After some delays, the procedure for the acquisition of Iveco’s entire share capital by India’s Tata Motors appears to have reached its final stage. The Turin-based company announced the development in its statement on second-quarter 2026 results, specifying that only one approval from the competent authority is still pending and that, based on information received from Tata Motors, all requests made have been satisfied. Iveco Group expects final authorisation to be granted by the end of August 2026, with the offer to be launched in the first days of September and closing expected in early November.
As regards performance in the second quarter, consolidated revenues rose to €3.764 billion, up 7.3% from €3.507 billion in the same period of 2025, supported mainly by higher European volumes, while revenues from industrial activities stood at €3.696 billion, up 7.9%. Adjusted operating profit (EBIT), however, fell to €131 million from €171 million in the second quarter of 2025, with the margin narrowing to 3.5% from 4.9%. The decline reflects planned investments in quality, only partly offset by higher volumes and a more favourable pricing policy. Adjusted net profit came in at €46 million, compared with €79 million the previous year, while adjusted diluted earnings per share fell from €0.29 to €0.17.
In the commercial vehicles segment, which remains the largest by revenue, net revenues rose by 4.2% to €2.443 billion thanks to higher volumes and an improved product mix. Adjusted EBIT, however, fell to €74 million from €129 million in 2025, with the margin at 3% compared with 5.5% a year earlier. Iveco says this was due to higher production costs linked to quality improvements. The European commercial vehicles market grew by 2% year on year, with the light segment down 1% and the medium-heavy segment up 9%. Against this backdrop, Iveco Group deliveries in Europe rose by 19%, while the book-to-bill ratio stood at 0.91 at the end of the quarter.
The Bus segment recorded revenues up 22.4% to €919 million, driven by higher volumes and the full use of the Annonay plant. Iveco Bus confirmed its leadership in the European electric bus market and its second-place position in the overall market, with a share of more than 25%. Adjusted EBIT nevertheless fell to €29 million from €42 million in 2025, due to reworking costs linked to the final batch of urban buses still pending from 2025. That work has now been completed and will no longer weigh on accounts in the second half of the year.
Powertrain, the production of drivetrains, was the only industrial segment to improve profitability during the quarter. Revenues rose by 7.2% to €941 million and adjusted EBIT increased by €5 million to €39 million, thanks to higher volumes and better price realisation, despite a fall in deliveries of heavy-duty engines in the Americas. Financial Services, by contrast, closed with revenues slightly lower at €109 million, compared with €113 million in 2025, and adjusted EBIT broadly stable at €27 million. The managed portfolio reached €8.102 billion, up €130 million year on year, while the share of receivables overdue by more than 30 days rose to 2.2% from 2%.
Looking at the first six months of the year, consolidated EBIT stood at €12 million, compared with €223 million in the first half of 2025, while profit for the period rose to €1.207 billion thanks to the €1.254 billion capital gain recorded in the first quarter from the sale of the Defence division to Leonardo. Excluding this extraordinary item, current operations posted a loss of €78 million in the first six months, compared with a profit of €93 million in the same period of 2025. Available liquidity stood at €4.432 billion at 30 June, after the payment on 22 April of an extraordinary dividend of about €1.550 billion, financed with proceeds from the sale of the Defence division.
Looking ahead to the second half of the year, the group expects a gradual recovery in profitability, while taking into account weaker demand for light commercial vehicles towards the end of the year and greater macroeconomic uncertainty. These effects are expected to be partly offset by measures already launched in the first half and by the acceleration of the efficiency programme, with free cash flow expected to improve in the second half of 2026. "The solid revenue performance in this quarter confirms the resilience of our industrial activities," CEO Olof Persson said in the results statement, stressing that investments in quality would bring lasting benefits despite their short-term impact on profitability and that the group would present itself as a solid contributor to the transaction with Tata Motors.
Iveco Group also announced that its Chief Financial & IT Officer, Anna Tanganelli, will leave the company once the public takeover offer launched by Tata Motors for the Turin-based group has been substantially completed, to take up a new role at another listed company from 2 November 2026. The process to select a new finance chief, the transition statement said, has already been started by the group, and details of the successor will be announced once the procedure has been completed. According to CEO Olof Persson, Tanganelli has played a particular role in the extraordinary transactions announced over the past year and now nearing completion, an evident reference both to the sale of the Defence division to Leonardo and to Tata Motors’ offer itself.
P.R.
