Rational AG ramps up growth to 8 percent in the first quarter of 2026 – organic growth of 11 percent

Rational AG ramps up growth to 8 percent in the first quarter of 2026 – organic growth of 11 percent

• Sales revenues of 318 million euros
• Strong growth in North America and Europe
• iVario sales revenues up 18 percent
• EBIT margin at 23.9 percent
• Forecast confirmed

Landsberg am Lech, 6 May 2026 “With its technologically leading cooking systems, Rational offers its customers clear economic value added, especially in difficult times. Accordingly, we had a successful start to 2026, despite the current difficult environment,” reports Rational CEO Dr Peter Stadelmann. On the morning of 6 May 2026, the company, whose head office is in Landsberg am Lech, published its business figures for the first quarter of 2026.

Sales revenues of 318 million euros in the first three months of 2026
At 317.6 million euros (2025: 295.3 million euros), Rational’s sales revenues in the first quarter of 2026 were 8 percent higher than in the prior-year quarter. After exchange rate adjustments, the increase was 11 percent. “Sales revenues are in line with our expectations in the first quarter of 2026, we achieved another record for a first quarter – driven by both our cooking systems and the encouraging performance of what we call the non-appliance business,” adds CFO Jörg Walter.

Strong growth in North America and Europe
The home market of Germany continued its positive performance, generating sales revenue growth of 11 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026. Sales revenues in the Europe region, Rational AG’s region with the strongest sales revenues, went up by 8 percent in total. The momentum was particularly buoyant in Scandinavia, Spain, Switzerland, Austria as well as several Eastern European countries, all of which recorded double-digit growth rates.

North America’s performance was again very vibrant, with an increase of 11 percent compared with the prior-year quarter. “With sales revenues up by 13 percent, the United States experienced particularly strong demand for Rational products. Negative currency effects again weighed on sales revenue performance here. After exchange rate adjustments, the increase in the region was around 23 percent and demonstrates the strong operating performance,” explains Jörg Walter.

In Latin America, Rational generated significant sales revenue growth of 23 percent compared with the prior-year quarter. Sales revenues in Asia declined slightly by 3 percent, driven above all by lower sales revenues in China and negative currency effects. Positive trends in Japan and India could not fully offset these developments. Adjusted for exchange rate movements, the Asia region expanded by 6 percent. Sales revenues in the rest of the world were 9 percent down on the previous year, which is mainly attributable to lower sales revenues in Australia after an exceptionally strong fourth quarter of 2025.

iVario sales revenues up 18 percent
The iCombi product group generated sales revenues of 277.9 million euros in the first quarter of 2026, 6 percent more than in the prior-year period (2025: 261.5 million euros). The iVario product group’s performance was again better than the Group average, expanding by 18 percent year-on-year. Rational generated particularly strong increases with the iVario in Europe, North America, and Asia.

EBIT of 76 million euros and an EBIT margin of 23.9 percent
Cost of sales amounted to 134.6 million euros (2025: 120.6 million euros) in the first quarter of 2026 and therefore rose faster than sales revenues. As a result, the gross margin decreased to 57.6 percent (2025: 59.2 percent). Adverse factors included in particular negative currency effects and higher US tariffs.

Earnings before financial result and taxes (EBIT) reached 75.9 million euros in the first quarter of 2026, 5 percent more than the prior-year figure (2025: 72.1 million euros). The EBIT margin stood at 23.9 percent (2025: 24.4 percent) and was thus, as expected, slightly below the prior-year level. “Our focus was on operating costs in sales and service. The key component here is still the expansion of sales-related jobs,” says Jörg Walter. At the same time, Rational kept the overall rise in operating costs below the rate of increase in sales revenues.

Number of employees increased further
This year, Rational is again counting on the support of its employees, whom it refers to as “entrepreneurs in the company” (U.i.U.s). Their consistent commitment to serving customers is what has made Rational so successful. At the end of March 2026, the Rational Group employed 2,887 people worldwide, including 1,569 in Germany. The creation of customer-oriented jobs continued in the first three months of 2026, especially in the worldwide sales organisations.

Forecast confirmed – sales revenue growth in the mid- to high-single-digit percentage range and an EBIT margin of between 25 and 26 percent expected
“The results of the first quarter have met our expectations. We therefore remain confident and confirm our growth forecast for fiscal year 2026,” predicts Dr Peter Stadelmann. “Due to the higher tariff charges, negative exchange rate effects, and rising costs for raw materials, logistics, and energy, we expect lower margins in fiscal year 2026 than in 2025 and confirm our forecast EBIT margin of between 25 percent and 26 percent.”

Contact:

Rational Aktiengesellschaft

Stefan Arnold / Head of Investor Relations
Tel. +49 (0)8191 327-2209
Fax +49 (0)8191 327-72 2209

E-mail: ir@rational-online.com
rational-online.com

Editorial note:

Rational is the global market and technology leader for innovative cooking systems in commercial food preparation. Its customer base ranges from restaurants and hotels to company canteens, hospitals, schools, universities, military facilities, prisons and retirement homes, fast food restaurants, party catering, supermarkets, bakeries and snack outlets, butchers’ shops, service stations, and delivery services, including ghost kitchens.

According to company estimates, the potential global market for combi ovens is around 4.8 million professional kitchens, around 75 percent of whom still use traditional cooking equipment. All these appliances can be replaced with intelligent cooking systems – the iCombi, the iVario and the iHexagon. In this way customers can improve the quality of their food and save money. In addition, Rational offers a large variety of services for customers, such as accessories, care products, service parts, training, and technical services.

The results of the unique customer benefit philosophy include market leadership, growth, profitability, and stability, as reflected in the following key figures from 2025: global market share of 50 percent, sales revenues of 1,260 million euros, EBIT of 333 million euros, EBIT margin of 26 percent, equity ratio of 80 percent.