Business volume at previous year’s level – strategic decisions shape the 2025 financial year
Dortmund, 12.05.26 - The NORDWEST Group closed the 2025 financial year with business volume of €4,654.4 million, putting it almost on a par with the previous year (+0.2%). Although expectations were not fully met last year, the Management Board is satisfied with the result in view of the challenging overall economic environment. The number of specialist trade partners developed positively, increasing by 69 to a total of 1,321 specialist trade partners as of 31 December 2025. In addition, with its major investment particularly in logistics, the trade association is setting the course for a successful future.
While business volume in the first half of the year still registered growth of 3.0% compared with the same period of the previous year, development in the second half of the year was slightly down overall at −2.6%. In terms of the types of business, the central payment and drop shipment business once again proved robust and confirmed the previous year’s figure with an increase of 0.7%. The warehouse business, by contrast, recorded a significant decline of −8.7%, weighing on overall business development. The NORDWEST Group reported earnings after income taxes of €7.6 million for the 2025 financial year, falling short of the previous year’s result by 33.7%. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) amounted to €11.0 million, 33.1% below the previous year’s figure.
Management Board member Michael Rolf explains: “The development of earnings was primarily influenced by the declining development of NORDWEST’s own warehouse business, departures of specialist trade partners during the year, and expenses in connection with measures to reduce personnel costs and investments in the new logistics location.”
Through challenging times with clarity and consistency
In many sectors relevant to NORDWEST, willingness to invest remained subdued in 2025. In the construction sector, high costs, the persistently low number of building permits and uncertain financing conditions prevented the sector from recovering. Commenting on NORDWEST’s strategy for dealing with the ongoing challenges, Management Board member Jörg Simon says: “We are acting boldly and adapting to the changed framework conditions, while at the same time continuing consistently on the path we have chosen. We pushed ahead with our major logistics and IT projects, which required us to make adjustments in the present. Despite the demanding framework conditions, we can be satisfied with the results achieved. At €4.7 billion, we generated very strong business volume.”
Management Board member Thorsten Sega adds: “Challenging situations in particular show what makes a good entrepreneur: clarity of thought, consistency in action and the ability to make decisions even when conditions are uncertain. A good entrepreneur communicates openly, acts with foresight, maintains financial discipline and invests in areas that create sustainable value. Those who combine adaptability, courage and sound judgement in difficult times create the basis for getting through them stronger. That is NORDWEST’s strategy and approach!”
Differing developments in the divisions
At the end of 2025, development at the level of the individual divisions varied. The Steel and Building Services divisions in particular performed particularly well.
Steel
In the Steel division, business volume of €1,557.6 million exceeded the previous year’s figure by +3.2%. The second half of the year saw negative development at −3.3%. The overall positive development overall resulted both from an increase in sales volume and from a higher average price level over the year. At the same time, it should be noted that the high-volume Steel division generates lower margins compared with other central payment and drop shipment businesses and the warehouse business.
Construction/Trades/Industry
The Construction/Trades/Industry division generated business volume of €1,435.3 million in the reporting year, falling short of the previous year’s figure by 4.4%.
The downturn in the Trades & Industry division continued in the final quarter. Overall, business volume of €1,003.6 million was achieved at the end of the year (−5.1%). This was due in particular to the loss of a major specialist trade partner in the first half of 2025 and the persistently weak economic development among industrial and construction-related customers. Both the central payment and drop shipment business (−3.9%) and the warehouse business (−10.5%) recorded declines.
The Construction division fell short of the previous year’s figure by 2.8%. The main factors weighing on the division were the persistently strained situation in the construction sector and the loss of a major specialist trade partner in the second half of the year 2025. While the warehouse business remained comparatively robust at −1.1%, the central payment and drop shipment business was below the previous year’s figure at −2.9%.
Building Services
The Building Services division developed very positively in the 2025 financial year. With business volume of €342.6 million, an increase of +19.0% was achieved compared with the previous year. This growth resulted in particular from the acquisition of new specialist trade partners in other European countries.
TeamFaktor/Services
With business volume of €1,318.9 million (−2.0%), the TeamFaktor/Services division did not reach the previous year’s figure. This was largely due to volume declines among existing customers in the construction and steel sectors and in the small and medium-sized enterprise segment.
Share price development and dividends
The NORDWEST share closed at €18.40 as at 31 December 2025, 8.9% below the previous year’s figure. The share price ranged from a low of €17.60 on 4 December 2025 to a high of €22.00 on 12 May 2025. As in the previous year, the NORDWEST Management Board and Supervisory Board are jointly proposing to the Annual General Meeting a dividend distribution of €1.00 per share. In doing so, NORDWEST confirms its role in the dynamic capital market as a reliable investment that creates sustainable value in a dynamic market environment.
Growing specialist trade partner base
Despite the economic challenges, the number of specialist trade partners showed encouraging growth. In the 2025 financial year, this increased by 69 to a total of 1,321 specialist trade partners, with 119 additions and 50 departures. A further expansion of the partner base is also expected for the 2026 financial year. “By continuously optimising the portfolio of services offered, NORDWEST has consistently succeeded in attracting new specialist trade partners in recent years. Alongside the traditional financial performance indicators, this key figure in particular can be used to assess the sustainable development of a trade association,” says Management Board member Jörg Simon, assessing the significance of this positive development..
Strategic priorities: logistics, exclusive brand and services
A central focus of the NORDWEST strategy remains the realignment of logistics. Construction work at the new location in Alsfeld is in its final stages, and the central warehouse will soon begin operations. The new NORDWEST logistics centre will in future form the basis for highly efficient and service-oriented deliveries to specialist trade partners. Management Board member Thorsten Sega emphasises the importance of this future project for the trade association and its partners: “With the new logistics location in Alsfeld, NORDWEST is specifically strengthening its core logistics expertise while also creating room for further growth among its existing and new specialist trade partners. High product availability, efficient processes and scalable, digitally supported logistics services form the basis for sustainably strengthening the competitiveness of our partners.”
Another key pillar of the NORDWEST strategy is the further development of the exclusive brand TECWERK. With the rebranding of PROMAT as TECWERK in 2025, the trade association repositioned its exclusive brand in terms of content, appearance and quality. In addition to the modern and strong brand presence, the assortment of almost 10,000 articles was revised. Michael Rolf summarises: “We have successfully sharpened the brand image, and acceptance in the specialist trade is high. With the exclusive TECWERK brand, the affiliated specialist trade partners have a unique selling point in the market that enables them to achieve solid margins and differentiate themselves from the competition.”
NORDWEST is also setting clear strategic priorities in the area of financial services. The ongoing development of financial products in central payment and factoring opens up tailor-made financial solutions for industrial and trade partners along the entire value chain. SME factoring in particular is now positioned to offer attractive solutions to customers outside the NORDWEST association, as well. In addition, investments in digitalisation remain a key component of the growth strategy. For years, NORDWEST has been developing digital solutions that generally enable specialist trade partners to gain customised access to the digital building blocks. This is complemented by comprehensive sales support and modern POS concepts designed to promote the success of specialist trade partners. NORDWEST also offers employees of specialist trade partners a broad range of training and qualification opportunities tailored precisely to the needs of the individual companies and the requirements of the market.
