Good day all, and welcome to Sitowise's Q4 earnings call. My name is Mari Reponen, and I'm Head of Investor Relations here in Sitowise. With me today are our new CEO, Anna Wäck, and our new CFO, Hanna Masala . Welcome, ladies.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Anna and Hanna will begin the presentation shortly, but before that, I would like to remind you that you can submit any questions via the chat feature below the presentation, and Anna and Hanna will address the questions during the Q&A session after the presentation. We kindly ask you to provide your full name when submitting questions. Now I will hand it over to Anna and Hanna.
Thank you, Mari, and good day on my behalf. It is exciting to be reporting here for the first time, and especially so now that we have some good news to share. So looking at Q4, we closed the year on a clearly positive note across all business areas. Over the past months, we have focused strongly on sales, capacity management, and operational efficiency, and these actions were now visible in our performance. We secured important wins in every business area, driving order intake upward, and utilization rates improved across the group, particularly in Infra and in Sweden. Net sales returned to growth, and our adjusted EBITA margin strengthened year-over-year. Infra delivered a very strong quarter, and the product business in Digi continued to grow with double-digit ARR. Overall, Q4 sets a more positive momentum for 2026, despite the ongoing mixed market environment.
So let me walk you through the key figures for the quarter, where we saw a clear return to growth. Net sales increased to EUR 50.2 million, supported by strong performance, particularly in Infra. Our adjusted EBITA margin improved to 4.4%, driven by higher utilization rates and improved sales activity. Utilization rose by nearly two percentage points year-on-year, with the strongest improvements in Infra and Sweden. Our order intake grew by 19%, with broad-based contribution from all business areas. Our operating profit was heavily impacted by the goodwill impairment recorded in December and related to the earlier acquisitions we have done in Sweden. But excluding this non-cash item, our operating profit would have been positive. Then looking at the full year key financial metrics, the net sales declined by 2.2% to EUR 188.6 million. At the same time, FTEs declined by 4.9%.
Our profitability fell slightly, and the adjusted EBITA margin came in at 4.7%. Overall, we maintained a stable order book, ending the year at EUR 152 million. We also continued to generate significant positive cash flow in 2025, and operating cash flow before financial items and taxes landed at EUR 18.8 million. This, in turn, was reflected in our leverage ratio, which came down modestly. I'll now move to the business areas and start with Infra, that overall had a positive year. This image is from Vantaa Light Rail project, which moved into construction phase in December, and our Infra team won, together with its alliance partner, Ramboll, the design work for this construction phase. So Infra, in Q4, had strong growth, so net sales in Infra grew by 12.7% year-on-year, reaching EUR 20.2 million, and accounted hence for 40% of the group net sales.
The growth was fully organic and broad-based across Infra's business lines, driven by rail, green transition, and industrial projects. Infra's profitability remained above target, supported by a high utilization rate and a more favorable sales mix. Intense price competition was present, especially in the public sector tendering, but at the same time, the state investment activity showed early signs of gradual improvement. Moving to 2026, Infra's market environment is expected to remain mixed. Public sector budgets for 2026 are anticipated to be very modest, limiting the number of large-scale tenders. Demand is expected to remain strong, especially in green transition, environmental and security-related services, especially from the private sector clients. Infra's order book is at the good level, thanks to high order intake in Q4. Overall, I'm very pleased with Infra's strong performance throughout the year.
Moving to 2026, Infra business focus will be on maintaining our strong position and our high customer satisfaction with current clients, and at the same time, growing within our growth spearheads in industry, energy, and data centers. Next, I'll go through our buildings business performance, but first, a brief comment on building sales development. In Q4, the data center market stood out as a clear growth segment. We won several new assignments in this area, involving multiple services from across the buildings portfolio.... In Q4, net sales in Buildings declined by 2.7% against a 10% drop in number of FTEs. Overall, Buildings represented 26% of group net sales. The overall market environment remained weak. As discussed, data center showed clear growth momentum this quarter, but volumes improved also in hospital and healthcare, in industry, in, and in commercial real estate projects.
At the same time, demand for residential construction consulting remained very low, though there were some individual projects that were carried out in this area. Buildings' utilization rate improved clearly, both year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter, thanks to both active sales and also efficient workforce management. Buildings' focus remained on strengthening project management. Sitowise wrote down some receivables related to older suspended projects, which burdened Buildings' profitability clearly in Q4. The generally shared view is that the Finnish construction market is expected to remain very weak in H1 2026, with wider recovery taking place only in 2027. In Buildings, the focus will be on project profitability and operational efficiency.
But we also continue our active sales efforts, especially in segments that have above-average demand, those being industry, energy and data centers, also public properties and the security critical sites. We are continuing the temporary layoffs as needed, but then at the same time, we have successfully recruited talent in the strategic growth areas, and we'll continue this activity. Moving on to Digital Solutions, where second quarter in a row, we have a highlight from our Swedish business. So, in Q4, we secured a significant win for a 10-year agreement with Gothenburg Municipality for service related to control and monitoring systems in the local tramway infrastructure. This win came through Infracontrol, which had a positive development in business performance, and that was also successfully now integrated into Digi operations in the second half of 2025.
At the same time, it was rebranded to Sitowise Digital Solutions Sweden. This integration will enable expansion of the product business gradually also to Sweden. Then Q4 in Digi net sales and digital solutions declined by 2.4% to EUR 9.4 million, representing 19% of group net sales. The product business continued to grow steadily with 10% ARR growth in Q4, and now SaaS products accounted for about one-third of net sales. Digi's sales activity remained strong, and Digi secured several continuations for the longer software development projects at the end of the year. Hence, the order book increased clearly during the quarter and ended at a healthy level. In 2026, the market environment is expected to remain demanding, with modest investment levels and intense price competition, especially in the public sector.
Private sector growth depends on the overall improvement in the general economic outlook in Finland. Then product business is clearly less sensitive to the economic weaknesses, and there we see growth opportunities for all of the Sitowise products. In 2026, Digi will focus on scaling the product business, growing selectively in project business, gaining efficiency in operations with AI, and also improving utilization. Overall, the medium and long-term outlook for Digi remains positive. Finally, next, let's review performance in Sweden, and let's start with sales, as in the other business areas. In Q4, tendering activity, order intake, and order book all improved compared to the previous quarter. Pharma continued to be a strong segment for Sitowise in Sweden, and within industrial customers, projects related to prefabricated elements developed positively as well.
In Sweden, the decline in net sales clearly slowed in the fourth quarter. Net sales decreased by 3.1%, while the number of FTEs was almost 20% lower than a year earlier. Sweden accounted for roughly 15% of the group's consolidated net sales. In the second half, our focus was especially on sales, capacity enhancement, and project delivery, and despite the continued weak market, we were able to improve order intake and utilization, especially in structural engineering and building services engineering. Overall, the performance developed in the right direction, but the business remained clearly loss-making. Our market outlook for 2026 remains fairly stable. Demand in structural and building services engineering is slowly improving, but it continues to be affected by overcapacity and pricing pressure. We see growth opportunities emerging, especially in industry and pharma segment.
Our 2026 focus areas include accelerating profitability improvement through deepening and expanding customer relationships by maintaining a high utilization rate and continuing the disciplined cost and project management actions. Now I hand it over to Hanna for group level financial performance.
Thank you, Anna. And a good day on my behalf as well. It is nice to be here. Looking at the group's order intake, our order intake was up by 30% quarter-on-quarter, and 19% year-on-year, and totaled EUR 54 million. This positive development was marked by significant project wins in the Infra business area. The Digital Solutions business also had a relevant contribution in order intake, supported by the successful continuation of several long-term software development projects. Order intake developed favorably also in Buildings and Sweden business areas. The group's order book totaled 152 million euros at the end of December, remaining on a stable level. The value of projects put on hold on order book totaled EUR 10.5 million, majority of them relating to the Buildings business.
Looking at the development throughout the year, group's net sales stabilized despite the prolonged weak market environment, and the operational measures taken across business areas are beginning to show results. Our profitability improved from the comparison period, supported by strong performance in Infra and a solid quarter in Digital Solutions. Utilization rates strengthened, and we saw growth in sales, both of which contributed positively to the EBITDA margin. Buildings performed clearly better than in the last quarter previous year, although writedowns continued to burden profitability. In Sweden, the business progressed in the right direction, but profitability still requires higher sales volumes and further improvements in utilization. And in the fourth quarter, we also benefited from a slightly positive calendar effect. The left-hand graph illustrates our headcount and, FTE development on this slide, reflecting our operational capacity.
Our FTEs declined year-on-year in Q4, following the trend throughout the year. This reduction is mainly due to fewer full-time employees in Sweden and in the Buildings business. In contrast, FTE levels in Digital Solutions and Infra remained broadly in line with the comparison period. Supported by solid net sales development and growth in product business, our sales per employee continued improving in the last quarter. On the right-hand side, the utilization graph provides a further insight into our operational efficiency and productivity. Group level Q4 utilization rate improved almost by 2% year-on-year, reflecting higher utilization rates across every business area, and indicating that our efficiency measures are beginning to deliver results. Improving our utilization rates further will remain as one of our key priorities in the coming year.
On this slide, let me start with the cash flow and our cash position. In the fourth quarter, operating cash flow before financial items and taxes was EUR 14.1 million, supported by a release of working capital, benefiting also from the seasonality of the business towards the end of the year. Overall, our liquidity remained solid throughout the quarter, and it was also positively impacted by the sale of Fimpec shares. Our net debt decreased compared to the reference period, driven by a modest reduction in debt and a higher cash and cash equivalents. Strong cash position also contributed to a slight improvement in net debt EBITDA leverage year-on-year. Earlier in the year, Sitowise signed a EUR 90 million secured financing agreement with our two relationship banks. This facility is valid until June 2027.
We continue monitoring our covenant compliance consistently and maintain active dialogue with our financers to proactively assess any potential need for covenant adjustments. Most of the details on this slide we have already covered, but as an item to note, on the fourth quarter, we conducted our annual impairment testing of intangible assets, goodwill, and the value of subsidiary shares in the parent company's balance sheet. As a result, we recognized a EUR 39.6 million impairment related to the Sweden business. This reduced the group's goodwill and the value of Sitowise Sverige AB shares. Equity attributable to owners of the parent decreased to EUR 76.9 million at year-end. This goodwill impairment had a negative impact in the group's earnings per share, which declined to -1.18 EUR per share.
The board of directors proposes that no dividend will not be distributed for the financial period. This is a familiar slide showing how our business mix has changed over the past year. As you can see, the share of our well-performing businesses has been growing during the year, and this change is driven both by our own actions and our strategic decision to focus on certain growth areas in sustainability, energy, industry, security, and products, as well as by the market dynamics, specifically the weak construction markets in Finland and Sweden. Overall, the current performance level in our business areas remains quite mixed…. The table here summarizes the percentage of sales of each business area during the quarter, the market outlook for the next twelve-month period, as well as the current profitability level.
The market outlook comments we have mainly covered by Anna already, but as a summary, we expect the markets in Infra and Digi to remain stable, whereas the softness in Buildings and Sweden prevails. As mentioned earlier, Infra continued to deliver adjusted EBITA above our target level of 12% for Q4 and full year, and Digi's profitability was below target level in Q4, but full year was in line with our expectations. Buildings business turned to profitability in the end of the year, and Sweden was unfortunately still clearly loss-making this quarter and full year. We, however, expect our actions to support Sweden's positive development in the future. With this finances overview, I will now hand over back to Anna.
Thank you, Hanna. So commenting on the market outlook, the long-term growth in the demand for Sitowise's services is supported by several mega trends, such as urbanization, increase in renovation debt, and sustainability. Market environment is expected to remain mixed in 2026. In Buildings, H1 is expected to be weak generally, and the larger scale construction market recovery is expected to materialize only in 2027. At the same time, there is a growing demand for services related to green transition, security, and digitalization, which will give, or which will open new opportunities, especially in Infra, Buildings, and also Digital Solutions business areas. Also, in Sweden, the exact timing of the construction market recovery is uncertain, but it's expected to start in 2026. Other factors impacting 2026 include the number of working days, cost inflation, euro-krona exchange rate, and higher interest expenses.
Then summarizing with our focus areas in 2026, so, and how these will be translated into clear financial outcomes. First, our top priority is completing the turnarounds in Sweden and in Buildings. These are part of parts of our business that still hold back the group's profitability, and, the actions we've already taken, whether sales, resourcing, or project execution, they are starting to show some results. This work continues with our full force. Second, we are accelerating growth in the segments where the market is strongest, so industry, energy, data centers, security, and sustainability, as well as our product business. These areas are structurally growing. They balance our business cyclicality and gives us also better visibility to the future. Third, we continue to strengthen our core processes, especially sales effectiveness and project profitability.
Better conversion, better pricing discipline, and sharper project management are key drivers for margin improvement across the group. And finally, we are pushing for industry-leading efficiency enabled by AI and automation. Our objective is to increase productivity, also increase customer value through our digital offering, and support our experts in their everyday work. The outcomes we are looking for with these actions are, of course, improving group profitability, maintaining strong and stable cash flow, and a more resilient company with a more diversified, less cyclical business mix. So maybe to summarize: we fix what needs fixing, we grow where the demand is strongest, we clearly sharpen our execution, and leverage technology to raise efficiency. These four levers together build a more profitable cash-generative and resilient Sitowise for 2026 and beyond. Thank you. And now, I guess we are ready for questions. Inviting Mari back on stage.
Yes, hello. Thank you, Anna and Hanna-
Thank you
... for the presentation, and, let's start with a couple of market-related questions first. So, how do you see the market developing overall going into 2026?
Yeah, maybe to summarize from the presentation, we had the deep dives per business area. Overall, in the residential construction, we don't expect any tailwind, so markets will remain stable but low. The turn is expected then in 2027 at the earliest. At the same time, this is compensated by growth in other sectors. If I'm looking at Buildings, Infra, and Digi, areas like energy, industry, data centers, also defense and security, are clearly growing, and they give opportunities for broad portfolio of our offerings. Then maybe Infra, specifically, urban development, initiatives, especially related to rails-
Mm-hmm
... will be a big opportunity for us. Then looking at Digi, in a way, similar market dynamics, so public sector, not expected to significantly grow. Price competition will remain fierce, but we do have the good growth pockets for the software development, and at the same time, the product business is clearly less cyclical in nature.
... Okay, and if you could comment still on pricing environment and the salary inflation going into this year?
Yes. Pricing environment remains twofold. Where there is tighter competition, lower demand, obviously that is reflected in the prices. What we have seen is that in the growing market segments, we have been able to look for the best price, and the market prices are clearly on a healthier level. We're expecting that in these areas we will be able to compensate also the inflation.
Okay. And have you seen any reduction in demand, especially in digital solutions due to AI?
That's a good question. I think AI, it is already changing the industry dynamics, and it continues to do so in an accelerated manner moving to this year. Still today, there is no kind of real change in the demand. What we see on the supply side, on our side, is that we can clearly be more effective, so we can get more done with the same resources. And we have, of course, had discussions with our long-term clients on how... what the impact will be in, like, in our business models. This is a kind of discussion that we have often together with the clients, how to move forward best.
Okay, thank you. And then maybe question to Hanna. How should we interpret the cash flow improvement relative to declining profitability in Q4?
Our operational measures, such as utilization, strength and utilization rate, and improving invoicing rate, had definitely an impact on our Q4 cash position. We also saw a favorable development in our net working capital. We also had a one-off items in Q4 related to the Fimpec shares, but we are starting the year in a healthy cash position and are expected to remain on a solid level also in 2026.
Okay. Something you already commented during the presentations are dividends, but there is a question about the dividend proposal based on last year's result, or if there will be any distribution this year, so...
I can take this.
Mm.
As already mentioned in the presentation, we won't be distributing any dividend for the year.
Okay. A question about Sweden. Sweden has been loss-making. When do you expect Sweden to break even, and how committed are you to this business?
We don't comment on individual business area profitability, but it is clear that we have done a lot of foundational improvements during 2025, both on the kind of organizational structure, but also when it comes to the operational efficiency and our sales activity. And it was positive to see that the results were starting now to show off during Q4, so utilization rate improving, our order intake, order book improving. So we have been doing a lot, and we continue to do so, so it's clearly one of our biggest focus areas moving forward, and we plan to accelerate.
So we still have confidence, and I also want to thank the team in Sweden, who has done a tremendous work in this environment, where the market hasn't been giving us a lot of tailwind.
Okay, and then it's time for final question to both of you. What are your priorities as CEO and CFO for the coming months?
Good question. In my role, obviously continue to drive the growth of our business. That will be, then, of course, largely driven from the growing sectors, industry, energy, data centers, but also continuing to do strong work in our core sectors. Then second, Swedish turnaround, as said, it is a key focus area, the group profitability development overall. And then finally, we do see that technology is changing our industry. We definitely see it more as an opportunity, rather than a risk, and driving and accelerating that change is a fourth key priority in my role.
Okay, and Hanna?
The finance organization focus is definitely on turning the profitability upwards even further and enhancing the project discipline that we are having even further and improve the utilization rates and support the turnarounds in Finnish businesses and Sweden, together with the operations.
Okay.
The strong cash flow is also one of our key priorities in the coming years also.
Okay. Thank you, Hanna, and thank you, Anna, and I would also like to thank the audience for joining us today. And to remind you that, or maybe to, hope that we will see you next time in connection of our Q1 earnings call on 6th May. Thank you for joining. Have a great day.
Thank you.
Thank you.