Thank you, Christian. Dear shareholders, the Annual General Meeting is held in familiar framework and format, but it is also in a new context because this is the first time since 1989 that we present the year's results and activities without Nilfisk. The demerger of Nilfisk as a separate listed company was approved on October 10, 2017, and two days later it became possible to trade in two independent shares, Nilfisk and NKT. Each company now has a clearly defined investment profile with an optimized basis for future exploitation of potential and added value. At the same time, we said farewell to the name NKT Holding and welcomed NKT A/S. From the beginning, we have been satisfied to note that the historic demerger decision has been well-received by our shareholders and investors, something that has also been reflected in the development of shares.
The development in the NKT shares has naturally been affected by the demerger, when all shareholders were allocated one Nilfisk share for each NKT share held already. All the allocated Nilfisk shares still provided a yield of 16% in 2017, but they were sold and reinvested in NKT. However, we can see that the development so far in 2018 appears to be influenced by a lower number of orders for high voltage cables than expected compared with last year. The demerger was also the conclusion of what I would call a profoundly transformative year in the NKT history. Allow me to mention a few more examples. We completed the acquisition of ABB HV Cables, which we announced in September 2016.
By that, we created a leading global provider of cable solution because we gain access to the DC technology, which we expect to have major potential both in offshore wind and for the continued global expansion of the electricity supply grid. This acquisition also included the world's foremost cable laying vessel, NKT Victoria, so that we can now offer our customers turnkey solutions, across the value chain from cable design to installation. We presented the world's first commercial 640 kV onshore DC high voltage cable. I would like to mention that NKT Photonics also made an important acquisition, in the form of the Swiss company Onefive, and thereby achieved a revenue of more than DKK 50 million for the first time. We must continue to execute on all these fronts in 2018.
Where our cable business is concerned, we must be well-equipped to seize the opportunities we see in the medium term, particularly in the area of high voltage cables. In the case of NKT Photonics, we must continue to grow organically and through acquisitions, the commercial scale that we want to reach. I would like to present the financial results for 2017, first for the Group as a whole, and then for each of our businesses. Overall, the financial performance was as anticipated and consistent with the revenue and earnings expectation posted in our Q3 interim report. In our cable business, development was primarily driven by the project segment that is our on and offshore high voltage cables. At the same time, the acquisitions in this division, made the return on capital employed decrease from 9.3% in 2016 to 7.5% in 2017.
I'm confident that this will increase again, when we realize the synergies from the acquisition, which is also included in our midterm financial targets. In NKT Photonics, the primary contributors to growth and income were the Imaging & Metrology segment and the acquired Onefive operations. As regards our capital structure, NKT had a net interest bearing debt of EUR 293.2 million at the end of 2017, and that was an increase from EUR 64.4 million at the end of 2016. This increase is primarily related to the funding of acquisitions and allocation of debt in connection with the Nilfisk demerger, when we needed to allocate the debt to the two companies. It is our goal in the medium term to keep net interest bearing debt at around 1.5x operational EBITDA.
The debt figure for NKT at the end of 2017 was 1.9x operational EBITDA, which is a little bit high. Due to the acquisition of ABB's high voltage operations in March 2017, as we also mentioned at the extraordinary general meeting in the autumn, there's no financial headroom for payment of dividend for 2017. However, it remains our policy to distribute approximately one third of the year's net profit as dividend when the capital structure permits this. Now I'll turn my attention towards the development in our cable business.
As I've already mentioned, 2017 was strongly influenced by our acquisition, our integration of the two organizations, and simultaneously by our focus on driving the business in the right direction. We have seen the first positive effects of the acquisition, while the majority of the expected synergies lie ahead of us, and they are also dependent on optimizing capacity utilization at our factories in Karlskrona and Cologne. NKT delivered a satisfactory financial performance in 2017. Revenue increased by EUR 308 million to EUR 1,058 million in standard metal prices, which corresponds to EUR 1.42 billion in market prices. This growth was primarily driven by the acquired operations. For the same reason, the operational EBITDA was almost doubled to EUR 138.3 million, and the EBITDA margin increased by 3.4 percentage points to 13.1%. Working capital was exceptionally low at the end of 2017 and amounted to EUR -106.5 million.
That is also attributable to the acquired operation, because on the large high voltage project, we receive payment partly before we embark on cable manufacture. As previously mentioned, the return on capital employed decreased to 7.5%. NKT consists of three business segments: the project segment, which handles high voltage on and offshore projects, the product segment, which services the market for low and medium voltage cables and building wires, and the Service & Accessories segment, which includes, among other things, installation of high voltage projects, accessories, and railway operations.
The project segment, which after the acquisition of ABB Cables represented about 60% of our revenue, executed satisfactorily in 2017 on a number of projects for future offshore wind farms, including the world's largest offshore wind park, the Hornsea One project, owned by Ørsted and placed some 120 km off the coast of Yorkshire, England. In addition, our cable laying vessel, NKT Victoria, successfully participated in several installation projects in Scotland, Denmark, Belgium, and elsewhere, and also performed cable repairs in the Skagerrak and other offshore locations. In 2017, we received a large order for the Borssele Beta offshore wind farm project in the Netherlands as a follow-up to the Borssele Alpha order awarded the previous year. We were also named preferred supplier on two U.K. projects, Moray East and Triton Knoll, subject to both these projects being given the final investment go ahead.
In 2017, we therefore showed that we firmly demonstrated our leadership credentials in the European offshore wind market. At the same time, however, we have to recognize that the number of allocated projects in the high voltage market was at a relatively low level in 2017. As a result, segment order intake was down to expectations. We therefore expect capacity utilization in our Karlskrona factory to be lower in second half 2018. Our offshore capacity in Cologne is fully booked in 2018, but our client contracts preclude the transfer of production between the two factories. In order to increase our flexibility in the future, focused efforts are being made to qualify the Cologne factory to produce DC as well as AC cables. The Karlskrona factory can already produce both types.
When this is achieved, we will be well equipped to take part in the positive development anticipated in both the offshore wind farm and interconnector markets in the medium term. Based on our technological proficiency in DC cables, 2017 was also the year in which we opened a sales office in the United States. Our leading-edge technology means we are well-placed to take an active role in projects based on renewable energy sources. Renewable energy projects are gradually maturing in the U.S. market, and North America may in time represent an important growth market, supplementing our strong position in Europe. The products segment, which represents our sales of low and medium voltage products, experienced a slight slowdown in 2017. This was mainly due to a high level of investment in the German medium voltage market back in 2016, together with a challenging Polish market.
We've entered into a number of important framework agreements with utilities in France, Sweden, Czech Republic, Germany, and elsewhere. Several of these agreements are based on longstanding relationships and close cooperation with customers with a view to ensuring optimum solution. This is an important element in securing revenue for the years ahead. Another example of close cooperation on innovative solutions is our relationship with the Swedish company, Waves4Power. Together, we've operated a pilot project in Norway for utilization of wave power. NKT has developed an ultra-flexible cable that transport the energy produced to transformers onshore. Subsequently, a number of other parties have voiced interest in cooperation. We launched the EXCELLENCE 2020 Strategy in the autumn of 2015. In 2017, following the significant development of our business the last two years, we updated and adapted this strategy to reflect our present position and the new market opportunities that have arisen.
The strategy itself is essentially unchanged. There is continued focus on our vision of excellence in all we do, on our vision to be the best cable company in the eyes of our customers and employees, and our three strategic goals. The adjustments made concern the strategic initiatives in the individual business arms and in the underlying segments, including how to achieve growth in some segments, how to maintain our focus on profitability in others, and in two specific segments, how to turn development around. Here, I would add that in 2017, we set up a core digital hub in Berlin, currently manned by four staff, who are working independently of the rest of the company on developing digital solutions and on being at the forefront as regards to the expected potential drivers of future development in the cable sector.
We expect to be able to present the first solutions in the course of 2018. NKT Photonics reached, achieved in 2017 for the first time in the company's history, a revenue exceeding EUR 50 million, EUR 50.9 million to be precise. Organic growth was 77%, driven by the Imaging & Metrology segment, and the Onefive acquisition completed in September 2017. Operational EBITDA was EUR 3.5 million, while the EBITA margin was 6.9%. This was slightly down on the guidance figures of 10%, influenced by provisions for an incentive program for senior executives. NKT Photonics manufactures and markets product for Imaging & Metrology. Lasers that enable imaging of microstructures such as skin cells, sensing and energy, lasers for use in monitoring and measuring equipment, material processing, lasers for ultra-precision cutting in hard materials such as glass and metal.
Material processing is currently the smallest business segment in NKT Photonics, but also that which has the strongest expected growth potential. The Onefive acquisition, which included some 40 employees and a production plant in Switzerland, is now well on the way to being integrated and makes NKT Photonics a leading player in this field. The acquisition is also consistent with the strategy of achieving commercial scale through both organic growth and acquisitions. NKT Photonics now has production in Denmark, Switzerland, U.K., and Germany. Greater production also creates a need for more efficient factory operation and achieving synergies across production sites, and therefore in 2017, we appointed the company's first COO with responsibility for all the factories.
During 2017, NKT Photonics also entered into a number of new framework agreements with large industrial customers and launched several products which opened the way for new business opportunities, expected to bring growth as early as 2018. The leadership model we introduced in 2013 is continuing in the new NKT, except that we no longer Board of Directors committee for the cable business or for Nilfisk. We have, as you can see behind me, many meetings both Board of Directors and in the companies, where we have a close and active collaboration with the leadership team. We still run the cable businesses and the photonics businesses as separate business, reporting directly Board of Directors. we believe that this slightly untypical or atypical governance model has proven beneficial for NKT.
We also assess Board of Directors possess the right specialist qualifications and the right composition to drive NKT towards further value creation. In the Board's annual self-assessment, we concluded that we have good cooperation with active discussions on relevant subjects. At the beginning of such discussion, we may not always agree, but we reach alignment during it. There is a high level of mutual trust between the Board members. We also conclude that our governance model is well functioning and that the same goes for our committees. We also believe that we have made some significant decisions related to the company. We have strong work ethics and high level of meeting participation. Finally, we have identified a couple of improvement areas, primarily related to more strengthened reporting from the remuneration and nomination committees.
Given this assessment, all Board members elected by the Annual General Meeting are standing for re-election.
I appreciate the desire of all the members to continue contributing to the journey on which NKT is embarked. Thank you for your great work last year. The election of Board members is item seven on the agenda. Earlier this month, we held an ordinary election of employee representatives to the Board. This election is held every four years, and I am gratified to know that a number of employees had announced their candidacy and had worthy agendas. There are three employee elected members Board of Directors, and i am pleased to be able to welcome Peter Wennevold, Stig Nissen Knudsen, and Jack Eilertsen, and all three of them will take up their posts immediately after this AGM. At the same occasion, I would like to thank Niels-Henrik Dreesen, who has been our employee representative since 2012, for his contributions.
Niels-Henrik, you have been a great contribution and a great voice in the transformations that we have carried out in the period, and you are a good example of showing how the Danish model works best. Thank you very much. As in recent years, we propose to the Annual General Meeting that the remuneration Board of Directors be unchanged after adjusting for the two committees that no longer exist. As stated in the agenda and also in the 2017 annual report, we propose the approval by the general meeting of a new remuneration policy Board of Directors and the executive management of NKT as a consequence of the Nilfisk demerger. As of today, Board of Directors will receive a basic amount and supplements for chairmanships and committee posts that are on par with comparable companies.
For good measure, I wish to add that the Chairman's potential participation in committee work does not add supplementary remuneration. It is our philosophy that we would like to divide the work because that gives more value to each Board member. We propose a significant change as regards management remuneration. As in accordance with best practice, we wish to change the long-term incentive programs from warrants to conditioned share awards. Conditioned share award is a share that you receive if you fulfill basic or meet the basic target. The value at the time of granting is unchanged compared to earlier. The change is driven by a wish to have a closer correlation between strategic targets and the value of the granting, and to have larger coherence between shareholder value and long-term management remuneration.
The conditioned performance share program is designed so a given member of management receives shares conditional on achievement of long-term financial targets over a period of three years. If performance is lower than anticipated, shares are not allocated, and high performance calls for maximum contribution. In addition, the value of the shares in three years cannot exceed three times annual pay, which is also in alignment with good governance. We do not see this in many companies until now, but I believe we will in the future. The remuneration policy is item 9.2 on the agenda. I wish to thank all employees for their efforts in 2017 towards ensuring that customers choose us as their collaborating partners and for promoting our unique products and solutions.
It is the responsibility of the Board of Directors and the executive management to set guidelines for the company, and we know that our employees, even in times of change, take upon themselves the task of executing according to these guidelines, and at the same time, suggest new ideas and business opportunities. There is also a tradition for the Board to brief the Annual General Meeting on our financial expectations for the current year. As previously, we provide guidance separately for the two companies. In 2018, we expect our cable business to deliver a revenue of EUR 1.0 billion-EUR 1.1 billion. That is approximately on par with 2017. Operational EBITDA of EUR 90 million-EUR 110 million, which is lower than achieved in 2017. As stated, this is because we do not see full capacity utilization at our factory in Karlskrona.
NKT Photonics is expected to deliver a revenue of EUR 65 million-EUR 70 million and EBITDA of around EUR 10 million. This is a significant increase on 2017. I said at the start that 2017 was the most transformative year in NKT's history. We see 2018 as a year in which we will reap the benefits of our integrated cable organization, but we will maintain our focus on executing on all the strategic measures we have initiated and ensure that we receive orders for large high-voltage projects. In NKT Photonics, the focus will be on securing full utilization of the acquired Onefive activities and continuing the journey towards achieving commercial scale. Thank you.