Welcome to the presentation of Investment AB Latour's interim report for the third quarter 2026. The first part of the presentation will be in listen-only mode. We then open up for questions. To ask a question, dial star five on your telephone keypad or use the chat window. With that, I hand over to our CEO, Johan Hjertonsson, and CFO, Mikael Johnsson Albrektsson.
Thank you, Katarina. Welcome, everybody. I am here together with Mikael Johnsson Albrektsson, our CFO. The presentation today is divided into two sections. The first part, we will walk you through the Latour Group's development in Q3, where we will comment on the development for the investment portfolio on the wholly owned operations. Then we will open up for questions. In the second part, we will make a deep dive into Hultafors Group, one of Latour's seven wholly owned operations. We are inviting Anders Hülse, CEO of Hultafors Group, for this section later on. Finally, we will have a Q&A session together with Anders. If we go to the first slide. Strong quarter performance with a record high adjusted operating profit and improved profitability. Net sales increased in the quarter, partly supported by previously postponed projects that has gradually got underway.
It is also a fact that our businesses performed strongly in their respective markets, indicating that we gained market share. Order intake and net sales grew organically by 5%, and adjusted EBIT amounted to 1.2 billion SEK, with a strong margin of 16.9% in the third quarter. The order backlog increased to 8.2 billion SEK, supporting a positive development for the coming quarters. I will comment more on the financial outcome in details later in this presentation. Our listed portfolio remains unchanged, with the same 10 holdings where Latour is the main shareholder or one of the main shareholders. During the quarter, we increased our ownership in Fagerhult by acquiring 1.5 million shares, bringing our share of the total capital to 48.7%. As active owners, we are stepping up our AI efforts even more, with the ambition for our companies to be at the forefront of AI adoption.
Our focus is on using AI to improve efficiency and, over time, support sales and product development. This will partly be enabled by working together across our businesses and leveraging the strength of our global group. I am looking forward to see how this development is going forward. By saying that, I hand over to Mikael to comment on our net asset value.
Thank you very much, Johan. When summarizing the first nine months of the year in figures, we can conclude that the net asset value increased by 2.5% during the period. This is adjusted for dividend and amounted to SEK 216 per share, to be compared to the SIXRX that increased by 10.8% during the period. The value of our listed holdings decreased during the period, while our wholly owned industrial operations have continued to develop positively, driven by increased earnings rather than any increase in the multiples. The consolidated net debt decreased during the quarter from SEK 12.3 billion to SEK 11.5 billion. This is mainly driven by a strong cash flow. The net debt corresponds to about 8% of the market value of our investments, leaving headroom for further acquisitions as we go forward.
The share price at the end of September was SEK 202, which means that there was a discount of 6.5% compared to how we present the net asset value. As of yesterday, the net asset value was SEK 223 per share, and the share price on the same day closed at SEK 219, which gives a discount to our way of describing the net asset value of about 1.8%. With that, I hand back to you, Johan.
Thank you, Mikael. First, I would like to comment on the listed portfolio. As I said in the beginning of this presentation, we increased our ownership in Fagerhult in September. Earlier in this year, we made a partial divestment of our holdings in ASSA ABLOY and Securitas in May. Following the divestment, we hold 29% of the voting rights in ASSA ABLOY and 27.6% of the voting rights in Securitas, and remain the principal owner of both companies. The stock market improved slightly in Q3, although the development was volatile and continued to be affected by an uncertain global environment. Adjusted for dividends and portfolio changes, the value development of our portfolio of listed holdings amounted to minus 5.2% during the first nine months of the year. Some of our holdings have shown weaker stock market performance, while others have been better.
Until yesterday, November 2nd, the portfolio value was SEK 82.3 billion, with a total return amounting to 0.8% so far this year. If you go to this slide, the holdings underlying development is overall good. The companies are adapting well to the current market conditions, with solid demand across several key segments. Looking back over the past decade, our holdings have shown strong underlying growth and earnings, despite a more challenging environment in recent years. Whether a company is going through a stronger or more challenging period, our long-term perspective remains the same. We own high-quality companies and continue to act as active principal owners in all our holdings, providing strong support for their long-term strategies. Then we go to comment the wholly owned operations.
Market conditions continue to develop in the right direction, with stable demand across most of our businesses, although differences between industries and geographies remain. Parts of the traditional construction industry remain subdued, particularly residential construction and some new build activity in Europe. On the other hand, demand is strong within building renovation, energy efficiency, and in industrial infrastructure, which benefits several of our companies. There are also several sectors offering good potential for continued growth, such as digital infrastructure, automation, defense, and education. All of our holdings report a positive third quarter, with net sales growth, strong earnings, and increased profitability. Order intake is growing, and the order book is at a solid level going forward. We saw some delays in project starts during Q2, but the picture improved in Q3 as previously postponed projects gradually got underway.
During the quarter, both order intake and net sales increased organically by 5%. Currency headwinds turned into a slight tailwind during the quarter, but the impact remains negative for the first nine months. The adjusted operating profit for the quarter is record high and amounts to 1,213,000,000 SEK, with a strong operating margin of 16.9%. The strong improvement in profitability was mainly driven by higher sales volumes, good leverage from previous investments, and efficiency measures, together with continued good cost control. Overall, I am very pleased with the quarter. Strong growth, improved margins, and a growing order backlog gives us a solid starting point as we enter into the final quarter of the year. I would like to comment a bit on acquisitions and divestitures during the year.
During the quarter, Nord-Lock Group has signed an agreement to acquire Bolt and Nut, a British leading manufacturer of specialty bolts and non-standard fasteners. The acquisition was completed as of yesterday, November 2nd. In connection with the acquisition of Bolt and Nut, Nord-Lock Group is also acquiring the remaining 25% of the shares in Energy Bolting, based in Wolverhampton in the U.K. Together, the two companies will form a strong U.K.-based platform with specialty bolting, with significant opportunities for further growth and development. Earlier this year, we have completed seven acquisitions across our wholly owned operations. Two acquisitions were made in the first quarter. Latour Industries completed the acquisition of Alstor and Densiq, with Latour Industries acquired Scandinavian Sealing, both companies based in Sweden. Five acquisitions were made in the second quarter.
Swegon accounted for three of these acquisitions through the acquisitions of Western Airconditioning in the Netherlands, LaminAir in Switzerland, and the residential ventilation business of Dantherm in Denmark. Caljan acquired WyCo in the U.S., and Bemsiq acquired cThings in the U.K. Finally, as we mentioned in the last quarter, Swegon is streamlining its operations and have divested non-core holdings, transactions that will have a positive impact on Swegon's margins. All in all, we have added net 900 million SEK of annual net sales so far this year, and I am very pleased what we have achieved in the M&A area so far. With that, I hand back to Mikael.
Thank you, Johan. If we start with Bemsiq and the group, we can confirm that Bemsiq delivered a strong third quarter with 19% organic growth in order intake and solid organic net sales growth of 12%. The positive development was supported by continued strong demand in the energy efficiency sector, where Bemsiq is well-positioned with its product offering. In terms of business segments, we can see that the building automation business is performing well, with solid growth, and this is driven by a good momentum in the North American market, as well as continued expansion in the data center segments. The metering business recovered during the quarter, following a somewhat slower first half of the year, and collectively creating a strong quarter for the group.
The adjusted operating profit amounted to SEK 148 million, with a strong margin of 25.2%, and this is reflecting the impact of higher volume as well as continued good cost control across the company. With that, we turn the page and take a look at Caljan. Also for Caljan, we can see a continued positive development during the third quarter, with strong demand and good business activity overall. The demand is supported by continued investment in the logistics sector, where Caljan holds a strong market position. In terms of geography, the North American market is strong, but we also see positive elements in Europe, with France and Italy to name a few of the better performing countries. Order intake was below last year's exceptionally high level, but remained strong, and with a solid order backlog supporting the coming quarters.
Net sales grew organically by 28%, and this is mainly driven by loading and unloading, where delivery capacity remains very good going forward. The adjusted operating profit was outperforming last year at SEK 105 million, with the margin strengthening to 19.3%. The margin improvement was driven by higher volumes as well as continued good cost control across the company. With that, we turn page and take a look at Hultafors Group. The market environment remains partly challenging for Hultafors Group. Sweden and the U.S. are showing relatively positive development, while other European markets remain more subdued. The net sales grew organically by 2%, reflecting strategic investments in product development, sustainability, as well as digitalization now paying off. In the quarter, hardware performed well, delivering organic growth in the quarter, while personal protective equipment was broadly in line with last year, excluding currency effects.
The gross margin remained at a high level, which is combined with good cost control, supported an increase in adjusted operating profit to SEK 304 million, corresponding to a margin of 18.6%. Here we should also mention that the adjusted operating profit was positively impacted in the quarter by SEK 44 million, following the repayment of U.S. IEEPA tariffs that was implemented during 2025. Nonetheless, we are very happy to see a stronger profit generation in Hultafors despite the somewhat hampered growth, and this is a testament to the efficiency work being done by the company. As Johan mentioned before, we will have Anders Hülse, CEO of Hultafors Group, to present the deep dive of the company later in this presentation, so stay tuned for that. We then change the picture to Innovalift.
Parts of Innovalift continue to be affected by the subdued traditional construction market, particularly new construction, while solid activity in the renovation segment provides some positive support for the company. Order intake grew organically by 13%, and this is supported by strong momentum in the components and modernization business, which is the part of Innovalift that has most exposure to the renovation segments. Net sales grew by 3% in the quarter, and this is driven by components and modernization, as well as direct sales and services, which more than compensated for the lower volumes in the lift manufacturing. The gross margin continues to improve step by step, driven by growth initiatives and good cost control. The adjusted operating profit amounted to SEK 120 million, corresponding to a margin of 14.3%, demonstrating good resilience in challenging market conditions.
We then continue with Latour Industries. We can gladly see a very strong order intake growing 36%, of which 16% was organic growth. The market conditions vary for Latour Industries' portfolio companies, where we see REAC and MAXAGV that has a positive underlying demand, while the other business units operate in more challenging markets. Net sales increased by 13% during the quarter, and this is driven by acquisitions, while the organic growth increased by 1%. The adjusted operating profit reached SEK 61 million, with the margin strengthening to 13.3%, and this is supported by improved profitability across the majority of the business units. I think also worth mentioning that this is an all-time high margin in Latour Industries' current portfolio mix. As you may remember, the mix of Latour Industries vary over time as they acquire new companies and create new business areas.
We then continue with Nord-Lock Group. Nord-Lock continues to perform well, with solid demand across a broad range of regions and industries, and delivers yet another record quarter in quarter three. It is clear that Nord-Lock is well-positioned across a wide range of industries and is benefiting from its broad and diversified market exposure, with infrastructure and industrial investments contributing to the growth. Order intake grew organically by a strong 26% during the quarter, while net sales increased organically by 12%. Currency effects provided some tailwind during the quarter, with a positive impact on both net sales and profit. The adjusted operating profit increased to SEK 171 million in the quarter, and this is corresponding to a strong operating margin of 29.7%. As Johan mentioned earlier, Nord-Lock has acquired Bolt and Nut in the U.K.
That, together with Energy Bolting, creates a strong platform within specialty bolting going forward. With that, we turn page to Swegon, where we see that the market conditions continue to vary across Swegon's different businesses. Part of the traditional construction market remains subdued, and this is particularly the residential construction and certain new build segments in Europe. At the same time, activity remains healthy in renovation and energy efficiency segments, as well as investments in public and industrial infrastructure are also supporting growth. This can be seen in the order intake that developed well, growing organically by 8% in the quarter, and this is supported by positive development in Sweden, the Netherlands, North America, and India.
Net sales grew by 1%, and this is negatively affected by the divestments that has been carried out, as well as currency headwinds, but the organic growth amounted to 2.3% in the quarter. Europe remains softer overall, where the exception is Sweden, where performance is better, while North America continues to perform well overall. Profitability improved during the quarter, and this is supported by productivity-enhancing measures, with adjusted operating profit reaching 304 SEK million and a margin of 12%. With that summarizes our run-through of the business areas, and we continue with the slide regarding our financial targets. I hand over back to you, Johan.
Thank you, Mikael. On the slide, you can see the summary of our financial targets. During the last 12 months, we have had growth of 3.6%, EBIT margin 14.8%, and return on operating capital of also 14.8%. We are very pleased with this and are clearly moving in the right direction. Also, to keep in mind that the targets are to be seen over a business cycle. Growth is driven by both acquisition and organic growth, but with currency headwind. Adjusted for currency, the growth amounts to 7%. Both EBIT margin and return on operating capital is on a good level, almost in line with our long-term financial target. We go to the next slide. Overall, we are very pleased with the quarter and proud of the progress we are making across the group.
This reflects the hard work and commitment of all of our employees, and it is truly rewarding to see the results of those efforts coming through. In addition, a strong order backlog provides a solid foundation for revenue growth in the coming quarters, and our organizations are very well positioned to capitalize on the improving market conditions. As a long-term principal owner, we support our holdings through different market conditions, always with a long-term perspective. Our focus is clear, to build sustainable value and generate attractive returns for our shareholders over time. Thank you so much for listening in so far. By saying that, we open up for the Q&A session together with myself and Mikael.
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 Linus Sigurdson from DNB Carnegie. Please go ahead.
Thank you very much, and good morning. Starting off with a question on Swegon. I mean, order intake organically continued to be strong, so clearly demand there, but 2% organic sales growth is a step down from Q2. Could you just help us understand what's driving that? Is there any impact from, say, bottlenecks in production components, for example?
No, it's mainly still larger projects that are postponed. Mikael, would you like to add to that?
Yeah, I mean, it's not related to any capacity constraints in terms of delivery. It's more about the dynamics, how the, you say, order intake profile looks and when it's bound to be delivered. Some of these larger projects has a slightly longer lead time to delivery than certain projects. So it's not related to any output problematics, but rather the dynamics of the order book, and when it's to be delivered.
Yeah. Linus, I'd like to assure you that we're very careful how we record orders, and the correlation between order intake and sales is one-on-one. So it's more a time lag. The orders are there. They will be delivered sooner or later.
Appreciate that. Just to follow up, I guess, how should we think about the phasing of this large order in India that they took in in Q2? I mean, is that what's driving the year-on-year growth in rest of world?
Mikael, I know you have a view on that.
Yeah. Yes. In terms of phasing, was that a question when it's expected to be delivered, or did I
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah. I mean, back to what Johan Hjertonsson said before, that is one of these bigger projects that, of course, has a longer delivery time. I mean, they will be delivered over, you say, the coming quarters, multiple quarters.
Perfect. Thank you. Then finally, just on the overall demand picture, just to understand your comments there. I mean, you talked about market conditions continuing to move in the right direction and demand remaining consistently positive. I mean, should we interpret that as sort of unchanged momentum going into Q4 from Q3?
The classic question, Linus Sigurdson. It's hard to read. I think, I mean, we should remember the markets are volatile. It's a quite volatile geopolitical situation still, right? We have the midterm elections, as of today actually, in the U.S. Having said that, I'm more optimistic about the market and the demands going forward. I mean, you can't say that we are really in the bottom of an economic cycle anymore. I would say, we're coming up slightly this cycle. We're not in the top of the cycle either. But the underlying demand is overall better than it was two quarters ago. Absolutely. So far, as of today, we haven't seen anything that has materially changed that view, no.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Linus.
The next question comes from Derek Laliberté from ABG Sundal Collier. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and good morning. Q3, I think the industrial operations obviously very strong with nearly the 3 percentage point improvement in the EBIT margin. I was wondering if you could help us a bit, distinguish a bit between these factors, the effects of postponed project deliveries, the better underlying volumes, also the efficiency measures, and FX, and probably how much of this improvement should be regarded as sustainable going into next year. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you, Derek. I will take a first stab, and Mikael, you can add onto this question, which a question that encompasses quite a lot. I think, as usual, it's a mix of many things. It's partly, but not a large part, but partly it's these projects that has come into play and that we are delivering in the quarter, but that's a smaller part. I think that the market, as we have said, is improving, and we see that will continue. It's nothing temporary as we see. But I think more importantly, we have over long time always invested in product development and R&D and improved our product offering into the market quite a lot. And we see signs also that we take market share in an improving market.
We are very happy to see that we have a strong drop-through when sales picks up because we have a good cost control, and that also drives the efficiency quite a lot. I mean, it is improvements in gross margin, but also strong improvements in EBIT margin because of the cost control going forward. We are very pleased to see that hard work. The long-term hard work in product development plays out in that we have a strong offer in the market across our seven wholly owned operations, but also helped by slightly improved market and that this project has come in. As you can see, even with a strong organic growth in net sales, the order book is unchanged coming out of Q3. Mikael, do you want to add or add some more flavor to that?
Yeah. Can I just add? Can I add a comment on the also question on FX? I mean, to clarify a bit on that. I mean, in the quarter, we have a translational FX effect of 0.5%, which is, I mean, I would say minor positive support. Yet for the nine months, we have still a negative 2% translation FX effect. Still, year to date, it is negative. I would say it is just from a headwind and very slight tailwind. I would say it would not be that the result, the high result is coming from the FX situation.
Okay. Perfect. That is very clear. Thanks for the flavor. Also, looking at the earnings leverage here, you demonstrated a strong operating leverage, of course, here in Q3. I was just wondering if you could say something, whether we should expect sort of similar incremental margin or on additional sales as the volumes perhaps recovering here, or are there any specific factors this quarter that made the earnings conversion unusually favorable, say?
No. I would say it is what you would call a clean quarter in that sense. What you see is what you got. It is a good drop-through there, and the businesses we have built and refined and made quite efficient are the same going forward. Yes, we expect a good drop-through if the earnings will continue to increase going forward. Yes.
Perfect. I am also wondering on Swegon a bit here on some of the structural growth factor versus the construction weakness in some part. Could you elaborate a bit on the relative contributions here from data centers, refurbishment, and energy efficiency compared to the traditional construction. Are these kind of structural growth areas becoming, say, large enough to drive attractive growth even without a broader construction recovery?
Yes. The short answer is yes. Also here, Mikael, you can add to this, but I think it is important to lay out that AI-driven data centers and so on is a very small part of Swegon's growth. Swegon is nicely positioned in everything around the energy efficiency of buildings. When the cost of heating and the cost of energy goes up, and it is very high, as you know, around the world, the interest in energy-efficient heating improves. The demand for a good and indoor air climate is also improving quite a lot from consumers and people using offices and hospitals and what have you going forward. So I think structurally, Swegon is fairly nicely positioned and not dependent on AI growth in that AI data center growth in that sense.
I can just add to that, and I think, I mean, a testament to that is, of course, the order intake development for Swegon during this year. That has been nice throughout the year, and this is despite the hampered, you could say, classic residential and partly construction market. So I think that is a testament to that they have an ability to find, I mean, other growth segments in parallel to that.
Great. Thank you. Then finally, on the private asset valuations, you raised the value here quite significantly in Q3. I was wondering if you could elaborate a bit on how much of this increase was driven by higher trailing earnings versus changes in the multiples applied, and also, given the strength there in Q3, how representative do you think the current earnings base is?
Yeah, exactly. I mean, in terms of, if you take a business area per business area, there were some average multiples going up, but also some multiples going down based on our peer groups. I think that the average is very similar to the multiple applied in Q2. From our side, the value enhancement of the wholly owned operations is coming purely from performance or profitability improvements, as we see it.
Perfect. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Derek Laliberté. No written questions?
No written questions here.
Okay. Good. That concludes the Q&A session. Then we will go into the highlight of today's report presentation, where we will invite Anders Hülse on stage here to do a deep dive, a short deep dive, but a deep dive into the Hultafors Group. So over to you, Anders.
Thank you, Johan. Very happy to introduce Hultafors Group for you. Hultafors Group is the second-largest business area within Latour's wholly owned operations. We can go, yes. We are a house of premium brands that empower professionals by developing the most durable and high-performing products on the market. The group consists of 15 major brands with an R12 turnover of 6.7 billion SEK in net sales. Our vision is to improving how the world works, and we aim to be the undisputed leader in premium brands for professionals in building construction, industry, and service. In other words, a clear product leadership strategy. We can go next. We see ourselves as a global player with Nordic roots. We are represented in more than 70 markets, and we run our own sales office in 16 countries. Our supply balances in-house production, mainly in Europe, with outsourced production, mainly from Asia.
In the last years, we have invested in our own production capacity and capability, as well as acquired two additional factories. In total, we are 1,900 employees spread over 21 countries. Next. To underline our product leadership strategy, Hultafors Group is best described as being obsessed to understand and create customer value. Our brands are divided into two segments: PPE, personal protective equipment, where we aim to go for head-to-toe protection. The other segment is hardware, where we aim to be in attractive niches, not everywhere. And we want to play in the layout tools, measuring and marking tools, striking and wrecking tools. If you split the segments, 70% of our net sales come from the PPE segment and 30% from our hardware sector. We run the company with a decentralized model where we encourage cross-brand collaboration. We act as best buddies in a decentralized setup. Next.
This is an overview of our brands. We have EMMA Safety Footwear, a Dutch premium safety footwear brand with a lot of focus on sustainability. We have Fristads, a major Nordic workwear player. We have Hellberg Safety, making protection for the head, hearing, and eye. We have Kansas, Danish premium workwear manufacturer. Lyngsøe Rainwear, leading specialist in certified rainwear. Scangrip, manufacturer of innovative LED lights for rough and tough conditions. Snickers Workwear, premium workwear manufacturer with cutting-edge innovative designs. Solid Gear, a frontrunner in sustainable footwear, safety footwear. In the hardware, we have the CLC and Kuny's in the same segments. That is tool-carrying products. Hultafors, developing high-quality ergonomic hardware tools since more than 140 years. Johnson Level & Tool, delivers levels and tools for layout. Martinez Tools brings high-quality framing and finishing hammers, specialty for the tools to the market. Telesteps, telescopic ladders, and W.steps, also access solution for heights, ladders.
You can go to next. We see long-term potential for sustainable organic and acquisition-driven growth. Especially the PPE segment is supported by regulatory decisions supporting category growth. As you can see on the graph, we have driven both acquisition-driven growth and organic growth last years. The last three years, we have been fairly flat on the development, and with that, we are not happy. We have seen quite tough market conditions in key categories, and we are now working hard on being able to drive profitable growth regardless of the market conditions. We see long-term growth potentials in all our markets. We have a long-term perspective and continue to do investments to be better suited for tomorrow's competition. We invest in production, IT, AI, R&D, and marketing.
To summarize, we are a house of premium brands empowering professionals by developing the most durable and high-performance products on the market. We have two segments, PPE, where we have a top-to-toe ambition, and we have the hardware segments where we want to be active in attractive niches. We are obsessed to understand and create customer value. We run the business with a decentralized setup. Okay, go next. Thank you.
Thank you, Anders. Great presentation and overview of the Hultafors Group. By that, we open up for a Q&A session with Anders, Mikael, and myself.
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 Linus Sigurdson from DNB Carnegie. Please go ahead.
Hi again. Thank you so much for that presentation. My understanding from the second quarter was that you saw some early signs of private consumption coming back. Could you say anything about what you see there now?
Anders?
Yes. Thank you for the question. We can see it has continued in the third quarter as well. We do not see so much new houses to be built, but we see more of the private sector, the ROT sector in Swedish.
Okay. Thank you very much. On just trying to understand the dynamic here in PPE versus hardware. I mean, it feels a little like the two flipped from Q2 to Q3 in terms of where the strength was. Could you just help us understand what changed from Q2 until Q3?
We have seen in the hardware side, especially in the Americas and in the Swedish market, we have seen a good growth in the hardware side. We believe ourselves to take market share in these markets in the hardware sector, but we continue to meet a softer market in the PPE sector segment.
Thank you. Then just on the margin, I mean, it developed nicely from last year, even if you strip out the tariff refund. Could you just explain a bit what initiatives you've undertaken to improve that underlying profitability now that demand has been weaker?
Anders?
Yeah. We have done several investments over the last years. We have also taken the time to integrate more of our acquisitions that we've done the last six, eight years, so that you could say hard work and cost control has been the recipe for this. We are a better company today than we were one year ago.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
The next question comes from Derek Laliberté from ABG Sundal Collier. Please go ahead.
Thank you. I wanted to follow up on the questions about margins and Hultafors versus PPE. First on the margin, the Q3 margin was quite impressive at close to 19%. You did have the refund effect contributing quite meaningfully, and excluding that, I think the margin would have been around 16%, which is still encouraging. I was wondering if you could say a few words how we should think about a sustainable margin level for the company, given that organic growth overall remains quite modest.
Anders?
Yes. I think that is a margin to be expected long term. We have higher ambitions. I can't say more than that.
Mikael, do you want to add?
No. I mean, you can also, if you take the historic perspective of Hultafors, you see these margins also being presented historically. So, in some way, there is back to the initiatives being carried through in some way. As Anders said, they are a better company today. There is no reason why those margins are not being able to be sustained over time.
Yeah. I would like to add, you know, you could say it is fairly meager improvements on the top line in Hultafors, but very strong improvements in the margin, also adjusted for tariffs. So, we really expect to see improved margins, also when volumes continue to increase going forward. Anders is now smiling and nodding.
Yes. We are working hard to make our company better and more profitable and growing all the time. We are taking steps already.
Okay, great. Sounds promising. Then, just on the hardware, I think you said 5% growth organically here. PPE remaining subdued. Are you seeing any signs of improving demand within PPE? If you say something on how much further earnings upside before the underlying construction markets recover more broadly.
Anders Hülse, you want to start?
I see a mixed picture with some lights in some areas and more clouds in some areas. I cannot say that I see a clear trend in one direction or the other.
We can maybe add, if we hope for a cold winter, we will see strong growth in PPE sales. It is a little bit weather dependent in that sense, in the short term.
Perfect. That was all for me.
Thank you, Derek. Great questions. Let's see if there's any more. No.
No, we do not have any written questions.
No written questions either? No? Okay. Super. Thank you so much, Anders Hülse, for joining us on this Q3 call, for presenting Hultafors. Thank you, Mikael Johnsson Albrektsson, and thanks everybody for preparing this call. Also, big thanks to all Latour employees for a great quarter. Thank you, finally, for everybody listening in to this call. Hope to see you and hear you in our Q4 report, full-year report, in the beginning of next year. That's all from us. Over and out. Thank you.
Thank you.