In recent months, Stadler has faced significant disruptions due to severe weather incidents affecting its operations and supply chains.
Flooding in Valencia, Spain, as well as storms in Valais, Switzerland, and Lower Austria, have impacted production schedules, forcing the manufacturer to revise its output guidance.
Valencia Operations
At the end of October, Valencia experienced severe storms and flooding, impacting activity at Stadler’s plant.
The Stadler plant in Valencia employs approximately 3,000 workers. Although the plant itself is undamaged and all workers are safe, the disaster caused logistical challenges.
Around 400 employees living in southern Valencia were temporarily unable to access the plant in the city’s northern area due to disruptions in local transportation and road access. Additionally, some external warehouses used by Stadler Valencia were affected, and around 30 of the company’s suppliers suffered severe damage to their facilities, including the destruction of production halls and flooding of warehouses.
These disruptions have delayed component deliveries and reduced Stadler Valencia’s production pace. Stadler estimates that between 150,000 and 200,000 production hours will be postponed from 2024 to 2025 as a result. Consequently, vehicles will not be delivered in line with the planned schedules.
Delays in Aluminium Supply from Constellium
A separate incident in June 2024 saw storms flood the Rhône plain, including the Valais facility of Constellium, a key aluminium supplier to Stadler.
Constellium’s factory was shut down for several months, and 800 tonnes of aluminium profiles destined for Stadler were destroyed.
While Constellium resumed partial deliveries in late October, it is not expected to fully clear the backlog until August 2025. This delay is anticipated to further impact Stadler’s production timelines.
Flood Damage to New Double-Decker Train in Austria
Furthermore, in September 2024, severe rain caused a dam to burst in Dürnrohr, Lower Austria, leading to flooding at Stadler’s commissioning centre.
Water levels reached half a metre, damaging one of Stadler’s newly manufactured ÖBB KISS double-decker trains.
Delays in Berlin Order Fulfilment
Stadler’s 2024 financial performance has also been affected by delays in fulfilling an order for Berlin’s underground network. The company won the contract with Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) in 2019, but a competitor’s legal appeal delayed the signing of the agreement by over a year.
Subsequent impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, software issues, and a lower-than-expected order volume have created under-utilisation at Stadler’s Berlin-Pankow plant, further affecting revenue.
Revised Financial Forecast
Due to these combined issues, Stadler has lowered its financial guidance for 2024. The company now expects its EBIT margin to decline by a maximum of two percentage points, down from an earlier forecast of over 5%.
Part of the anticipated revenue for 2024 will likely be deferred to 2025, though Stadler has not yet provided specific projections. It is also no longer expected that the previous revenue target of 3.5 to 3.7 billion CHF for 2024 will be met.
The long-term impact of the recent weather-related events on the 2025 and 2026 financial years remains uncertain. As a result, Stadler has decided to suspend its guidance for these years. The company plans to update its 2025 budget and 2026–2027 financial projections and will release revised guidance in early 2025.
However, the company asserts that its order backlog remains strong. As of the first half of 2024, Stadler reported an order backlog of 26.8 billion CHF, a record high for the company. Currently, 188 new orders are in progress, with an additional 150 orders in the guarantee phase.
To mitigate delays, Stadler is launching a catch-up programme, alike to the initiative used during the COVID-19 pandemic when travel restrictions and supply chain challenges affected deliveries.
“The order situation in the Stadler Group is good. We have taken all the necessary measures to make up for the backlog in production caused by the storm disasters.”
