GPV Posts Balanced Q1 2025; Continued Focus on Adapting to New Market Conditions

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Danish-based GPV, the second-largest European-headquartered EMS company, has had a satisfactory and balanced start to 2025. In the first quarter, the Group reported sales of DKK 2.2 billion and earnings (EBITDA) of DKK 143 million. Unpredictability seems to have become a market condition, and the Group continues to adapt, aiming to realise both short-term and long-term gains.

GPV, owned by Nasdaq Copenhagen-listed Danish industrial conglomerate Schouw & Co., generated sales of DKK 2.2 billion in Q1 2025 against DKK 2.3 billion in the same period last year, a year-on-year decrease of 5% in line with expectations. Earnings (EBITDA) totalled DKK 143 million compared to DKK 155 million in the same period last year. The decline was mainly attributable to the decline in revenue:

“The key figures for the first quarter turned out as expected despite many changes to the business environment, the extent of which was not foreseeable. We are therefore pleased to have maintained good momentum, and to note that the order intake remains at a good level. The most important thing right now is to react with agility and precision to the changes that are taking place so that the activities we launch have a positive effect in both the short and long term,” explains GPV CEO Bo Lybæk.

According to Bo Lybæk, this means that GPV is reluctant to increase capex based on changes that may prove temporary, and that it is about having a steady hand and staying agile while following the long-term strategy towards a normalisation of the market situation.

Strategic adaptation to the market

The latest strategy review, performed in autumn 2024 for the period to 2028, continues to show a healthy potential, and GPV continues to execute on the plans.

Efforts to adapt and optimise the global and regional production platform are being intensified, not only to reduce costs but also to prepare for a new growth phase. Work is currently underway to consolidate GPV’s units in the three main areas of electronics, mechanics, and cable production:

In electronics production, the production unit in Malaysia was closed last year. The electronics activities in Slovakia will be consolidated at the unit in Nova Dubnica and the new unit in Piestany.

All mechanics production will be consolidated at the relatively new mechanics site in Bangkok, Thailand, which means that the site in Tarm, Denmark will be closed down.

Cable production will be consolidated in Slovakia and Sri Lanka, and the current Austrian cable production will close.

In addition, the activity level in Sweden will be reduced, whereas in Mexico, many new products have been implemented, which is expected to increase sales:

“The timing is right for implementing the necessary changes to our operational footprint. This will reinforce our competitive position both globally and regionally and result in a lower cost base, increased efficiency and higher capacity utilisation,” continues Bo Lybæk.

GPV maintains full-year expectations despite low visibility

A lot has happened in the global business environment in recent months, but according to Bo Lybæk, the industry has, so far, demonstrated resilience, which is positive. At the same time, the market is unlikely to experience real growth in the short term, partly due to increasing uncertainty:

“We still expect demand to be moderate, but we have taken actions to adapt to the situation including a substantial reduction in the number of employees in 2024. It is difficult to say when the market will rebound, but any significant increase in demand is not expected before late 2025, and it remains uncertain when and how quickly any changes will happen”, says Bo Lybæk.

Against this background, GPV still expects to generate full-year 2025 revenue in the range of DKK 8.7-9.3 billion and EBITDA in the range of DKK 590-650 million.