Welcome to today's event where we have the pleasure to present Wirtek. To help us through today's presentation and answer questions in the end, we are joined by CEO and Founder Michael Aaen and CFO Mads Greiffenberg. Today, we will of course focus on this Q1 2026, the main messages and the result here for the first quarter. That will be the main topic. As always, there's a box down below, we do this in English, you have a very broad clientele and member staff. But you can ask the questions in Danish, I will try and translate to the best of my ability. For now, I will leave the stage to you, Michael.
Thank you, Michael. My name is Michael Aaen, and I'm the CEO of Wirtek, and with me today is our CFO, Mads Greiffenberg. We'll take you through Wirtek's Q1 2026 results. This is the first quarter where the new strategy we launched in November last year has been in full effect, and t he early evidence is encouraging. Mads will walk you through the financial detail and I'll return at the end with the operational highlights and a few words on what we see for the rest of the year. Over to you, Mads.
Thank you, Michael. Let me start by taking you through the numbers of Q1. Revenue came in at DKK 15.5 million for Q1 2026, broadly in line with Q1 2025, so stability after a year of significant volatility. The headline this quarter is EBITDA. We delivered positive EBITDA of DKK 0.6 million, recovering from -DKK 1.1 million in Q1 last year, a swing of DKK 1.7 million year-over-year. The EBITDA margin reached 3.9% compared to - 7.2% a year ago. The improvement is driven by two factors. Gross margin strengthened to 61.8% from 54% last year, and staff cost came down following the structural changes implementing during 2025. Earnings per share for the quarter was -DKK 0.06 compared to -DKK 0.25 a year ago. Still negative, but materially closer to breakeven.
On the balance sheet, the equity ratio is 41%, down from 47% a year ago, reflecting the result for 2025. Liquidity ratio is 127%, down from 137%. Both ratios remain at a comfortable operating level for Wirtek. Next slide, please. Can we get the next?
Yeah, it just changed online.
Yes.
We're trying to translate.
Thank you. Sorry. All right. The left chart shows the five-quarter trajectory on revenue and EBITDA. Revenue has stabilized in the DKK 15 million- DKK 17 million range across the past year, and that is the stable platform we're building margin from right now. The EBITDA story is where the trajectory is clearest. From the -DKK 1.1 million in Q1 2025, the path was DKK 0.3 million in Q2, DKK 0.7 million in Q3, DKK 1.8 million in Q4, and DKK 2.6 million in Q1 2026. Two observations on that pattern. First, of course, the year-on-year comparison. Q1 2026 sits DKK 1.7 million above Q1 2025 and well above the 2025 quarterly average of around DKK 0.4 million. The cost actions we took during 2025 are now embedded in the underlying run rate. Second, on the sequential step from Q4 2025 at DKK 1.8 million, down to Q1 2026 at DKK 0.6 million.
Q4 was a particularly strong quarter, supported by very high utilization and the year-end pipeline. Q1 2026 represents a more normal underlying run rate. The level we are reporting today is the starting point from which we expect to build through 2026, and it is a very strong starting point compared to 2025. On our geographic split for Q1, we see the same picture as usual. U.S. remains our largest market at 38% of the revenue, Denmark accounts for 28%, Netherlands 19%, and Portugal at 14% reflects continued ramp up of engagement linked to the Pragmasoft acquisition. So, international markets continue to support a diversified and resilient revenue base for Wirtek. Next slide, please. On guidance, we remain the full 2026 outlook, which we published on the Annual Report 2025.
That's revenue in the range of DKK 65 million-DKK 70 million, and EBITDA in the range of DKK 3 million-DKK 6 million. Q1 came in as expected, confirmed project extensions, stable utilization entering Q2, and the cost action taking through 2025 now compounding through the whole year. These are the factors that underpin our confidence in that range, and we expect the new strategy to continue taking effect across both divisions through the remainder of 2026. With that, I'll hand it back to you, Michael Aaen.
Thank you, Mads. First, a few operational highlights from the quarter. I'll cover three themes that matter most for how the business is performing under the new strategy. The first theme I'll address is a summary of what Mads has already touched upon. We see stabilization of revenue combined with restored profitability. Revenue came in at DKK 15.5 million. Q1 last year was also DKK 15.5 million, so, essentially a flat year-on-year. Now, after a 14% drop in revenue we saw in Q1 last year, stability is what we actually wanted to see at this point. It tells us the customer base has settled and that the actions we took during 2025 have not disrupted core delivery. It also gives us a credible base for growth. EBITDA is the most striking number we see.
DKK 0.6 million in Q1 this year against the -DKK 1.1 million a year ago. This is a positive swing on DKK 1.7 million on essentially flat revenue. That is what operating leverage looks like when cost discipline meets a gross margin recovery. Our gross margin reached 61.8% in Q1 this year, up from 54% last year. That is almost an 8 percentage points of recovery. EBITDA margin moved from -7.2% in Q1 last year to a +3.9% this year. This is a +11-percentage point swing. We are for sure not satisfied with an EBITDA margin of only 3.9%, and we will target further margin improvements in the future.
Q1 2026 was the first full quarter where the new strategy we announced on November 6th last year has been in full effect. Both our divisions are progressing. In services, this is still the cornerstone of Wirtek. Three things contributed directly to margin recovery. Utilization has improved, delivery discipline has been tightened, and we are seeing the first measurable impact of AI-assisted delivery in our day-to-day work, not just as talking points, but actual efficiency gains that are now visible in the gross margin. The second services theme is productization. For most of our history, services has meant time and material engagements. We provide capacity to our clients, our clients scope the day-to-day work in their team. The new strategy is to evolve into a productized outcome-based offering, especially ones that combine our domain expertise with AI-assisted delivery.
We saw the first commercial traction for those offers in Q1 this year. It's early days, but the signal is real. On solutions, the work this quarter focused on maturing the Wirtek IoT Suite platform, which is the technology base we acquired from the Seluxit and Pragmasoft acquisitions. We also validated several high-value use cases in energy and industrial IoT during this quarter. Solutions still contribute modestly to group revenue and remains in its investment phase. That is by design. Continued investments through 2026 and 2027 is what builds the recurring subscription revenue base for the years ahead. The third theme is the foundation we are building from. Geographically, our revenue base is genuinely international now. The U.S. is our largest market at 38%, while the Netherlands accounts for 19% of revenue.
Portugal, driven by our Pragmasoft ramp-up, accounts for 14% of revenue, and it's growing fast. So, more than 70% of our revenue comes from outside of Denmark. That diversification adds real resilience. We are not dependent on any single market or any single client for that matter. During Q1, we also established a DKK 5 million long-term bank loan that reduced our short-term overdraft utilization and extended the maturity profile of our overall debt. In plain terms, more financial runway to keep investing where the strategy needs us to invest. Our liquidity ratio remains solid at 127%. On guidance, we maintain the full 2026 expectations that we published earlier this year.
Q1 is typically a season, a seasonally soft quarter for Wirtek, and what we have delivered is consistent with the trajectory required to land within our guidance for the year. To conclude, our trajectory is on plan, and our new strategy is taking effect. Thank you for joining us today and for your interest in Wirtek. Mads and I, we will now be happy to take your questions. Back to you, Michael.
Perfect. Let's jump right into it. You touched a little bit upon it on the utilization ratio, and there's a question here. What would you consider a healthy utilization percentage, and what do we have now? I know you don't publish them, so I don't know whether you wanna go so much into details.
Well, it, you know, so utilization, as I said, you know, is definitely improving, but it's a number, a figure. Since we are moving away from this pure consultancy-type business and into packaged services, as well as having solutions with subscription services there, it is more difficult just to put a number on utilization. What I can say is it is an absolute focus area for us to ensure that we utilize our capacity to the best effect in the company.
Perfect. Then maybe a little bit, because there's a question here. Have you already seen [audio distortion]? Sorry. How much has the AI changed your business in the consultancy part? Are you already seeing this, y ou know, moving to this, you know, I guess a pricing model where you deliver a product instead of hours, you know, i s that widespread or is it just in the early innings? Have you already seen that actually, happening?
Yeah. We're seeing it as we talk here. We already have some of our clients.
Yeah.
Where we are actually productizing the delivery towards the clients instead of just selling hours. We are selling outcomes to those clients. And with new client engagements , you know, we are also talking about productizing the services there and not selling hours. In these AI days, selling pure hours is not really that interesting, you know. We want to utilize the full effect of AI to actually deliver more value to our clients but also being able to actually increase our margins on that value we are delivering. So, yes, it's coming. It's coming fast.
[crosstalk] The reason why, w ell, that is a good question on how widespread it is. I think everybody's looking that as a risk in your business that you need to change your pricing model. So, if you're already well into it and, you are still, you know, might say you're still seeing maybe modest growth or the growth ahead of you, then, can we take away this risk? You looking from the outside, do you think this is a risk to a business that you need to change your pricing model or is it an opportunity actually, more?
It's both, you know.
Yeah.
To the old type of consultancy business, there's definitely a risk because AI comes in and actually is able to do a lot of things very fast, very efficient. But you still need to have the brains behind to actually control things the right way. But just delivering the pure hours, you know, with AI-assisted help, you know, does not really, i t reduces the number of hours you may need to put in in order to deliver the same.
Yeah.
Service there. This is not a good model if you just wanna sell hours. We wanna package things and actually add a lot more value into what we deliver to the clients, and then we will share the benefits with the clients there. We can also see with some of the offerings we come out with the clients right now, that is actually an attractive value proposition we have here. And we have.
Yeah.
We established last year a dedicated AI team that actually is coming in here and helping us to find out exactly how we package these offerings towards our clients because this is really, really important for us. If you don't do, if you don't take AI into the business, and work with it in the right way, it definitely will be a big challenge for pure consultancy businesses, which is why we are transitioning and transforming.
Yeah.
The business.
Yeah. I think you already answered this, the next question. Can you already see this increased efficiency on AI in your numbers or is there more investments to come before you can see it? Is there training investments? I hear a lot of IT consultants say, "Yeah, but we also need to invest into this. We need to train our people before we will have the perfect outcome, before we will have all this." So, is this already in your gross margin that is that what we're seeing? And I think you indicated that. But is there also some investment following this, you know, the training, the regrouping of people and so on?
Absolutely. You can't just let everybody just start doing their own thing in AI. You know, there's also governance you need to take into account here and making absolutely sure that it's used the right way. Because you know, i f you don't do it, use AI the right way, you could do a lot of damage, you know, both, you know, towards ourselves, but also towards our clients.
Yeah.
So, this needs to be controlled, which is why we have set up a team that actually helps us set up the right frameworks in order to utilize it the right way. This is a significant investment for us, but it, and a very important investment that we are taking on here. It's not only in, you know, in the business of providing the services to the client, but it's also the whole corporate side of the business where AI is a big driver in us improving efficiency all over the business.
Perfect. Then, there's a question here. The higher energy prices, will that increase the demand for your solutions in your energy segment, and h ave you already seen increased activity? I guess it might be a little bit short time to where we've seen them to.
Exactly.
To see it. So, a little bit comment on high energy prices.
Two questions. The first one. Yeah, yeah. So, the first one, for sure. You know, when you have these kinds of situations that are prolonged, and even if the whole situation should have been solved tomorrow, it's gonna be months and months if not years before everything is back to normal. This often leads to structural changes because, you know, countries are seeing this kind of situation, they wanna avoid it in the future, you know. So, that means there will be a bigger push for renewable energy sources in the future, which fits very well within about half of our business, which is driven by renewable energy. So, yes.
Yeah.
In the longer term, definitely I see this as a positive. In the short term, well, things operate a little, i t doesn't go that fast, right? Because it is still pretty new what is happening down there. But I'm sure it is gonna benefit our business in the longer term.
And the validations you're getting on your IoT Suite by customers, is that also in energy efficiency? Is that the main projects you're having down there on the IT and the validation you are going through with your current customers now?
Yeah. It's energy efficiency. It can be a CO2 efficiency as well, you know.
Yeah.
Because there is also a focus on being good to our planet, right, so d efinitely.
Then, there's a little bit about the customer, your customers. I think you indicated in your result that you are seeing some kind of a stabilization, I guess, economic-wise. We are talking about increased uncertainty in Europe. Can you speak a little bit about the feedback you're getting from customers? Are they more worried? Are they more hesitant to take in orders after this? Or is it what you say in your report that you are actually maybe starting to see some stabilization on this front?
Yeah, we have clients that have a hard time in their business, and we have clients that don't see that big impact.
Yeah.
And we also have, you know, a pipeline building up where we have clients that actually are still investing out there. So, it is not a one-size-fits-all type of situation here. I can't give you a clear picture, but no doubt about it, what is happening out in the world there is not beneficial for the growth in the world in general, right?
Yeah. When do we expect organic growth? Maybe coming back to a little bit to your guidance. But we covered that with the organic. When do we expect organic growth also regarding to the guidance in this year?
So, we are not, you know, we're not guiding specifically on organic growth. We are guiding on growth in general. That could also be in principle, acquisitions, right? We expect to grow this year, and it can be organically, it could be through acquisitions, you know. But, you know, we'll take the growth we can get, you know, with the different channels there because we have, as part of our strategy also, acquisitions on the table there as a possibility if we find the right acquisition candidates.
Perfect. The number of employees, how has that developed the last 12 months?
It's pretty stable. Maybe a little less, but also you know, we have this improved gross margin, right? You know, we're improving the margins, which means that, you know, since we are a knowledge business, means that is less headcounts delivering the same revenue.
Yeah. Perfect. Then, a little bit about your strategy. I know it was only in the fall you really released it, and it was really AI-focused, but I also experienced a world that is going with a speed that I don't think we had comprehended, even six months ago. Is there anything in your strategy that is working better or something you want to maybe align more to this fast-evolving world? Or are you pretty satisfied with the pillars you have in your strategy? It also fits; you had foreseen the speed of the AI maybe.
So, a little bit about your strategies because of this fast-evolving world, is there something that, maybe should have had more focus and, somewhere where you might wanna put a little bit less focus?
Well, as I see it, you know, strategy will be evolving over time. You know, last time we had a strategy, you know, we made a five-year strategy, t hat's a long-time horizon with the world evolving the way it does right now. We are focused. You know, we have a strategy that sets the targets, but we are then focused on the implementation for one year at a time, you know, with the tactical planning here. And we will adjust as needed during this time here because it's really hard to foresee what's happening here. The future is really hard to foresee where things develop.
We wanna be, w hat can you say, w e want to be able to actually change as needed in this respect, but I still think that those five strategic tracks we have there are the right ones, and we will then adjust the focus.
Do you agree with me? Did you agree?
As those focus tests.
Did you agree?
Sorry?
With my assumption that actually, say, in these six months, actually, the efficiency that you have, you can get out of AI may, has even surprised everybody even, they were a little bit optimistic?
I would say that, you know, AI development has actually gone faster than I thought it would, end of last year.
Yeah.
We had put even more focus on that part of the business here because we wanna be the ones that are in front on that game.
A little bit on your visibility and maybe regarding the guidance. You said you had a healthy pipeline. Do you feel comfortable with the visibility sitting from your position? I know we're only in Q1, but the pipeline and the visibility into the rest of the year, do you feel comfortable with what you're seeing now, aka is the pipeline actually maybe increasing a little bit and so on? If you can comment a little bit on that.
Of course, I cannot comment on orders not being published or anything like that yet, you know, but I feel that things are developing in a good direction for us.
Perfect. Then on the guidance, you know, you still have some range on the EBITDA side and on the revenue side. You kept that naturally after Q1. What will take you to the top and what will take you to the more bottom, if you can kind of put it up in maybe some high level, one point taking to the bottom, high, and taking to the higher end of the guidance so we can get a feel of maybe what is the really big moving parts in your business?
Well, you know, often when we get new orders, you know, they can be of considerable impact, right? You know, it only takes one or two big orders, you know, in order to really make a difference there. But you also need to have the time, of course, to deliver on those orders. I cannot really go much into detail about this, but what I will say.
I know.
Is for sure that if we're gonna, you know, do even better than what we expect, we also need to see, some certainty in the world right now, and there's so much uncertainty out there, you know, whether it's Hormuz or if it's tariff, wars, or what it is. You know, it's, it's hard to navigate, and that probably will hold some companies back on their investments. But I can't get any closer.
No. Perfect. Perfect. I didn't also expect that, but it is these and in your type of business, it is these orders, you know, who there is some probability for, and they can really make a difference. Is that how we should understand why you guide like you do with a certain range?
We need to have a range because, you know, it is really hard to foresee the future, you know, because you could also have, you know, clients that have a hard time and need to reduce their engagement as well, right? You know, that is something you also need to take into account when you put out a guidance.
Perfect. That was the last question. Thank you to you both for taking us through your results and answering questions. May everybody have a nice day.
Same to you. Thank you.
Thank you.