 2% to 4% for the 2025 financial year. In addition, the Board of Management continues to anticipate Group earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) to be in the range of EUR 15 million to EUR 17 million for 2025, and free cash flow in the upper single-digit million euro range.

Further information can be found in the quarterly statement for the period ending 31 March 2025, available at https://www.leifheit-group.com/en/investor-relations/reports-and-presentations/.

The latest images are available for download at https://www.leifheit-group.com/en/press/media-library/. 

About Leifheit

Leifheit AG, founded in 1959, is one of the leading European brand suppliers of household items. The Leifheit Group divides its operating business into the Household, Wellbeing and Private Label segments. Leifheit and Soehnle products – two of Germany’s best-known household brands – are known for high quality and great utility for consumers. Its French subsidiaries Birambeau and Herby are active in the service-oriented Private Label segment with a selected product range. In each segment, the company focuses on its core product categories of cleaning, laundry care, kitchen goods and wellbeing. The Leifheit Group employs 993 people as of end of 2024. More information on Leifheit is available online at www.leifheit-group.com, www.leifheit.de and www.soehnle.de.