Hexagon Purus: Final-Stage Restructuring Meets a Cash Crunch
The Last Lap of a Long Restructuring
Hexagon Purus’s Q2 2026 results are a study in controlled decline. Revenue came in at NOK 146 million, down 25% year-over-year, but the company was quick to point out that adjusting for the divested U.S. aerospace business, the drop was only 6%. The headline EBITDA loss narrowed to NOK -102 million from NOK -161 million a year ago, thanks to a cost base that has been aggressively reshaped. Group CEO Morten Holum framed it plainly: “we executed further workforce reductions in Germany, and we are now into the final stages of the operational restructuring to align the cost base to the current market environment.” — Morten Holum, Group CEO · 2026-07-16 The company has now cut more than 50% of its total workforce since 2024, a scale that dwarfs the 15% reduction announced just a year and a half ago. That earlier round, described in the February 2025 call as “terminating about 15% of our employees at the group level” — Salman Alam, Group CFO · 2025-02-11, was the first real acknowledgment that the hydrogen market was not ramping as hoped. Now the cuts are structural, and the workforce reductions are being paired with capacity shutdowns and a deliberate shift toward a much leaner operating model.
The Pivot to Hydrogen Infrastructure
The revenue mix tells the story of a strategic pivot. Hydrogen infrastructure accounted for more than half of total revenue in Q2, up from just 8% a year earlier, driven by higher volume of distribution units to industrial gas and energy customers. CFO Salman Alam confirmed, “On the positive side, hydrogen distribution contributed strongly to revenue in the quarter” — Salman Alam, Group CFO · 2026-07-16. This is a marked departure from the company’s historical dependence on transit buses and vehicle integration. The order book ended at NOK 523 million, up 13% quarter-on-quarter, with 83% slated for execution this year. The hydrogen infrastructure segment now has a much stronger visibility, and management is actively converting dialogues for 2027. This pivot is both a response to weak bus demand and a bet that hydrogen storage and distribution will be the first scalable market. Yet the transition is not without pain: the industrial gas leg, still part of the “other applications” bucket, was down about 30% year-over-year on weak German industrial demand, a reminder that the industrial gas market is cyclical and not yet a growth engine.
The Balance Sheet Squeeze
The most arresting figure in the release is the equity ratio: 1% at quarter-end, down from 9% in Q1 and 33% a year ago. Total equity is just NOK 41 million, while the debt component of the convertible bonds has grown to approximately NOK 1.9 billion, accruing interest mechanically. The CFO did not mince words: “we are in parallel, actively pursuing measures to strengthen the company’s equity and financing position” — Salman Alam, Group CFO · 2026-07-16. In the Q&A, he elaborated on the convertible bond refinancing, saying it “can take many different shapes and forms” — Salman Alam, Group CFO · 2026-07-16 and they would come back with details when ready. This is a company running on borrowed time and goodwill. Management still expects sufficient liquidity coverage for at least 12 months, and the average quarterly cash outflow has fallen by more than 80% since 2023, but the structural hole in the balance sheet is undeniable.
Our overall priorities remain unchanged. Number one, revenue. We need to execute the current orders that we have in our order book for 2026 and build the order book for 2027... Number two, costs and liquidity... Finally, Number three, capital structure.
China: The Last Unplayed Card
A quiet but potentially pivotal item: the Type 4 cylinder certification in China. The CEO told us, “We are at the final stage of that certification process and expect to be cleared for sales in the domestic Chinese market by the end of this year.” — Morten Holum, Group CEO · 2026-07-16 This is a considerably more definitive timeline than the cautious language used in prior calls, where the process was repeatedly described as “ongoing” or “hard to speculate.” The Chinese JV with CIMC Enric has been a long-gestating asset, and if certification lands, it could open a much larger addressable market for the company’s cylinder technology. It is also, crucially, a path to revenue that is independent of the struggling European and North American bus markets. The order book may not yet reflect it, but this is a meaningful optionality for a company that badly needs a new growth vector.
The narrative is consistent: Hexagon Purus is doing the right things operationally—cutting costs, pivoting to distribution, and narrowing the cash burn—but the financial overhang of the convertible debt and an equity base that is nearly wiped out looms large. The company is betting that a mix of improved margins, a stronger order book, and a successful balance-sheet recapitalization can carry it through. The next four quarters will determine whether this is a successful turnaround or a controlled wind-down.