Review by the President and CEO

We closed 2025 with a standout fourth quarter and a year of steady progress that strengthened Exel’s foundations for growth in 2026. Our customer focus and execution discipline showed clearly by year-end in a much stronger order backlog, better utilization across our factories and a clear improvement in profitability.

For the full year, order intake was EUR 168.6 million (2024: EUR 104.9 million) and order backlog at year-end reached EUR 98.7 million (34.2). Revenue was EUR 103.2 million (99.6) and adjusted operating profit more than doubled to EUR 3.6 million (1.7), corresponding to an adjusted operating profit margin of 3.5% (1.7%).

Several significant customer engagements in strategic customer industries

In 2025, we strengthened our position in the customer industries we prioritize by winning deeper and longer-term customer commitments. The year ended with a particularly important commercial milestone: two multi-year frame agreements in composite conductor cores with De Angeli Prodotti and Tratos, totaling a minimum volume commitment of EUR 47 million for 2026–2029. These agreements demonstrate customer confidence in Exel and increase the multi-year visibility that supports sustained, organic revenue growth.

We also took important steps in Buildings and Infrastructure. During the year, we strengthened our UltraRope® business, including an agreement on increased deliveries with long-standing customer KONE. In Transportation, we continued to see active customer programs where lightweight composite profiles and tubes help customers improve performance and reduce weight.

We progressed our development work with Flying Whales, towards supplying composite components for its airship program – a good example of how we support customers from early application engineering, industrialization and finally volume production.
Activity in Defense related applications increased, as it is a business where performance, durability and repeatable quality matter – and composites are often the best answer. We supply lightweight composite solutions for portable field equipment and support structures, including our camouflage netting support telescoping poles designed for quick setup and repeated use in harsh environments.

Operational execution and a more focused footprint

Early in the year, we closed our Oudenaarde factory in Belgium. The site had not been profitable, and the wind-down was a necessary step in optimizing our network and increasing utilization across our remaining factories. During 2025, the closure-related customer work in Belgium progressed as planned, and many customers requested supply from other Exel factories. By year-end, the closure was essentially completed.

In parallel, we continued ramping up our manufacturing capability in India. Commercial deliveries continued and volumes scaled in a controlled way, with quality and delivery performance remaining the non-negotiables. Industrial Solutions accelerated during the year, and revenue in the last quarter was approximately 50% higher year-on-year, which is a concrete proof point that the ramp-up is progressing well. Together, these steps – a more focused footprint and a stronger global delivery capability – improved our execution readiness for the next phase of growth.

Orders and profitability strengthened

Record order intake and a materially higher year-end order backlog show that our strategy and customer focus is translating into longer-term commitments in the industries we prioritize. For Exel, this sharpens planning, supports stable utilization and gives us a firmer base to scale responsibly.

Profitability improved clearly in 2025. Adjusted operating profit more than doubled year-on-year, supported by stronger utilization, cost discipline and operational measures across our footprint. These actions are the building blocks of a stronger Exel – one that can grow while strengthening profitability.

Operating profit turned positive for the full year in 2025, reversing the negative operating result in 2024, and the year-on-year improvement was clearly larger than in adjusted operating profit. Reported operating profit included a positive non-recurring impact from the sale of an industrial property in the UK as well as closure-related items from Belgium.

Driving profitable growth also in uncertain times

2025 also reminded us that cyberthreats pose serious risks to any business. In July, Exel was the target of a cyberattack that resulted in a confirmed data breach. We responded quickly with internal and external experts to contain the incident, secure our systems and support affected individuals.

At the end of 2025, the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman in Finland informed us that they have processed our incident report and, based on their assessment, consider that Exel acted appropriately. The Ombudsman did not indicate further investigations. We took the lessons learned from the incident and further strengthened our cyber defenses and awareness across the organization.

Our people make the difference. Safety remains a leadership priority, and we continue working toward our “zero harm” ambition. We have also made a public commitment to continuously work on our employee engagement, because engaged teams deliver consistent execution.

Looking ahead to 2026

Exel Composites expects revenue and adjusted operating profit to increase significantly in 2026 compared to 2025, with a stronger contribution in the second half of the year. This is based on the timing of order backlog conversion, driven by customer call-offs and project schedules.

We enter the year with a stronger order backlog and the core building blocks in place. Timing will vary by customer and delivery phasing, but the long-term drivers in our focus areas remain intact – especially the multi-year investments tied to wind power, buildings and infrastructure, as well as several other recurring revenue partnerships we have with our customers.

Our focus is straightforward: deepen customer partnerships, grow the order backlog in our strategic customer industries and deliver reliably as volumes increase. We will scale with discipline, strengthening production readiness and execution across our global footprint.

I would like to thank our customers for their trust, our partners for their collaboration and the entire Exel team for the focus and commitment shown throughout 2025. I also appreciate the continued support of our shareholders as we build Exel into a stronger company with a clear path to grow and improve profitability.

Sincerely,

Paul Sohlberg
President and CEO
Exel Composites Plc