Thank you. Johan Hjertonsson speaking. Welcome everybody to the presentation of the second quarter report for Investment AB Latour. I'm here today together with our CFO, Anders Mörck. I will start, and then later on I will hand over to Anders. If we could take the first slide, please. As you can see, the group structure is unchanged from last quarter. We believe we had a good second quarter despite the geopolitical turbulences and the lingering effects of COVID-19. We think demand remains at a high level, and our invoicing is strong, so a strong top line. We had a record high operating profit in absolute numbers and absolute figures.
That said, we are alert to signs of change in demand and are prepared to adjust quickly, which we have done before with great success. I would like to underline. I would also like to point out that sustainability is still a key factor for us within Latour. During the quarter, we established a framework for green financing during the quarter, as I said. That's an exciting next step for us to bring our sustainability thinking into our financing. We also in the quarter issued green bonds in the market with great success. We're very happy for that. Next slide, please. Then I'd like to comment on highlights on our investment portfolio. There's no change within the investment portfolio compared to previous quarters.
I'm sure you all know, there's been a broad decline in the stock market, affected by the earlier mentioned geopolitical uncertainties. Our investment portfolio was down 1/3, actually quite precisely 33.3%. The SIXRX was down the same period, 27.9%. Until yesterday, however, the portfolio value has increased somewhat from low level at the half year to SEK 70.9 billion, and the total return amounts to -27.1% so far this year. The SIXRX is down -22.4% during the same time until yesterday. That said. Our holdings development, I think overall cost increases and component deficiencies affect all holdings.
All holdings gross margins on short term in various degrees, I should say, between the 10 companies. You could also say that demand remains strong all over the line, and almost all companies report a positive development during the quarter. Almost all of our listed holding has reported at this time. Not all of them, almost all of them. Acquisition activities are high among the companies in the investment portfolio. I'd like to point out that Alimak acquired Tractel, which is a large acquisition for Alimak, and Latour has committed to its pro rata share of the subsequent new share issue in Alimak that will take place this fall.
Latour is very much behind this deal, and we think it makes a lot of great industrial logic for Alimak going forward. Next page, please. I'd like to comment on our wholly owned operations. Satisfying second quarter, as I said, at the start. Continued strong underlying demand, I would like to underline. Growth in order intake, 1% organic. That said should be compared to a very strong organic growth in quarter two of last year, and sales grew 6% organically. We have a very high order book, which is a good start for the top line or the invoicing the coming months or the rest of the year. Good volumes, but with lower margins.
That is, I think you hear that in very many companies, right now. Good volumes, but with lower margins. That is due to supply chain disruptions, higher raw materials and transportation costs. We pride ourselves to keep a very high level of service to our customers, and that's very important for us, and we believe it's one of our key competitive advantages. We rather take a higher cost to serve in order to have very well-served customers. That's important for us. Therefore, the operating profit, the total growth was 8% to SEK 812 million in EBIT, which in absolute numbers is a record high quarter for Latour.
The EBIT margin, I would say, considering all of the headwinds I just mentioned, 14.6% is a very nice and healthy EBIT margin. However, last year, the EBIT margin was 15.9%. As we usually say, but it's good to repeat, we continue to invest in our holdings with a forward-looking view that is in R&D and in marketing, in sales. Having said that, I'd like to comment on acquisitions in the wholly owned operations. Only within brackets, one finalized transaction during the quarter, but we have many ongoing discussions. However, we believe that the seller's expectations and the buyer's expectations are not on the same level at the moment.
Since we are a buyer, we have a lower expectation on pricing than many sellers at the moment. During the quarter, we have already announced, Swegon acquired Barcol-Air. Barcol-Air is a leading supplier of radiant ceiling systems, headquartered in Switzerland and production in Germany, with net sales of about EUR 37 million and 90 FTEs. Yesterday, we communicated that Swegon has signed an agreement to acquire Swedish ABC Ventilationsprodukter. That will complement Swegon's product range to include roof hoods, louvers, and fire, and some other products. Excuse me. Earlier this year in Q1, we acquired Telesteps to Hultafors, Commonside to Bemsiq, and STT to Latour Industries, and THL Logistiktechnik to Caljan.
All in all, so far this year, we have concluded six transactions, and that adds about SEK 700 million to our top line for the group. Having said that, I can maybe go and get a glass of water. During that time, I will hand over to Anders Mörck. Over to you, Anders.
Thank you so much, Johan. We turn to the first business area, turn page, which then is Bemsiq. As you can see, Bemsiq has increased turnover a lot. There's been a continued very strong underlying demand in this growing market. The total growth is actually 61%. This is however to a large extent explained by acquisitions, but it's also excellent organic growth. In orders, organic growth was 23% and net sales grew by 18%, which of course is very satisfying and very strong figures. Lack of components is a challenge also here, but it's handled very well, and so are also the pricing issues.
You can see the profitability increased with a very good operating margin of 22.8%, which is even higher than last year, 21.4%. Very well done. We go to the next page and come to Caljan. Caljan also continue its very strong underlying demand. The order book is now on a new record level again. It has been on a record level for a long time, so it continued to increase. The order book is now EUR 193 million, which you can see is even more than one year's turnover in this company. The net sales is also developing positive, and it's significantly above last year. As you can see, net sales grew by 48% to EUR 53 million.
The main challenge, surprise then also here, supply chain disruptions. We still can keep a very high service level to the customers, even though there's problems, and some of the delays are actually explained by that the customer cannot take the goods that is supposed to be delivered. Despite all challenges, operating profit more than doubled to EUR 13.6 million with a margin of 25.7%. Also very, very good. We have said it before, we continue to invest in Caljan. We have the latest investment now is an establishment of the new factory in Germany. Of course, growing this much also means many, many recruitments, which of course is heavy work for the management in Caljan. Well done also here.
We go to the next page, which will be Hultafors Group. As you can see, total net sales for Hultafors grew by 10% in the quarter. This is actually mainly due to acquisition. Compared to a very, very strong last year's quarter for Q2, actually resulting in a slightly negative organic growth of -2%. Hultafors has also supply chain challenges in many dimensions. Transportation challenges, for example, and the currency development with a weak krona and a very, very strong US dollar. Together with that also increased prices on raw material. This of course has a negative effect on profits. Price increases are made to meet this. They have come into force and will do even more in the coming quarters.
All in all, the operating profit decreased for Hultafors to SEK 236 million with a margin of 14.6%. This is then compared to a very, very strong quarter last year where the operating margin was 18%. Considering that, I think this year's result is also quite strong, but you tend to forget that the previous success is taken for given, and you expect the companies always to improve. We think it's a very good result this year as well for Hultafors. Yes, we go to Latour Industries. Latour Industries have had a strong underlying demand. The organic growth in orders was 17%. The total growth in net sales was 28%, including an acquisition, and the net sales growth organically by 10%.
Well, I tend to repeat myself, so we have here increased costs for raw material. We have problem with transportation, increased energy costs, and of course, this have short-term effects on profit. Even though you can see that the profit level actually increased for Latour Industries, EBIT increased to SEK 90 million compared to SEK 57 million last year, which we think is very good. We can also repeat, which we have said many times before, this business area build for growth and future profitability. Normally, it is a little bit lower here before the companies become mature, so to say. The acquisition agenda continues both with add-ons and to find new platforms. Very well done. We turn page once again, and we come to Nord-Lock.
You can see Nord-Lock has continued strong growth despite the lockdown in China, the Shanghai region during almost the entire quarter, which affected the Chinese market very negatively. Considering that the net sales growth of 10% whereof organic 3% must be considered very, very strong. The negative development in China is well compensated by growth in Europe and Americas. The operating result increased to SEK 112 million, corresponding to an operating margin of almost 27%. Well done, Nord-Lock. Then we turn page again and look at the final business area, Swegon. You can see the order intake here grew by 9% organically, and the order backlog here is once again on a record level.
The net sales grew in total by 6%, but organically more or less on the same level as last year. Net sales and margins are negatively affected by quite severe disruptions, we must say, in the supply chain, especially in the production of air handling units and cooling and heating. The situation is somewhat more stable now during the end of the quarter, but the issue still remains to some extent. All in all, this leads to quite severe effect on the operating result, which decreased to SEK 154 million with a relatively low margin of 9.3%, but then depending on all these severe challenges. Well, Johan said it before, Swegon acquired Barcol-Air, so I don't have to mention that once again.
I think we leave it there, and we go to the net asset, net asset value on the next page. The net asset value decreased by 25% during the half year to SEK 158 per share. This can be compared with a share price of SEK 202 , which means that there was a premium to our net asset value of 28% at that time. We tend to repeat that our way of calculating the net asset value is only an indication of a prudent view of the value of our companies. Yesterday, the net asset value had increased to SEK 169 , and the share price was SEK 227 , so that gives a premium of 34%.
Our total net debt increased during the quarter from SEK 8.6 billion to SEK 9.9 billion, and this corresponds to about 9% of the market value of our investments. It's still on a fairly low level, and you can also see that at the end of the quarter, the market value of our investment was at a very low level. This is a sign of our resilience against weak market conditions as well. Thank you so much. Now I hope you found the water, Johan, so I can give the word back to you.
Thank you, Anders. I had a glass of water, so let's hope my voice is stronger this time. Financial targets, I'd like to comment on those. As you all know, our financial target is to grow more than 10% per year with an operating margin of above 10% and a return on operating capital in between 15%-20%. How have we done? During the last 12 months, we have grown by 24%. Our EBIT margin has been 14% the last four quarters, and the return on operating capital has been 15.4%. We are on target on all the three targets, so we're very proud of that.
Let's remind ourselves, the operating margin of 10% is a minimum target for the two companies, both wholly owned and listed. So it's a strong performance, and we're very proud of that as a team in these difficult times. Next slide, please. As we usually do, we comment on our net sales outside the Nordics area. Latour is a long-term sustainable investment company with financial strengths that enable us to continue investing in existing and new holdings despite the short-term market slowdowns or disruptions. Our long-term ambition is to grow, and that is not changing. We are delivering on the growth targets, but a large portion of potential remains. If you can see, 79% of our sales today is in Europe, 15% in Americas, and 6% in Asia.
As you can also see on the slide, in 2015, we had about half of our sales in the Nordic countries, and in 2022, we had 67% of our sales outside the Nordic countries. So we are growing quite heavily on the international arena, but there's a huge potential left. We continue with all long-term initiatives in our companies, and we act with a forward-looking view, as I've said. Also, just to repeat, we are monitoring the macroeconomic development closely and are well prepared to act and react to changes that will affect us going forward. Having said that, Anders and myself would like to thank you for listening on the presentation part, and then we open up for Q&A.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you have a question for the speakers, please press zero one on your telephone keypad. The first question comes from the line of Aurore Tigerschiöld from DNB Markets. Please go ahead.
Thank you, operator. Hello, Johan and Anders. Thanks for the presentation and taking my question. I have two. My first question regards a trend we have been seeing across most industries. That is an inventory buildup that boosts order books in 2021 and 2022 across several steps across the value chain to secure delivery capabilities. On a broader level, we can stick to industrial operations if you want to. What's your view on the risks that this can pose to order books for H2 2022 and 2023?
Okay. Should we answer that, and then you take your second question, Aurore?
Yes. Okay.
Okay, let's do it that way. Anders, do you want, like, to start to comment on Aurore's inventory question?
Yeah. You're absolutely correct. There has been a major buildup of inventory within our group as well as in many other companies. It is of course a dilemma, but it's also a deliberate buildup because we, as Johan said before, we want to serve our customers, and to be sure to be able to serve our customers, we actually must have enough stock to do that. You have the issues with the scarcity in material and so on, and you also have the transportation problems. All in all, that means that we actually pay for this service with our cash flow today. On top of that, we're actually paying a few, maybe 1% on the gross margin as well.
It's deliberate, but we have a strong focus on this, and we expect cash flows this autumn to come back. All this buildup that is extra now, sooner or later will come back, as cash in the group. You cannot say that that the sourcing challenges has been solved yet. That means that we will have higher stocks even going forward. Then you're also correct that the buildup of
Inventory actually will at some point in time have a negative effect on order intake. That will hurt us as well as other companies at some point in time, but that will be a one-off. We're not worried about that, but we are aware, and it will also affect us at some point in time. Hopefully, it will come when businesses as we have also are growing, and we see that we have good growth in many of our businesses. The third explanation then to inventory buildup, of course, is that many of our businesses actually are growing. Growth means that you have a higher operating capital.
That's clear.
I think Anders' answer covered it all. I have nothing to add, Aurore.
Okay. Great. No, that's very clear. Thank you for that very thorough answer. My second question is a little bit more about your limited investment activity in the listed portfolio, despite your strong balance sheet and seeing a rather steep asset declines year-to-date. Given your long-term investment horizon, should this been seen in the light that you expect valuations to decline further, or that you want to emphasize building the unlisted platform or portfolio?
It's a very good question, Aurore. I think if I start, Anders, it's also a very deliberate move. We have been more cautious during the last six months. We think the market is very turbulent, and you all know the reasons with the geopolitical situation and the war in Europe, in Ukraine. Therefore, we believe since we have the very long-term view, we believe it's good to have a very strong balance sheet, if times would be even weaker going forward. It is quite turbulent right now. As you can see, the stock market is down heavily as we just showed. You could say it's, you know, almost 30% down, depending how you measure.
We don't see that the valuation of unlisted companies, that those expectations from sellers has not come down by 30%, if you understand. We are in there for the long run. We want to do great acquisitions at a fair market price. It should be a fair market price. In some cases, we rather wait. We're very active when it comes to dialogue and discussions and reaching out to companies and analyzing what we would like to do. We're very active in that area. We are, for the time being, just more cautious before entering into deals, I would say.
Something you would like to add to that, Anders?
No. I think you've made it quite clear, Johan.
Mm-hmm.
Thank you so much. That's all from me.
Thank you, Aurore, for the questions. Great.
Once again, ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask a question, please press zero one on your telephone keypad. Once again, it is zero one on your telephone keypad if you would like to ask a question. There are currently no further questions. Please go ahead, speakers.
Okay. Thank you very much. That concludes the presentation of our quarter two report. Looking forward to speak to you all again on the quarter three report later on in the year. Thank you all for dialing in. That concludes. That's all from Anders and myself for this time. I wish you all a great day. Thank you.
Thank you so much.