Welcome to the Indutrade Q3 presentation for 2026. During the questions and answers session, participants are able to ask questions by dialing pound key five on their telephone keypad. Now I will hand the conference over to CEO Bo Annvik and Interim CFO Jan Öhman. Please go ahead.
Welcome and good morning on our behalf as well. We are glad to present another strong quarter, so let's start with the overall highlights. Demand improved during the quarter for the majority of our companies, with the strongest order intake growth for companies with customers in the med tech and pharma area, within energy, and also the engineering industry. Organic growth of +6%, with all five business areas improving and a book-to-bill above one. Net sales growth 13% due to acquisitions and strong organic sales of 5%. EBITA margin strengthened from 14.6% to 15.3%, and our cash flow increased with 20%. We have been successful on the acquisition side with 13 acquisitions announced so far this year, and the activity remains on a high level. Looking more specifically on the top-line development, order intake improved in all business areas and the majority of our companies.
Despite Q3 normally being a weak book-to-bill quarter, it was slightly positive in this quarter at 101%, and this also despite the high sales level. Order backlog is now 11% higher than in the same period last year. However, as noted previously, the order book increasingly consists of longer lead time orders, reflecting continued strong energy sector demand driven by AI and data center investments. In terms of sales, acquisitions contributed with +8%, a sequential improvement from the 6% we had in Q2, and currency movements had no impact in the quarter. The organic development was strong, +5%, benefiting from the increased order backlog development the last quarters. Three out of five business areas strengthened the EBITA margin in the quarter, with good operational leverage as the main driver in Industrial & Engineering and Infrastructure & Construction.
Life Science was on a strong level last year, but improved due to margin-accretive acquisitions. Process, Energy & Water had margin improvements in many companies, but due to increasingly higher share of project deliveries with slightly lower gross margins, the overall EBITA margin for the business area was basically unchanged. Technology & Systems Solutions has a strong underlying profitability, but continues to be impacted by weak performance in a few project-oriented companies in the U.K., as we have talked about before. Sorry, we missed the top-line comments here, so I will take them now instead. Or rather, the organic sales development, so per major countries here. Moving into sales per market, sales development in the Nordics was strong with a broad positive development in many companies and segments, with companies within energy, infrastructure, and process industry contributing positively, fueled by data center buildup in the Nordics.
In the rest of Europe, Benelux and U.K., Ireland was flat from last year, but Germany and Switzerland and Austria was up, mainly due to a broad general engineering improvement as well as good development for single-use products for pharmaceutical production and companies with customers within energy. North America and Asia also improved, with valves for power generation sales being strong in the U.S. on the back of the booming data center market. Total EBITA increased 19%, corresponding to an EBITA margin of 15.3% compared to 14.6% last year. EBITA margin was positively affected by the organic sales development, continued with strong gross margin and margin-accretive acquisitions. There have been continued price increases in many areas during the quarter, especially connected to freight and raw materials, et cetera. Our companies have done a really good job in passing price increases to the customers and protecting their gross margins.
Looking at the sales development per business area, all business areas had organic growth in the quarter. Process, Energy & Water had the strongest growth of +6%, benefiting from the large order book built up the last quarters within mainly the energy segment. Life Science and Industrial & Engineering had a positive improvement in many companies, countries, and segments. The single-use business was the main driver for Life Science, but also many med tech companies improved. Encouraging to see a broad improvement in Infrastructure & Construction and Technology & Systems Solutions, although from somewhat easier comparables. We move into acquisitions. So far this year, we have welcomed 13 companies to Indutrade with a total annual turnover of SEK 2.1 billion , continuing the successful trend we have had now for over a year.
During the quarter, we announced the two add-ons, Dorte Egelund and Albiox, and the electrification specialist, Controlin, in the Netherlands. In Q4, we have announced the acquisitions of the two Life Science companies, Euromed and Sinmed in Poland. We see Poland as an attractive market. It is a large domestic market and one of the fastest-growing economies in the E.U., backed by strong funding and supporting industrial modernization, with many family-owned companies that would fit well within our group. We take strategic steps into new markets, and we have done so many times before. In Northern Italy, for example, we have established a platform for continued growth in the region. We are now taking a similar approach as we step up our efforts in Poland. We also announced the acquisition of the German company, Schraner, in Q4.
It is the first acquisition for the Infrastructure & Construction business area in two years, as focus has been on organic improvements in that area. We are, however, always open for acquisitions when the right opportunity arises, and Schraner is a good example of this. It is a non-cyclical company operating in a highly regulated niche with a strong position in the German fire protection systems market. We have a continued strong pipeline, paving the way for a continued good acquisition pace going forward. The acquired EBITA was on a record high level in Q3, as can be seen on the graph to the right, at SEK 112 million . Also, looking at the EBITA margin of the acquired companies, it was on a margin-accretive level of 18.3% for the quarter and close to 18% rolling 12 months.
Good to note that this includes transaction costs, so the underlying margin is even higher. By that, I turn over to Jan to comment more on our financials.
Thank you, Bo. I also want to add some comments to the year-to-date and rolling 12 months numbers and trends. Year-to-date order intake is up 10% and sales 8%, despite a slow start in the first quarter. Book-to-bill was positive also this quarter, giving us a good order book leaving the third quarter. Gross margin has improved during the year, which also indicates that our companies have been successful in transferring price increases to our customers. EBITA and EBITA margin were strong, supported by organic sales growth, improved gross margin, and margin-accretive acquisitions. Year to date, we are on a 14.5% EBITA margin on a rolling 12 months at 14.2%, which also is above our financial target. Return on capital employed improved from the 18% we had in 2025 up to a 19%, meaning that we are now closing the gap to our target of 20%.
We then continue with the cash flow. We continue to manage our working capital that are on stable levels in relation to sales. Operating cash flow improved 20% quarter-on-quarter and amounted to SEK 1.2 billion . Cash conversion continued to be in high and stable levels, and on a rolling 12-month basis, the operating cash flow amounts to SEK 4.3 billion . The interest-bearing net debt declined compared to Q2, when we had the dividend, but is up compared to the same period last year due to the increased acquisition pace. We have continued strong financial position with a net debt to equity ratio of 50% and net debt or EBITA at 1.6x. Tax rate was 22% for the quarter and 23% on a rolling 12-month basis. Finance net increased SEK 23 million or 23% quarter-on-quarter, mainly as an effect of our high acquisition pace.
Last, but very important, our earnings per share improved significantly in the quarter and was up 19%, and year to date, we are up 13% despite the slow start of the year. It is really satisfying to see that the rolling 12-month trend is moving in the right direction. By that, handing back to you, Bo, for some final takeaways.
Thank you. So to conclude, strong sales growth in the quarter translated into good bottom-line growth. Despite the strong net sales, order intake was even higher, resulting in a slightly positive book-to-bill in the quarter and a broad-based improvement in demand. Good operational leverage, a continued strong gross margin, and margin-accretive acquisitions drove solid improvements in EBITA and EBITA margin. Looking ahead, we have a larger order backlog and good acquisition momentum. Although the backlog is somewhat more weighted towards long-term projects and overall market uncertainty remains high. With 13 acquisitions so far in 2026 and a strong pipeline, we are well-positioned to maintain a strong acquisition pace going forward. We continued to meet many of our financial targets in the quarter and remain fully focused on sustaining this momentum going forward. By that, we end our formal presentation, and we open up for questions and answers.
If you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key five on your telephone keypad to enter the queue. If you wish to withdraw your question, please dial pound key six on your telephone keypad. The next question comes from Max Bacco from SEB. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and good morning, Bo and Jan. Well done in the quarter. Three questions from, perhaps starting with the comment on longer lead times in parts of the order intake here in the quarter. When looking at the total order book, would you say that you have a good mix of, let's call it short, medium, and long-term orders in that one?
Yes. It's a good mix, and it's absolutely not so that all of the order book is sort of long lead times. But in certain parts, linked to, for example, the energy sector and you can take specifically gas turbines, we support flow equipment into them, and they have a very long order book now. So some of those projects will materialize a bit later, but I would say it's a good mix.
Understood. Turning to the Life Science segment, continued good development there, but compared to Q2 at least, a bit down in organic sales and EBITA growth, albeit quite high levels in Q2. Would you say that this is a reflection of tougher comparables or something else to it?
It can shift a bit between quarters. There are some project-oriented deliveries. I would say that the momentum is equally strong Q3 as Q2. Nothing dramatic to build on in that sense. During the first year, I would say, or H1, the med tech area has been slightly more the driver than the pharmaceutical area. In Q3 now it has mixed a little bit towards the pharma product related area. Both areas are doing well, and I think entering into Q4, the pharma area and the single-use area will continue in a good way. We are quite optimistic in terms of the Life Science area broadly.
Understood. The last question, you touched upon this both in the report and during the presentation here, but the Process, Energy & Water segment as well as the Technology & Systems Solutions saw slightly lower profitability year-over-year. For the first segment, you mentioned it is due to a higher proportion of project business, and then for the latter segment, as you have touched upon before as well, that a few project-oriented businesses in the U.K. are struggling a bit. Do you foresee this dynamic to last in the coming quarters as well? What is your thinking on that?
I think we are trending towards some improvement. I think the situation will improve a little bit in both categories sequentially from Q3 to Q4. If you take a stereotypical Indutrade company, you have the majority of the business is usually some sort of day-to-day business delivering into some sort of production system, which needs to replace filters and seals and valves and things like that on a periodic level. Then there is when the economy is improving, CapEx is improving, and the project business is growing. In general, I would say that the gross margins become a little bit more challenged, or be slightly lower than in a project growth environment. That is what we have seen in the Process, Energy & Water area to some extent.
But I wouldn't say it's dramatic. I think we also have purchasing costs, raw material costs, energy costs increasing a bit, and they work actively with pricing. I think they will continue to do that in Q4. That's why I'm sequentially a bit optimistic that the leverage for PEW, which we call it in short, will slightly, I think, improve in Q4 versus Q3. TSS, Technology & Systems Solutions, they work extremely hard with these companies in the U.K. It's a transformation from they went into the hydrogen business, and now they're transforming back into HVAC and other areas and reestablishing customer relationships and so on and so forth. So it's taking some time, but they are taking good steps, and it won't be solved in Q4, but I think better and better small steps.
Okay. Understood. Thank you very much for the answers. That was all from me. Well done, and bye.
Thanks a lot.
As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key five on your telephone keypad. The next question comes from Ope Otaniyi from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning, Bo. Good morning, Jan. Thanks for taking my question. Two from my end on orders and then on construction. I suppose orders have been strong year to date, book-to-bill is building, as you say. Changed in terms of how you see timing of order conversion. Is that still becoming longer because some of those orders are in process and in a way still actually you might expect orders being released earlier?
Excuse me, was this in Infrastructure & Construction or?
No, just across the group and then.
Across the group.
Yeah.
Yeah. There is an order book with a slightly larger content of orders which will be delivered, not Q4 or Q1, but a bit later. It is absolutely manageable and it will not impact our, I would say, organic growth drastically in any way going forward. I think it is prudent for us to mention this so that you are aware of this. But I think broadly it is absolutely a manageable situation, also short term for us going forward. If that answers your question.
Yeah. No, that helps. Just on construction, I suppose +3%, which is a notable sequential improvement, it is quite good. But what are you in terms of that end market? Is that just off a low comparable base or is that off slight improvement in demand?
There is a slight improvement in demand, but it is slight still. So there you shouldn't expect too much in terms of organic uptake sequentially or shortly, but they work diligently with cost and the gross margin pricing. So leverage is still strong from those types of activities. But it is a bit of a longer ride before we see really strong uptake, I think, in project activity on the Infrastructure is moving quite well, but construction area is still a bit weak, I would say.
Okay. Thanks for taking my questions.
Thank you so much.
There are no more questions at this time, so I hand the conference back to the speakers for any closing comments.
Then we say thank you from our side. Thank you for listening in, asking good questions, and we wish you a continued good day.