I'm Peter Nilsson, CEO of Kitron ASA, and joining me as usual is Ms. Cathrin Nylander, CFO. Following today's brief presentation, we'll have a Q& A, so please post any questions you may have in the Q& A section of the webcast. Thank you. Next slide please.
Let's take a look at an overview of the quarter and the full- year 2024 numbers. Kitron delivered a Q4 revenue of close to EUR 161 million with a 7.3% margin, contributing to a full- year revenue of just over EUR 647 million, or a 7.4% margin. Throughout the year, demand softened across key sectors such as Connectivity, Electrification and Industry, leading to a 16.5% year- over- year decline. The CEE market fell by 34% primarily due to weakened electrification demand, while Asia declined 19% affected by reduced Connectivity investments driven by downturn in capital investments. Investments in Manufacturing, Defense and Aerospace was a bright spot, growing quarter- over- quarter and year- over- year, as well as the backlog growing 23%. To navigate shifting market conditions, Kitron initiated a restructuring program in early 2024 which resulted in EUR 4.8 million of one-time costs.
These operational adjustments streamlined costs, optimized production and increased efficiency. In Q4, Kitron accounted for an additional EUR 1.3 million in accruals related to customer impairments. Excluding these one-time costs, the underlying EBIT reached EUR 54.1 million with an 8.4% EBIT margin, demonstrating strong operational control and profitability improvements. With no further restructuring plan, Kitron is well- positioned now to capitalize on growth opportunities in 2025, driven by strengthened order backlog and continued sector demand. Next slide please.
Over the past four months we've announced several new deals. Let's review some of those markets driving growth. In the fourth quarter, we announced the EUR 15 million maritime IoT deal for smart asset tracking. We also announced the $5 million U.S. Army Defense contract, expanding our U.S. footprint in Defense solutions. Now, in addition, this January two major contracts were secured. First, a EUR 25 million Naval Strike Missile contract with Kongsberg, then a EUR 30 million contract for advanced UAV optics, strengthening our expertise in Aerospace, Surveillance and Autonomous Systems.
As announced before, by the end of 2025 our Nordic sites will start to see capacity constraints. So to accommodate growing demand, we are investing in two new facilities to focus on high-level assembly and systems integration. A new 7,000- square- meter facility in Longum, Norway, plan to be operational from Q1 2026. An additional 6,000- square- meter building next to the site in Sweden expands capabilities in the fourth quarter. From the fourth quarter this year, our M& A strategy remains active focusing on technology-driven acquisitions and regional expansion. For 2025 we expect revenues in the range between EUR 600 million and EUR 700 million with an expectation to exceed EUR 650 million. The book-to-bill ratio in Q4 of 103 confirms a positive momentum heading into 2025. Next slide please.
Let's move on to some fourth quarter sector trends. Connectivity saw mixed results after a poor first half of the year. We saw a turnaround in the second half. The order backlog grew 28% year- on- year. Sensor and asset tracking solutions remain key growth areas while traditional network and infrastructure started to pick up towards the end of the year. Going forward, new customer wins and smart integration of emerging technologies are expected to drive recovery. Inventory destocking continues to an extent but should be exhausted by Q2 this year.
The Electrification sector showed regional disparities declining 32% overall year- on- year driven by 50% drop in the CEE region while the Nordics and the US grew 28%. Energy transmission saw strong growth but consumer- driven electrification including home energy storage, solar inverters and EV infrastructure and connecting equipment around that declining. Looking ahead, Industrial electrification investments are expected to drive a recovery in 2025, but consumer- driven adoption remains uncertain due to economic pressures. The Industry sector contracted 33% year- on- year although AI infrastructure and subsea applications remained resilient against the overall slowdown. Demand for automation and maritime equipment is beginning to pick up while traditional manufacturing equipment remains somewhat weak.
Moving forward, renewed investments in industrial automation and maritime applications present long- term growth potential. Finally, Defense & Aerospace was the best performing sector with 22% growth year- over- year and 6% quarter- over- quarter. Avionics, Surveillance, Missile Systems were leading growth categories. Looking forward, the government Defense budgets continue to rise and NATO-related investments are boosting long-term demand. Next slide please. Let's talk about our order backlog which is continuing to improve. We ended Q4 2024 with an order backlog close to EUR 472 million, a 3% sequential increase. The strongest performing sectors were Defense & Aerospace which grew 23% and Connectivity improving 28%.
However, Electrification and Industry saw declines, and with the late update, the January 2025 order backlog grew further to EUR 505 million, the highest level since mid-2023, mostly driven by Defense & Aerospace and somewhat by Electrification. Looking ahead, our six-month rolling outlook stands at EUR 331 million, representing a book-to-bill ratio of about 1.02. Overall we're optimistic about 2025, especially in Defense, Aerospace, Connectivity and Industrial electrification investments. These should help offset continued weakness in consumer- driven segments. Next slide and Cathrin, you're up.
Thanks Peter and on to some of the highlights for Q4 2024. So revenue ended at EUR 160.1 million, very much in line with the outlook. It's some 19% lower than last year, which also was the case actually for Q3. Our EBIT ended in the end at EUR 11.8 million in the quarter, down from EUR 18 million and as mentioned we had some impairments in the quarter and adjusting for those it would have been. Slightly higher and a profit margin of 8.2%. ROCE and other capital efficiency indicators are improved to last quarter and were in line with previous quarters. In 2024 the financial situation continued to be stable with a net interest-bearing debt over EBITDA 1.7. Operating cash flow is below last year's level but still at 85% of the quarterly EBITDA.
So, n et income is at EUR 4.9 million. It's down from EUR 12.3 million last year. It's mainly a result of the lower EBIT in EUR but also affected by some tax effects in Q4 which I'll come back to. Next slide please. Slide 7 revenue year- to- date ended at EUR 647 or slightly above that and 6.5% below last year and in line with our outlook. As mentioned, EBIT at EUR 48.1 and 7.4% and adjusted for the one-offs and underlying percentage of 8.4% which again is in line with what we have said previously. Cash flow ended at EUR 43.7 and 67% of EBITDA and the Board has proposed a dividend of 0.35 NOK per share.
Next slide please. Slide 8. Now just comment a little bit on the total. Nordics and North America show a growth of 9.4% for the year and Q4 ended just below the same quarter revenue as last year. For CEE, in Asia the year ended with reductions for CEE of 33% compared to 2023 and Asia 40% compared to last year. That said, Asia has stabilized now at around 24-25 million EUR for the quarter. For the last three quarters CEE delivered 51 million EUR in Q4 which is about the same level it was also in Q2. Nordics and North America ended the year with a 7.4% profit margin, which is a reduction from last year's 8.4%. There have been some inefficiencies in the quarter bringing the profitability down, where actions have been taken to rectify coming into 2025.
For CEE, EBIT margin for the year was 8.2% 9.6% last year, and for Asia 11.6% 12.6% respectively. CEE in the quarter is affected by the 1.3 impairment in Q4, and adjusted for that it would have been 8.8% for the year. Employees now at 2,411. It's down 509 than from the 3,001 last year, and compared to last quarter, which was 63 FTEs higher. Nordics and North America reduction of 54, CEE is down 14, and there's a slight increase in Asia. Next slide please, slide 9. Cash Flow and Working Capital. So cash flow ended at 14.8 and 85% of EBITDA in the quarter and for the year 43.7 and 66%, a bit shy of the strategic target of 80%.
At the Capital Markets Day in December we estimated an operating cash flow of EUR 50 million which would have required the operating capital to stay at Q3 level. Unfortunately it was increased with some EUR 4.9 million in the quarter and hence slightly below than the 50 million forecast that we had. Investments are substantially lower this year. We did increase machine capacity substantially last year and several sites have moved some equipment around to optimize and investments. Now we ended at 1.3% of revenue which was in line also that with our estimates the total- year. So next slide please. Slide 10.
Net working capital as a % of sales is at 28% and down 3% in the quarter, but still up from last year's 24.4%. Most sites have had an improvement from last quarter and the CEE nations sites are closing in a strategic target on 20% for net working capital and the Nordics North America carry more working capital in general bringing it up. CCC ended at 106 days, down from 111 last quarter, but still up from the 95 days last year. ROC at 18% up from last quarter, 16.8%. Net interest over EBITDA is at 1.7 and slightly up from 1.5 from last quarter's. The debt is reduced with 4.1% but we are exiting the rather high EBIT in Q4 2023 in the measurement, so that's why it's slightly lower or slightly higher.
Finance net is a cost of EUR 1.5 million down from last quarter's EUR 2.3 million. Interest rate is still around 6% for the group, and in total- year ended with EUR 8.4 million of interest cost, EUR 1.6 million of positive agio, and EUR 1.4 million other financial cost to a net finance cost of EUR 8.2 million. Tax for the quarter is quite high. It's 5.3 million EUR and we have some larger items in there. In the quarter, we had to make a financial impairment in the U.S. of 1.6 million EUR. This is a reversible and only a financial write- down. In addition, we brought home some more dividend from China giving them EUR 0.4 million or more tax.
So about EUR 2 million; these are related to those two items and the rest bringing it down to where it should be around 23% are true about tax calculations in general so we foresee around 23% going forward. At the end, we have proposed a dividend of 0.35 NOK, which is 21% of net income and amounts to approximately 6 million EUR, and which is in line with the dividend policy that states that we should pay out around 20%-60% of the company's consolidated net profit. For the year. Okay, now and then Slide 11 and back to you, Peter.
Thanks, Cathrin. Looking ahead, our key takeaways from today's presentation. The Q4 revenue closed at EUR 161 million, EBIT margin 7.3%. Our order backlog remains solid with a close of EUR 472 million in total, declining 4% year- over- year, but improving 3% quarter- over- quarter, providing us stability into 2025, and with the latest update at the end of January came in at EUR 505 million for the order backlog. We're happy about that. Sector performance varies greatly with Defense & Aerospace remaining our strongest performing sector and Connectivity showing some positive momentum.
Looking ahead, our 2025 revenue forecast is set to be between EUR 600 million and EUR 700 million, with expectations to exceed EUR 650 million provided that the market conditions remain stable. But we are keeping close watch on macroeconomic risks such as trade war, global supply- chain disruptions, interest- rate volatility and others that could have impact in some sectors. While some sectors faced significant headwinds last year, Defense, Aerospace, energy transmission and some IoT solutions remain strong. With our continued contract wins, expansion initiatives and financial discipline, we're in a strong position for 2025.
Next slide please. So I'd like to remind you that we'll shortly start the Q& A, so post any questions you may have in the Q& A section of the webcast. Thanks, Cathrin. Let's take a look at some of the questions that have come in. Yes.
Quite a few actually.
Quite a few, yes. Let's start with from Emilie Engebretsen. You're expecting a material step- up in electrification in 2026 on the CMD. We indicated that this was partly driven by certain sub segments like power grid. However, this only explains part of the growth in 2026. What's remaining that what we model for the part rest of the growth. I think we have in the second half of the year, we're seeing a return of some of the segments in. EV charging. We have forecasts and orders for that starting sort of June. June time frame. That's the only thing I can really think of off the top of my head on that. Any additional comments, Cathrin?
No, I agree with it.
What drove the sequential decline in Connectivity in Q4? I would think we had a disengagement with one customer providing geostationary satellite communication on the maritime and that we shipped out in Q3. I think the remaining and then there was just sort of closing on some inventory in Q4.
Yeah, and there's the only thing I.
Can think of that makes any.
There's a larger customer in Denmark that has some reduced volumes.
That's right. Yeah. There was some push out into beginning of January on that also.
Above and beyond what we thought December would get.
Yeah.
Nothing major really on that and that's one of our biggest. It's a top- five customer. That customer, the one that pushed out a little bit out of Denmark. Also, are you seeing some signs of, are you seeing signs that demand is stabilized? Electrification in Industry. Are customers still lowering forecasts? No, I mean it's stability. Looking at the latest order backlog, r ight? The one that came in here in January, there is, there's tiny % changes up and down on Connectivity, on Industry and medical. So basically zero, basically stable, strong growth on Defense. I think majority of the increase, the net increase of around EUR 35 million on the order backlog was Defense, around EUR 32 million, and the remaining was electrification.
We continue a lot of chatter in the market regarding potential pull- in of demand due to potential tariffs. Are we seeing any indications as we have several customers exposed to the U.S. market, r ight? Not that we can say where it's been specifically mentioned to us that they are pulling in due to tariffs. We've seen increased short- term demand inside lead- time, so really pull- in and expedited orders specifically out of our sites in China in the fourth quarter, and I'd say accelerating into December, a little bit even in January. We've seen it happen.
Now I can't say that that's due to potential tariffs. I can just say that's on occasion that happens when the market is about to turn around and customers have been projecting lower revenue and lower orders for a while. All of a sudden they have customer demand and they have no stock to deliver from. What drove weaker margin in the Nordics in North America in Q4? It's a two- part thing, but it's, I'd say, mostly related to efficiency losses in the ramp- up in Norway, and that continues, both of productivity on the workforce driven by some difficulties on the material side to get material in on time and get everything out the door as it should be. There's a lot of focus on making sure that the plan for this year, which is, you know, significant growth versus last year, is executable.
And finally. Despite higher shares in Q4, EBIT margin ring flat versus Q3. What do we think about the margin development across the different sites in 25? I think we had strong margins out of, out of. China, out of mostly out of CEE. Even Poland, which had a 50% reduction in top- line, is, I think, delivering some pretty impressive margins overall. Sweden is delivering strong margins. I'd say it is. The margin improvement is going to come without volume increase. It's going to come out of Norway, and then in Norway there's additional volume increase. I'd expect, you know, compared to the, what could we have achieved if we had normal productivity? We'd have it probably a 10% better EBIT margin last year. That's the effect of it. Really important to get that. Get on top of that.
Let's move on to. Olav Rødevand. Could you comment a bit on new sales? What are you seeing today in the market that makes you expand capacity now? If you could comment on dividend and the lower level relates to the. If the lower level relates to these investments. Thanks. The site that we're in in Norway was originally dimensioned for NOK 600 million a year. We did what about NOK 2.1 billion last year. We have demand for NOK 2.6 billion without any pull ins from 2026 in this year. There you go. There's the demand for the Norwegian facility.
For the Swedish facility, it's about growing them also. There's about a 10%-15% upside, maybe 10% growth this year for Sweden. They are just being able to manage with the about 8,000 sq m facility they have now. We want to separate out and move all of the high-level assembly and systems integration into the additional facility for both sites and then focus for electronic manufacturing in the existing facility. I do not believe that the expanded capacity and these things are at all relating to the dividend for the year. The dividend for the year is I think more to give us a freedom when it comes to M& A. Could we comment on what we're seeing in the market today, makes everything that—t hat makes you make an FID on new sites and also.
Oh, that was the same question, I think. Okay. Simon Bruin says despite strong sales growth of 9% in Nordics, the margin is down. Yeah, I've elaborated on that.
Yes.
That's all I see, r ight?
Wait a little bit and see if some more questions come in since we have the delay. Peter.
Yeah. No, so we're pretty, pretty positive but we have a lot of work to do on getting the sites up and running towards the productivity they should have. Specifically, especially in Norway. We hope to alleviate some of that because there's a plan from our second- biggest customer in Norway to. Start production in our Polish facility probably by mid- year. We know that those things can be dicey on exact timing.
You have talked about that before, but then it was another product line we discussed.
To be real, this is a new generation.
I think that's it, Cathrin, r ight? Thank you very much and we'll see you in the Q2 report. Thanks.