JOST Werke SE, a leading manufacturer of safety-critical systems for commercial vehicles, reported strong second-quarter 2026 results on August 13, 2026. The company achieved a 12.7% increase in revenue to EUR 440.2 million, with organic growth of 8.9% across all regions and business lines. Adjusted EBIT rose by 18.5% to EUR 43.9 million, and the adjusted EBIT margin improved to 10.0%, within the company's strategic profitability corridor of 10% to 12%.
Group earnings after tax more than doubled, increasing by 132% to EUR 15.9 million, while adjusted earnings after tax grew by 19% to EUR 24.6 million. Free cash flow improved significantly to EUR +17.3 million, and the leverage ratio returned to the target range at 1.81x. ROCE increased by 3.5 percentage points to 16.3%.
Joachim Dürr, CEO of JOST Werke SE, highlighted the quality of growth: "JOST once again achieved strong and broad-based growth in the second quarter of 2026. The quality of this growth matters most to me as all regions and business lines contributed organically. This performance reflects market share gains driven by new customer wins and cross-selling synergies rather than acquisition effects alone."
Revenue growth was driven by all three regions. In EMEA, revenue rose by 9.5% to EUR 205.9 million, with organic growth of 3.1% after adjusting for currency and base effects. However, adjusted EBIT in EMEA declined to EUR 8.8 million due to structural adjustments and higher input costs. In AMERICAS, revenue increased by 17.1% to EUR 121.0 million, with organic growth of 14.2%, and adjusted EBIT surged by 42.3% to EUR 16.2 million, reflecting new customer wins and a better product mix. APAC recorded a 14.0% revenue increase to EUR 113.3 million, with organic growth of 14.8%, supported by strong demand in China and India; adjusted EBIT grew by 30.6% to EUR 17.8 million.
The company also highlighted strong cash generation and improved capital allocation. Oliver Gantzert, CFO, stated: "Our disciplined capital allocation is paying off. Just one and a half years after the largest acquisition in our company's history, we have increased ROCE by 3.5 percentage points to 16.3% and brought our leverage ratio back into the strategic target range."
JOST confirmed its outlook for fiscal year 2026, expecting single-digit revenue growth and mid-to-upper single-digit growth in adjusted EBIT, with an improved adjusted EBIT margin. The company remains confident despite ongoing supply chain challenges and the military conflict in Iran, which has not yet significantly impacted customer demand.
The interim report for the first half of 2026 is available at https://ir.jost-world.com/reports. The earnings conference recording will be accessible on the JOST website at https://ir.jost-world.com.
