Shed some light on recent acquisitions. My name is Even Matre Ellingsen. I took over as the new CEO of Eqva only a couple of weeks ago, but I've been involved with the company through my previous role as chair of the board. With me today is our CFO, Petter Sørdahl. In today's presentation, I will start by giving you an introduction to what the new Eqva will look like, followed by a short business update. Petter will then take you through the financial and operational highlights from the first quarter of 2024. Before we look into the acquisition of Kvinnherad Elektro and Vassnes Solutions. We will then share with you some exciting news about the establishment of a new growth platform named Nordic Industrial Solutions (NIS). Let's start by reiterating our views on Eqva's strategic direction going forward.
Eqva is a knowledge-based, active owner of industrial service companies, and our ambition is to be a leading investment company on the Oslo Stock Exchange. We are investing in industrial service companies that contribute to the green transition in maritime, power-intensive, and renewable industries. Eqva aims to create value by combining inspiration from private equity industries, adding value creation mindset with an industrial approach and long-term horizon. Here's an overview of our current assets. We have today a 100% share in each of BKS, our industrial service company, Fossberg Kraft, and our Real Estate business segment. Each of these companies will be presented in more details in the appendix. As you are well aware, we have had some recent changes in our business following our strategic divestments. Today's management has a strong combination of financial, legal, and industrial background fit for a new direction.
It has been an eventful first quarter with strong performance from our industrial segment combined with the sale of Havila Charisma. Eqva's overall strategic priorities remain. We will grow by having a diversified revenue stream from industry services in different markets and investing along key market trends. We will continue to grow through a combination of M&A deals and organic growth. BKS alone had a revenue growth of approximately 50% last year, and the growth still continues this year. Looking back a bit further, we are now two years into an exciting journey of a great transition for the company. As you can see from the timeline, it has been quite an eventful period. It is important for us to deliver on our promises. In Eqva, we are not focusing on the day-to-day share price.
What is important, though, is that the value creation in the company over time is reflected in the share price. That said, we are very happy and proud with the share price development last three years of more than 100%. We know that the market appreciates both growth and dividends. In 2024, we have paid NOK 0.2 in dividend per share. Now I will hand over the floor to Petter.
Thank you, Even. We are pleased to report a solid quarter driven by volume increase and improved sales and margins in the products, solutions, and renewables segment. This has resulted in both significant revenue growth and increased EBITDA compared to figures from the same quarter last year. In our segment, products, solutions, and renewables, the revenue is up 58% compared to the same period last year, mainly driven by high activity among our large industrial clients. The EBITDA margin increased to 8.2% compared to 6.9% last year, demonstrating the right direction towards our long-term margin goals. The order book increased further in the first quarter from NOK 487 million to NOK 545 million compared to the previous quarter. In products, solutions, and renewables, we have increased our contract scope on already existing customers, and we maintain high volumes on frame agreements.
We see growing demand and have many new products within clean energy, decarbonization, and energy transition. We are expecting these to continue growing as a share of our overall business. As a result, new contracts have been secured with key customers. On our segment breakdown, we see that products, solutions, and renewables have had a fantastic development with revenues up NOK 82 million from last year. Following the investment of Havila Charisma, we see a strong one-off effect presented in the segment Other. Our first quarter demonstrates a very encouraging progress on all key metrics. As mentioned before, revenue increased by 58%, while EBITDA increased by 89% to NOK 18.3 million. For BKS, ongoing projects are continuing with high activity, and importantly, the order intake in order book puts us in a strong position to sustain high activity levels going forward.
Looking at Fossberg Kraft, two projects are under construction and others in tendering phases. To our knowledge, we are proud to announce that we have received the only concession given from NVE in the last 18 months for small hydroelectric power plants in Norway. At the end of the first quarter, Eqva was in a sound financial position with NOK 79 million in cash and a solid equity ratio of 41%. We are expecting strong cash generation throughout the year, making us well equipped to service our interest-bearing debt. And now I hand over the floor to you, Even.
Thank you, Petter. Our next topic on the agenda is a very exciting announcement that was communicated on Tuesday this week. Two days ago, Eqva and Kvinnherad announced a business combination agreement. The transaction will become effective from ultimo second quarter 2024. Kvinnherad Elektro is a full-service power and automation company, and the agreement includes a 51% ownership in Vassnes Solutions. This agreement will result in the establishment of a prominent and fully integrated system supplier within the piping, power, and automation disciplines. The agreements also strengthen Eqva's position as a leading supplier towards the Norwegian industry. And importantly, by strengthening our position in these segments, this will also increase Eqva's annual revenues by NOK 160 million-NOK 175 million. Following the transaction, both Kvinnherad Elektro and Vassnes Solutions will continue to operate under the current brand and management, ensuring seamless continuation of the operations.
We look forward to working with our new colleagues in both Ølen and Rosendal and will strive to further enhance our service offering for offshore customers. Kvinnherad Elektro and Vassnes G roup have approximately 200 skilled professionals in total. Together, we will have a pool of approximately 270 skilled and experienced employees in the power and automation segment. We also want to take the opportunity to talk about another piece of exciting news, namely the establishment of a new growth platform, Nordic Industrial Solutions (NIS). In a separate announcement two days ago, Eqva confirmed that the agreement had been signed to acquire Kvinnherad Elektro and Vassnes Group. These companies will be owned by Nordic Industrial Solutions (NIS). Eqva will transfer ownership of its subsidiary, BKS, to NIS, which in turn will become a platform for further growth with Eqva as a main owner.
Existing shareholders in Kvinnherad Elektro will receive share in NIS as a part of the transaction. Here's what the new organizational structure will look like from second quarter. In potential future acquisitions, we will invite existing shareholders in target companies on board as co-owners in NIS. Now, let's conclude this presentation by having a quick look at the outlook going forward. As you can see here, we have slightly adjusted up the expected revenues for 2024 to be in the range of NOK 650 million-NOK 750 million, while reiterating EBITDA on margin in the range of 5%-7%. With the announced formation of NIS and other planned M&A activities, we are expecting revenue to increase to between NOK 900 million and NOK 1 billion on a full-year basis with the same EBITDA margin as mentioned above.
Our long-term target of EBITDA margin is still 7%-9%, which we are working very hard to achieve. That concludes the main part of our presentation. To read more about our current holdings, we have included an expanded appendix in this quarterly presentation. If you have any questions about Eqva and our growth plans, please don't hesitate to call Petter. Thank you.