Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Enento's financial statement release webcast. My name is Arto Paukku, and I'm the Chief Marketing and Customer Officer at Enento. I'm joined today by our CEO, Teppo Paavola, and our CFO, Elina Stråhlman. Our new CEO, Teppo, who started in the beginning of January, will begin by introducing himself shortly and taking us through the key highlights from 2025 and fourth quarter, along with updates from our business areas. Elina will then provide a closer look at our financial performance. After the presentation, we'll open up the session for your questions, and you're welcome to send them in at any time using the webcast tool. But, with that, I'll hand it over to Teppo to kick things off.
Thank you, Arto, and good afternoon, everyone. It's great to be here today at my first Enento results webcast. This is also my first time leading a listed company, so this is a particularly exciting moment, and I'm looking forward to engaging actively with our investors. I started in the position in the beginning of January, and I have spent now just over a month leading Enento. I've had a warm welcome from the Enento team, and I'm excited to lead Enento to its next chapter. I would also like to warmly thank Elina for her good results as interim CEO during this transition period, and today, she will do most of the talking. Then a little bit about me. My background combines digital transformation and international growth, having held senior leadership and board roles in several global companies.
Most recently, I served as the Chief Digital Officer of the Adecco Group, and before that, from 2014 to 2018, as the Chief Development Officer and General Manager for new digital businesses at BBVA. Earlier in my career, I've held senior positions at PayPal and Nokia, among other international technology and financial services firms. Enento has a strong foundation as a trusted Nordic provider of business and consumer information. As we move forward, my focus will be on driving sustainable growth, innovation, and customer value as we continue to strengthen our position in the Nordic markets. So let's start with the key figures from 2025. Our net sales amounted to EUR 152.7 million, remaining flat compared to 2024 at comparable exchange rates. Adjusted EBITDA was EUR 52.4 million and remained flat compared to 2024.
Adjusted EBITDA margin was 34.3%. Free cash flow continued to be strong at EUR 34 million, and cash conversion was 75.6%. Then moving on to business highlights from 2025. In 2025, we strengthened our position through innovation, operational improvements, and a strong focus on customer and employee experience. During 2025, our business volume stabilized, supporting our expectation of returning to a growth trajectory in 2026. We launched several new services throughout the year in both of our business areas and continued expansion in Sweden to new verticals, such as e-commerce and telecom. The SME transformation in Sweden continued to progress according to plan. More about that later. We also enhanced our operational efficiency through IT capacity optimization, as well as infrastructure vendor consolidation, which enable us to serve our customers with greater speed and reliability.
During the past quarter, we initiated and completed small-scale change negotiations aimed at improving strategy execution and building a go-to-market model in Sweden with specified sales growth team established. We continued to achieve very high customer satisfaction. Both our group B2B as well as B2C NPS reached + 38. Let's then move on to our business area performance. Business Insight development in the fourth quarter remained solid, with net sales growth of 2% at comparable exchange rates. Sales grew in Finland throughout all business lines, declined in Sweden, and good development continued in Denmark and Norway. We continued to face headwinds in premium sales for SMEs in Sweden. However, as mentioned before, the Swedish SME transformation continued to progress according to plan, and we launched digital renewal process for selected products and a limited group of customers, with broader rollout started in January 2026.
Compliance services continued to grow strongly in Finland, and we also see a good interest in the Swedish market. Also, real estate services continued to grow in Finland, and we launched the new digital registration service in the Finnish market with good outlook and several customers onboarded already. Let me then present a bit more in detail what our new digital registration service for apartments is about. The new service allows our Finnish bank customers to complete ownership and pledge registrations of housing shares electronically instead of a manual process. The applications are prepared and sent to Signicat's signature service for electronic signing. Then, the data is transmitted to the housing information register maintained by National Land Survey of Finland. The service was launched in the beginning of December 2025, and it already has signed customers and has a good pipeline.
Key benefits for the customer include faster and more efficient process, and anytime, anywhere access. Applications for the registration of ownership and pledges can be completed entirely electronically without manual paperwork, regardless of time and place. Additional benefits include improved data management and information security, and it supports the transaction process also in manual sales scenarios. The service is a seamless part of Asiakastieto's real estate and housing information service, making Asiakastieto a one-stop shop for all relevant services. Consumer Insight net sales declined by 0.6% at comparable exchange rates in the fourth quarter, with flat development in Sweden and decline in Finland. In Sweden, the consumer credit information demand remained muted but stable. The volumes of the Swedish broker segment have stabilized, and to our understanding, all major brokers in Sweden plan to apply for a banking license.
In Finland, we got new customers from the financial sector and witnessed also new potential customers entering the Finnish market. Our Consumer Credit Inquiry System has maintained its strong market position despite overlaps with the public Finnish Positive Credit Register, supported by a solid price to value ratio. Membership has continued to grow, and further expansion is targeted for 2026. Now, over to Elina.
Thank you. Thank you, Teppo. Now, let's first take a look at Q4 key figures, and start with the net sales. So net sales turned into growth side in Q4, and increased by 0.9% at comparable FX rates, and amounted to EUR 39.1 million. Growth was supported by good development in business information services in Finnish, Norwegian, and Danish markets. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 12.8% and reached EUR 13.5 million, and the good growing results were driven by improved sales mix and savings actions. Adjusted EBITDA margin, that was 34.5% and grew by 3.6 percentage points. So overall, we can be very happy with the quarterly profitability development. Adjusted EBIT, that also grew with nice rates by 24% and reached EUR 10.6 million.
Adjusted EBIT was positively impacted by both improved adjusted EBITDA and lower depreciations. Development in depreciations was impacted by cost adjustments in the comparison period, as well as impacts from infrastructure consolidation. There, we previously depreciated server costs, and now those are part of service fee that we pay for our vendor on a monthly basis, and thus included in adjusted EBITDA. Net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio remained at 2.7x , and financial position continues to be strong. Let's look at the net sales development in more detail. As Teppo already mentioned, Business Insight generated EUR 23.7 million in net sales and grew by 2.2% at comparable FX rates. Sales continued to grow across all business lines in Finland, and development remained positive in Denmark and Norway, while sales declined in Sweden.
Enterprise sales grew modestly in both Finland and Sweden, and were supported by higher volumes and more stable development in sales and marketing services. Premium sales were stable in Finland and grew in Norway, but declined in Sweden, where sales activities were impacted by the ongoing SME transformation and restructuring of our Swedish sales partner. Freemium continued to show strong growth, especially in Sweden and Denmark, and that was driven by strong sales efforts. Real estate information services also continued to grow in Finland, and that was supported both by improved volumes and strong demand for our new services. Compliance services, those also continued to grow strongly in Finland, with also increasing customer interest building towards further opportunities in Sweden. Consumer Insight revenue reached EUR 15.4 million, declining by 0.6% at comparable FX rates. Sales continued to decline in Sweden and Finland.
In Sweden, consumer credit information demand remained muted but stable. Broker-related volumes have stabilized quarter-over-quarter, even as the operating environment and regulatory uncertainty continue to create pressure on the segment. In Finland, consumer credit information sales declined due to the weak macroeconomic environment and low consumer confidence. At the same time, we gained new customers from the financial sector, and we are seeing new potential entrants in the market. Direct -to -consumer services and services sold for sales and marketing purposes, those on the other hand, grew during the quarter. Then on this side slide, you can see the development more closely on quarter-over-quarter level.
What you can see from this slide is that Business Insight, there we have remained on the growth side since Q2 2024, and on Consumer Insight, their sales have continued to decline, but what this slide clearly shows is that the volumes have stabilized quarter-over-quarter, and now we had very low decline also on year-over-year level in Q4, showing the stabilization. Moving on to the adjusted EBITDA. As mentioned, adjusted EBITDA was EUR 13.5 million and improved by 12.8% at comparable FX rates. The good development in profitability was supported by increased net sales, efficiency actions, and improved sales mix that is visible both in materials and services and other operating expenses.
Materials and services decreased year-over-year, supported by changes in the sales mix, savings actions, and the fact that governmental price increases had been implemented more than a year earlier and no longer affected the cost base year-on-year comparison. Personnel expenses remained flat, and salary inflation was offset by savings actions. During the quarter, we started and closed small-scale change negotiations impacting 16 employees, and the related termination benefits were recognized as one-off costs in Q4, outside adjusted EBITDA. Other operating expenses also decreased, mainly due to lower level of marketing actions in the quarter, but also due to the sales mix impact. Decreased one-off sales in Swedish SME business resulted also in lower sales commissions. Otherwise, other operating expenses remained roughly flat.
Capitalized production for own use, as planned, that increased now as the completion of the infrastructure transition project enables us having a greater focus internally on product development. Finally, stronger Swedish krona supported the development at reported FX rates. Moving on to the cash flow. We had very strong free cash flow in Q4, and also when we look at the free cash flow for the full year, we can be very happy about that development. Free cash flow reached EUR 13.3 million in Q4 and increased by EUR 6.2 million. Free cash flow improvement were mostly due to the improved results and positive impacts from the changes in working capital. Also, payments related to items affecting comparability were EUR 1.6 million lower than in Q4 last year. The positive impact on working capital explained by timing impacts.
Also, the infrastructure transition has impacted IT license payment schedules, as we pay more licenses through our vendor as part of monthly service fee instead of annual prepayments. Then cash conversion. Q4 cash conversion was very strong, over 100%, and the whole year cash conversion was 75.6%, improving from 66.2% last year. Finally, a few words about our financial position and other key indicators. Our financial position remains solid. Cash at the end of Q4 was EUR 13.2 million, and our revolving credit facility remains fully unused. Net debt to adjusted EBITDA was 2.7x , as mentioned. Gross investments were EUR 1.7 million, clearly lower than last year, thanks to capacity optimization and more focused development. And on a full year scale, our investments have decreased now to around EUR 7 million level.
Finally, our adjusted EPS improved to EUR 0.30 in the last quarter, and full year adjusted EPS reached EUR 1.14. Now, I hand back over to Teppo, who will then present the dividend proposal for the year and outlook 2026.
Thank you. Thank you, Elina. At Enento, attractive capital allocation through strong cash flows and dividends is an important priority. According to Enento's official dividend policy, our aim is to pay at least 70% of earnings per share as dividends, and we want to retain a stable dividend track. Our financial position and ability to generate cash flows continue to be strong. For the year 2025, the Board of Directors proposes to the annual general meeting a dividend of EUR 0.50 per share, followed by a second installment of up to EUR 0.50 per share, subject to a separate decision by the board. Finally, let's look at our outlook and guidance for the year 2026. We expect net sales growth in the range of 0%-5% and adjusted EBITDA increase at comparable rates.
Macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties are expected to persist into 2026. Despite these challenges, our business volume stabilized in 2025, and we anticipate a return to a growth trajectory in 2026. We remain focused on improving profitability and strengthening free cash flow through disciplined cost control, while simultaneously investing in future competitiveness and growth opportunities. This concludes our presentation. Now let's open the Q&A. Arto, please.
Okay, and let's start with any questions from the live audience, and we have the microphone available there. So, Roni, please go ahead.
Yeah, Roni Peuranheimo from Inderes. Maybe first about the growth guidance, so could you maybe talk a little bit about the scenarios at the low end and upper, at the upper end? So, and maybe what are the biggest levers here?
Elina?
Yes. So, of course, one big lever is the macroeconomic environment. As we know from this year, the growth expectations for the Nordic economies have been pushed forward, month-over-month. So that is, of course, a big question mark, how the economy start evolving. For example, now, for Sweden, economists expect even 3% growth for 2026. However, that is not what we are seeing in reality at the moment. So for example, in December, Swedish GDP declined, consumer consumption declined, and if we look at our January volumes and current trading, we don't see volumes picking up. However, prerequisites are there. The government has taken a lot of actions to support consumer confidence and consumption with various tax activities and so forth. So, but that said, of course, a big question mark.
And then for Finland, as we all know, the expectations for the macro development are rather modest for this year. Then, of course, we continue to have, you know, a lot of good expectations on the new services. We have built a lot of good services for the Swedish markets, whether it's compliance, new delivery channels, and we definitely target to ramp those up and also commercially during the year. Then in Finland, we continue to expect positive development, especially in the real estate and compliance side, where we have seen very good growth also already this year and some years back, even into compliance.
We also aim to support the development with pricing actions and of course continue to see a lot of opportunities with good sales actions in the Norwegian and Danish markets. But, you know, the biggest questions relate, of course, to our big businesses and the volume development there, which is, of course, very much impacting then the total outcome as well.
All right, then next question about the adjusted EBITDA guidance. So, do you have any range for the implied growth here?
No, we haven't stated any range. But we have stated that we expect adjusted EBITDA in euros to grow from this year's level. However, as what comes to the revenue, those uncertainties also impact the developments in the profits. Of course, it's also good to understand that or remember that when we have new CEO, strategy, and plans will evolve, and that may also have an impact on the profit development. But overall, we trust that we are able to see growing profits this year.
You mentioned that you expect the demand for mortgages and unsecured loans to be flat. So is this both for Finland and Sweden, or is there, like, big differences between the countries?
Yeah, well, I mean, like, I think that we said... Can't remember the word now. Was it more like a stable or similar? We can expect definitely some positive development in the Swedish markets if the macro development comes as sort of like economists expect. But then when we look at our volumes, those will be also impacted by the broker segment regulation. So when we take these net impacts, we can expect not to get too much boost from the volumes as such.
All right. I could end my questions with a question to the new CEO. So maybe if you could share some focus areas for your first year. So should we expect any meaningful shifts, for example, between focusing on growth or profitability?
Well, first of all, it's a bit too early to say. Now, of course, relating to also your previous question, that as a company, we need to figure out, you know, how to grow in a no-growth scenario or no-growth economy. So that is high on the agenda. But otherwise, you know, lots of thoughts at that... at the moment, but not a plan that we would like to communicate yet.
All right. Thank you.
Hi, Sanna Perälä from Nordea. Thanks for the presentations. I would still like to touch upon your EBITDA guidance. Is it correct to assume that you will aim to grow your EBITDA even if revenue remains stable? And what are the concrete levers there? Where can you improve?
Yes, that is currently our guidance and plan. As we know, of course, EBITDA is a lot connected both to sales and sales mix development. However, we see that. And what we have seen also this year, that in challenging scenario, we can act upon various efficiencies, and we'll feel that that is something we can continue to do, if needed. So that is the overall sort of, like, guidance. Then if I walk through the thinking a bit more in detail, so if we look at the cost lines, our ambition is to overall to keep other operating expenses and materials and services roughly on flat. We will have efficiencies and savings supporting, but at the same time, we also plan to invest in growth.
Then, of course, the sales mix and what kind of impacts that may bring in terms of variable data costs, that is something that remains to be seen. And then on the personnel expenses side, there we, of course, will have salary inflation impacting the costs, and also normalized incentives and new incentive programs that have also been published today. So those will then impact cost base.
Thanks. That was a very good answer. You mentioned that the economy in Sweden hasn't, like, improved in early weeks of 2026, but have you seen any pickup in activity in your business in Sweden from the government initiatives already in early weeks of 2026?
No, we haven't seen any pickup in volumes in January either. So of course, you know, remains to be seen. Some of the regulatory actions that the government is taking, for example, releasing some of the amortization requirements on housing loans, those will start impacting only in April. So not all the actions to boost the consumer behavior are yet in place. So that may also have a positive impact then later on the year.
Right. Thanks. Then finally, you mentioned new services which might support sales growth this year. What's the outlook in terms of share of revenue? Will it rebound back to the 10% level?
We definitely expect some level of rebound. That is then, of course, a combination of many things, what is the final outcome, but definitely we can expect better development in that area. Then a lot of it comes down to how well we are then able to commercialize and succeed in the new areas and how fast we are, we're able to close the sales pipeline, so to say.
Right. Thank you. That's all from me.
Thank you.
Okay, very good. So let's continue with the online questions, and there's quite many this time. So Teppo, first of all, congratulations on your nominations. Could you talk a bit on the mandate that the Board has given you? And this is from Jaakko Tyrväinen at SEB.
All right. Yeah, thanks. It is a lot about the same things we have already talked about, that finding a way for growth. And then, you know, that can be new services, but definitely short term it has to be the existing services and just better market penetration there. So that's at the top of the list.
Good. And then, quite a few questions regarding AI and the potential impact it might have. So, let's start. So how are we currently exploiting AI in our platforms, and what opportunities do we see ahead?
So, AI is part of multiple products that we have. We certainly have a lot of opportunity to use it more. And, you know, this is an ongoing development, and will continue to be so. Do you had more on the-
Yes, I-
Other, other-
I can continue.
Yeah. Okay.
So, what are the key factors in our business model that are protecting us from AI-native solutions and the re-disruption?
So, most of our sales is based on data that is available behind a paywall. In other words, are not freely available. And a lot of that data is actually proprietary to Enento. So, that is a key topic because when you look at different industries, and this, of course, in the market, there's a different scare every day. A new model comes out, and the market starts speculating that which company is now going to be hit. So, we are in a better position than many. At the same time, we're in data business, so of course, there are also risks. This is... We definitely, of course, need to lean more into the opportunities.
Yes, and maybe this one for Elina. So could you give some examples on the proprietary data that we have today?
Well, for example, the whole Swedish consumer credit business is based on proprietary data. We are the only ones holding very comprehensive positive credit register in the Swedish markets. Of course, we do have a lot of proprietary data in other markets and areas as well. For example, in Finland, compliance ownership data is something that very that is unique and we have the most comprehensive data in that area.
Maybe I'll add to that.
Yep.
Yeah, some other companies in the market outside the Nordics are also defining the proprietary data to be something that you have, even though the data sources might be public. But when you put your analytics and your AI on it, then the outcomes, for example, a scoring model or a rating model, then they are defining that as proprietary.
Mm.
So that's not something that you get, you know, through, let's say, the AI models that are out there today.
Exactly. Yes. Good addition. And then one more, connected to AI. So we have seen recent news from the U.S., especially related to AI disruption and, and the impact it might have on layoffs. So do we expect any such impact here in Finland anytime soon?
In the economy in general, so I-
It's a broad question.
It's a broad question.
Yes.
I would like to maybe kind of convert this to the standard conversation in the market or in the society is that, well, when is AI going to take my job? And it is very much sort of efficiency-oriented. Now, that is only one part. Of course, there are lots of efficiency opportunities, but it's not the only thing. I mean, there are... We really need to look at also the opportunities to create new products with new AI-based technologies.
Yep, very good. So, next one to Elina. Could you give more color on the gross margin improvement, which saw a significant step-up quarter-to-quarter? So was it just a favorable mix, or did the earlier quarter include some costs that were not any more visible in Q4?
It was a combination of mix and saving actions.
Mm.
We have taken actions also with some data acquisition contracts and gained good savings that is now visible in Q4. But also the sales mix impacted especially the consumer credit business in Finland. That comes with variable data acquisition costs, and that was in the decline. So that caused also the related data acquisition costs to decline.
Yes. So, the follow-up question is that are you seeing a change in trend from Q4 onwards? So I guess that's an easy answer then.
Yes. So, as I already mentioned regarding 2026, so if you look at our fixed data acquisition costs, we expect them to roughly remain on flat. We have taken saving sections. Of course, we are also acquiring new data from time to time. But then the variable data acquisition cost is dependent on sales performance, and the biggest impact comes from the performance in consumer credit business Finland, which is very much then dependent on the macro development.
Yes, good. And then a few about the outlook and some details connected to that.
Mm.
So, how is your outlook this year on items affecting comparability or restructuring expenses? Are there still projects underway where a significant amount of one-offs are expected?
Currently, we have closed the infrastructure consolidation, which is good because apparently I cannot pronounce that word anymore. So no cost expected from that. Then if you look at our accounting principles, so what we recognize as items affecting comparability relate to restructurings and M&As, and currently we don't have any such plans in place.
Good. Then, what are your IT system development plans going forward? What are the next steps? And are banks now more eager to change their old interfaces, even mainframe related?
So, maybe I'll comment-
Yes, you can start.
This is clearly a topic that has been discussed before. So, yes, there are opportunities, but at the same time, they're not that simple to solve, otherwise they would have been solved already in the past. So, if IT cost, especially in Sweden, is a target. Sometimes when you do those changes, though, if you're moving from one setup to another, you may end up paying the cost twice at the same time. It really isn't anything financial that we can communicate at this stage, but we're definitely working on it.
What comes to the financial sector clients, so I would put it in a way that they have a big pipeline of various development activities, whether it's security,
Mm-hmm.
AI or related, and one could perhaps make a conclusion out of that, that changing integrations to credit register is not perhaps the highest in their agenda at the moment.
Mm-hmm.
Yes. Good. And then final question: are you more optimistic on growth in Sweden or in Finland, if you think about the group level view on 2026?
Well, yeah, I maybe can comment. The stories are very different between the two countries. So, also it seems like the environment and the demand is also varying in different ways. So it is. It's very difficult to say. But we're definitely working on both countries and sometimes in different ways. And they also have a lot to learn from each other. So, yeah, it's very difficult to say at this stage.
Mm-hmm.
Yes. Okay, one more check. No more questions, so this concludes then the Q4 webcast. Thank you, everyone, and have a really good weekend.
Thank you.
Thank you.