Marc Llistosella, Chief Executive Officer of Knorr-Bremse AG: “Our company remains on track – buoyed by strong demand, our resilient business model and rigorous implementation of our strategy. The performance of our Rail division in particular is contributing substantially to our success. In the Truck division, despite the significant market weakness in the United States during the current fiscal year, we were able to maintain a double-digit operating EBIT margin and achieve an increase of 50 basis points in the third quarter. We are systematically restructuring our portfolio with our most recent acquisitions, which underscore our growth ambitions. The takeover of duagon enables us to strengthen our business with electronics and software solutions for rail vehicles and further expand our high-margin revenue share of the Rail division.”
Frank Weber, Chief Financial Officer of Knorr-Bremse AG: “Knorr-Bremse has done its homework and has a very solid financial footing. In times of geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty, this gives us freedom and represents a clear competitive advantage. Our best profitability in 16 quarters – 13.3% in the past quarter – confirms this impressively. The focus last year was on preparing and implementing adjustment of the portfolio. This year, we’re adapting our structures so that we can address the issue of sustainable growth and expansion more strongly in the coming year.”
The persistently high demand in the Rail division and the continued solid performance of the Truck division despite market weakness clearly underline Knorr-Bremse’s resilience. In particular, the Rail Vehicle Systems (RVS) division made a substantial contribution to our overall success.
The order intake improved significantly year-on-year to € 6,440 million (9M 2024: € 6,182 million). The order book increased by 4.4% to € 7,368 million as at September 30, 2025 (September 30, 2024: € 7,058 million). Organically, this even equates to a rise of 8.2%. Consolidated revenues were € 5,839 million and thus largely stable compared with the first nine months of 2024 despite considerable exchange rate effects (9M 2024: € 5,897 million). Organically, revenues rose slightly by 0.4%.
Consolidated earnings improved on the back of the higher revenues in the Rail division, resultant economies of scale, targeted efficiency measures and successes in restructuring of the portfolio. Operating EBIT rose by 3.3% to € 749 million (9M 2024: € 725 million). The operating EBIT margin improved accordingly from 12.3% in the prior-year period to 12.8%, an increase of 0.5 percentage points. In the third quarter alone, the operating EBIT margin improved by one percentage point to 13.3%. Free cash flow rose positively in the first nine months thanks to the good operating performance and working capital optimization, reaching € 319 million, an increase of almost 30% despite the negative impact of exchange rate effects (9M 2024: EUR 248 million).
Overview of Development in Both Divisions
Rail Vehicle Systems Division (RVS):
- Order intake increased due to the persistently high demand in the global rail market, up a significant 13.5% to € 3,773 million (9M 2024: € 3,323 million)
- The order book increased to € 5,659 million (September 30, 2024: € 5,222 million)
- Revenues improved 8.2% to € 3,219 million (9M 2024: € 2,976 million)
- Operating EBIT rose by a significant 13.8% to € 526 million (9M 2024: € 463 million)
- The operating EBIT margin increased to 16.4% (9M 2024: 15.5%)
Commercial Vehicle Systems Division (CVS):
- Order intake amounted to € 2,667 million (9M 2024: € 2,861 million) and organically was at the previous year’s level
- Given the challenges in the truck market, the order book remained at a high level of € 1,710 million as at September 30, 2025 (September 30, 2024: € 1,838 million)
- Revenues in the first nine months were € 2,622 million, 10.3% behind the comparable period of the previous year (9M 2024: € 2,922 million) due to market-related factors and exchange rate effects as well as portfolio adjustments; organically, revenues only fell by 3.3%
- Operating EBIT declined to € 264 million, mainly due to volumes (9M 2024: € 314 million)
- Profitability was almost maintained despite the market-driven reduction in volume and stood at 10.1% (9M/2024: 10.7%)
EBIT and Cash Flow Guidance for 2025 confirmed
Knorr-Bremse confirms its EBIT and cash flow guidance for the 2025 fiscal year. This is based on the assumption of stable geopolitical and macroeconomic environments, exchange rates at the level of October 2025 and no major impacts from possible tariffs. Knorr-Bremse expects revenues of between € 7,800 million and € 8,100 million, an operating EBIT margin of 12.5% to 13.5% and a free cash flow of between € 700 million and € 800 million.
