Good morning, everybody, and welcome to this presentation of the Third Quarter twenty twenty for Multiconsult. My name is Greta Barigle. I'm the CEO of Multiconsult. And with me today to present some of the figures, I have our CFO, Hans Wibsa. Starting with an introductory highlights, we are, as I'm sure a lot of you have seen, delivering yet another strong quarter.
And it is proving that the turnaround that we started a while back is now also presenting itself in the figures that we can see for the company. And of course, we are very pleased to see this positive development. We deliver a solid revenue year to date. We have a year to date EBIT of NOK $318,000,000, representing a margin of 11.8%. This is not including a figure of €30,000,000 that we have taken in this quarter with regard to restructuring, and this is also in line with the figures that we have also informed you about in We the next level have a significant reduction in cost, and we are ahead of the plan for the 150,000,000 that we announced in our next level program.
We have also an improvement in our billing ratio, and we are now moving above 70%. And we still think there is some more to come, but it is a process that will take some time. We have an order intake of EUR $919,000,000 in the quarter and that gives us a very stable backlog going into the 2020 and the start of twenty twenty one. So far, we've had a modest impact of the COVID-nineteen situation, but, it is right to say that we are still uncertain about the effect that this will have at least in the short run. And like a lot of other companies, we did not pay dividend.
We canceled that dividend last year. Seeing the figures, seeing the strong balance sheet, we are now doubling the proposed NOK1 and we are proposing NOK2 dividend. Looking at the order intake, here you can see there is a slight reduction from the third quarter twenty nineteen. This is within the normal fluctuations that we will see in order intake. And significant sales in this quarter has been the Galdosta Hospital in Oslo, one of the a new hospital for the population of Oslo and one of the largest hospital in Norway.
We have also been awarded another contract on the water supply for the city of Oslo. And we are also very pleased to see that we won two large international hydropower and transmission projects in Tanzania and that for clients that we have worked with over a long period of time. For the long term, we still see a positive pipeline across most of the business areas, but we are maybe also seeing a slight slowdown of small and medium sized projects due to the COVID-nineteen situation. And we also have a situation in Norway with an ongoing public reform that are causing some delays with respect to getting the project out in the market. Key order intake in the period comprised the water supply for Oslo, an LNG terminal in Poland, that's an oil and gas project, the hydropower plants in Tanzania, a new high school in Askei and a railway station.
As you can see, it's a good distribution amongst the business areas that we operate in. Looking at the order backlog, we have an 11% increase from Q3 twenty nineteen, and our backlog now stands at €3,000,000,000 It's not quite record high, but it's close. And we just like to remind you that there is a variation with respect to the backlog when it comes to the various timing, the spread in time and across the various business areas and business units. And also remember that we do not include expected volume on frame agreements until we've actually had a call off. And here, we just mentioned some of the largest frame agreements where we expect to see call offs in the next few quarters.
It's for the Oslo Kommun. And here, it's the new tram line that's going to go from Oslo to Fornebu. We have a big frame agreement with Bahnenur on safety and ramps. We have one with our defense department. We have a procurement frame agreement for all hospitals in Norway.
We have one in Schistrike, and we also have just been awarded a new frame agreement for Statnet that will probably run over a period of six years, giving us a revenue around CHF50 million a year. So it's a solid good position to be in going into the next quarter. Looking at the people and organization, we are 2,138 employees at the September 30. The Dalkmann project, which is the main library in Oslo, has just been awarded the very prestigious Concrete Award with Tongtavlen. We have for the hospital that we're involved with in Westfall, we just won a BuildingSmart award with regard to digitalization.
And one of our employees is now in the final four for the Reef Award Young Professional of the Year, giving us hope that we will also in the future have strong, competent employees. Given the extraordinary times and given the extraordinary results that we're seeing, we are also wanting to give something back to all the people who have created this value. And we are proposing a bonus for all our employees. And this will have effect on of around SEK 25,000,000. As you can see, we're almost the same number of people now as we were a year ago.
This is totally in line with the next level ambitions and it shows that we have increased our efficiency significantly. The COVID-nineteen situation, have, of course, also been putting an effect on how we have run our operations. And for us, it's always the safety of our people who are at the forefront. And what we see is that we've had a continuous strong commitment from our employees. We have managed to maintain a close dialogue with our employees and also our clients.
And it does mean that our production has remained virtually unchanged because we have a high level of digitalization. And as of August 2020, we no longer have anybody on temporary leave. We are still mobilized, to follow closely what is happening around us with respect to COVID nineteen, and we are seeing some more uncertainty related to small and medium sized projects, particularly in the private sector. And with this, I give the floor to our CFO, Hans Jurgen, who will take us through the details of the figures.
Thank you, Greta, and good morning, everyone. I will review as normal the figures for the third quarter, for the quarter and the full year year to date results. Net operating revenues increased by 3.9% to 7 and 48,500,000.0 comparing this quarter with the same quarter in 2019, which is a healthy increase. And the EBIT came in at CHF 68,100,000.0, which is equivalent to a 9.1% margin. However, we think the interesting number to look at is the EBIT excluding restructuring costs that we have previously announced that Greta mentioned, and we're taking a one off charge this quarter of 30,000,000 So you can say if we add the €30,000,000 to the €68,100,000 we reach €98,100,000 which is equivalent to a margin of 13.1%, which is quite a healthy number.
The other OpEx ratio, which is one of our key KPIs going into the next level program, which is really measuring our OpEx burn rate in some ways, has increased from 20.2% last year in the quarter to 16.3%. So we're very pleased with that number as well, and that is one of the key driver for the improvement in the numbers. The billing ratio is seasonally lower than it has been for the in the second quarter, but we see a very, very strong improvement from of 2% up to a level of 69.2%. We also see that the number of employees is down 2.2% from 3,005 at the end of twelve months ago to 2,938. And as Greta mentioned, that's part of our strategy to improve the efficiency of the company, growing revenues without growing number of employees.
Looking at the full year figures, we see again a healthy growth of 6.4% to EUR 2,693,800,000,000.0. The EBIT the clean EBIT is 10.7 or EUR $288,000,000. And excluding this EUR30 million one off restructuring cost, the number is EUR318.1 million, equal to a margin of 11.8%. Now what is this EUR30 million? It's relating to our portfolio of offices.
And as I will go through during our Capital Markets Day, we have done certain changes to that. We're also moving out to certain premises, and we're taking now a one off charge to reflect this situation where we're actually getting more efficient on the office expense and office utilization side. So it comes in quite nicely. I'd also like to mention that in this quarter, we're also signaling that our expected total restructuring cost for the next level has been reduced from, we expected it we have previously said 60,000,000 to 70 Now we see EUR 45,000,000 to 50,000,000 as total restructuring charge. And so far, we have accumulated EUR 34,000,000.
Therefore, we expect some more, but not to the extent we expected a quarter back. So that's good, and we get more wise as we move through the next level project. On a full year base sorry, on the first nine months, the OpEx ratio is down to 15.8% from 18.3180.8%, again, a very important KPI for us. And the billing ratio, as mentioned by is 70.8%, up a little bit more than 1%. On a group level, it's lower than we want it to be.
And we still as Marie Greta said, we still believe we have something to go, but there are very significant variations between the units. Some have very, very strong and very, very high billing ratio. Others are sub-seventy percent. So it's a good mix, so we have to look at the average. But there is potential there still, we believe.
And we're coming out of the first nine months with a very strong balance sheet, and we're net debt free, also partially reflecting our decision to propose a dividend of NOK2 to the extraordinary general meeting that will take place in a few weeks. Now looking at the operating revenue on top there, we see that the increase was 3.9% with the comparing with the same quarter last year. Seasonal reduction between quarter one and '2 and quarter three caused mainly by the fact that quarter three is summer holiday and also a certain slow start in August. So it's July and partially August, but we're quite happy with that number. And very clearly, see on the bottom line there bottom section there, we see the EBIT, where we have taken in from third quarter twenty eighteen.
Going through 2019 and into 2020, we see a very, very significant in the EBIT in quarter one, quarter two and quarter three. And we also highlighted that the difference between the reported number, for instance, in third quarter SEK68 million, adding SEK38 gives us 98,000,000 So we're kind of making that distinction. So the improvement is quite visible in that particular chart. We talked about the billing ratio a little bit, 69.2%, much better than last quarter same quarter last year, but on average, below our ambition, and we will continue to work to improve that in certain especially in certain sections of the business. And as mentioned earlier, number of employees is down 2.2% on a twelve month basis, which is following our strategy in terms of the next level and is contributing to the improved results.
Taking us through the segments, I will quickly go through this. Region Oslo has a strong first nine months of the year. Revenue increased 7.7% to EUR863.2 €2,000,000 EBIT increasing from 45,000,000 to €135,500,000 That's a huge increase. Now the year to date figure in our region Oslo is also impacted by one offs from last year, So it's not comparing exactly apples to apples, but it's a strong performance and giving an EBIT margin of 15.7% for the first nine months, a very, very solid result. Order backlog or sorry, order intake is at a good level, slightly down.
However, comparing the order intake with the net operating revenues, we're similar. So it's a good order intake, but it's slightly lower than we saw last year. And the billing ratio here is a good example of that it fluctuates between the areas. Billing ratio is at a very healthy 73.4%, which is up from 70.2% in the same nine months period 2019. And also here, a number of employees significantly down 5.3% to seven eighty, And yet the revenue is growing.
So that's kind of a good positive relationship and explaining some of the improved financial performance. I would like to mention at this stage that the quarterly results for the regions, the third quarter results is impacted by a certain adjustment to the overhead. We've had significant lower overhead expenses, which is allocated to the units. This becomes a little bit technical. So the quarterly results in the third quarter were kind of crediting that to the regions.
So the quarterly result is slightly higher than the underlying results. The year to date figure, however, is correct. And the total amount which has been credited back to the regions from previous quarters, it's about SEK 24,000,000. It's mentioned in the notes to the accounts as well as in the text. So I just want to mention that.
But the year to date figure is fully representative of the underlying performance. Region Norway has a very, very strong nine month period and has maybe the best improvement in the overall between last year and this year comparing the regions. Revenue growth, 5.1% EBIT, up 206% from 44% to 137 very, very impressive. And EBIT margin up from 4.4% to 12.8%. And in the 2019 figure, there is no one offs in that, so that's kind of more comparing apples and apples.
Order intake at a very good level, up 14% to SEK1.2 billion. Order backlog up 11.5% to SEK650 million. Billing ratio below the SEK70 million, but still a very, very good increase by 1.4% to 60 or percentage points to 69.7%. And the number of employees is slightly down, which is, in our special case, the situation we're now, a good positive KPI. Energy, as we discussed earlier, it's an area where we invest in.
It's an area for the future. We have very interesting positions within energy. Right now, a little bit of a struggle. They're in kind of a turnaround situation within also within energy, but have overall performed strongly. Particularly, the Norwegian business is doing very well, but there is a business in The U.
K. Which is still loss making. So we're looking at that now and considering the options for that. But it's the overall performance of the unit, given the circumstances, is good. Have a flattish net operating development between this year and last year.
EBIT slightly up, but at a kind of marginal 1.9%. Order intake still at quite a good level comparing with net operating revenues. So it's down, but it's still at a good level. And the order backlog also up because of the good sales. Billing ratio, as you can see, 61.4%, much below our target, but explained by the low activity in The U.
K. As well as the fact that they're investing for the future, for future opportunities. And also the number of people coming down. Link, also a mixed picture with the Norwegian operations doing very well during this year, whereas the operations in Sweden is improving, while the operations in Denmark is still struggling. That explains some of the reason for the reduction in the EBIT.
Revenue is slightly up. The EBIT is significantly down to €11,800,000 with an EBIT margin of 2.9%. And a lot of that is, as I mentioned, driven by the challenging situation in Sweden and in particular in Denmark, whereas the Norwegian operations has had a strong performance during this year and also taking into the situation with the COVID. Order backlog order intake has been good. It's up, which is very, very positive.
Order backlog is naturally then also up. Billing ratio is pretty stable and the number of employees is also it's slightly down, but it's pretty flat. So a mixed picture with Link, but it's an important part of the business, and we're working very hard on the synergies and the benefits of Multi Consult and Link working together. International has another strong quarter and also a strong year to date number, a very, very healthy revenue growth of 18.3% between this year and last year. EBIT is up to €19,100,000 and the EBIT margin is healthy 10.8%.
Order intake, very strong, reflecting also the strong revenue growth. Order backlog is also up naturally. Billing ratio is flat and the number of employees is slightly up, but significantly less than the increase in the revenues. This is Ontario in Sweden and Multiconsoil Poland. Both businesses doing very well and has a solid and strong performance during the first nine months.
So this is kind of the mix of within our I previously presented the business units. This is the business areas where we can see in which area of the business we're growing. And And you can see clearly that the building properties is the largest proportion, 40% of revenues transportation, 29% water environment is 10%, etcetera. So this is the mix. And we're seeing at the bottom line there that all of the business areas, except renewable energy, has an increase comparing 2019 to 2020, which kind of suggests that we have a good portfolio, that we are in areas which has strong positions as we and interesting positions as we move forward.
Then finally on the financial position. Obviously, I'd like to mention one particular number. Not only have we done a good financial performance in terms of EBIT, but over the last twelve months, our net interest bearing debt has improved by EUR419.7 million. That's cash generation. So what we're doing is also flowing to our balance sheet, which has improved significantly from a rather challenging situation when we were here a year ago now to a more comfortable situation.
Now that explains one of the key reasons why we have now feel that it's appropriate to post the dividend that Geraint mentioned, which is that we're repeating the DKK1 that we initially proposed for 2019, but we're doubling that to SEK 2, reflecting good performance in 2020 as well as a very healthy balance sheet. We repaid some debt, so we're basically debt free. We have RCF, so we can repay our debt, which is very good. And also, we have total undrawn loan facilities that were refinanced in February of SEK $520,000,000 on top of the cash balance of SEK 118,000,000 going out of the quarter. So I think that was my part.
Thank you.
Thank you, Hans Joergen. I only have one slide for next level. As the Capital Market Day, we will go into much more detail on the figures that's behind the reported committed NOK 138,000,000. But as of today, we have committed EUR 138,000,000 of the EUR 150,000,000 that we had as part of our next level program. And as you can see from the graph on the right hand side, we are still ahead of schedule.
And during the presentation later on, Hans Jurgen will also show you how much of this SEK 138 you actually see in our figures as of the third quarter. Committed means that they will have an effect, but not all of it has an immediate effect. So going to the outlook. We come out of this quarter with a strong position and creating continuing to create good solution for our clients. We have had positive developments on the ongoing turnaround process, and we are ahead of schedule.
We have a solid backlog. The overall market is good, and we have a strong tender pipeline, but there are some uncertainties with respect to the short term effects of the COVID-nineteen situation. Here you see our financial calendar. We will come back, present the fourth quarter and the results for the year in February. And with that, I complete this session here with the presentation of the third quarter and we open up for questions.
We have a question from webcast from Bing Yunassen. The accrual for bonus of NOK 25,000,000 in quarter four, will this be a recurring event? And is there a hurdle rate for EBIT margin that would trigger such bonuses in the future?
I can take the first part, which is it will be recorded in the fourth quarter numbers, and it will not be a recurring event, which maybe you can also address.
That's right. This is an extraordinary gift back to our people who have been standing in an exceptional situation. We do not have a bonus arrangement in our company. We don't have a way of sharing profit. So we found that it would be correct, given what we are delivering at the moment, to give something back to the people who actually come in and do the work.
Okay. There's no further questions on the web. Is there anyone in here at Felix?
No. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.