Foreword

“All in all, we have had a very good year.”

As for many other companies, 2025 began for us with a lot of uncertainty. The threat of a trade war with the United States and high import tariffs caused our markets to stall and investments to be postponed. This cautiousness in the market continued through the summer. In the autumn, though, markets appeared to have adapted to the uncertainties and started to pick up again.

All in all, we have had a very good year. Although, revenue decreased compared to 2024, we achieved the highest result ever, which we can be proud of. We achieved this excellent result by keeping costs in control and focusing on the added value we deliver. We are also pleased with how Eqraft® performed. Hydratec Industries’ performance has increased across the board.

The relationship between the United States and the European Union has completely changed, but this is not the only geopolitical development our company is facing. Wars still rage on at Europe’s external border, while other tensions hamper international trade. All these uncertainties inevitably led to reluctance to invest in our markets. The quality of revenue did increase again, however, as clearly shown in our margin growth. We have built a solid foundation for our organisation, partly thanks to cost reductions in recent years. Each of our companies has a strong position in its own niche. Our decentralised structure makes us agile and allows us to respond quickly to market demand. It means we can stay close to our customers and understand their needs. We have also strengthened our internal organisation in various areas, improving both our technical expertise and our management structure.

Our markets

Each of our three sub-markets experienced very different dynamics in 2025. In the Mobility market, it was another difficult year. Demand for cars continued to disappoint, causing the unrest to persist. This had a major impact on our customers, many of whom were forced to make large-scale staff cutbacks. This also led to increased pressure on prices. As a result, our revenue in Mobility decreased.

The picture in the Health market was diametrically different: it turned out to be a particularly good year, with a strong uptick in revenue. We have cemented our base in this market with the production of complex assemblies and parts that offer high added value. Our years of effort and investments are now clearly paying off in the form of marked returns.

The Food market saw lower revenue after we discontinued low-added-value activities. In this market, we operate mainly through Industrial Systems, where the reluctance to invest resulted in a limited drop in orders compared with last year.

Innovation and servitization

To maintain our strong competitive position, we need to stay ahead in our markets. We are convinced that our innovative strength is key to accelerating further, sustainable growth. Our customers come to us because of our innovative products that reduce waste. One prime example is Rollepaal’s in-line scanner for multi-layer pipes, which has been very well received by the market. We therefore continue to work intensively with knowledge centres, universities and suppliers.

We continuously tailor our services to our customers’ needs. With a focus on servitisation, we are building long-term relationships and remain available 24/7 to help prevent downtime. That is why Rollepaal and Lan Handling Technologies in the USA have moved to a central location in Atlanta, where the two companies share a service hub.

Employees and diversity

Our employees are the driving force behind Hydratec. Their expertise and commitment are invaluable. We are fortunate not to experience the same labour shortage problems that many companies in the technical sector have. In 2025, we managed to fill many of our vacancies; nevertheless, our workload remained intense at certain times. We also succeeded in retaining employees.

Diversity and inclusion are hugely important to Hydratec. We are proud of the high number of women in our board and management team, and we even came top of the Female Board Index. We aim to increase the share of women in operational positions even further. Achieving a better gender balance and diversity strengthens our decision-making and enriches the workplace culture.

2026

In early 2026, we increased our stake in Eqraft® to 80%, which means we will consolidate Eqraft®’s figures for 2026. More generally, we are looking ahead to 2026 with confidence. With our additional focus on sales and servitisation, we are convinced we are on the right path for the future.

In conclusion

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our colleagues for their sterling efforts, flexibility, passion and dedication. We are also grateful to our clients, partners, supervisory board members and shareholders for their trust and support as Hydratec Industries evolves even further.

Bart Aangenendt and Everien Slijkhuis

Co-CEOs
Hydratec Industries

The management report as referred to in Part 9 of Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code monitors the elements from the foreword to the historical summary inclusive. This version of the annual financial reporting of Hydratec Industries N.V. for the financial year ending on 31 December 2025 is not presented in the ESEF format as specified in the regulatory technical standards for ESEF (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/815). The set of ESEF reports can be downloaded at the download page.