Welcome everyone online for this fully digital event. Great to have you with us. It is now two years since we last invited you to a capital markets update, and it has been two eventful years. Today, we will give you a bit of context in the world of sludge management, how Cambi has performed, and how we are positioned in an attractive market supported by macro trends. The past two years have been exciting, to say the least. When 2021 started off and Cambi listed on Euronext Growth, we all thought that this was going to be a great year. Global supply chains were disrupted, causing significant issues, and as the world was expecting an improvement in 2022, things just got worse from a supply chain perspective with the very tragic war in Ukraine, which also affected one of our projects under execution in Lviv.
There's been many things to do and navigate in this environment, but one thing which hasn't changed has been that we are in a good space. We are in an industry with fundamentally good growth drivers, and we have seen a strong order backlog buildup since our last capital markets update. Critical infrastructure projects with a total Cambi contract value of more than NOK 2 billion have moved forward. This has started to provide results this year, and the scalability of our business has become visible. How we think about the future will hopefully be clear during today's presentations, where we will also hear from some of my colleagues.
You will learn that Cambi is a global leader in wastewater sludge treatment solutions with a solid track record, has a proven thermal hydrolysis technology with a unique value proposition, is strongly positioned in an attractive market supported by macro trends, has a scalable platform positioned for future development, and last but not least, our robust financial performance is enabling dividend distribution to our shareholders. Before we start, let's hear from our founder, Chairman, and main shareholder, Mr. Per Lillebø.
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They are working 7.5 hours a day. The process is running 24/7, 265. It's a very stable process. We have had two major upgrades, plants. In 2007, we expanded the THP plant with having 1 reactor, the pressurized flash tank, and one extra digester. In 2020, we went from a two-sludge system to one-sludge system and upgrade from Mark I to Mark II. This has been a really efficient upgrade. The steam consumption is reduced, which mean we can use more of the biogas for electricity production. We also have increased the capacity of the plant. Based on our experience with the Cambi process, I have no problem recommending this for other wastewater treatment plants.
You just heard from our chairman that Cambi's process is the most responsible and safe choice for any wastewater treatment plant. Before we dive further and explain this statement, let's take one step back and look at the big picture. Volumes of wastewater have been steadily increasing over time with the growing population, improvements in water supply, enhanced living standards, and economic growth. Unfortunately, substantial volumes of wastewater continue to be released untreated into the environment, and only 11% of treated wastewater is actually being reused. Each year, 380 billion cubic meter of municipal wastewater are generated globally, with roughly half of the world's wastewater entering the environment untreated. The unfortunate reality is that only a very small portion of the total wastewater produced is actually collected and treated, let alone exploited for the recovery of resources.
Looking ahead to 2050, our planet will be home to nearly 10 billion people, which is expected to result in a 51% increase in wastewater generated. Therefore, while the issue of wastewater is already pressing, it will only increase in severity going forward. Untreated wastewater poses a significant threat to both human health and the environment. Wastewater is responsible for releasing potent greenhouse gases, including methane, contributing approximately 1.6% of global emissions according to the UN.
To illustrate the scale of this being 1.6% of emissions places wastewater just below the climate harm caused by the entire global aviation industry.
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Water is not only crucial for all forms of life and the environment, but a limiting factor for development. As only 3% of all the water on our planet is freshwater and just 1% is available for drinking purposes, it is paramount to maximize the use of wastewater, particularly in water scarcity prone areas. Wastewater is a renewable resource within the hydrological cycle. Once it is used, it can be reused again. Reusing wastewater is not only economically, but also ecologically necessary.
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It is also crucial to recognize that if properly treated, wastewater is not merely a problem to be disposed of, but a unique circular economy opportunity that can help address challenges, including water scarcity, irrigation, and biogas production.
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To unlock the potential of wastewater as a valuable resource, we must manage it in a way that captures resources for sustainable reuse.
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Treated wastewater can offer numerous benefits. It can provide alternative energy sources for up to 500 million people, significantly decreasing CO2 emissions. It can increase saltwater to freshwater conversion capacity to 10 x the current capacity, sufficient to irrigate around 40 million hectares, an area larger than Norway. This addresses freshwater scarcity and the increasing water demand. We can also offset over 10% of global fertilizer use, further decreasing pollution and emissions. These remarkable findings have been highlighted in an analysis published by the UN Environmental Programme last month, underscoring the untapped potential of wastewater as a climate and nature solution that deserves clear action.
[crosstalk]. Installation has progressed well at several sites in San Francisco, in Louisville and Tuas in Singapore and Veas in Norway. All these four projects are very big projects, extensive and requires a lot of resources from the organization. We are working on three projects with manufacturing at a workshop in the U.K. and that is Palma de Mallorca and Santiago de Compostela, both for the Spanish market. We have also started production for the Versova plant in Mumbai.
This is partly the split production between the U.K. and our workshop and production in India. This is absolutely very exciting for Cambi to gain experience of production in India. There's clearly a lower production cost level in India and we are absolutely dependent on production in India to stay competitive in that market. So far the experiences are good, but the final result we will see when the plant is in operation, but we're following it very thoroughly up with supervision, et cetera, on a daily basis. We have started engineering for two U.K. projects, that is Blackburn and Ellesmere Port that I've talked about already. The next slide that illustrates Cambi's geographical spread and how we are using our organization. We're working all over the world from, this is nearly extreme from Hawaii to New Zealand.
I have to say that I'm impressed myself on how we are working together, 28 nationalities. We are working at 15 projects in total at various stages. In addition, we are executing works at several plants in connection with upgrades and services. To illustrate how we are working, we have Chinese project managers that are doing projects in Hong Kong and in Singapore and New Zealand and in Australia. We have people from China that are doing commissioning works in the U.S. and in Norway. This is how we are using our organization to be able to cope with projects all over the world. Let me say a few words about our technology segment under CNP Cycles. CNP Cycles has been busy with commissioning at their the main product, inDENSE.
It improves how sewage sludge settles in wastewater treatment plants as it increases capacity. This is a standardized product that they have delivered to several plants that are on the limits when it comes to emissions from the plant to meet the requirement in order to stay within the limits. They are doing digester mixing commissioning in a project in Jordan As- Salt. They are doing the same. They've just delivered equipment to another project in Jordan in the capital city of Amman. It will also be digester mixing. In Vicenza in Italy, they have delivered a low heat chemical hydrolysis plant ready for commissioning. Now we are waiting for the customer to be ready to start, to let us start the commissioning. One of the main advantages by acquiring CNP was to broaden Cambi's customer base.
You see that they are working in several countries, not just Germany. The main argument for Cambi was, of course, to enter the German market, but also to have access to more products to sell through our extensive sales organization. We are working together and helping each other. That is the key. Cross-sales opportunities appear. We are trying to use their products in all the projects that we are involved in. As I mentioned, it broadens Cambi's customer network. Let me say a few words around the solution segment and services. We have entered into operational support assignment at a site in the U.K. Lasted for a bit more than a month or so.
This is maybe a sign that there will be more of these assignments in the time to come. We have seen that the market for heat exchanger cleaning is there. We see more and more requests for that new offering from Cambi Services. Winter and the first quarter is normally a more quiet period where we are preparing for the spring season and for the rest of the year. We see a relatively strong growth in services, and that's a clear investment area for Cambi, where we need to increase our organization even further. We have done four smaller upgrades where we are replacing the legacy gamma-based level measurement systems at older THP plants with more modern instrumentation. We have done feasibility study for a large upgrade project in U.K.
PLUS continues to be adopted and very often introduced in connection with performance guarantees. We see more and more requests for PLUS, and we are confident that this is a very important tool for Cambi going forward, especially towards services, but also as a tool for Cambi and an opportunity to learn from operations in oil plants. PLUS means Process Live Update and Support. This means that we receive continuous system or continuous updates of how the process plant is developing. It has also been extended beyond just the THP plants, and now we are able to surveil how dewatering, digester, et cetera, is operating. This will continue to grow. I will say a few words around the Grønn Vekst.
Bulk soil sales are stable, more or less at the same level as the same quarter in 2025. Organic resourcing is working as planned. This is the most stable part of Grønn Vekst. Organic resourcing means the sludge handling, the sludge disposal, et cetera, for the company. This is a very stable operation. The operational efficiency is in focus, they have managed to lower their cost. They're been able to increase profitability, we clearly see a financial improvement. We are about to restore profitability in Grønn Vekst. The soil bagging facility is still an issue for us to execute, we are working on it.
Events after reporting period, we have entered into a now a firm contract with the NCC, an Indian company, not to be mixed with the Swedish NCC. This is an Indian company, nothing to do with the huge Swedish company. We will deliver two THP B6 systems to Malad. We have also entered into a contract with Watercare for the Rosedale plant in Auckland. We have so far it is an engineering contract. We expect notice to proceed in 2027. Last week, we also entered into an engineering contract in a South American project. This is below the threshold for reporting to the stock exchange, it is a very important sign that we seem to be competitive also in emerging markets.
Regarding outlook, I would say that the strongest near-term activity will continue to be in the U.K. This is an important and strong investment cycle that the U.K. water and sewage companies are in now. It will last until 2030, it will continue. There are still more projects to be done in that market. The U.S. imports have been done. We are now, as I mentioned, in the middle of installation. We have been able to recover most of the tariffs. Some of the tariffs are still disputed, it is nothing that we are particularly worried about. We believe that we will be paid for all the tariffs that has been imposed on Cambi. We cannot guarantee even the numbers will not be huge.
It will not have a big impact on our financials. In India, the focus is now gradually shifting to other cities away from Mumbai. There are several projects under development in India, really difficult to say how fast they will move. I think what is important now is to see the outcome of how well our plants in Mumbai is working, and that will probably be the key issue going forward. We are extremely interested in seeing and helping our customers with operational excellency in those plants. Production in India is going on, and so far, we're satisfied with the result and the quality. A bit too early to tell. As I mentioned, Grønn Vekst continues to improve profitability.
The annual general meeting in Cambi approved an ordinary cash dividend of NOK 0.30 per share and authorized the board to declare additional dividends based on the 2025 results. Mats will cover the details in his presentation. Based on the current visibility, Cambi maintain our estimate that operating profits in 2026 will be lower than in 2025. The company remains confident on its long-term growth outlook. Thank you. With this, I would leave the floor to Mats.
Thank you, Per. Good morning, everyone. I'll now take you through the financials for the first quarter. Let me start with some financial highlights. Revenue in Q1 was NOK 179 million, reflecting good progress across our project portfolio, combined with the expected seasonal slowdown in the solutions segment in Q1. EBITDA came in at NOK 23 million, up from NOK 14 million in Q1 last year. Operating cash flow was slightly negative at NOK -4 million. This is an improvement from Q1 last year, although it is lower than previous quarters. Order intake was NOK 348 million, driven by the two large construction contracts in the U.K. as Per mentioned. The order backlog ended at NOK 1.2 billion, which is broadly at the same level as last year. The backlog continues to provide good visibility on the future activity levels for Cambi going forward.
Finally, as was just mentioned, the annual general meeting approved an ordinary dividend of NOK 0.30 And has also been authorized to approve additional dividends going forward. Let's have a look at the consolidated income statement. Revenue for the quarter was down 21% from 2025 and ended, where it was NOK 225 million. The decrease mainly reflects that several large construction contracts are now nearing completion, as Per mentioned, while newly awarded contracts are still in an early execution phase. Gross margin was 62%, compared to 47% in Q1 2025. The improvement mainly reflects the revenue mix during the quarter. We had lower cost for materials, goods and services relative to revenue, driven by higher share of core technology deliveries and a lower share of EPC-type projects.
OpEx was NOK 88 million, down from NOK 92 million in the same quarter last year. This reduction comes despite the full quarter consolidation of CNP Cycles, and the decrease is mainly explained by the exit of the soil retail business for Grønn Vekst and the positive effects from a stronger look on operating expenses in the quarter. EBITDA was NOK 23 million, corresponding to a margin of 13%, compared to NOK 14 million and a 6% margin in Q1 last year. The improvement was mainly driven by stronger gross margins in the technology segment and better performance in the solutions segment. Depreciation and amortization were lower than in the same quarter last year, and this mainly reflects the fully amortized IP portfolio from Veolia, and was partly offset by new amortization of the CNP transaction.
Net financial items were NOK -11 million, mainly due to a stronger Norwegian krone against EUR and USD. Profit before tax was NOK 8 million, while net profit for the quarter was NOK 7 million, both slightly higher than the same period last year. Let's have a look at the technology segment. Revenue was NOK 119 million in Q1, down from NOK 176 in the same quarter last year. The decrease reflects that several large THP construction contracts are now nearing completion, and new contracts are starting to ramp up. Project execution continued according to client schedules, and the two U.K. contracts that were announced in the U.K. only contributed limited in this quarter because it's still in an early execution phase. Gross margin was 77%, representing a strong improvement compared to previous quarters.
This was mainly driven by a favorable revenue mix with fewer EPC projects and a higher share of core technology deliveries. In addition, the release of accrued project contingencies on projects nearing completion further supported the strong margin in the quarter. OpEx were NOK 70 million, broadly in line with Q1 last year. However, as mentioned earlier, this quarter includes CNP Cycles, which was not a part of the group in Q1 last year. EBITDA was NOK 21 million, slightly above Q1 last year, despite the lower revenue level. At quarter end, Cambi had 19 ongoing construction contracts up from 17 one year earlier, mainly due to the inclusion of the project portfolio of CNP Cycles equipment delivery contracts. Let's take a look at the solutions segment. Revenue was NOK 60 million, up 23% from NOK 49 million in Q1 last year.
The increase was mainly driven by higher activity in the recycling sub-segment where Grønn Vekst delivered according to plan on an historically high order backlog. Gross margin was 33%, broadly in line with the same level last year, reflecting seasonality and the revenue mix in the quarter. OpEx were NOK 18 million, down from NOK 22 million Q1 last year. This reflects the phase out of the soil retail activities together with the broader profit improvement program in Grønn Vekst as Per mentioned earlier. EBITDA was NOK 2 million compared to NOK -5 million in Q1 last year. The first quarter remains a seasonally quieter quarter for both soil sales and on-site services. Grønn Vekst continues to focus on improving profitability through more efficient bulk soil production and lower underlying cost base.
As was mentioned, the company also continues to seek a solution for the soil bagging facility and the associated land lease agreements, which currently have an annual cost of around NOK 2.5 million. Okay, let's move over to the order intake. Order intake was NOK 348 million in Q1, compared to NOK 170 million in the same quarter last year. The main contributors were the two equipment delivery contracts in the U.K. already mentioned, and Cambi also signed a three-year leasing agreement for a smaller THP system in the U.K. The order intake also includes sale of spare parts, bulk soil and VOs for ongoing construction contracts, in addition to smaller contracts below the stock exchange announcement threshold. Due to the strong NOK at quarter end, the backlog includes a negative foreign exchange effect of NOK 32 million compared to the previous quarter.
This is reflected in the order intake and the order backlog. Moving over to the order backlog. The backlog ended at NOK 1.2 billion at quarter end, which is broadly unchanged from Q1 last year. The technology backlog was 20% lower than one year ago, reflecting progress across the THP construction portfolio. This was partly offset by the inclusion of CNP Cycles project portfolio, which was not included last year. The solutions backlog was 90% higher than Q1 last year, mainly due to the major biosolids handling contract awarded to Grønn Vekst in September last year. Please also note that contract that was announced by Grønn Vekst in Q1 this year, relating to the garden waste and biosolids handling in Western Norway, is not included in the reported order backlog.
The reason is that the company awarded the contract is jointly managed rather than controlled by Cambi. It is therefore accounted for using the equity method, meaning that the financial performance will not be consolidated into Cambi's financial figures. Instead, it will be recognized in our share of the net result. Grønn Vekst share of the total contract value, including options for this contract, is exceeding NOK 100 million. Overall, the backlog continues to provide good visibility for future activity levels for Cambi. Let's take a look at the order backlog distribution. Approximately 40% of the order backlog is expected to be delivered during the remainder of 2026 and is mainly related to ongoing technology construction projects. The longer-term backlog mainly relates to Grønn Vekst biosolids and garden waste contracts, including the extension options which historically have been executed.
Around half of the backlog is denominated in NOK, while the remainder share is mainly in euros, British pounds, and U.S. dollars. As we have seen this quarter, currency movements will continue to affect reported figures in NOK for Cambi. Let's move over to the balance sheet. Cash and cash equivalents were NOK 282 million at quarter end, compared to NOK 100 million one year earlier. This mainly reflects milestone payments received from ongoing construction contracts during recent quarters. Accounts receivable were NOK 80 million, down from NOK 189 million in Q1 last year, reflecting receipt of milestone payments during this period. Earned but not invoiced project revenue was NOK 244 million, broadly in line with Q1 last year, and reflects the timing differences between revenue recognition and invoicing milestones.
Inventories were reduced to NOK 92 million, down from NOK 154 million one year earlier, mainly due to lower working progress for ongoing construction projects. Cambi continues to have a strong balance sheet with no long-term debt, and we remain well-positioned for future growth. Let's take a look at the cash flow statement. As mentioned, operating cash flow was NOK -4 million in Q1 compared with NOK -53 million in the same quarter last year. The cash flow reflects the milestone payments from customers together with normal timing differences in project accruals. Changes in project accruals mainly reflect recognized profits that have not been received in cash. Investment cash flow during the quarter was limited, and there were no financing cash flow in the quarter as well. At the end of Q1, the cash stood at NOK 282 million, as mentioned earlier.
Before moving to the Q&A, a short comment on dividends. The annual general meeting approved an ordinary dividend of NOK 0.30 per share for the 2025 financial year. The board has also been authorized to declare additional dividends based on the 2025 result. Any additional payments will depend on continued achievement of project milestones and the financial position and outlook for Cambi. This approach is similar to last year, and it is intended to balance shareholder returns with prudent liquidity management. With that, we are ready to move over to the Q&A session. Thank you.
Thank you, Per and Mats, for the quarterly update. Thank you everyone for remaining with the webcast for the Q&A session. A brief reminder that you can still submit questions via the QR code on the screen, we've received already a couple of them. I will start with the first one. This may be addressed to you, Per. I understand that Cambi has grown and prepared the organization in recent quarters to handle potentially significant future profitable growth. If Cambi achieve significant profitable growth in the future, can we, given that the organization has already grown, expect payroll and other OpEx to remain at about the current level, adjusted just for normal wage and price increases? Should we expect an increase more in line with the percentage growth?
Thank you. It's a good question. We do present Cambi as a scalable company, and that still remains. Cambi is scalable. If turnover and activity level increases by 50%-100%, we will have higher cost levels, but not in a linear way. It will increase. Will have to increase, that is for sure. Higher turnover normally leads to higher profitability for Cambi. An area that I do think will continue to grow also cost-wise, but also income-wise, turnover, et cetera, that is within services. That part of Cambi has been undermanned. We are increasing our capacity to do services, to do yearly shutdown, to follow up our customers all over the world.
That cost increase also creates revenues, so I am not worried about that part of Cambi. We do also need more for upgrade projects. These projects are the most complicated we can do in Cambi, and it requires a lot of competent manpower in order to do the upgrade project rather, also profitable. We will continue to do that. I mean, I hope I answered your good question in a good way, this is what I can say for the time being.
Thank you, Per. We have one more question. This one is probably better addressed to Mats. In 2024, the gross margin was approximately 55%, and in 2025, approximately 50%. Do you have an expectation for the total gross margin for the coming years?
Yeah. Thank you for the question. We don't provide guidance on the gross margin level going forward. However, I can say that it will depend on the segment mix. We want to grow the solutions segment. This typically has a lower gross margin than the technology segment. It will depend on how many projects we execute and how big our install base will be and in Grønn Vekst. Also within the segments, it is a quite big variation between the gross margins. For instance, in solutions, we do upgrade projects which, when they are successful, have gross margins very close to the technology segment. Also, lower type of gross margins related to organic resourcing, for instance.
We have a kind of quite broad range between activities within solution segment. Within the technology segment, as we have touched upon earlier, also depending on core THP deliveries, versus more broader EPC type of projects. It will depend on the mix. This is what I can say around kind of understanding the gross margin levels. I think a good proxy is to look in the reported historical gross margins.
Thank you, Mats. Right now, it does not look as we have any further questions. I think that just brings the Q1 2026 results webcast and the Q&A session to a close. A recording and transcript will be published on the investor portal later. Any further inquiries may be directed to the investor relations team. I think there's just one more question, I think we'll take that separately that just came in. Thank you for following Cambi, and have a good day. Bye-bye.