EQS-News: Brockhaus Technologies AG: Revenue for Q1 2025 at €42.4 million and adjusted EBITDA at €2.4 million; transformation of Bikeleasing into a multi-benefit platform

Brockhaus Technologies AG: Revenue for Q1 2025 at €42.4 million and adjusted EBITDA at €2.4 million; transformation of Bikeleasing into a multi-benefit platform

• Group revenue at €42.4 million and adjusted EBITDA at €2.4 million
• Bikeleasing with investments to implement its long-term growth strategy; revenue at €35.9 million and adjusted EBITDA at €3.4 million
• IHSE receives product approval for the first time for the NATO Information Assurance Product Catalogue (NIAPC); revenue at €6.5 million and adjusted EBITDA at €314 thousand
• Despite the economically challenging situation, Brockhaus Technologies continues to expect organic revenue growth to continue in fiscal year 2025 with high profitability

Frankfurt am Main, May 30, 2025. Brockhaus Technologies AG (BKHT, ISIN: DE000A2GSU42, “Brockhaus Technologies”) generated revenue of €42.4 million in the first quarter of the 2025 fiscal year, representing organic growth of +7.0% compared to the same period of the previous year (Q1 2024: €39.6 million). The adjusted EBITDA for the reporting period amounted to €2.4 million, corresponding to an adjusted EBITDA margin of 5.6% (Q1 2024: €11.4 million; 28.7% margin). Despite the economically challenging environment, Brockhaus Technologies continues to expect organic revenue growth and high profitability for the 2025 fiscal year. A concrete forecast for fiscal year 2025 will be published as part of the 2024 annual report.

In the HR Benefit & Mobility Platform segment (Bikeleasing, Probonio, and Bike2Future), revenue increased by +10.9% in Q1 2025 to €35.9 million (Q1 2024: €32.4 million). This growth was primarily driven by a significant rise in revenue from the resale of bikes at the end of their leasing term. The number of newly brokered bikes through the digital bike leasing platform amounted to 22,000 in the first quarter of 2025, representing a decline of approximately -20% compared to the same period last year (Q1 2024: 27,000 units). Generally, the corporate bicycle leasing business is subject to pronounced seasonality linked to the “warm cycling season”. As a result, a substantial portion of the annual revenue is typically generated during the second and third quarters of the fiscal year. In April 2025, the number of newly brokered bikes increased significantly and was only about -10% below the strong April of the previous year, which was the second-best month of 2024 in terms of units brokered. This positive momentum continued during the first three weeks of May (calendar weeks 19 to 21), leading to a growth of +6.3% compared to the same period in the previous year.

The adjusted EBITDA of the segment amounted to €3.4 million during the reporting period, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 9.4% (Q1 2024: €12.0 million; 37.2%). A key reason for the lower EBITDA margin was the increased share of resale revenue in total revenue, which generally has a significantly lower gross margin than the other revenue components of the segment. Additionally, the weaker bicycle season during the winter was generally characterized by substantial market-wide price discounts, leading to numerous bikes being sold at significantly reduced prices. This had a correspondingly negative impact on the gross margin in the resale business. Moreover, in the leasing business, a tranche of receivables could not be forfaited by the end of the quarter as planned. This resulted in revenue and EBITDA deferral of approximately €2 million into the second quarter.

The significantly increased costs for personnel and other operating expenses, as planned, result from strictly prioritized investments within the framework of the company’s long-term growth strategy and its ongoing transformation from a “single-benefit” to a “multi-benefit” provider. The increased expenditures are primarily attributable to the acquisition of Probonio and the establishment of Bike2Future for the marketing of used bicycles. While no expenses were incurred for these entities in the comparison period of 2024, personnel and other operating expenses amounted to approximately €2.3 million in the first quarter of 2025.

Customer onboarding at Bikeleasing continues to be very positive. As of March 31, 2025, the number of companies connected to Bikeleasing's digital platform was approximately 74,000 (+18.9% LTM growth), with around 3.8 million employed staff (+10.8% LTM growth).

In the Security Technologies segment (IHSE), revenue in the reporting period amounted to €6.5 million, representing a decrease of -10.6% compared to the same period last year (Q1 2024: €7.3 million). The decline was mainly due to a generally subdued market environment, which was particularly noticeable in the EMEA region compared to Q1 2024. In EMEA, revenue totaled €4.2 million, significantly below the previous year’s figure (Q1 2024: €5.5 million). In the Americas region, revenue increased to €1.8 million, up from €1.5 million in the prior year. In the APAC region, revenue amounted to €482 thousand, also marking an increase compared to prior year (Q1 2024: €297 thousand). In addition, larger projects were postponed from the first quarter to the second quarter. By the end of May 2025, IHSE was able to make significant revenue gains and is now on par with the previous year for the first five months of the fiscal year.

Adjusted EBITDA amounted to €314 thousand during the reporting period, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 4.8% (Q1 2024: €518 thousand; 7.1%). This was primarily due to the lower revenue level in Q1 2025 combined with fixed costs in personnel and other operating expenses. Management expects this effect to level out over the full year, so that the adjusted EBITDA margin will be at a significantly higher level.

Despite current challenges, IHSE achieved a significant milestone in the global defense and security sector with its Secure Isolated KVM extenders by obtaining the first NIAPC certification. This product category offers the highest level of protection for all data classifications and is now listed in the NATO product catalog.

The ongoing internal investigations have in the meantime revealed indications of an incorrect revenue booking in 2024 at a foreign subsidiary of IHSE in the amount of approximately €2.2 million. As a consequence, the responsible local managing director was relieved of his duties with immediate effect. This revenue was already excluded from the preliminary earnings figures published on March 7, 2025.

With regard to the postponed publication of the 2024 consolidated and annual financial statements of BKHT, the company is working diligently and in close coordination with the auditor KPMG to complete the outstanding audit procedures as soon as possible. A new date for the publication of the financial statements for fiscal year 2024 as well as for the Annual General Meeting will be announced in due course.

The financial figures stated in this release are unaudited. The Q1 2025 quarterly statement will be published on Friday, May 30, 2025. Due to ongoing audit procedures, no Q1 2025 earnings call will take place.
 

Contact:
Brockhaus Technologies – Florian Peter
Phone: +49 69 20 43 40 90
Fax: +49 69 20 43 40 971
E-Mail: ir@brockhaus-technologies.com