JOST Werke SE, a leading manufacturer of safety-critical systems for the commercial vehicle industry, announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2026, showing strong revenue and profitability growth. The company's revenue increased by 12.7% year-on-year to EUR 440.2 million, with organic growth of 8.9% supported by all regions and business lines. Adjusted EBIT grew by 18.5% to EUR 43.9 million, outpacing revenue growth, and the adjusted EBIT margin improved to 10.0% from 9.5% in the prior-year quarter.
Joachim Dürr, CEO of JOST Werke SE, emphasized the quality of growth, stating, "All regions and business lines contributed organically, reflecting market share gains driven by new customer wins and cross-selling synergies rather than acquisition effects alone." The company's diversified portfolio enabled it to offset challenging market conditions in the USA. In the first half of 2026, JOST achieved its strongest half-year results ever, with revenue of EUR 857 million and adjusted EBIT of EUR 88 million.
Revenue growth was broad-based across the company's three business lines. The Transport business line saw a 5.6% increase to EUR 218.7 million, while the Agriculture business line grew by 20.2% to EUR 89.8 million. The Hydraulics business line recorded a 20.9% rise to EUR 131.7 million, boosted by strong demand from mining and construction industries and cross-selling synergies from the Hyva integration.
Regionally, EMEA revenue grew 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, with a margin of 4.3%, due to structural adjustments and higher input costs. 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 a better product mix and new customer wins. APAC revenue rose by 14.0% to EUR 113.3 million, with organic growth of 14.8%, and adjusted EBIT improved by 30.6% to EUR 17.8 million, benefiting from strong demand in India and China.
Group earnings after tax more than doubled to EUR 15.9 million, and adjusted earnings after tax rose by 19.1% to EUR 24.6 million. Earnings per share increased to EUR 0.95, while adjusted earnings per share grew to EUR 1.48. The company also reported significant improvements in cash generation and capital efficiency. Free cash flow turned positive at EUR 17.3 million, compared to EUR 0.6 million in the prior-year quarter. ROCE improved to 16.3% from 12.8%, and the leverage ratio improved to 1.81x, back within the target range of 1.0x to 2.0x.
Oliver Gantzert, CFO, commented on the company's capital allocation: "Our disciplined capital allocation is paying off. Just one and a half years after the largest acquisition in our history, we have increased ROCE by 3.5 percentage points and brought our leverage ratio back into the strategic target range." The company's equity ratio improved to 26.9% following a capital increase in February 2026.
Looking ahead, JOST confirmed its outlook for the full year 2026, expecting group revenue to increase in the single-digit percentage range and adjusted EBIT to grow at a faster pace, leading to a higher adjusted EBIT margin than in 2025. The company remains cautious about potential impacts from the military conflict in Iran but currently sees no significant effects on customer demand. The interim report for the first half of 2026 is available on the company's investor relations website.
