So hi everyone and welcome to YIT's analyst call preceding the silent period of our third quarter of 2025 results release. My name is Essi Nikitin and I'm heading the investor relations at YIT. Together with me here I have our CFO, Tuomas Mäkipeska, on the line. We will start with a short recap of recent developments in the company, and after that we have time for your questions. As a reminder, this call will be recorded and the recording will be published on our website after the call. At this point, I will hand over to Tuomas. Please go ahead, Tuomas.
All right, thank you, Essi, and good morning everybody. We will cover the short market update of each of the segments and the financial position of the company. As usual, let's start with an update on our businesses and markets, starting with the Residential CEE business. The demand has been favorable in the Residential CEE segment during the year, with consumer apartment sales increasing by over 40% from the previous year in the first half of 2025. As a consequence, we upgraded our market view for the segment in accordance with the half-year results release. We are heavily focused on new project launches in the segment. As we communicated earlier in July, by the end of June we had launched new projects valued at nearly EUR 400 million with healthy margins, which are scheduled to be completed in 2026.
Our strong portfolio of plots with existing building rights supports the growth in Central and Eastern Europe, and we are prepared to start new projects. Demand and supply have remained balanced, and the inventory is at the desired level. As communicated before, this year the completions in the segment will be strongly concentrated into the fourth quarter of the year. Recognizing revenue at completion will thus make the profit generation back-end loaded in the segment in 2025. Driving growth in the Residential CEE segment has been a clear strategic decision for the company. It strongly supports the company's short-term performance and in the longer term enables YIT to be a more European-based company and to reduce our historical dependency on one single residential market. Then moving to Residential Finland. The recovery of the overall Finnish residential market has progressed gradually in line with our expectations.
There is clear evidence that the secondary market is picking up. According to Finland's bank statistics, mortgage drawdowns increased by 19% in January-July this year compared to the same period in 2024. According to the Federation of Real Estate Agency, the number of apartments sold in the secondary market is also clearly on the rise after several difficult years, increasing by 19% in January-August compared to the previous year. However, as stated by the Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries in its business cycle review published last week, zero economic growth and weak consumer confidence are still hindering the recovery in the primary market. We anticipate that primary apartment market sales volumes will slightly increase during 2025. We have continued the new self-developed project starts in the third quarter in the locations where the demand supports the starts and plan to continue with project starts as the year progresses.
Due to our strong plot portfolio, we have no need for significant new plot investments, which supports capital-efficient volume growth. In July, we announced a new self-developed project start in Hermanni, Helsinki, and in August, new starts in Kerava and Vantaa. Our capabilities in terms of plot portfolio and our internal competencies are in place to scale up production according to the market demand. Our stock of apartments continues to decline. This is due to successful work with the customers to help them identify a suitable YIT home as their next new home. Our stock of completed apartments has already reached normal levels outside the capital area, and the stock in the capital region is gradually decreasing. Over the past two years, we have taken actions to improve our operational efficiency and supply chain capabilities across the segment and to better understand our customers' needs.
As we are now ramping up new production, we already utilize the improved capabilities. We are still far away from our strategic targets for the Residential Finland business, but the segment is moving in the right direction. Let's then move on to our contracting segments, Infrastructure and Building Construction. The infrastructure market in Finland is active in both the public and private sectors, driven by increased defense sector investments and positive developments in industrial construction and the renewable energy market. As stated in the study published by the Confederation of Finnish Industries in mid-September, business related to data centers offers Finland billion-euro opportunities this decade in the form of investments, tax revenues, and high-skilled jobs.
According to the study, there are publicly announced investment plans by data center operators in Finland totaling EUR 12 billion, with the overall potential exceeding EUR 30 billion, making the sector one of the largest private sector investment targets in the coming years. At YIT, we have been building our capabilities for these types of projects during the past few years and are highly competitive in this market. We have had several wins for new projects during the third quarter. In the beginning of the third quarter, we announced that YIT had been selected by Port of Helsinki Ltd to carry out the field extension at the southern tip of West Harbor, a key initiative within the City of Helsinki's long-term port renewal program. In August, we announced an agreement to begin construction of a second data center for XTX Markets in Kajaani, Finland.
We are very pleased to continue our collaboration with XTX Markets. The first data center project has progressed smoothly, showcasing our strong project management capabilities and technical expertise. In August, we also announced the agreement to construct a new railway bridge and track section in Kitee, Finland. The bridge is an example of how careful work planning, cooperation between different parties, and extensive expertise enable safe construction in a demanding environment. All in all, the order book for the Infrastructure segment is strong, and the segment is well positioned to pursue growth and further enhance operational efficiencies. As we communicated in accordance with the previous results release, the market outlook is favorable for the segment, especially in defense, industrial investments, and data centers in which we actively work with the potential customers. The Building Construction segment continued to improve its profitability in the second quarter.
Despite the highly competitive market, we have continued to win both public and private sector projects supported by our core competencies and expertise. Activity in data centers and industrial projects is increasing in line with our strategic focus. As said, our ability to successfully execute these complex projects gives us a competitive advantage in the market. Consequently, we have announced a bunch of new projects for the segment during the third quarter. In August, we announced both an agreement to construct the Kulttuuriparkki parking facility in Turku, Finland, and an agreement on the construction of an expansion to Helsinki Expo and Convention Center with an alliance model in Helsinki, Finland. We also announced a contract for construction of a warehouse complex in Kaunas, Lithuania, and a collaboration agreement for the development phase of the educational block of the Tikkurila Competence Campus area in Vantaa, Finland.
Last but not least, in September, we announced that YIT with its partners have agreed with the City of Helsinki on construction of Hermanninranta School, Daycare Center, and Youth Center in Helsinki, Finland. These recent wins demonstrate our competitiveness in the current attractive market. Then a few words about our capital position. Releasing capital from the balance sheet and improving capital efficiency in business operations are one of the top priorities in our strategy. At the group level, the capital employed has decreased significantly during the past year. We are determined to continue the execution of capital release actions according to our strategy and consequently improve the return on capital employed of the company. Accelerating production in the Residential CEE segment has not required a significant amount of new capital attributed to our strong existing plot portfolio, solid apartment sales, and other capital efficiency measures in the segment.
When comparing the interest-bearing debt to our key assets, we can see that our underlying asset base continues to be very strong and amounts to well over two times the net debt. Our total plot portfolio is very strong and amounted to some 720 million EUR at the end of June. This portfolio enables us to construct approximately 16,000 new homes in Finland and 13 new homes in CEE countries. This is a critical platform for future profitable and capital-efficient growth in both of our residential segments. As we communicated in accordance with the Q2 results, on the group level, we identify potential to release approximately 200 million EUR of capital from our current apartment inventory. In addition, we identify potential to release up to 300 million EUR through divestments of non-core assets in line with our current strategy.
The non-core assets include real estate, plots, and ownerships in associated companies that are not at the core of our current strategy. The released capital will be reallocated to fund residential segments' profitable growth and to reduce indebtedness of the company, which will consequently lower the financing costs and support the net profit generation. So, as a conclusion, the market outlook for our businesses looks favorable on many fronts. The investment plans within our operating countries in the industrial construction, energy, and defense sectors are substantial and likely to create opportunities for both of our contracting segments. The residential demand is favorable in the Residential CEE segment, and the recovery of the Finnish residential market has progressed gradually. The absence of apartment completions across both of our residential segments impacted revenue and profit generation in the second quarter of the year.
As we have communicated already before, the revenue and profit generation in the third quarter is expected to reflect similar limitations related to completions. On the other hand, we are launching new residential projects with good reservation and sales rates. These project starts will support our financial performance in 2026.
Thank you, Tuomas. We are now ready for questions. If you have a question, please use the raise hand function. We have a question from Anssi. Please go ahead, Anssi.
Yes, thanks. Anssi Raussi from SEB. A few questions from me, and the first one about data centers and defense sectors. So how should we think about margin impact and, for example, comparing to divisional margin levels currently?
Thanks, Anssi. A great question.
We have already earlier actually communicated that both of these segments, I mean defense and data centers, are typically representing healthy margins when comparing our average margins in the other segments. So we can say that healthy margins are available in these sectors.
Okay, that's good to hear. And maybe the next one about your Q3 cash flow. So you, of course, mentioned, and we understand that revenue is still towards Q4 this year, but how about cash flow? So you mentioned that you don't have any significant requirements or anything like that, but anything to highlight?
Well, probably nothing special to highlight, as you know. So our cash flow profile is very seasonal, as we have communicated, and that was the case also in Q2. What we can say is that really the completions and handovers of the apartments are really concentrated in the Q4.
So that has an effect on the cash flow as well.
Got it, thanks. And maybe finally about these possible divestments. So you mentioned quite significant amounts here, but any timeline or assumption estimate here when we could hear or see something?
Yes, so we announced the full potential actually in accordance of the Q2 results, and part of that is, of course, related to the inventory of completed apartments. And we are expecting to normalize the inventory level in the capital region by the end of this year, as stated already before. The inventory levels outside of the capital area are actually on the normalized level already. So that is kind of giving a picture of the timeline related to that one. Then, related to the divestments, this is what is always the case in this kind of a situation.
You need to have a buyer, and you need to have a healthy market for this kind of divestments to be realized. We are not in the situation where we should go for kind of not optimized commercial terms. So we are looking for the right window of executing these kind of deals. So that's all we can comment, and we cannot comment on any specific divestment timelines.
Okay, understand. That's all from me. Thank you.
Thanks, Anssi.
Do we have any other questions? Yes, Jerker, please go ahead.
Hi, this is Jerker. Can you hear me?
Yeah, we can hear you.
Good. Just maybe a more curiosity about you mentioned the study now made by RT this autumn. One could argue that the market outlook for construction of new apartments is maybe a bit lackluster. Would you care to comment on your views on kind of the forward-looking outlook?
Thanks, Jerker. We are, of course, we looked at the report carefully, and of course, that's, they are the researchers, and we are not. So we, of course, follow that kind of view as well, but in the sense that we have actually, as YIT, so we have already started nine self-developed projects looking back from the end of 2024 and during this year. So we are, and our strategic target is to increase our market share. So in a sense, we're making our own play and starting new projects where the demand is there. And that's more on a kind of a micro-location perspective on ramping up the volumes, not too much on the macro level. But of course, this is what RT published is kind of a general view on the market. That's all we can comment here.
Okay, thanks. That's all from me.
Thanks, Jerker.
Any other questions? Okay, it seems that there are no more questions. So thank you all, and we will publish our third quarter results on 30th of October. Wish you all a great rest of the day.