German-headquartered industry solutions group Syntegon has reported a 7% upturn in half-year sales, to €883 million, while acknowledging persisting challenging conditions in chocolate bar production markets, reports Neill Barston.

Notably, the company claimed that its improved position had been driven by successes in its pharma division, as sales rose by at total of 14% in that segment of its operations. 

Adjusted earnings rose 16%, and its order intake of EUR 964 million provides a solid foundation for continued growth, according to the company – which has continued its track of delivering key innovations including a major appearance at this year’s interpack event in Dusseldorf.

As a result of its encouraging performance, the company confirmed a positive outlook backed by a healthy order book, sustained market demand in Pharma and Biotech that have been its star performers.

“Our first-half 2026 results underline the positive impact of our strategy and the strength of Syntegon’s market position,” said Torsten Türling, CEO of Syntegon. “Our Pharma business remains our strongest growth engine. We achieved major new customer wins and market share gains in the expanding biologics market globally and in the United States in particular.”

“Our first-half results demonstrate Syntegon’s strong operating leverage. Adjusted EBITDA increased more than twice as fast as sales, taking the margin to 16.8 percent,” added Eros Carletti, CFO of Syntegon.

“This reflects the stronger earnings contribution from Pharma, operational discipline and continued improvements in project execution. Our solid order book provides a strong foundation for continued profitable growth and cash generation.”

As the business confirmed, progress within the food sector remained comparatively challenging, observing that market dynamics remained testing for the business in the first half of 2026.

This was reportedly particularly the case in the Chocolate & Bars industry where Syntegon is the global market leader.

The company noted: “Customers continue to face cost pressure, leading to cautious investment decisions. Against this backdrop, Syntegon launched new product solutions supporting customers’ need for higher efficiency and flexibility in H1.”

Moreover, the value of these solutions is reflected in customers’ increasing adoption of the SVX platform, a highly innovative vertical packaging solution. In the context of the more challenging market dynamics, the company is taking the appropriate measures to respond to the market challenges and defend its premium margin position.

Customer demands
 As the business observed, its customers are presently seeking more automated, flexible and efficient production as they respond to labor shortages, cost pressure, stricter regulations and growing portfolio complexity. In H1, Syntegon launched next-generation solutions with enhanced automation, robotics and AI-enabled functionality, supporting customers to develop their Factory of the Future. Combined with Syntegon’s holistic lifecycle services, customers achieve lowest TCO across their operational footprint.