Dear all, warmly welcome virtually to Helsinki and thank you for tuning in for Kesko's Q3 2025 release call. Result improved, positive development in all divisions is our headline. We also updated our guidance and are giving some outlook regarding next year. Our agenda today is the President and CEO Jorma Rauhala will give the Q3 presentation. We have here with us our business division presidents Ari Akseli for Grocery Trade, Sami Kiiski for Building and Technical Trade, and Johanna Ali for Car Trade, as well as CFO Anu Hämäläinen. After Jorma's presentation it's time for questions both by phone and via chat function. All materials related to Q3 can be found at our website kesko.fi under Investors. My name is Hanna Jaakkola, I'm responsible for IR at Kesko. I will be at your service after the presentation for your questions and discussions.
Now, without further ado, Jorma, the virtual stage is yours.
Thank you, Hanna. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome also on my b ehalf to this results call.
I am Jorma Rauhala and I have now the pleasure to present Kesko's Q3 results. Result improved. Positive development in all business divisions is our headline, and what we do mean by positive development for grocery trade. We saw a turn for better in grocery trade. Market share and the rolling 12-month EBIT margin was 6.6%, which is definitely clearly above 6%. Also, cross-store volumes into market increased, which is positive. We saw also demand for quality products and services increasing in building and technical trade. The market was challenging, but we saw positive sales development in Denmark, Poland, and Baltics. Also, B2B sales in Finland increased for the first time in two years. In car trade, both sales and operating profit increased clearly. Now I will give an overview of our business performance and open up elements behind the result.
In the end, I'll present the updated guidance for 2025 and outlook for 2026, and after that we are ready for the Q&A. Summary of Q3 2025: Kesko's result improved clearly and net sales grew in all three divisions. The result was actually better than we expected for grocery trade and car trade. Construction cycle improvement has still been slower than anticipated, and the result in building and technical trade was comparable, slightly below our expectations. The sales in building and technical trade were in line with our expectations, but the sales margin was lower due to continued tight price competition in a challenging market. In grocery trade, net sales increased and comparable operating profit was at a good level. Sales development for grocery stores were close to market pace. In building and technical trade, net sales increased supported by acquisitions. Also, comparable operating profit increased.
In car trade, net sales increased and comparable operating profit grew clearly. Kesko's history's biggest ever construction project, the shared Onnela and K-Auto Logistics Centre in Hyvinkää, was completed on schedule and below the original budget. Kesko updates its 2025 profit guidance, and we are now estimating that its comparable operating profit will be in the range of €640 million- €690 million. We estimate that in 2026, operating environment and result will improve in all divisions and in all operating countries. Net sales in Q3 totaled over €3.2 billion. It was up by €201 million. Net sales increased in all businesses rolling 12 months. Net sales increased to almost €12.3 billion in Q3. Comparable operating profit was €208.1 million and operating margin was 6.4%. Comparable operating profit increased by €6.5 million.
Kesko Senukai reported in the third quarter its joint venture result for the whole nine month period and it was €7.4 million. Excluding Kesko Senukai's January-June figures, operating profit increased by €6.6 million. Comparable operating profit increased in Building and Technical Trade and in Car Trade and decreased in Grocery Trade. Rolling 12 months, operating profit was €651.2 million and operating margin was 5.3%. Return on capital employed was 10.6%. Return on capital employed increased in Car Trade, was down in Building and Technical Trade and in Grocery Trade compared to the year-end financial position. The amount of net debt was impacted by investments in store sites and acquisitions. Cash flow from operating activities was at the last year's level despite the change in the Food Market Act on 1st of July which shortened the payment terms.
The estimated negative impact of the payment term change to Grocery Trade cash flow was approximately €100 million. Capital expenditure totaled €141 million. I'll open up investments on the next page. Net debt to EBITDA was 1.8. It increased but is well below our maximum target of 2.5. Capital expenditure totaled €141 million. We continued the investments in growth and the main CapEx in Q3 were store site investments in Grocery Trade and the construction of Onnela Logistics Centre and K-Auto's shared logistics centre in Hyvinkää, Finland. Expenses have increased mainly due to acquisitions. Expenses excluding the acquisitions were up by only 1.3%. This is a good achievement taking into consideration the salary increases now to Grocery Trade where we saw increased sales and a turn for the better in grocery market share development in Q3. Net sales totaled over €1.6 billion and increased by €36 million.
Kesko's net sales declined by 0.2%. Rolling 12 months, net sales totaled €6.4 billion. In Grocery Trade, comparable operating profit for Q3 was €117.5 million and it declined by €1.2 million. Profitability was strong at 7.1%. Kesko's operating profit declined by €0.8 million. Rolling 12 months, operating profit was €424 million and operating margin was 6.6%. In Grocery Trade, net sales increased and comparable operating profit was slightly down. K Group grocery sales were up by 3.6%. Guests for net sales were down by 0.2%, which was close to market pace. K-Citymarket non-food sales were up by 3.2% and profit improved. Customer flows continued to grow thanks to the price program and campaigns. Online grocery sales were up by 9.9%, especially click and collect and fast deliveries increased. Online sales is 3.9% of total grocery sales for the whole nine months period.
General grocery price inflation in Finland was approximately 2.7%, but the price development in K Group stores was only 1.2%, especially thanks to our price program. Total grocery market grew approximately 3.9%, so the volumes in the market increased in Q3. Market share development for K Group grocery stores has strengthened during the year and was close to market pace in Q3. In the hypermarket segment, K-Citymarket won over market share in January-September and I'm very pleased with this development. Even though grocery trade market remains price driven, there are signs of demand growing for higher quality products and services. Our measures are yielding results. Market share development for grocery stores is positive. I have been asked if our price program is enough to turn the market share. No, it is not. We need all these three: quality, price, and network.
If we look at the network, our main focus is on growth centers and we are developing all our formats. In September, we opened a brand new K-Citymarket in shopping centre in Den Pala close to Tampere. The next one to open is K-Citymarket Paavola in Lahti, replacing the first ever hypermarket in Finland opened 1971. In 2025 and 2026, we are opening 6 K-Citymarkets, 12 K-Supermarkets, and 20 K-Markets to strengthen our network and market position. Annual investments are expected to be around €200 million-€250 million in the whole grocery store site network in upcoming years. After Suomen Lähikauppa acquisition in 2016, our network in smaller format is extensive and we have not opened hypermarkets in recent years. Much of the planned CapEx will be directed to hypermarkets by 2030. The store site network will be updated in the right locations and meets upcoming legislative requirements.
We announced this morning great news about new hypermarket opening plans in Helsinki metropolitan area. Getting new suitable locations in Helsinki area is very difficult and I'm very pleased to announce these new hypermarkets. We will open a new K-Citymarket in shopping center Redi in Kalasatama next to our headquarters. New store will open latest in 2028 and replace the current K-Supermarket. The area has grown fast and is expected to grow further quite heavily in the future. Shopping Centre Ready will be our fifth hypermarket in Helsinki and the second close to the city center. We have also acquired the majority of shopping centre Tikkuri in Vantaa and have plans to start building a new K-Citymarket towards the end of the decade. Tikkuri is in the heart of Vantaa. This store will be the sixth in the city of Vantaa after Kivistö. Vantaa too is fast growing.
In Espoo, Espoo Keskus new zoning is now in place and construction works for the new K-Citymarket have started. The store is expected to open in 2028 and will be the third K-Citymarket in the growing and affluent city of Espoo. The common factor for all these new stores is urban shopping center location with great traffic connections for both public and private traffic. Price program launched in January removes obstacles for buying. The price program includes affordable everyday products. Prices have been cut on total 1,200 popular products. There are also relevant campaigns and personalized targeted benefits. Results have been promising. Good sales development with good profitability. Customers have found the products with reduced prices well. Customer flows and average purchase has developed well. Also daily basic purchases have increased not only compensates.
We will continue the price program with a long-term focus while keeping the profitability at a strong level. Clearly above 6%. Quality is in our DNA and the quality work is never ready. Raising the bar in quality offers significant sales growth potential. Key retailers and store specific business ideas are our key competitive advantage. We have many excellent stores but there is still too much variation between the stores. When it comes to quality, it is critical to choose the right retailers to right locations. Rotation is normal. There are some 140 retailer changes each year. Key actions to increase quality is further sharpen each store specific business idea. Also we are focusing especially on renewing certain departments like bread and fruit and vegetables as well as K-Citymarket non-food.
Extensive relevant selections are created by data and AI and digital services are being developed to make everyday life easier both for customers and key retailers. Now to building and technical trade cycle is recovering, notably strengthening in technical trade sales. In building and technical trade, net sales increased by €106 million to over €1.2 billion. The increase was supported by Durani's acquisitions. Net sales improved in comparable terms by 1.3%. In comparable terms, technical trade net sales improved by 3% and building and home improvement rate declined by 0.2%. Rolling 12 months, net sales were over €4.5 billion. Comparable operating profit for the building and technical trade division totaled €71.7 million and operating margin was 5.8%. Operating profit increased by €1.6 million. Kesko Seneca reported its whole January–September figures in Q3 excluding Kesko Seneca joint venture result for the first half. The operating profit increased by €1.7 million.
Rolling 12 months, operating profit was €170.4 million and operating margin was 3.7%. Comparable operating profit increased thanks to positive profit development in technical trade and Kesko Seneca reporting its joint venture result.
In b uilding and technical trade Q3 net sales increased and profit improved. Market demand was again weaker than anticipated, especially in new residential constructions. Technical trade sales increased significantly while profit declined compared to the last year. Building and home improvement trade net sales grew thanks to acquisitions but declined in comparable terms despite the increase in division sales. Sales margin weakened due to continued tight price competition in a challenging market. In Finland, core out of building and home improvement trade sales decreased slightly year on year. In Finland, Onninen sales increased for the first time in over two years. Norway sales increased for Byggmakker and Onninen, also profit improved. Denmark Davidsen sales development was strong and integration of acquired companies is proceeding as planned. Sweden ramp-up of converted K-Rauta stores continues and it impacts negatively sales and profit development. Credit risk is well under control.
Write-downs of overdue trade receivables totaled €1.2 million. In Q3, Kesko Senukai reported its joint venture result for the whole January-September period. In Kesko's Q3 reporting, Kesko Senukai's joint venture result was €7.4 million. Kesko Senukai did not report January-June quarter separately, Kesko Senukai's joint venture result for the first half was €0.1 million negative due to inventory write-down. As we commented in July, in operational terms performance was roughly in line with the previous year and Kesko Senukai's joint venture result for the first quarter is typically negative. We have showed this picture many times already and here you can see now the Q3 development. We can see K-Rauta as an ongoing safe development in Finland since 2019. In this picture both have strong market shares. K-Rauta is the market leader in building and home improvement business in Finland and Onninen in technical trade.
K-Rauta sales declined somewhat in Q3. Onninen on the other hand performed well and the sales increased for the first time since spring 2023. Here we can see Onninen's main customer groups in Finland. Onninen serves extensively various construction segments. Technical contractors represent about half of the sales. These are for example plumbers and electricians. This technical contractor segment can be divided 50/50 into new construction and renovation and maintenance. 20% of sales goes to industry segment which includes also CPRS and other industrial constructions. Infrastructure represent also 20% of sales. The market in infrastructure has been better than in other forms of construction and the remaining 10% is wholesale to retailers and other B2B customers. The fact our finance presence is so wide helps in different situations and cycles. The much discussed share of new residential construction is currently only about a quarter of sales.
Of course, when the cycle gets stronger, the share of new residential construction will increase. At the moment, nearly 60% of Building and Technical Trade division sales come outside Finland and the pace of construction cycle recovery varies between countries. In the map, we can see the sizes of the businesses in each country and how net sales in comparable terms have developed in Q3 compared to Q3 a year ago. There is a clear improvement in the southern part of the map. Denmark, Poland, and the Baltics are reporting strong growth figures. Finnish sales I already presented. In Norway, Byggmakker sales have increased and Onninen was at the same level as last year. In Sweden, we still have work to do in our performance getting the sales of converted stores up. Also, the market has been difficult in B2B business.
We see the cycle turning even if the turn is slower than those earlier. Now some words about Onnela Logistics Centre. The centre serves mainly Onninen but also K-Auto spare parts. Construction was completed in August and the move and ramp-up phase is happening during the quiet winter season. The centre is fully operational at the end of Q1. Next year, K-Auto central warehouse, which is currently outsourced, will move to Onninen's former warehouse, which is also located in Hyvinkää. This gives us synergies, for example in staff resourcing. Onnela Logistics Centre enables growth once the market strengthens and will bring efficiency benefits as volumes grow. The timing of this project was excellent. Original cost estimate was €300 million and the actual cost was less than €250 million. Onnela enables future growth. The centre is clearly bigger and has more automation than the previous warehouse.
There is possibility to expand the centre in the future too. Now to car trade where strong profit development continued. In Car Trade, net sales for Q3 increased by €60 million and were €355 million. Net sales increased in new cars, used cars, and services, but decreased in sports trade. Rolling 12 months, net sales were over €1.3 billion. The comparable operating profit totaled €22.7 million and increased by €4.9 million. Year on year, operating margin was 6.4%. Rolling 12 months, operating profit was over €82 million and operating margin was 6.1%. Net sales and comparable operating profit grew clearly. Despite the market remaining challenging, market demand for new cars continues to be still muted. Q3 first registration of passenger cars and vans was up by 2.5%. First registration of brands represented by Kesko, up by 18.2% in Q3.
This is a great achievement and we gained heavily market share in the new car segment. Good development is a result of attractive new car models and constantly improving operational excellence. Market trend in sales of used cars from dealerships to consumers was down by 0.1% and our used car sales were up by 25%. Also, service sales increased. We are targeting to grow especially in damage repairs and the servicing of cars five years or older. In sports car trade, net sales and comparable operating profit decreased but market share grew and now specified. Profit guidance for 2025 and outlook for 2026. Profit guidance for 2025 Kesko Group's profit guidance is given for the year 2025 in comparison with the year 2024. Kesko's operating environment is estimated to improve in 2025 but to still remain somewhat challenging. Kesko's comparable operating profit is estimated to improve in 2025.
Kesko estimates that its 2025 comparable operating profit will amount to €640 million- €690 million. Kesko previously estimated that the comparable operating profit would amount to €640 million - €700 million. The updated profit guidance is based on the results for January–September 2025 and a slower than anticipated cycle recovery in building and technical trade in the third quarter. Key uncertainties impacting Kesko's outlook are developments in consumer confidence and investment appetites as well as geopolitical crises and tensions. Outlook for 2026, the operating environment for Kesko is estimated to improve in 2026 in all divisions and all countries. Kesko's comparable operating profit is also estimated to improve in 2026 in all divisions and all operating countries. In grocery trade, B2C trade is estimated to pick up and the food service business to remain stable.
In 2026, the comparable operating margin for the grocery trade division is estimated to stay clearly above 6% despite the investments in price and the store site network in line with Kesko strategy for 2024. In 2026, the comparable operating profit for the grocery trade division is estimated to improve on 2025. In building and technical trade, the cycle has not improved in 2025 as expected at the start of the year. In 2026, the cycle is expected to improve moderately from an exceptionally low level. In 2026, the comparable operating result for the building and technical trade division is estimated to improve on 2025 in all Kesko operating countries. In car trade market, new car sales are expected to remain muted compared to long term levels, but to nonetheless grow compared to 2025.
In 2026, the net sales and comparable operating profit for Kesko's car trade division are estimated to improve on 2025. To summarize, the result was good and there was positive development in all divisions despite the challenges in Kesko's operating environment. In grocery trade, strategic measures are yielding results. Market share development for grocery stores has taken a turn for the better. Kesko's market share is strong, consumer sentiment is moving to better direction and grocery trade market is showing signs of picking up. In building and technical trade, sales were clearly up in Denmark, Poland, and the Baltics. Technical trade sales grew, construction cycle is strengthening but at a more moderate pace than previously anticipated. In car trade, there was a good sales development in new and used cars and services. Sports trade outperformed the market. All three divisions are well positioned for market strengthening in 2026. Thank you.
This was my presentation. I guess it's time for questions now.
Thank you, Jorma, for the presentation. Let's go to the Q&A now, so I will turn first to the conference call line. Please.
If you wish to ask a question, please dial on your telephone keypad to enter the queue. If you wish to withdraw your question, please dial 6 on your telephone keypad. The next question comes from Maria Wikström. Please go ahead.
Yes, good morning, this is Maria from SEB. Thank you for a very clear presentation, but I still have a few questions. I would love to have a little bit more color, and starting with the 2026 outlook, especially if we look at the Grocery Trade division. You are guiding for an adjusted EBIT to pick up in 2026 from 2025, and already, I mean, 2025 we have a quite high level. Could you discuss a bit about your confidence on the earnings growth in Grocery Trade division next year and what are your assumptions behind this growth assumption at this point in time, please.
Okay, thank you Maria. All in all about grocery trade, of course we have now seen that for example now last quarter Q3 was quite strong. Also volume increase in Finnish grocery market and also our performance what comes to sales market share and EBIT was quite nice. We believe that more and more consumers are a little bit more confident. They are now buying more, let's say very high quality ready meals and fish and fruit and vegetables and things like that. All in all we think that the Finnish grocery market will increase next year and also we believe that our performance will be quite strong when it comes to market share. No doubt about that what we stated that the EBITDA on grocery trade will be clearly about 6%.
Coming back to the market share question, I think you earlier have said that even though you have lost the market share on the total grocery trade division, you have gained market share with the hypermarket concept. What is your view on the market share development in Q3, and do you think in order to facilitate faster market share growth that you would need to initiate new pricing actions, or would what you did in the beginning of the year be enough for now?
Yes. All in all, like said, Q3 was very good for customer market share development, and the total market growth was 3.9% and our growth was 3.6%. We were very close on market base, and in hypermarket sector we have gained market share whole year, which is very, very, very positive. Also, now kind of supermarket segment, we were very close when it comes to market growth pace. We are losing market share on the smaller side, those neighborhood like K-Market, and biggest reason for that is that our store network has. We have fewer stores let's say now.
All in all, I'm very confident that now Q3 was very much better than Q1 and Q2, and next year especially, I believe that the next year will be the year that we will gain market share and we will continue with this price program and that the whole program kind of includes our pricing system. No big changes needed on that one. I hope this opened a little b it more of that.
Yes, perfect. Finally, I know this is kind of a small thing in a big picture, but still wanted to get a little bit more insight on the turnaround and rebranding of the Swedish building and technical trade business, as you mentioned separately that was still eating into the profitability this year. When do you expect to reach the black numbers, and what is kind of the leeway that you see or trajectory that you see in Sweden going forward, please?
Yes. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Sweden and maybe Sami, you can take that one.
Thank you, Maria. First of all, of course we see the market a little bit recovering also in Sweden and more from the B2C side. Consumer business is better than B2B. We need to remember that when we did this strategy move or change to concentrate our business to Capuc, it's mainly B2B business. It's 80% B2B business. That is also affecting. Yes, we see that the market is getting better and also we see that our performance is getting better, particularly with the, let's say, old K-Book and then these converted Gorouter stores also gradually picking up now. Of course it's a hard job to build up the B2B business. We need to be very close with the customers and also build up our offering to that direction. I see already positive signs also.
Continue a little bit. Good to understand also that is it something like 50 stores we have in Sweden, something like that. We are talking about seven or eight stores which we have this little bit problem, let's say so. Yes.
Thank you. My final question is that, given that your leverage ratios were up slightly after Q3, what is currently your appetite for further acquisitions? I think we talk now about the building and technical trade segment.
Yes, our strategy hasn't changed. We are seeking growth also through acquisitions. We have stated very clearly that Sweden is the most critical one where we want to grow our business, and in expanding a technical trade to make big changes through acquisitions. We still are looking for good targets in Sweden. Also, other countries could be possible, but clearly Sweden is priority number one.
Perfect, thank you. I have no further question at this point.
The next question comes from Fredrik Ivarsson from ABG Sundal Collier. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Thanks for the presentation. I've got three questions. I'll take them one by one. First, if we could start with the slight margin contraction in BTT despite some like-for-like growth. What were the key drivers behind the slightly lower margin in BTT, please?
All in all, maybe Sami, you can take this one. Of course, this is still a weak market situation. When the market situation is weak, the competition is very, very tight. Let's say so that the volume is maybe not the biggest problem now. The cross marching is kind of a challenging one, but maybe you want to continue.
Yeah, of course that is quite natural in this kind of environment and also this kind of, let's say, market. It's natural that the price competition is, let's say, very hard in all the markets where we are in. Of course, particularly in technical trade, we see that also. Particularly, we see that, for example, only in Finland the business setup is good, it's working well. We see more price competition, of course, in this kind of project businesses. Our model is also so that a big part of that is a service business. We have a wide Onnela store network here in Finland, almost 60 stores. We see that there we have a very good base also. Of course, like I said, in this kind of market, the price competition is hard.
Okay, thank you. On the €200 million- €250 million store site investments, was that only in grocery or for the full group? I didn't catch that.
Grocery. Yes.
Okay. Can you remind us how this sort of stands in relation to historical levels? I recall, I guess total CapEx has been around €300 million in grocery. How much of that has been store site investments?
How about colleagues? Do you remember the figures? I remember that 2020, 2021 we have much less of what comes to those stores at investments. Ari, do you remember?
Yes, yes, exactly. During this Covid time it was the lowest level ever. During my time in Kesko it was something like €100 million yearly. Typical level is between €150 million - €200 million yearly.
Yeah. Yes.
Okay, this is a slight acceleration, you would say.
Yes, we can say yes, that's true.
To add, we have been saying this €200 million, €250 million for quite some time now. This was not news this time. To remind her, that is the level.
Also, those three new K-Citymarket stores we announced this morning are included in those 200, 215. So, no extra investment because of those.
Absolutely. Last question on my side on the 2025 guidance, what do we need to see in order for you to reach the high end of the guidance? I guess mid range implies around 8% EBIT growth, but in order for you to reach the high end, what do you need to see during the last two months of the year?
Okay, so a couple of three months still to go or two months, let's say. Of course, all the businesses have performed better than we expected now. Of course, Christmas is there; if there would be an excellent Christmas, especially for K-Citymarket, that would be. Also, it needs that the Building and Technical Trade market should recover a little bit faster. I would say those two are the main opportunities on that one.
Good. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Fredrik. Anybody else on the line? Very good. There's one coming.
The next question comes from Calle Loikkanen from Danske Bank. Please go ahead.
Thank you and good morning all. Just a couple of questions. If I start with the Kesko Senukai, I was just wondering about the inventory write-down. Could you elaborate a bit on the reasons for this and also how big the impact of this write-down was in terms of euros.
Yes, Anu, you can take that one.
Thank you, Calle, for your question. If I put it like this. In July we told that Kesko Senukai's Q2 figures for this year were according to last year the same time, and it was according to that with the management report that we received. The management report didn't show anything special. What we did not receive back then was all figures and, for example, inventory, which is the reason why we couldn't report Kesko Senukai figures in Q2 as we need to calculate the Kesko Senukai inventory according to Kesko's inventory valuation principles. As such, I want to emphasize that this is normal and the inventory valuation could show pluses or it could show minuses. We haven't opened this up earlier. We have had both pluses and minuses during the previous years as well. There is nothing special on that side.
Why we wanted to open this up was that the inventory valuation will just tell you that the Kesko Senukai is operationally doing well. There is nothing special on that side. The inventory valuation could be something else during the last quarter this year. We don't want to open up, unfortunately, these kind of valuations.
Okay, in terms of euros, I guess it was something like €6 million in that ballpark.
It was negative.
Okay. Okay, fair enough. Secondly, I was wondering about the price competition in the technical trade business, and I was wondering if you have seen price competition accelerating now during this year or has it just continued to be that way. You just now started kind of talking about it, and also are you expecting any changes in the price competition now in Q4 and more importantly in 2026?
Okay, Sami, you can take that one. If I understand right, it hasn't accelerated. It has been like that, let's say at least this year, not any big changes on that one. I think, like I say, quite normal on this time when the market cycle is very weak and when the market will improve. I think that also. That won't be so big problem. It's not something else you want to add.
Exactly. Like you said, we saw that it started, let's say, quarter four, 2024. Like I said already, it's a little bit connected to these projects, which I think everybody is fighting for. I mean, our customers also more when the market is like this. It's a very price-driven market in that, let's say, segment in a way. There we see this price competition to be quite heavy. Other than that, it hasn't changed a lot in the big picture. Like Jorma said, we are waiting that it should gradually go, you know, let's say, in a better direction when the market is recovering also. We need to remember also that this is also, you know, an availability business. It's not only the prices, it's also that you need to have good warehouses, you need to invest like we did now with Onnela. This is much more than prices also.
In the long term, availability matters also.
Okay, thanks, that's helpful. I don't have any further questions. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Calle, is there?
The next question comes from Miika Ihamaki from DNB Carnegie. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the presentation. This is Mika from DNB Carnegie. My first question is, you're noting here Denmark sales development was good. Creation of acquired firms proceeded as planned. I was wondering, did you realize any synergies during the quarter? If not, when are you expecting to realize them? Can you give any ballpark and naturally talk about a little bit how the integration is proceeding in Denmark overall.
Sami, you can take this one. Denmark. Yes.
Yeah. Was it the Denmark market also, first of all?
How is the integration proceeding?
Thank you. Mika, good question. Like we have told, the closing of these three companies during 2025, and of course we started in February as we all remember, and the last one came in in June. The integration has actually went pretty well, I would say. At least I'm very happy that it has been a big project. As we all understand, it's a big acquisition for us. Integrations have been going well. We have been keeping our most important customers also happy. IT platforms are in place, the new branding is there. We are really the nationwide player there and ready to expand also the business. The platform is good. When it comes to synergies, I believe we don't open up the synergies so much. Of course there's always synergies when we have, when we are becoming, let's say, the big player and the national player.
Particularly when we are talking about B2B business and this heavy building materials, and of course one big, in a way, improvement and maybe also you can call it synergy is that we have much better logistics when it comes to growing areas like Zealand and Copenhagen area where we see more activity also now. That's maybe to summarize the Danish business, but we are very happy to see that we are performing there and, you know, better than market also as a whole.
What is your expectation on specifically Finland's building and technical trade profits into next year on the basis of housing market recovery? I would like to understand ho w much is your profit recovery dependent on the housing market in Finland?
Sami, would you like to have this one?
Yeah, we see also that of course we are also closely following what is happening with our customers and also what is happening with the housing market. I believe the message from the market has been also that it's gradually getting better at the market. I believe it was very well also opened up in Jorma's presentation that our business is not only depending on the new residential or new housing construction business. Of course, let's say so that we are also waiting for that, you know, the market, let's say, come back or gradually improve. We will see of course that the effect will be there. It's one third of our, for example, in business is this in a way connected to the new housing market. We can of course serve and sell much more equipment and technical and HVAC equipment and products there.
Maybe to summarize, we believe that the market will be better. Also, the forecast, what we are having from Euroconstruction, also is showing that it's going to be a better market, but maybe not the first part of the year. It's going to be better when we go a little bit further, 2026.
Okay, that's all from my side. Thank you.
Thank you. Mika. No more questions from the conference call line. I have one question here coming from the chat. You mentioned already in the Q2 report that construction recovery has been slower than expected during 2025, and now in the 2026 outlook you comment that it will be more moderate than previously anticipated. Has the view on construction recovery weakened further since the summer is the question.
Thank you. Yes, we say that Q3 was weaker than we expected in summertime, but I think that 2026 we didn't say that it would be more moderate than previously anticipated. We said that it will be moderate growth, but no change of course because we haven't commented earlier. 2026, but the change was what comes to Q3 was weaker than we expected in July.
Exactly.
Yes.
No more questions from the chat function. No more questions from the conference call line. I would like to thank you for very good comments and questions, and if you have any further discussion needs or questions, don't hesitate calling me. I would like to thank you on behalf of the whole group here. Thank you.
Okay, thank you.