North American Business Collapse Erodes 2025 Profits, Traton SE Dividend Cut by 45%

Investing.com – Traton SE proposed on Wednesday to set the dividend for fiscal year 2025 at €0.93 per share, nearly halving from €1.70 paid last year. Previously, this truck manufacturer under Volkswagen reported a significant decline in profits, mainly due to its North American business nearly collapsing and the impact of U.S. tariffs.

Earnings per share dropped from €5.61 to €3.09, and group sales fell 7% to €44.1 billion. Adjusted operating profit decreased from €4.4 billion to €2.8 billion, and adjusted profit margin narrowed from 9.2% to 6.3%. Total dividend payments amounted to €465 million, down from €850 million last year.

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The biggest loss came from the group’s North American brand International, with revenue down 26% to €8.2 billion, sales dropping from 90,600 to 63,700 units, and adjusted operating profit margin plunging from 6.5% to 0.1%, due to weak freight markets and uncertainty over import tariffs discouraging customer orders.

Chief Financial Officer Michael Jackstein stated that tariffs affecting performance in 2025 will now exert pressure throughout the 2026 fiscal year. The company has implemented cost control measures across the group to “try to” offset this burden.

Meanwhile, MAN Truck & Bus stood out, with new orders surging 30% to 100,000 units, and revenue slightly increasing to €14.1 billion.

The group’s largest brand, Scania, saw revenue decline from €18.9 billion to €17.9 billion, with profit margins dropping from 14.8% to 10.7%. Traton Financial Services was the only business unit to grow, with revenue up 13% to €2.2 billion.

At the group level, new orders increased 7% to 281,300 units, with European orders rising 32% due to fleet renewal demand. The order-to-shipment ratio improved from 0.8 to 0.9 but remains below 1.

Traton forecasts that 2026 sales and revenue will decline by 5% to grow by 7%, with an adjusted operating profit margin of 5.3% to 7.3%.

The truck manufacturer expects Q1 performance to be below this range, as tariff relief measures will be gradually implemented throughout the year.

Net cash flow from Traton’s operations is expected to be between €900 million and €1.7 billion, with positive cash flow anticipated only in the second half of the year.

“2026 forecasts reflect significantly greater uncertainty,” the company stated, citing geopolitical risks and U.S. trade policies.

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