Good morning. Welcome to Scanfil's Q1 2026 interim report webcast. Together with me here are our CEO, Christophe Sut, our CFO, Mr. Kai Valo, and my name is Pasi Hiedanpää. I am the Director of Investor Relations and Communications. A couple of words about the practicalities. You have a chat box window on your screen, so you can actually type in questions there, and we will have the Q&A at the end of the session. Now, handing over to Christophe, please.
Thank you, Pasi. Welcome to everyone, and very happy to share today our first quarter for 2026. First quarter, sharing a few key events, was rich in happenings. As you know, we closed the acquisition of MB Elettronica during January. MB Elettronica is now a part of Scanfil and included in our numbers since January 22, which means that we add more or less 2/3 of a quarter with MB Elettronica. We were happy with both getting that team on board, but also, I will get back to it later, the development of that company during the quarter. We also, on the organic side, announced the expansion of our site in Suzhou, where we will double our capacity in order to support the customers that are asking us for more capabilities and more opportunities for business. That's also a very positive element.
Continuing on the development of the quarter, for the first time, you will see today our revenue in Aerospace & Defense carved out of the industrial segment. We will start to report and give you a little bit more flavor on what is happening in that customer group, driven by the fact that it's now reaching the critical mass of 10%. I think that it's important that you get visibility, and growing extremely strongly, both coming from MB acquisition, but also from our existing customer and past Scanfil customers. Finally, but not least, first quarter was also extremely active on what we call NPI, which is the New Project Implementation. Which means that both the effort we made last year in gaining new contract is translating into activities in our factories, but also is preparing for continuous development and continuous growth.
As you can see, again, a very rich quarter in terms of organic development and activities to support our organic growth, but also on the acquired front. If we look now at key numbers for the quarter, we were pleased to reach EUR 230 million, which gives us an organic growth total about 20%. Organic growth was 6.5% in the quarter, which is definitely in range of our long-term target. I will say even above our long-term target, and we were very happy to see that it's now the third quarter in a row where we have an organic growth in the range of 6%, 7%, which is a very good number.
In terms of comparable EBITDA, we were at EUR 15.6 million, which was a growth of 24% versus last year, driven by both the good performance of our acquired entity, but also the good performance of our existing site. It's very pleasing to see the combination after all the, I would say, the challenges that the first quarter was bringing to life. To see that both organically, we bring new project, new customer, we create organic growth. There is a return on comparable EBITDA, but also the acquired entity are performing well. Then obviously it gave a leverage. Last year, we had the first quarter at 6.5% comparable EBITDA, and this year 6.8%, which is again going in the right direction, which landed in a development of our earnings per share, growing 17.4% up to 0.15%. EUR 0.15, sorry.
A positive development in the quarter, I will say, for all our key figures and the key metrics we are guiding on. When we look at the revenue, I mentioned it earlier. We reached EUR 229 million, almost EUR 230 million in the quarter. This was both driven by organic and inorganic growth, where both businesses were developing positively, as I said before, the existing part of Scanfil as well as the acquired entities. In terms of EBITDA, we know that first quarter is usually a little bit weaker in margin driven by seasonality, also some vacation in the Southern Hemisphere, and Asia. But despite that, we were coming out with 6.8%, which was definitely solid and stronger than what historically we have been able to deliver in the first quarter. A total amount of EUR 15.6 million, which was also a very significant amount for first quarter.
A real gap, and I will say both the development on revenue and the development on EBITDA were definitely in the trend that we were expecting to reach our long-term guidance, and given the confidence in what we have iterated earlier in the year. Now looking at the development per segment and for each of the region. America reached EUR 17.7 million during the quarter. Strong development of the organic growth. We had 12% organic growth in the quarter. As we mentioned before, we are starting the second line of electronic manufacturing in Atlanta. It's proceeding well. We have an unseen amount of new projects getting implemented there. I think during the first quarter, it's more than 150 products that we have been putting up live in our Atlanta site, which is a very significant amount.
You might not be able to relate to that, but I can tell you it's something that is very sizable. Margin was step-by-step recovering in the Americas from the previous quarter, driven both by good performance of ADCO, but also by those contracts starting to build volume and starting to build momentum. I believe that this trend will continue step-by-step during the coming quarters in the year. We will also support a continued very strong organic growth as well as a growth from acquired entity in that region. Positive to it and positive to the development. APAC was once more very solid, reaching 7.4% of comparable EBITDA, which was an improvement of 0.5% against last year. A solid level of revenue of EUR 55 million, which was also an increase against last year and having an organic growth also in the range of 10%.
A very solid development for our APAC region. As I mentioned before, we will have to sustain this growth. We did last year an investment in Malaysia. It's step-by-step taking speed and getting filled. The next step will be, as we mentioned in the quarter, an investment in China, in Suzhou, where we have a significant amount of business and need to support those new businesses by expansion of the site. I will say on the number, it's a solid quarter. It's a stable and solid business, and growing at a good pace. Moving now to Central Europe. Central Europe, a lot of things happen in that region, because this is where from now on MB Elettronica is consolidated, which obviously give a jump in terms of revenue.
If we try to break a little bit the region, what we can see, starting by the organic part of Scanfil. The region grow 3% in the quarter, which is a combination of two element. We continue to have a very solid development for our Polish entities. You will see later, but we can see now the rebound of the Energy and Cleantech business that will start and that has started and will start to have more and more effect on our Polish operation, where we produce a lot of goods for Energy & Cleantech. That was a positive development in revenue and in profit for Poland. Our German market remain challenged. There it was a negative development, which explained this mild 3% organic growth for the overall region.
In a way, this was something that we have foreseen, and as you saw in the previous quarter, it was some restructuring costs that were already taken to prepare for that. I will say this was no surprise to us and something that we are managing in as good way as it can be. Looking now at the acquisitive part, MB did start with Scanfil. As I said, it was almost a quarter, not fully, but almost a quarter that they contributed to Scanfil, and they reached a total of EUR 21 million in revenue, which means that if we look at the comparable against what they reached last year in the period, it's a double-digit growth and not with a one, but a bigger number than the one. It was a very strong start for MB Elettronica.
Solid level of margin that was in line with our expectation and what we have seen overall. The first quarter that if we compare to their performance, previous first quarter was extremely solid, and that was driven both by customer demand, but also very solid execution. All in all, I think that's very exciting with Central Europe. I think we have engines of growth both in Italy and in Poland that have contributed this quarter, but will continue to contribute even in a greater way as we move forward. Last but not least, Northern Europe had, I would say, a very solid performance. Growth was in the range of 6% organically in the quarter.
The leverage was very positive since now we got the profit level of 6.5% comparable EBITDA which was 6.8%, sorry, comparable EBITDA, which was a one percentage point improvement against last year. That was a very positive development. A big part of our development is driven by our defense customers that are performing very well in the quarter and having a very positive outlook. That is supported by very solid execution. I will say maybe Northern Europe growth was not the most exciting, but a very solid performance from that region. We really appreciate to see the incremental development we see there. When we look now at our customer group, and now it's including the customer that have joined us after the acquisition, both of MB and ADCO. We are now rebalancing our portfolio.
Our biggest customer is now just above 10% of the total revenue, and our next top 10 customers are now 43% of the total. Which means that with the two new acquisitions, we have onboarded a few very valuable customers. Actually, that list of top 10 has obviously evolved in a different way. Very nice to see that we are in a way spreading the risk, but also increasing the opportunity by an increased base of customers with those acquisitions. When it comes to the spread and the split per customer group, you can see that now Defense and Aerospace was almost reaching 10% in the quarter. It will obviously pass the 10% when we have MB consolidating in a full quarter. It now starts to be very significant and growing at a very high pace.
Energy & Cleantech is also a customer group that is really taking its importance and now reaching 32% of our total revenue, which makes it very important to us, and with a very good prospects of growth. Medtech & Life Science, 18% is also a very strong performance for that customer group, where you will see later we have high ambition and a very high level of traction currently. Finally, Industry remains our biggest customer group, but only 41% after we have now extracted Defense from that group. Looking now at the different customer group, Aerospace & Defense was EUR 21 million in the quarter. It's driven, as I said, by two elements, obviously a very strong growth against the EUR 9 million of 2025, driven by two elements.
We have some revenue from MB, at least two months, that are consolidated in those elements, but also a very strong growth of our existing customers. We are very active currently with the pipeline and potential deals. It was nothing material that came into that quarter in terms of new deals, but obviously strong pipeline and strong level of activity and a very strong order book with long-term customers. For those of you that have had the chance to be a bit exposed to MB, some of our customers there in the Aerospace and Satellite business have a very long-term outlook. Obviously those businesses are planned for years in advance. On Energy & Cleantech, we had a very solid quarter, EUR 73 million against EUR 62 million last year, for that segment.
Mainly driven by organic growth and our organic portfolio, where we have a very strong penetration and a very strong development and partnership with our Energy & Cleantech customer. You can see that also on the wind deals. We were slightly below the record of Q4, but kept above EUR 20 million in acquired deals. This is very positive to us. I think that we can see that the partnership we have established with some of those international leaders is paying forward. They are also the ones driving us to make those long-term investments that you have seen in our factories. Very pleased with the development of that segment, where we have built solid partnerships, and I believe we contribute and enjoy contributing to developing the business of those partners. The Industrial segment, as I mentioned before, is now recovered from the Defense business.
We had a solid development in revenue, EUR 93 million against EUR 82 million. In orders, the level of orders was pretty much in line with what we have seen over the last year. There, it's obviously a more difficult business to comment. It's many different type of businesses and the business where we expect slightly lower growth. We have a good holding of that business and also good partnership and good development. Last but not least, Medtech & Life Science, that reached a record level of EUR 42 million sales in the quarter. Obviously, also some contribution of some of our acquired entities that have some business in that field.
What is mainly pleasing to see in that business is the level of projects won and deals won that was once again above EUR 10 million, which is a new level for Scanfil that we have now reached the last three quarters. As I have mentioned before, the very interesting part of it is it's very long-term partnership and long-term business that take time to get up and running. These are areas where we bring added value and where we build added value. Having this level of acquisitions is good, knowing also that many of those come with new major leaders in their field. Our portfolio is diversifying in terms of customers and the number of deals is growing, so it's showing a very good trend and very good development. That was for me. Kai, if you want to continue.
Thank you, and good morning. I will dive a bit deeper in the finances. Here is the breakdown of the P&L changes year-over-year. On the left side is 2025 and on the right side 2026. Like mentioned, organic growth was 6.5% strong growth organically. Turnover coming from the acquisition was 14.1% more, EUR 27 million. When consolidating the local currency P&Ls to the group level, then we have some loss in translation, EUR 3.2 million and 1.7% in exchange rate, which basically cannot do anything. This is just mathematics. Also, the inventories were growing EUR 2 million, so in a way, the total production volume was even a bit further higher. The costs, expenses , depreciations well in line with the volume, and then therefore we have 6.8% comparable EBITA in comparison to previous year, 6.5%, and EUR 3 million increase in the comparable EBITA level.
Here is the balance sheet. I'll put it in a nutshell. On the asset side, we have goodwill and an increase in goodwill and customer relations is about EUR 90 million. We have a higher working capital also following the acquisitions, EUR 110 million, some impact organically, but mainly from the acquisitions. Then EUR 10 million more fixed asset. Total, the balance sheet increases a bit over EUR 200 million in comparison to the last year, same time. On the liability side, we have EUR 80 million more debt, EUR 70 million in working capital in practice than like trade payables. Then we have EUR 25 million more equity. There is another EUR 30 million liability related to this acquisition, MB acquisition specifically. Cash flow was very close to zero, slightly negative in the quarter. The reason is that during the last two quarters, we have been growing roughly EUR 20 million per quarter.
There's strong growth organically, and that's increasing also the working capital EUR 17 million, which is then bringing the cash flow negative. The free cash flow after investment was then EUR 88 million. This is including, of course, the acquisitions. Net debt in total, EUR 130 million. Now the interest-bearing liabilities are more than EUR 150 million in total. Now the debt ratio is 1.57, totally in line with our long-term target and where we expected to be landing after these acquisitions. Liquidity is still strong. We have signed and made another facility agreement during the Q1, and then we have EUR 200 million of liquidity available. Key figures, expectedly equity ratio is now lower, 43% still on a good level in comparison to previous year.
Return on equity, we are now improving but not having the full effect in Q1, probably 12.2%, 1% better than a year ago. Gearing naturally growing now 39%, earnings per share EUR 0.10 higher than, in 2025, EUR 0.15 . Still growing dividends since 2012 and expected to be decided and paid EUR 0.25 for the last year quite soon. Thank you. I will hand over back to Christophe.
Thank you, Kai. Getting back to the outlook, I hinted a little bit into that. We reiterate our guidance of EUR 940 million-EUR 1.060 billion revenue and a comparable EBITDA between EUR 64 million and EUR 78 million. I will say that two elements drove us to continue with those guidance is first, we had a strong quarter, both in the outcome and operational outcome of the quarter, which was absolutely in line with our expectation. A very strong development of customer activities gives us confidence in the future and in the development, and in the target we have. All in all, I will say we are after our first quarter, even stronger into those guidance. What was pleasing to see is a strong contribution from both acquisition, ADCO and MB, having a good start in the first quarter, which is pleasing because it is something sizable for us.
We also keep driving a good momentum organically, both in the number we deliver, but I can also see in the background all the customer activity and discussion we are having are heading in the good long-term direction. We are supporting that with both our continuous improvement in our operation, but also in investing our existing manufacturing tools and space. All in all, I think that a positive quarter, confirming the expectation and the ambition we had for Scanfil and a good first milestone for our 2026 year. With that, I will hand over to you, Pasi, for Q&A.
Thank you, Christophe. Thank you, Kai. Now heading to the Q&A. Starting with the question about the Aerospace & Defense. In Aerospace & Defense, new customer projects won were EUR 0.9 million in Q1. Do you expect new wins to fluctuate significantly between quarters in this business area?
Yeah. Absolutely. I think that's a business group where we will see a fluctuation in deals because they are usually very long-term. You get a new deal and a new win, and then you carry it for a very long time. That's definitely something you are going to see. In the numbers you saw, it was no restatement of the win deal for the key entity previous years. If we will look at that, we will see, okay, there is fluctuation. There is a very massive deal. They come in, and then they carry on for four years, actually.
Okay, thank you. About the working capital requirements, according to the report, organic revenue growth increased working capital requirements. In some areas, supply chains may again create challenges like memories. Have you made any decisions during Q1 to increase working capital due to these potential challenges?
No, in the first quarter, we don't have such decision. Basically, it was natural increase what we have in the working capital because of the volume and mainly coming through from the accounts receivables side and et cetera. Yeah.
Okay, thank you. Marcus from DNB Carnegie. Two questions. You highlighted that MB was accretive to margins from the start. Can you also comment on ADCO's margin level today and whether ADCO was positive or negative to the group margins in the quarter?
Yeah. I think that, as you said, I think two questions. I guess the first one is also related to MB.
Yeah
W e'll answer. Absolutely, MB had a strong development in the quarter, with, I would say, a positive development in revenue and margin above what you could expect from the seasonality. We were extremely pleased with that. I think I've done many acquisition in my life, but very few start like rockets, which MB did. That was very pleasing to say the least. When it comes to ADCO, there is a seasonality effect, and there is more fluctuation of demand. If we look at the quarter, they are the lower level of revenue that we could expect on an average quarter year-on-year, but which was normal because of the, as I said, seasonality, and that is driving fluctuation in demand. Then they were in the range of the U.S. profit, which is the level they should be in the first quarter.
I think that it was no surprise, and a solid start, but maybe less explosive than we had in MB.
Okay, thank you. About the net working capital, so this might go to Kai. Second question relates to cash flow. Can you please comment further on the net working capital in the quarter and the main drivers behind it?
I think I mainly commented that already, yeah, it was mainly driven, when looking at the cash flow, then mainly driven by the organic growth and like I said, that then there is a growth of inventories and accounts payables and then the receivables, and they are more or less in line with the recent growth and that is explaining it. Of course, overall, if looking the balance, then there is much larger growth in the working capital, which is coming from the acquisition, but that's another thing. The change impacting the cash flow is coming from this growth.
Yes. Thank you. Follow-up on that, was there any effect related to precautionary inventory buildup or the measures like linked to the Middle East situation?
Yeah
To the previous question, it was no.
No.
Antti from Inderes. Are challenges driven by macro in Germany, or do you have some customer-specific or internal challenges as well?
No, I think the German market is in general right now more challenging in the sense that automotive industry is not in its best shape, which challenge the overall sector and the region. A slightly lower demand in that region and probably a bit harder to have customer acquisition in that region than in other. I think that's mainly the macro and that we have seen and anticipated for a long time, and that's why we have acted upon it.
Yes. Thank you. Antti continues. Have you seen any changes in customer behavior or forecasts since the beginning of the war in Iran in March?
I think there are two things. We see very few changes related to that. I think that it seems like whatever geopolitical happenings, our customers' plans are quite solid. We have seen very few fluctuations. There is one element that is building up now, but I don't think it's related to that, is the development of Energy & Cleantech sectors, which you could believe can be driven by that. We have a very good momentum in that one. You could hope that it comes from there. I actually think that it's a long-term trend that is just revitalized and that's not got yet an impact of what's happening in the Middle East. It would make sense that electrification accelerates again. I actually think that it was foreseen before that, and we saw that before the Middle East event.
The answer will be actually little impact to the development of our customer if you look at it from a macro perspective.
Okay, thank you. Now, Pasi from Nordea. Have you seen any postponements or cancellations of orders in Q1 due to the overall economic uncertainty?
As I said before, no, we have not seen any change. I think that both, I will say, the delivery has been solid. It has been a quarter, I will say, unfolding really much as expected from a customer standpoint, both in terms of keeping the demand as it was supposed to be, but also placing demand forward as it should be. The market situation we face right now is very solid for us. Customer changes are little, and the one we see are usually on the positive side.
Okay, thank you. We still have time for questions, so type in the chat box window if you have any questions. Let's wait for a bit. If you do not have any questions to the chat, you can also approach us via email or give us a call. Now handing back over to Christophe for the closing.
Thank you. Okay, the key takeaways for this quarter, I believe that we started with this quarter with a new chapter of Scanfil. We are obviously a much bigger company now than we were ending the year, both in terms of number of entities. We have welcomed, we said, two companies, but in reality, it's six because it was five in Italy. We are a bigger company in terms of revenue, in terms of diversification of our portfolio, with a strong position in Aerospace & Defense. From my perspective, it was very pleasing to see things in the quarter unfolding so well, I will say, with organic growth staying strong in the range of 6%-7%, with acquired entity performing well and the good interaction starting with those new customers.
All in all, delivering a solid comparable EBIT of 6.8%, which was 0.3% above what we delivered last year, which was already a strong first quarter in terms of managing the profit. Last, very strong level of activities in implementing new product is something that continue, and we need that if we want to continue to travel at this level of organic growth. Also a very strong level of discussion with our partner on how we help them to continue their journey, which is growth as well, and how we take part of it. All in all, a solid development in the quarter that I will say, and I have said it before, and I will iterate it again, makes us feel even more comfortable in the guidance we gave earlier in the year.
With that, I want to thank you for listening to us and wish you a good day.