Business Review, 1 January – 31 March 2024

Solwers Plc, Company Release May 31, 2024, at 08:00 EEST

Revenue growth in the first quarter of 2024

Key figures

	Solwers Consolidated EUR thousand		Q1/2024	Q1/2023
	Revenue		19,221	16,210
	Revenue growth-%		18.6%	4.3%
	EBITDA		1,785	2,171
	EBITDA-%		9.3%	13.4%
	EBITA		1,531	1,937
	EBITA-%		8.0%	12.0%
	EBIT		906	1,418
	EBIT-%		4.7%	8.7%
	Headcount, average		704	589
	Headcount, at the end of Q1		698	595
	Equity Ratio, %		44.8%	47.5%

Q1 Highlights (January-March)

• Acquisitions
  • 9.1.2024 – WiseGate AB: WiseGate Consulting AB and DEMAB AB
  • 23.1.2024 – Kari & Pantsar Oy, minority shareholding 33.3%
  • 29.1.2024 – Relitor Engineering AB
  • 28.3.2024 – Finexplo Oy, subsidiary of Kalliotekniikka Consulting   Engineering Oy

• The Company strengthened its ownership by redeeming DREEM AB's minority stake
• Arkman Arkkitehtuuri Oy merged into Lukkaroinen Arkkitehdit Oy
• Preparations for CSRD reporting initiated with dual materiality analyses

Events after Q1

• Performance Share Plan for key employees
• Ongoing investigation on the possibility of moving to the Main Market of Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd
• Annual General Meeting held on April 25, 2024 in Helsinki

Outlook 2024

Solwers' outlook for 2024 remains unchanged and in accordance with the Financial Statements Release published on March 11, 2024.

Solwers’ business is supported by the megatrend of urbanization, the green transition in Europe, tightening regulation on biodiversity, self-sufficiency in energy production, and especially in Sweden the increased orders of the defense equipment industry which create new business opportunities.

In the ongoing year 2024 the acquisitions continue to support our existing business. We focus on areas where new production and investments are booming such as energy, automation, and power transmission.

Solwers has a good order backlog in the public sector and infrastructure projects and long assignments also in hospital and school design projects. The company has a wide client base and a diverse service portfolio - around 70 per cent are small, under EUR 10 000 projects. In addition, we continue to manage business risk by operating in multiple locations in at least two countries.

Solwers’ business climate is expected to improve towards the end of 2024 with the general market pick-up.

CEO Stefan Nyström:

The beginning of the year is typically a quieter period in our operations, and the year 2024 was no exception. The billing rate and the number of new projects were low, although there was an evident improvement noticeable during March already. 

The acquisitions in the beginning of the year raised the revenue to a new level. With the acquisitions of WiseGate AB and Relitor Engineering, we gained welcomed reinforcement in industrial consulting in Sweden within the group. This provides an opportunity to leverage synergies with other Solwers companies – Licab, North 68 Consulting, and ELE Engineering. These companies have already started close collaboration and client outreach. During the first quarter, the total number of personnel in Solwers companies temporarily exceeded the milestone of 700 professionals.

The profitability, on the other hand, appears low in relation to the comparison period of the previous year. This was influenced by postponed projects for the larger group companies and partly by Easter falling in March, which reduced the number of working days relative to the comparison period. The impact of working days is significant as our revenue is largely based on hourly based billing. Measures are underway to improve profitability. We have continued to adjust capacity when it has been justified: layoffs and staff reductions have been made in some subsidiaries.

Market sentiments are expectant. Operating in at least two countries is part of our risk management, and it can be stated that the business environment is currently more favourable in Sweden. We estimate Solwers' business climate to improve towards the end of 2024, with the general market pick-up – leading to increased investment activity. Solwers companies have several interesting offers in the pipeline, especially for industrial projects in both Finland and Sweden.

The entrepreneurial spirit including perseverance, agility, and locality lives strong in daily operations of Solwers companies. This has contributed on good overall performance in a challenging business environment and will continue to carry far. Our mid-term targets remain unchanged, and we firmly, yet considerately, continue to implement our strategy based on acquisitions. 

As announced in Company Release on April 12, 2024, the Company has started an investigation into Solwers' possibilities to be listed on the Main Market of Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. By publishing this business review for the first time, we want to offer investors more visibility into our operations.

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This is not an interim report under IAS 34. The company complies with the half-yearly reporting requirements of the Securities Markets Act and publishes business reviews for the first three and nine months of the year, which present key information on the company’s financial performance. The financial information presented in this business review is unaudited.

CERTIFIED ADVISOR:

UB Corporate Finance Oy, [email protected]

DISTRIBUTION:

• Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd
• Key Media
• www.solwers.com