19.02.2026

Good first year for Kalmar

Finnish reachstacker and straddle crane manufacturer Kalmar has reported a strong first full year as an independent company, having split from Cargotec in May 2024.

Year to Date

Total revenues for the 12 months to the end of December were €1.74 billion one percent higher than in 2024.

The revenues were made up as follows:
New equipment sales: €1.14 billion -2%
Services €602 million +7%
Total 1.74 billion +8%

Order intake
Total order intake was €1.82 billion, up eight percent on last year.

This was made up as follows:
New equipment orders: €1.199 billion +9%
Services €618 million +7%
Total 1.82 billion +8%

Order book/backlog at the end of December was €977 million +2%

Pre-tax profit
Pre-tax profit for the year was €211 million, up 22 percent on 2024.

Net Debt at the end of September was €5 million, down from €76 million a year ago.

Fourth Quarter

Total Revenues €487 million + 11%

This was made up as follows:
New equipment sales: €324 million +11%
Services €163 million +11%
Total €487 million +11%

Total order intake was €511 million, up five percent on the same quarter last year.

This was made up as follows:
New equipment orders: €344 million +5%
Services €166 million +6%
Total 511 million +5%

Pre-tax profit
Pre-tax profit for the quarter was €57.6 million + 60%

Chief executive Sami Niiranen said: “2025 was a year of continued successful performance for Kalmar. It was also a year of geopolitical turmoil and trade tensions. In these challenging circumstances, Kalmar showed resilience in improving profitability while driving industry leading sustainable innovations. We can look back on a year where our ability to adapt rapidly to new conditions, focus on becoming a service driven company, and a drive to continuously foster innovation were instrumental. These efforts led to strong order growth, stable sales, and improved profitability.”

“The fourth quarter was a strong finish to the year with record order intake and solid sales growth, with order intake boosted by a few sizeable equipment orders. Our balance sheet has been further strengthened, while our ‘Driving Excellence’ initiative achieved €34 million in annualised efficiency improvements by the end of the fourth quarter.”

“The economic environment has remained uncertain throughout the quarter. Despite this, the overall demand for Kalmar’s products and services remained relatively stable compared to the previous quarter. The order intake increased in the Americas, decreased in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and was basically unchanged in Asia Pacific. It is especially encouraging to see that the services order intake and sales continued to develop favourably across all different regions. Our growing global installed base of 70,000 equipment units serves as a great foundation for our journey towards a services driven company.”

“Looking at 2026, we expect geopolitical challenges and trade tensions to continue, which creates uncertainty to some extent in our business environment. However, we remain committed to our strategic priorities and driving sustainable growth by leading the industry with innovations towards automation and electrification, while expanding our Services business.”

Vertikal Comment

This is a damn good start for Kalmar, which appears to be bucking the overall trend in the equipment manufacturing industry. Some of it will surely be down to the liberation from Cargotec, allowing it to be more agile and inventive. The higher profits came from a combination of slightly higher revenues, plus a strong reduction in administration overheads, while last year was affected by costs associated with the move to being a standalone business.

All in All a very positive set of numbers.