TESA SE Overview
tesa SE is one of the world's leading manufacturers of pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes and self-adhesive system solutions, and the industrial-technology arm of the Beiersdorf Group. Roughly three-quarters of its approximately €1.7bn in annual sales come from industrial customers, where tesa engineers application-specific bonding, mounting, masking, protection, sealing and splicing solutions for consumer electronics, automotive, electrical systems, printing and packaging, and building and general industry. The remaining quarter comes from the globally recognized tesa consumer and craftsmen brand sold through retail, DIY, stationery and e-commerce channels. tesa's differentiation rests on coating and adhesive chemistry, co-development with OEMs, and a global plant network in Germany, Italy, China, the USA and Vietnam. It is structurally more profitable than most tape peers (EBIT margin excluding special factors ≥16% in every year 2021–2025), but it is also exposed to cyclical electronics and European automotive demand, and its growth has slowed to low single digits since 2023.
What tesa does
tesa develops, manufactures and markets technical adhesive tapes, self-adhesive films and self-adhesive system solutions. The company's own boilerplate describes it as a multinational that develops innovative adhesive tapes and self-adhesive product solutions for industries, commercial customers and end consumers, with more than 7,000 solutions in the range. Two illustrative intensity metrics the company publishes are more than 130 tesa tapes per electric vehicle and over 70 per smartphone.
Company description from the latest annual report (Beiersdorf AR 2025, paraphrased)
Beiersdorf reports tesa as one of its two business segments, "tesa," alongside "Consumer." In FY2025 the segment generated sales of €1,676m (17.0% of group sales). Management attributes the year's performance to three forces:
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continued growth in consumer electronics, where tesa expanded its role as a key supplier for smartphone and tablet manufacturing;
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solid growth in printing and packaging;
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headwinds in European automotive, US tariffs, and price pressure in electrical systems.
The tesa consumer business delivered stable results with strong e-commerce growth.
Business model and revenue model
| Dimension | Characterization |
|---|---|
| Revenue model | Almost entirely product sales (tapes, films, dispensers, consumer mounting systems). Engineering, application support and automation integration are bundled into product pricing rather than billed separately. No material subscription or licensing revenue is disclosed. tesa scribos (security and anti-counterfeiting) and historical pharma patch development (tesa Labtec) were adjacent B2B models; their current scale is not disclosed. |
| Industry vs. consumer mix | FY2024: Industry €1,315m (77.9%), Consumer €367m (21.8%), others about €6m. FY2025: about three-quarters industry, per company boilerplate. The FY2025 divisional split was not disclosed in the reviewed excerpt. |
| Value-chain position | Midstream converter and formulator. tesa buys polymers, resins, solvents, liners, films, foams and paper; formulates adhesive masses; coats and converts them into rolls and die-cuts. It sells either direct to OEMs and Tier-1s (Direct Industries) or via distributors and converters (Trade Markets / industrial distribution), and through retail for consumers. |
| Customer types | Global electronics OEMs and their EMS/assembly partners; automotive OEMs and Tier-1s (body-in-white, interiors, wire harness); printing houses, paper mills and packaging converters; electrical-component makers; building and construction contractors; industrial distributors; DIY and hardware chains, stationery, mass retail and e-commerce. |
| End-markets | Consumer electronics; automotive (including e-mobility and battery); electrical systems; printing and paper (flexo plate mounting, splicing); packaging; building and construction; general industry and industrial maintenance; consumer DIY, home and office. |
Independent characterization
tesa is best understood as a specification-driven specialty materials business wrapped around a consumer brand. Its industrial franchise depends on being designed into a customer's product or process (a smartphone back-cover bond, a battery-cell fixation, a body-in-white hole closure, a flexo-plate mount). That creates switching costs once qualified, but it also exposes tesa to "project cliff" risk when a programme ends or a platform shifts suppliers. The FY2024–FY2026 commentary shows this dynamic clearly. New electronics projects in Asia drove growth in 2024 and 2025, while H1 2026 commentary cites electronics headwinds. The consumer division gives brand stability and channel diversity but has faced persistent price pressure in Europe.
The segment's financial profile is that of a high-quality mid-cap specialty chemical company:
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EBIT margin of about 16%;
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R&D intensity of about 5%;
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EBIT return on net operating capital of 27–30%;
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low capital intensity (capex about 4% of sales in 2025).
Organic growth, however, has decelerated from 13.6% (2021) to 1.8% (2025), and 2026 guidance is flat to slightly positive.
Strategy
Stated strategic themes
| Theme | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Innovation and technology leadership in high-performance tapes instead of mass products | tesa Türkiye release; CEO statements (Sep 2025) |
| Customer co-development: innovations customized at product and process level | tesa boilerplate |
| Geographic expansion into high-growth regions (Asia, India, Southeast Asia) | AR 2024 notes investments in geographic expansion; India offices; Singapore lab |
| Digitalisation | AR 2024; Snowflake data and AI platform initiative |
| Sustainability: product-range transformation, solvent-free processes, renewable energy | AR 2024/2025; Offenburg release |
| Under the new CEO: "unlock customer added value at scale" and take tesa to "the next chapter of sustainable growth" | Bahrami statement, 23 Sep 2025 |
| Historic framework: "tesa Strategy 2025" | tesa Geschäftsentwicklung 2019 |
The themes below come from tesa communications and the Beiersdorf AR 2024/2025.
Initiative register (last 24 months)
| Initiative | Date | Description | Targets / status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offenburg plant expansion | Construction start Oct 2025 | New production building to adapt capacity for industrial and consumer products | Production start 2027; investment amount not disclosed |
| Sustainability transformation programme | Ongoing to 2030 | About €300m global investment in the sustainable transformation of the business, including climate-neutral production | 90% of global electricity already from sustainable sources (Oct 2025) |
| German climate protection agreement (Klimaschutzvertrag) | Income recognised FY2025 | Government-backed contract supporting decarbonisation of production | Income booked in the 2025 other operating result; amount not disclosed |
| Reorganisation of tesa division | FY2025 | Structural reorganisation | €19m expense (special factor); savings target not disclosed |
| Marketing and sales efficiency | FY2025 | Cost savings in marketing and sales | Marketing and selling costs reduced from €325m to €315m |
| QuadAlliance (holographic windshield displays) | Announced 3 Feb 2026 | tesa handles mass replication of holographic optical element films | Series production targeted by 2029 |
| Singapore innovation lab | Feb 2026 | New state-of-the-art lab; research partnerships including Debonding on Demand | — |
| Data and AI platform (Snowflake) | 2025/2026 | Centralised data platform for shop-floor machine data and AI use cases | — |
| India market build-out | Nov 2024 | Offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru | — |
| Automation partnerships | 2026 (LinkedIn) | Joint automated application process with Cellios (automation engineering) | Commercial terms not disclosed |
| Talent pipeline | Jul 2025 | 51 new apprentices and dual students in Germany (15 at HQ) | Response to skilled-labour shortage |
Medium-term targets and guidance
| Item | Guidance | Source |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 (initial) | Organic growth 1–3%; EBIT margin excl. special factors about 16% | Beiersdorf Half-Year Report 2025 |
| FY2025 (actual) | +1.8% organic; 16.1% margin, within guidance | Beiersdorf AR 2025 |
| FY2026 | Flat to slightly positive organic growth; EBIT margin excl. special factors slightly below prior year (16.1%) | Beiersdorf AR 2025; confirmed in ad hoc, 3 Aug 2026 |
| Beiersdorf group 2027–2028 | Return to net sales growth in 2027 with margin stabilisation; from 2028, above-market growth and steady margin improvement (group-level; no tesa-specific medium-term target published) | Ad hoc, 3 Aug 2026 |
Products & Services
tesa does not publish SKU-level revenue or pricing. Pricing is B2B project-based for industry and retail list pricing for consumer products; launch years are given only where publicly attested.
tesa Industry — Direct Industries
| Product line / platform | Description and key capabilities | Target customer | Notes / flagship |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electronics mounting tapes (front and back module mounting) | Thin double-sided PSA tapes and die-cuts for display, cover glass and back-cover bonding; shock resistance and thin bond lines | Smartphone and tablet OEMs and EMS | AR 2024/2025 cite further development into customized solutions |
| Battery bonding solutions | Tapes and die-cuts for fixing and insulating battery cells in devices | Electronics OEMs | AR 2025 |
| Conductive adhesive tapes | Electrically conductive tapes for grounding and EMI shielding | Electronics OEMs | AR 2025 |
| Reactive adhesive tapes | Tapes that cure after application for structural strength | Electronics, automotive | AR 2024 |
| Optically clear tapes, light-management tapes, barrier tapes | Display stack optical bonding, light blocking and reflecting, moisture/oxygen barrier | Display and electronics | tesa LinkedIn keyword list |
| ACXplus acrylic foam tapes | High-performance acrylic core tapes for structural mounting (trims, emblems, appliance panels) | Automotive, home appliances, construction | tesa Türkiye release (Dec 2024) |
| Automated hole-closure tapes ("hole covering") | Pre-cut patches applied robotically to body-in-white holes, replacing plastic plugs | Automotive OEMs (body shop) | Cited as key growth driver in China and North America (AR 2024/2025) |
| Door seal products | Tapes for door seal attachment | Automotive OEMs and Tier-1s | AR 2025 |
| E-mobility solutions | Battery-pack and cell tapes, insulation and fixation | EV OEMs and battery makers | AR 2024 (North American projects) |
| Wire harness tapes | Abrasion, noise-damping and bundling tapes | Wire harness Tier-1s | tesa LinkedIn product keywords |
| Surface protection films | Temporary protective films for painted, metal and glass surfaces | Automotive, construction, appliance | tesa LinkedIn product keywords |
| Electrical systems tapes | Insulation and component tapes for electrical equipment | Electrical-component OEMs | AR 2024/2025 (price pressure, destocking) |
| Holographic film replication | Mass replication of holographic optical element (HOE) films | Automotive (HWD via QuadAlliance) | Announced 3 Feb 2026; production targeted by 2029 |
| Debonding on Demand | Adhesive systems designed to separate at a chosen stage (repair, recycling) | Electronics and circular-design OEMs | Research focus at Singapore lab (Feb 2026) |
tesa Industry — Printing, paper and packaging
| Product line | Description | Target customer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flexographic plate-mounting tapes (tesa Softprint family) | Compressible foam tapes for mounting flexo printing plates | Flexo printers and packaging converters | Flexo segment expansion cited in AR 2024/2025 |
| Splicing tapes (paper mills and printing) | Tapes for flying splices during reel changes | Paper mills, printers | AR 2025 cites splicing tapes for paper as a growth area |
| Packaging and strapping tapes | Carton sealing, strapping and bundling, palletizing | Logistics, packaging | Preqin profile; AR 2024 (packaging industry trend) |
tesa Industry — Trade Markets / industrial distribution and building
| Product line | Description | Target customer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masking tapes (painting, high-temperature) | Paper and film masking for painting and coating | Painters, auto refinish, industrial finishing | Historic tesa masking business unit |
| Insulation and marking tapes | PVC and other electrical insulation; floor and safety marking | Industrial maintenance, electricians | Preqin profile |
| Duct, cloth and repair tapes | General-purpose industrial and MRO | Industrial distributors | — |
| Building/construction tapes | Sealing, vapour-barrier and airtightness tapes | Construction trades | Building industry downturn cited (AR 2024/2025) |
| Lower-carbon product generations | Same-performance products with considerably reduced carbon footprint | Industrial distributors | AR 2024 notes successful launches |
tesa Consumer (end consumers and professional craftsmen)
| Product line / brand | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| tesafilm / transparent office tapes | Iconic transparent tape and dispensers | Core stationery franchise; stationery declined in 2024/2025 |
| tesa Powerstrips / self-adhesive fastening systems | Drill-free hooks, strips and mounting systems | Main growth driver in 2024 and 2025 |
| Nie wieder bohren ("never drill again") range | Drill-free bathroom and home mounting accessories | Bathroom accessories declined in 2025; goodwill impairments in 2024 |
| tesamoll sealing tapes | Draught-excluding foam and profile seals | Growth driver in 2025, but declined in 2024 |
| tesa Insect Stop (fly screens) | Self-adhesive insect screens | Growth driver in 2024 |
| Repair tapes (e.g., tesa extra Power) | Cloth and duct-type repair tapes | Growth in 2024; decline in 2025 |
| Painter's masking tapes | DIY masking | Declined in 2024 |
| Packaging tapes (consumer) | Parcel tapes | Declined in 2024 and 2025 |
| Channels | DIY/hardware, mass retail, stationery, professional trade, e-commerce | Retail and e-commerce grew in 2025; professional trade and stationery declined |
Adjacent and other businesses
| Unit | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|
| tesa scribos GmbH | Anti-counterfeiting labels and digital product authentication software (tesa 360 Data referenced in 2019 report) | Part of tesa per 2019 business report; current scale not disclosed |
| tesa Labtec GmbH | Transdermal patches (Transfilm) and oral thin films (Rapidfilm) for pharma partners; sites Hamburg and Langenfeld | Named in 2019 tesa report |
Financial Narrative
Income statement (tesa segment)
Sources: Beiersdorf Segment Reporting AR 2022 (FY2021–22), AR 2023 (FY2023), AR 2025 (FY2024–25). EBITDA margins are analyst calculations.
Source: Beiersdorf AR 2025, Segment Reporting notes and Special Factors table. Gross profit and margins are analyst calculations from disclosed cost of sales.
Special factors detail (tesa):
FY2025: €-19m reorganisation expenses in the tesa division.
FY2024: €-3m goodwill impairment for tesa nie wieder bohren GmbH, €-5m impairment of remaining intangibles from the same purchase price allocation, and €-1m "Care Beyond Skin" programme costs.
FY2022: Implied net special factors of €-14m (EBIT €264m vs.
Not publicly disclosed for tesa: pre-tax income, net income, EPS (basic/diluted), dividends per share. tesa SE pays dividends or transfers profit to Beiersdorf AG intra-group; amounts are not disclosed in reviewed sources.
Capital deployment and cash generation (segment-level)
Source: Beiersdorf Segment Reporting. The "FCF proxy" is an analyst construct (gross cash flow less segment capex) and excludes working-capital changes, taxes and leases at segment level. It is not a reported free cash flow.
Not publicly disclosed for tesa: operating cash flow after working capital, dividends paid, buybacks (not applicable to a subsidiary).
Balance sheet and capital efficiency (segment-level)
Sources: Beiersdorf Segment Reporting. Net operating capital, turnover and per-employee figures are analyst calculations. Employee basis changes: FY2021–FY2023 FTE as originally reported; FY2024–FY2025 headcount (FY2024 restated from 5,405 FTE).
Not publicly disclosed for tesa: total assets, cash and equivalents, total debt (short/long), net debt, equity, goodwill and intangibles, working capital detail, ROE, ROA, ROIC (segment ROC above is the closest disclosed measure), current ratio, debt/equity, net debt/EBITDA, interest coverage, cash conversion cycle.
Interim 2026 (latest)
Sources: Beiersdorf Half-Year Report 2025; Beiersdorf ad hoc release, 3 Aug 2026; H1 2026 earnings call summary (MarketBeat, 5 Aug 2026). Q2 2026 tesa organic growth was +2.5%, which implies a weaker Q1 2026 (Q1 figure not separately verified). Management attributed lower H1 2026 EBIT to weaker electronics contributions, higher input costs and growth investments.
Parent context — Beiersdorf AG group (the only listed exposure)
Source: Beiersdorf AR 2025, Ten-Year Overview. Basic and diluted EPS are identical as reported. Dividend shown for the fiscal year to which it relates.
Commentary on trends, inflections and drivers
Growth. tesa's top line followed a boom-then-plateau pattern. The 2021–2022 surge (organic +13.6% and +8.8%) reflected post-COVID restocking, electronics demand and inflation-driven pricing. From 2023, organic growth fell to about 2–3% per year as European industrial demand stagnated, automotive (especially European e-mobility) weakened, customers destocked in electrical systems, and consumer pricing power faded. Asia (+5.7% in 2024, +6.6% in 2025 organic) has been the consistent growth engine, driven by new electronics projects and Southeast Asia and India expansion. Europe has been negative for two consecutive years.
Profitability. Margin resilience is the standout feature. EBIT excluding special factors held in a narrow 16.0–16.9% band over five years despite raw-material inflation in 2022, which compressed reported EBITDA margin from 22.4% to 20.4%. The drivers differed by year:
2024: a gross-margin increase and favourable FX more than funded higher investment in innovation, digitalisation and geographic expansion.
2025: gross margin fell from about 46.4% to 45.2% (analyst calculation) and FX was adverse; cost savings, especially in marketing and sales (€325m to €315m), plus other operating income (including the climate-protection-agreement income) limited the margin decline to 20bp.
Inflection signals. The €19m reorganisation charge in 2025, a new CEO from Henkel in October 2025, and 2026 guidance for a margin "slightly below" 16.1% suggest the segment is entering a reset phase. Management is investing in capacity (Offenburg 2027), Asia and new technologies while accepting near-term margin dilution. The decline in gross cash flow (€262m to €223m) and the drop in EBITDA (€351m to €325m) in 2025 are larger than the change in adjusted EBIT, partly because D&A fell from €84m to €75m.
Capital efficiency. Return on net operating capital of 27–30% is high for an industrial materials business and reflects a mature, depreciated asset base. Capex has been modest (€63–99m) and is set to rise with the Offenburg expansion and the €300m sustainability-transformation programme to 2030.
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Revenue by Segment and Revenue by Segment (%)
| Metric | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
tesa sales (EUR Mn) | 1,498 | 1,668 | 1,667 | 1,688 | 1,676 |
Consumer segment sales (EUR Mn) | 6,129 | 7,131 | 7,780 | 8,162 | 8,176 |
Beiersdorf group sales (EUR Mn) | 7,627 | 8,799 | 9,447 | 9,850 | 9,852 |
tesa share of group sales (%) | 19.6 | 19.0 | 17.6 | 17.1 | 17.0 |
tesa EBIT excl. special factors (EUR Mn) | 253 | 278 | 266 | 276 | 270 |
tesa share of group EBIT excl. special factors (%) | 25.5 | 24.0 | 21.0 | 20.1 | 19.6 |
tesa EBIT margin excl. special factors (%) | 16.9 | 16.7 | 16.0 | 16.3 | 16.1 |
Consumer EBIT margin excl. special factors (%) | 12.1 | 12.3 | 12.9 | 13.4 | 13.6 |
tesa organic sales growth (%) | 13.6 | 8.8 | 3.2 | 1.9 | 1.8 |
Revenue by Segment and Revenue by Segment (%) (FY2023–FY2024)
| Metric | FY2023 | FY2024 |
|---|---|---|
tesa Industry sales (EUR Mn) | 1,292 | 1,315 |
tesa Consumer sales (EUR Mn) | 371 | 367 |
tesa Industry share of tesa sales (%) | 77.5 | 77.9 |
tesa Consumer share of tesa sales (%) | 22.3 | 21.8 |
tesa Industry organic growth FY2024 (%) | — | 2.6 |
tesa Consumer organic growth FY2024 (%) | — | -1.0 |
Income Statement and Margin Analysis (%)
| Metric | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sales (EUR Mn) | 1,498 | 1,668 | 1,667 | 1,688 | 1,676 |
Nominal sales growth (%) | 13.1 | 11.3 | 0.0 | 1.2 | -0.7 |
Organic sales growth (%) | 13.6 | 8.8 | 3.2 | 1.9 | 1.8 |
EBITDA reported (EUR Mn) | 336 | 341 | 351 | 351 | 325 |
EBITDA margin reported (%) | 22.4 | 20.4 | 21.1 | 20.8 | 19.4 |
Depreciation and amortization (EUR Mn) | 83 | 77 | 80 | 84 | 75 |
EBIT reported (EUR Mn) | 253 | 264 | 271 | 267 | 251 |
EBIT margin reported (%) | 16.8 | 15.8 | 16.3 | 15.8 | 15.0 |
EBIT excl. special factors (EUR Mn) | 253 | 278 | 266 | 276 | 270 |
EBIT margin excl. special factors (%) | 16.9 | 16.7 | 16.0 | 16.3 | 16.1 |
R&D expense (EUR Mn) | 66 | 75 | 79 | 84 | 89 |
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View Subscription PlansIncome Statement and Margin Analysis (%) (FY2024–FY2025)
| Metric | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|
Cost of sales (EUR Mn) | 905 | 918 |
Gross profit, calculated (EUR Mn) | 783 | 758 |
Gross margin, calculated (%) | 46.4 | 45.2 |
Marketing and selling expenses (EUR Mn) | 325 | 315 |
EBITDA excl. special factors (EUR Mn) | 360 | 344 |
EBITDA margin excl. special factors (%) | 21.3 | 20.5 |
Special factors (EUR Mn) | -9 | -19 |
Valuation Snapshot
| Metric | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
Sales CAGR FY2021–FY2025 (4 years) | ≈2.9% | (1676/1498)^(1/4) − 1, analyst calculation |
Sales CAGR FY2020–FY2025 (5 years) | ≈4.8% | FY2020 sales €1,325m (ten-year overview) |
EBIT excl. special factors CAGR FY2021–FY2025 | ≈1.6% | (270/253)^(1/4) − 1 |
Cumulative organic growth FY2021–FY2025 | ≈32% | Compounded organic rates |
Cumulative FX/structural drag FY2023–FY2025 | Nominal growth trailed organic by 3.2pp (FY23), 0.7pp (FY24), 2.5pp (FY25) | Beiersdorf AR |
Cash Flow and Financial Ratios (x)
| Metric | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gross cash flow (EUR Mn) | 236 | 267 | 250 | 262 | 223 |
Capital expenditure incl. acquisitions (EUR Mn) | 37 | 83 | 99 | 63 | 66 |
Capex as % of sales | 2.5 | 5.0 | 5.9 | 3.7 | 3.9 |
Gross cash flow minus capex, FCF proxy (EUR Mn) | 199 | 184 | 151 | 199 | 157 |
Capex to D&A (x) | 0.45 | 1.08 | 1.24 | 0.75 | 0.88 |
Balance Sheet and Returns & Leverage Ratios (%)
| Metric | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gross operating capital (EUR Mn) | 1,150 | 1,250 | 1,195 | 1,227 | 1,263 |
Operating liabilities (EUR Mn) | 306 | 298 | 302 | 306 | 328 |
Net operating capital, calculated (EUR Mn) | 844 | 952 | 893 | 921 | 935 |
EBIT return on net operating capital (%) | 29.9 | 27.6 | 30.4 | 28.9 | 26.8 |
Sales to gross operating capital (x) | 1.30 | 1.33 | 1.39 | 1.38 | 1.33 |
Employees at 31 Dec (number) | 4,827 | 4,982 | 5,189 | 5,224 | 5,316 |
Sales per employee (EUR K) | 310 | 335 | 321 | 323 | 315 |
Income Statement and Margin Analysis (%) (Half-Yearly)
| Metric | H1 2025 | H1 2026 |
|---|---|---|
tesa sales (EUR Mn) | 858 | 839 |
tesa organic growth (%) | 3.0 | -0.9 |
tesa EBIT (EUR Mn) | — | 136 |
tesa EBIT margin excl. special factors (%) | — | 16.2 |
Income Statement and Per-Share Data
| Metric | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Group sales (EUR Mn) | 7,627 | 8,799 | 9,447 | 9,850 | 9,852 |
Group EBIT excl. special factors (EUR Mn) | 993 | 1,158 | 1,268 | 1,370 | 1,378 |
Group EBITDA (EUR Mn) | 1,220 | 1,379 | 1,554 | 1,651 | 1,648 |
Group profit after tax (EUR Mn) | 655 | 771 | 749 | 928 | 955 |
EPS (EUR) | 2.81 | 3.33 | 3.24 | 4.05 | 4.25 |
Dividend per share (EUR) | 0.70 | 0.70 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
Group R&D (EUR Mn) | 268 | 291 | 320 | 354 | 365 |
Total equity and liabilities (EUR Mn) | 11,299 | 12,348 | 12,629 | 13,011 | 12,758 |
Equity (EUR Mn) | 6,894 | 7,805 | 8,339 | 8,495 | 8,618 |
Equity ratio (%) | 61 | 63 | 66 | 66 | 68 |
Year-end share price (EUR) | 90.38 | 107.20 | 135.70 | 124.00 | 93.68 |
Market capitalization at 31 Dec (EUR Mn) | 20,500 | 24,315 | 30,779 | 27,679 | 20,471 |
Revenue by Region
| Region (EUR Mn) | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
Europe | 770 | 767 | 757 |
Americas | 288 | 284 | 270 |
Africa/Asia/Australia | 609 | 637 | 649 |
Total tesa | 1,667 | 1,688 | 1,676 |
Region Margins & Growth (%) and Revenue by Region (%)
| Metric (%) | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|
Europe nominal growth | -0.4 | -1.3 |
Europe organic growth | -0.5 | -1.5 |
Americas nominal growth | -1.3 | -4.9 |
Americas organic growth | 0.0 | -0.2 |
Africa/Asia/Australia nominal growth | 4.5 | 1.9 |
Africa/Asia/Australia organic growth | 5.7 | 6.6 |
Europe share of tesa sales | 45.5 | 45.2 |
Americas share of tesa sales | 16.8 | 16.1 |
Africa/Asia/Australia share of tesa sales | 37.7 | 38.7 |
Region Overview
| Region | Industry dynamics (FY2024–FY2025) | Consumer dynamics |
|---|---|---|
Europe | Printing and packaging grew strongly in 2024; automotive hit by market decline and e-mobility weakness and project postponements; most industrial sectors flat in 2025 | Persistent price pressure; demand dampened by cost of living and interest rates; craftsmen business hit by construction downturn |
North America | Printing and packaging grew; automotive grew in 2024 on e-mobility projects, then declined in 2025 with the e-mobility slowdown and US tariffs; electrical systems hit by price pressure and destocking | Not separately discussed |
Latin America | Solid to strong industrial growth in all divisions (2024); solid growth (2025); automotive gains | Flat in 2024 due to price competition; below prior year in 2025 |
Asia (incl. Turkey, India, Southeast Asia, China) | New electronics project business; India and Southeast Asia high growth; China automotive share gains; China electrical systems hit by price pressure; distribution structure optimisation in China | Not material in commentary |
Share Price and Per-Share Data
| Metric | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beiersdorf year-end share price (EUR) | 90.38 | 107.20 | 135.70 | 124.00 | 93.68 |
Beiersdorf dividend per share (EUR) | 0.70 | 0.70 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
Beiersdorf market cap at 31 Dec (EUR Mn) | 20,500 | 24,315 | 30,779 | 27,679 | 20,471 |
Performance Window Details
| Performance window (to early Aug 2026) | Indication |
|---|---|
Year-to-date 2026 | Down about 20–25% at the April–May lows (about €70); about €82 after the H1 release (early Aug 2026) |
1-year | Down about 40% at the lows (spring 2026 reports) |
3-year and 5-year | Below the end-2023 peak of €135.70 and below the end-2021 level (€90.38) at the 2026 lows |
Capital Markets
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
Valuation (Beiersdorf) | P/E about 22x (finanzen.net, Aug 2026); market cap about €17bn; dividend yield about 1.1% |
Analyst ratings (Aug 2026) | Bernstein Outperform (target €95); JPMorgan Neutral (€80); Goldman Sachs Neutral; UBS Neutral; Barclays Underweight (€68); DZ Bank Hold; Deutsche Bank Hold |
Consensus | Spring 2026 average target about €88; 2026e EPS about €4.37 before the August cut. Bernstein expected about a 15% consensus cut after the warning. |
Implied tesa valuation | No market price exists. Sum-of-the-parts analysis by brokers is not disclosed. Applying specialty-materials multiples to tesa's FY2025 EBITDA excl. special factors of €344m would be a hypothetical exercise and is not presented as fact. |
Dividend policy (parent) | Dividend €1.00 per share for FY2023–FY2025, raised from €0.70 |
Buyback (parent) | Up to €750m for 2026–2027; first tranche of up to €100m |
Debt maturity profile | Not applicable or not disclosed (no tesa public debt) |
Analyst Conclusions
Management guidance
FY2026 (tesa): flat to slightly positive organic sales growth; EBIT margin excluding special factors slightly below 16.1%. Confirmed on 3 Aug 2026 even as group guidance was cut.
H1 2026 actuals: organic -0.9%; Q2 +2.5%; margin 16.2%.
- Reaching flat-to-positive for the full year therefore requires H2 organic growth of roughly +1% or better (analyst inference).
Beiersdorf group: return to net sales growth in 2027; above-market growth with margin improvement from 2028.
Consensus expectations
No tesa-specific consensus is published. Beiersdorf consensus was revised down after August 2026 (Bernstein expected about a 15% cut). The low-single-digit tesa trajectory is implicitly embedded.
Bull case
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Asia and electronics compounding. Asia grew 5.7% and 6.6% organically in 2024–2025 and is now 38.7% of sales. If electronics project wins resume (Q2 2026 was already +2.5% at segment level), mix shift toward Asia can return tesa to 3–5% growth by 2027.
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Margin resilience with operating leverage. tesa held 16.0–16.9% margins through inflation and destocking. With the €19m reorganisation done, marketing efficiencies, and Offenburg capacity from 2027, any volume recovery should flow through at high incremental margins.
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Option value from new technology and new leadership. The QuadAlliance (HWD by 2029), Debonding on Demand and a CEO with Loctite-scale experience create credible new growth vectors and potential for disciplined bolt-on M&A, backed by a parent with a 68% equity ratio.
Bear case
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Structural low growth. Four-year sales CAGR is only about 2.9%; Europe (45% of sales) is shrinking; consumer pricing power is limited.
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Margin erosion has started. Gross margin fell about 1.2pp in 2025, EBITDA fell 7%, gross cash flow fell 15%, and 2026 guidance implies further slippage amid Middle East-driven input-cost inflation and electronics headwinds.
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Concentration and parent risk. Electronics project volatility (H1 2026), US tariffs and Chinese price pressure expose tesa to swings. Meanwhile, the parent's NIVEA turnaround and guidance cut could constrain tesa's investment budget or force strategic choices outside tesa's control.
Catalysts and monitorables (next 12 months)
| Catalyst | Expected timing |
|---|---|
| Beiersdorf 9M 2026 statement: tesa Q3 organic growth and electronics trend | Late Oct 2026 (date to confirm) |
| FY2026 results and FY2027 tesa guidance; first full-year strategy signals from CEO Bahrami | About Mar 2027 |
| Evidence of reorganisation savings in margin and marketing cost lines | FY2026–FY2027 |
| Offenburg expansion commissioning progress | 2,027 |
| Raw-material and energy cost trajectory; Middle East developments | Continuous |
| US tariff regime for automotive inputs | Continuous |
| Any Beiersdorf portfolio review language regarding tesa | Any time; low probability, high impact |
| QuadAlliance milestones (OEM nominations) | 2027–2029 |
Analyst verdict
tesa SE is a high-quality but currently low-growth specialty-materials franchise, housed inside a consumer-goods parent that is itself under strain.
The quality case is unambiguous in the numbers. Over FY2021–FY2025 tesa delivered EBIT margins excluding special factors between 16.0% and 16.9%, returns on net operating capital of 27–30%, rising R&D intensity (5.3% of sales in 2025), and modest capital needs. In Beiersdorf's difficult 2026, tesa has been the steadier segment: its guidance was confirmed while the group's was cut, and its H1 margin of 16.2% held up.
The growth case is weaker. Organic growth has settled at about 2% for three years. Europe, still 45% of sales, is contracting. The 2025 results show the first signs of margin erosion beneath a stable adjusted EBIT line: gross margin, EBITDA and gross cash flow all declined. The arrival of an industrial-adhesives operator from Henkel as CEO, the €19m reorganisation, and visible investments (Offenburg 2027, the €300m sustainability programme to 2030, the Singapore lab, the HWD alliance) indicate that management knows the franchise must be re-accelerated rather than harvested.
For investors, the only route to tesa exposure is Beiersdorf stock, where tesa is about 17% of sales and about 20% of adjusted EBIT. That makes tesa a stabiliser in the investment case rather than its driver. tesa itself merits a "quality hold" characterisation.
The key swing factors over the next 12–18 months are:
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whether Asian electronics and automotive automation wins can offset European weakness;
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whether Bahrami's first strategic plan (likely visible with FY2026 results) includes bolt-on M&A;
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whether input-cost inflation can be passed through without breaking the 16% margin floor.
A sustained drop below 15% adjusted margin, or a second year of negative organic growth, would materially weaken the thesis. A return to 3–5% organic growth at a stable margin would justify viewing tesa as an under-appreciated asset within Beiersdorf.
Sources consulted
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Beiersdorf AG Annual Report 2025 (published 3 Mar 2026): Results of Operations – Group; Results of Operations – Business Segments; Segment Reporting; Ten-Year Overview; FAQ
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Beiersdorf AG Annual Report 2024 (published 27 Feb 2025): Results of Operations – Business Segments
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Beiersdorf AG Annual Report 2023 and Annual Report 2022: Segment Reporting
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Beiersdorf Half-Year Report 2025
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Beiersdorf EQS ad hoc release, 3 Aug 2026; RTTNews; t-online/dpa-AFX; MarketBeat H1 2026 call highlights; Quartr summaries
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tesa SE press releases: management change (23 Sep 2025); QuadAlliance (3 Feb 2026); apprentices (30 Jul 2025); tesa Türkiye 30 years; Changes to the Executive Board (23 Sep 2019); "Three men and a woman on board" (2020); tesa Labtec renaming (2013)
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CHEManager (Offenburg expansion, 20 Oct 2025; CEO change, 24 Sep 2025; Bandfix sale, 2012); chemie.de; packaging-journal.de
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Hyundai Motor Group / Hyundai Mobis release (Feb 2026); Automotive World
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IT Brief Australia (Singapore, 10 Feb 2026); The Machine Maker (India offices)
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Börsen-Zeitung (18 Dec 2019); Lebensmittel Zeitung (nie wieder bohren; HQ relocation; archival sale comment); FINAT (Bandfix, 2012)
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Rhône Group (N. Goldberg biography); MarketScreener (K. Bahrami)
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finanzen.net / finanzen.at, boerse-express.com, cash.ch (Beiersdorf share price and analyst ratings, 2026)
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Lincoln International (Functional Coatings transaction); tesa Geschäftsentwicklung 2019
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Adhesives & Sealants Industry (Snowflake initiative)
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View Subscription PlansExecutive Leadership
Board of Directors
| Name | Title | Tenure | Prior roles | Education |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dr. Kourosh Bahrami | Chairman of the Executive Board (CEO) | Since 1 Oct 2025 | More than 25 years at Henkel; most recently President / Global Business Head Adhesive Technologies Industrial (LOCTITE industrial adhesives); experience in sales, marketing and supply chain; lived and worked in Europe, the US and Asia | Business administration (Diplom-Kaufmann), University of Cologne and HEC Paris; doctorate, University of Vienna; executive programme, Harvard Business School |
Dr. Jörg Diesfeld | CFO (appointed Jan 2020) | — | Beiersdorf AG since 2003 (Germany, Russia, USA); VP Finance / CFO Pharmacy & Selective Brands | Doctorate in economics |
Oliver Höfs | Executive Board member, Trade Markets (appointed 2016) | — | Joined Beiersdorf tesa division in 1998; tesa Greater China (Shanghai); Regional Manager Eastern Europe (Budapest) | Studied in Lüneburg |
Angela Cackovich | Executive Board member, Direct Industries (appointed Jan 2020; first woman on the board) | — | — | — |
Andreas Rummert | Head of Global Operations (executive, not confirmed as board member) | Current (2026 LinkedIn reference) | — | — |
Board & Management Changes
| Date | Change | Context |
|---|---|---|
23 Sep 2019 (effective 1 Jan 2020) | Goldberg succeeds Dr. Robert Gereke (retired) as CEO; Cackovich joins the board | Planned succession |
Jan 2020 | Diesfeld succeeds Jan Christoph Teetz (CFO since 2006) | Teetz resigned his seat effective 30 Apr 2020 |
1 Jan 2020 | Supervisory Board chair Dr. Ulrich Schmidt succeeded by the former vice-chair; Beiersdorf CFO Dessi Temperley joins the Supervisory Board | Supervisory Board renewal |
23 Sep 2025 (effective 1 Oct 2025) | Bahrami succeeds Goldberg, who leaves at his own request | Goldberg credited with transforming tesa into a global adhesive-solutions company; he later joined Rhône Group as Senior Advisor (2026) |
Directors' Remuneration
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
Structure | German two-tier SE model: Executive Board (management) plus Supervisory Board (oversight) |
Composition, independence, committees | Not publicly disclosed in reviewed sources; Beiersdorf executives have historically sat on the board (e.g., Beiersdorf CFO from 2020) |
Chair/CEO separation | Yes (structural under the German two-tier model) |
Executive compensation | Not publicly disclosed (tesa is not subject to listed-company remuneration reporting) |
Major Shareholders
| Holder | Stake in tesa SE | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Beiersdorf AG | 100% | Since 2001 |
Competitive Landscape
Competitors by Segment
| Segment | Competitors | Positioning versus tesa |
|---|---|---|
Electronics tapes | 3M; Nitto Denko; Sekisui Chemical; LINTEC; DIC; Shenzhen/Chinese converters and tape makers | 3M and Nitto are scale leaders in Asian electronics; tesa is a top-tier specialist with strong design-in positions |
Automotive tapes | 3M; Nitto Denko; Lohmann; Avery Dennison (Performance Tapes); Saint-Gobain Tape Solutions; Coroplast and Certoplast (wire harness) | tesa strong in body-in-white automation, mounting (ACXplus) and wire harness; Europe-heavy exposure |
Printing and paper (flexo mounting, splicing) | 3M; Lohmann; Scapa (now part of Mativ) | tesa among leaders in flexo plate mounting and splicing |
Industrial distribution and packaging | 3M; Shurtape; IPG (Intertape Polymer, private); Berry Global (now Amcor); regional players | Commodity-adjacent; tesa competes on brand and performance |
Building tapes | 3M; Saint-Gobain; Siga; pro clima; regional specialists | Construction downturn affects all players |
Consumer / DIY | 3M (Scotch, Command); Henkel (Pattex, Pritt, Loctite); Bolton (UHU); private labels | tesa brand leadership in German-speaking Europe; Command is the closest analogue to tesa Powerstrips |
Liquid industrial adhesives (adjacent) | Henkel Adhesive Technologies; H.B. Fuller; Arkema (Bostik); Sika | Substitution and competition with tapes in assembly |
Peer Comparison FY2025
| Company | Latest revenue | Growth trend | Operating margin | R&D intensity | Data status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
tesa (Beiersdorf segment), FY2025 | €1,676m | +1.8% organic | 16.1% EBIT excl. special factors | 5.3% | Verified, Beiersdorf AR 2025 |
3M, FY2025 (whole company; tapes are a sub-segment of Safety & Industrial and other units) | ≈USD 24–25bn | Low single digit | ≈high-teens to low-20s % adjusted | ≈4–5% | — |
Nitto Denko, FY ending Mar 2026 (whole company) | ≈JPY 1.0tn | Low-to-mid single digit | ≈high-teens % | ≈5–6% | — |
Avery Dennison, FY2025 (whole company; Performance Tapes is a sub-unit) | ≈USD 8.8bn | Low single digit | ≈mid-teens % adjusted | ≈1–2% | — |
Henkel Adhesive Technologies, FY2025 (liquid adhesives mostly; partial overlap) | ≈€10.5–11bn | Low single digit organic | ≈16–17% adjusted EBIT | ≈2–3% (group) | — |
