In celebration of its 25th year on the stock market: init keeps reaching new record levels

• The digitalisation specialist for buses and trains is reaching new heights as technology partner
• Revenue, order volume and share price are at record highs
• The Annual General Meeting has approved a dividend of EUR 0.90

In its 25th year on the stock market, init innovation in traffic systems SE (ISIN DE0005759807) continues to break record after record. As the Managing Board reported to shareholders at today's Annual General Meeting in Karlsruhe, the digitalisation specialist for buses and trains is heading for new highs in revenue, earnings, and order intake. At the end of April, the company secured one of the largest contract wins in its history, worth around EUR 380 million. This brings the total order volume under contract (through to 2036) to over EUR 1.3 billion. Consequently, the price of init shares has also reached a new all-time high, having increased more than tenfold since the company’s IPO.

'We have established ourselves globally as an innovative technology supplier and service partner for transport operators, reaching a new scale in the process. In addition to the recent tender award from Transport for New South Wales in Sydney — the largest city in Oceania — we have secured further significant contracts in Baden-Württemberg, Grenoble, Helsinki and Luxembourg in the 2025 financial year. Just in time for the upcoming World Soccer Cup, our ticketing systems went live successfully in the host cities of Atlanta and Houston. These mega-projects are laying a strong foundation for above-average growth in 2026 and beyond,” said init founder and CEO Dr Gottfried Greschner.

1,000 per cent share price increase – init outperforms DAX and SDAX over 25 years

For the current financial year, this translates to a revenue increase of between 15 and 25 per cent to between EUR 380 and 410 million (2025: EUR 330 million). Operating profit (EBIT) is expected to rise accordingly to between EUR 38 million and EUR 42 million (2025: EUR 32.5 million), thereby returning to the target margin of 10 per cent. 'We see further margin potential due to productivity gains and economies of scale,' announced Chief Financial Officer Dr Marco Ferber.

Against the backdrop of the company’s upcoming 25th anniversary of its stock market listing, init founder Greschner reflected on the company’s development since its IPO on 24 July 2001. During this period, the init group’s revenue has increased more than tenfold, from EUR 31 million in 2001. EBIT has grown from EUR 4 million to around EUR 33 million, and the number of employees has grown from 200 to more than 1,500.  Most importantly for shareholders, they have benefited from an increase in stock price to over 1,000 per cent, rising from an issue price of EUR 5.10 to an all-time high of EUR 54.30 in early May 2026. ‘The init share has thus significantly outperformed both the DAX and the SDAX indices, being a member of the latter since March 2026,’ Greschner noted with satisfaction. In addition, almost EUR 100 million in dividends has now been distributed.

The shareholders present lauded this development enthusiastically and discharged the Managing Board with 99.01 per cent. They also approved the dividend proposal put forward by the Managing and Supervisory Boards with 99.97 per cent in favour. This represents payout of EUR 0.90 (previous year: EUR 0.80) per dividend-bearing share.

In the Supervisory Board elections, Andreas Thun (Dipl.-Ing.), Prof Michaela Dickgießer, Christina Greschner (Dipl.-Ing., M.A.) and Dr Johannes Haupt were all re-elected. At the close of the Annual General Meeting, Ulrich Sieg (Dipl.-Ing.), the former Deputy Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of init SE, stepped down from the Supervisory Board at his own request. On behalf of the Managing and Supervisory Board, the Chairperson of the Supervisory Board thanked Ulrich Sieg for his many years of dedicated and competent service to the company and its shareholders.

AI drives growth

Looking ahead, init remains committed to innovation, with artificial intelligence (AI) at the heart of its strategy. For instance, support systems in transport operators' control centres will significantly improve punctuality by mitigating the impact of future disruptions thanks to 'issue management'. Meanwhile, passenger comfort and safety will be enhanced by more reliable departure time forecasts, real-time identification and communication of available seats, and real-time detection of objects and hazardous situations through AI-based image processing. Origin-destination analyses will also enable capacity to be planned more in line with demand. init holds a technological leadership position in this field thanks to its experience and the wealth of data gathered from over 40 years and more than 1,400 international projects.

Despite geopolitical upheavals, the Managing Board currently anticipates no market disruptions or significant supply or demand issues. As a leading international provider of integrated planning, dispatching, telematics and ticketing solutions for buses and trains, the group continues to benefit from sustainable growth drivers such as digitalisation, electromobility, autonomous driving, smart ticketing, and the increasing use of artificial intelligence. Accordingly, the Managing Board is confident about the future business outlook and expects to continue this record performance beyond the anniversary year. Additional growth momentum is expected from the already contracted order volume.