Good morning, everybody, and welcome to this presentation of the third quarter 2020 for Multiconsult. My name is Grethe Bergly. I'm the CEO of Multiconsult, and with me today to present some of the figures, I have our CFO, Hans-Jørgen Wibstad. Starting with an introductory highlight. We are, as I'm sure a lot of you have seen, delivering yet another strong quarter. 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 million, representing a margin of 11.8%.
This is not including a figure of NOK 30 million 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 the nextLEVEL program. We have a significant reduction in cost, and we are ahead of the plan for the NOK 150 million that we announced in our nextLEVEL program. We have also an improvement in our billing ratio, and we are now moving above 70%. 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 NOK 919 million in the quarter, and that gives us a very stable backlog going into the last quarter of 2020 and the start of 2021.
So far, we've had a modest impact of the COVID-19 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. Like a lot of other companies, we did not pay dividends. We canceled our dividends last year. Seeing the figures, seeing the strong balance sheet, we are now doubling the proposed NOK 1, and we are proposing NOK 2 dividend. Looking at the order intake, here you can see there is a slight reduction from the third quarter 2019. This is within the normal fluctuations that we will see in order intake, and significant sales in this quarter have been the Gaustad Hospital in Oslo, 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 a client 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-19 situation. 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 comprise 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 Asker, 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 2019, and our backlog now stands at NOK 3 billion. It's not quite record high, but it's close. We'd 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. Also, remember that we do not include expected volume on frame agreements until we've actually had a call-off. 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 Kommune, here it's the new tram line that's going to go from Oslo to Fornebu. We have a big frame agreement with Bane NOR on safety and ramps. We have one with our defense department. We have a procurement frame agreement for procurement for all hospitals in Norway. We have one with Kystverket, we also have just been awarded a new frame agreement for Statnett that will probably run over a period of six years, giving us a revenue around NOK 50 million a year. It's a solid, good position to be in going into the next quarter. Looking at the people and organization, we are 2,838 employees at the 30th of September. The Deichman project, which is the main library in Oslo, has just been awarded the very prestigious concrete award, with Betongtavlen.
We have for the hospital that we're involved with in Vestfold, we just won a buildingSMART award with regard to digitalization. One of our employees is now in the final four for the RIF 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. This will have effect of around NOK 25 million. 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 nextLEVEL ambitions, it shows that we have increased our efficiency significantly.
The COVID-19 situation have, of course, also been putting an effect on how we have run our operations. For us, it's always the safety of our people who are at the forefront. 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. It does mean that our production has remained virtually unchanged because we have a high level of digitalization. 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-19, and we are seeing some more uncertainty related to small and medium-sized projects, particularly in the private sector.
With this, I give the floor to our CFO, Hans-Jørgen, who will take us through the details of the figures.
Thank you, Grethe, good morning, everyone. I will review, as normal, the figures for the third quarter, for the quarter and the full year-to-date results. Net operating revenues increased by 3.9% to NOK 748.5 million, comparing this quarter with the same quarter in 2019, which is a healthy increase. The EBIT came in at NOK 68.1 million, which is equivalent to a 9.1% margin. However, we think the interesting number to look at is the EBIT excluding the restructuring costs that we have previously announced that Grethe mentioned. We're taking a one-off charge this quarter of NOK 30 million. You can say, if we add the NOK 30 million to the NOK 68.1 million, we reach NOK 98.1 million, 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 nextLEVEL 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%. 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 in the second quarter, but we see a very strong improvement 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 12 months ago to 2,938.
As Grethe 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 NOK 2,693.8 million. The clean EBIT is 10.7% or NOK 288 million, and excluding this NOK 30 million one-off restructuring cost, the number is NOK 318.1 million, equal to a margin of 11.8%. What is these NOK 30 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 of certain premises, and we're taking now a one-off charge to reflect the situation where we're actually getting more efficient on the office utilization side. It comes in quite nicely.
Also like to mention that in this quarter, we're also signaling that our expected total restructuring cost for the nextLEVEL has been reduced from we have previously said NOK 60 million-NOK 70 million, now we see NOK 45 million-NOK 50 million as total restructuring charge. So far, we have accumulated NOK 34 million. Therefore, we expect some more, but not to the extent we expected a quarter back. That's good, and we get more wise as we move through the nextLEVEL project. On the first nine months, the OpEx ratio is down to 15.8% from 18.8%. Again, a very important KPI for us. The billing ratio, as mentioned by Grethe, is 70.8%, up a little bit more than 1%.
On a group level, it's lower than we want it to be. We still, as Grethe said, we still believe we have something to go. There are very significant variations between the units. Some have very strong and very high billing ratio. Others are sub-70 . It's a good mix. We have to look at the average. There is potential there still, we believe. 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 NOK 2 to the extraordinary general meeting that will take place in a few weeks. Looking at the operating revenue on top there, we see that the increase was 3.9% comparing with the same quarter last year.
Seasonal reduction between quarter one and two and quarter three, caused mainly by the fact that quarter three is summer holiday and also a certain slow start in August. It's July and partially August, but we're quite happy with that number. Very clearly, we see on the bottom section there, we see the EBIT, where we have taken in from third quarter 2018, going through 2019 and into 2020. We see a very significant lift in the EBIT in quarter one, quarter two, and quarter three. We also highlighted that the difference between the reported number, for instance, in third quarter, NOK 68 million, adding NOK 30 million gives us NOK 98 million. We're kind of making that distinction. The improvement is quite visible in that particular chart.
We talked about the billing ratio a little bit, 69.2%, much better than same quarter last year, but on average, slightly below our ambition. We will continue to work to improve that, especially in certain sections of the business. As mentioned earlier, number of employees is down 2.2% on a 12 months basis, which is following our strategy in terms of the nextLEVEL 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 NOK 863.2 million. EBIT increasing from NOK 45 million to NOK 135.5 million. That's a huge increase. The year-to-date figure in Region Oslo is also impacted by one-offs from last year. It is not comparing exactly apples to apples.
It's a strong performance and giving an EBIT margin of 15.7% for the first nine months. A very solid result. Order intake is at a good level. Slightly down, however, comparing the order intake with the net operating revenues, we're pretty similar. It's a good order intake, but it's slightly lower than we saw last year. 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. Also here, number of employees significantly down 5.3% to 780. Yet the revenue is growing. 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. The quarterly results in the third quarter were kind of crediting that to the region. The quarterly result is slightly higher than, let's say, the underlying results. The year-to-date figure, however, is correct. The total amount which has been credited back to the regions from previous quarters, it's about NOK 24 million. It's mentioned in the notes to the accounts as well as in the text. I just wanted to mention that. The year-to-date figure is fully representative of the underlying performance.
Region Norway has a very strong nine-month period and has maybe the best improvement between last year and this year, comparing the regions. Revenue growth 5.1%, EBIT up 206% from NOK 44 million to NOK 137 million. Very impressive. EBIT margin up from 4.4% - 12.8%. In the 2019 figure, there is no one-offs in that, so that's more comparing apples and apples. Order intake at a very good level, up 14% to NOK 1.2 billion. Order backlog up 11.5% to NOK 650 million. Billing ratio below the 70%, but still a very good increase by 1.4% - 60% or percentage points to 69.7%. 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 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. We're looking at that now and considering the options for that. 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 compared with net operating revenues. It's down, but it's still at a good level. 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. Also the number of people coming down. LINK, a lso 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 NOK 11.8 million, with an EBIT margin of 2.9%. A lot of that is, as 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 positive. Order backlog is naturally also up. billing ratio is pretty stable, and the number of employees it's slightly down, but it's pretty flat. 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 Multiconsult and LINK working together. International has another strong quarter and also a strong year-to-date number. A very healthy revenue growth of 18.3% between this year and last year. EBIT is up to NOK 19.1 million, and the EBIT margin is a 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 Iterio in Sweden and Multiconsult Poland, both businesses doing very well and has a solid and strong performance during the first nine months. This is kind of the mix. I previously presented the business units. This is the business areas where we can see in which area of the business we're growing. You can see clearly that the building and properties is the largest proportion, 40% of revenues. Transportation, 29%. Water and environment is 10%, et cetera. This is the mix. 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 and interesting positions as we move forward.
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 12 months, our net interest-bearing debt has improved by NOK 419.7 million. That's cash generation. 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 to a more comfortable situation. That explains one of the key reasons why we now feel that it's appropriate to post the dividend that Grethe mentioned, which is that we're repeating the NOK 1 that we initially proposed for 2019, but we're doubling that to NOK 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 our RCF so we can repay our debt, which is very good. We have total undrawn loan facilities that were refinanced in February of this year of NOK 520 million on top of the cash balance of NOK 118 million going out of the quarter. I think that was my part. Thank you.
Thank you, Hans-Jørgen. I only have one slide for nextLEVEL. At the Capital Markets Day, we will go into much more detail on the figures that's behind the reported committed NOK 138 million. As of today, we have committed NOK 138 million of the NOK 150 million that we had as part of our nextLEVEL program. As you can see from the graph on the right-hand side, we are still ahead of schedule. During the presentation later on, Hans-Jørgen will also show you how much of this NOK 138 million 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. Going to the outlook, we come out of this quarter with a strong position and continuing to create good solutions for our clients.
We have had a positive development 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-19 situation. Here you see our financial calendar. We will come back, present the fourth quarter and the results for the year in February. 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 the webcast, from [Bingt Jonassen. The accrual for bonus of NOK 25 million in quarter four, will this be a recurring event? 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. 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. 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 is no further questions on the web. Is there any one in here at Felix? No.
Okay. Thank you.