Welcome to the presentation of Momentum Group's interim report for Q2 2023. I'm Ulf Lilius, CEO for Momentum Group, and I'm here with my colleague, Niklas Enmark, Executive Vice President and CFO, and we will guide you through our report today. Our agenda today is to give you some information about the highlights from Q2 and the development during the quarter, as well as financial information. We will round off with our growth strategy. Now to the highlights in our report. The business situation remained satisfactory for most of our operations during the second quarter of the year. The period was marked also continuing high inflation, component shortages within some areas, but where the picture is generally that the situation gradually now improving and continuous stable customer demand, despite clearer signals in the outside world of in a recession.
The weak Swedish krona has had no major impact on earning, but is a factor that our companies have to deal with in their pricing. Pleasingly, we have continued to strengthen the group with a number of interesting companies this year. During the first half of the year, we have completed five acquisition with a combined annual turnover, approximately SEK 415 million, and an additional 140 talented employees, whom we warmly welcome to the Momentum Group. During the second quarter, we acquired the Danish Regal, which strengthened our position in Denmark through their established market position in transmission and electrical automation. Through our largest acquisition to date, Askalon, we take an important position in industrial valves in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. At the end of the quarter, we entered into the acquisition of Items, which strengthen our offer with instrumentation for demanding operations.
The acquisitions are clear examples of the path taken for the group, with the focus on the acquisition of strong companies with a clear quality and sustainability focus, which strengthen our offer within profitable product verticals. For the group, turnover increased during the quarter by 23%, or with 7% for comparable units, and EBITA growth of 20%. Our profitability measure, EBITA through working capital, remained at high levels. That ensures a focus on keeping low and stable working capital within all our operations. After the second quarter of the year, our operating net debt is SEK 305 million to compare with SEK 48 million last year, where the change is explained by acquisitions and the dividend we paid during the quarter.
Our cash flow, together with cash and cash equivalents, including granted credit that we did not use, in total SEK 704 million, provides security and guarantees a good financial position with room for action also going forward. Even though the future market situation is difficult to assess, we thus have a good starting point to be able to grow in both our business areas. We will do through further develop our operations through clear internal focus on three basic requirements: growth, profitability, and development based on active ownership and decentralized responsibility, and of course, development of our coworkers. Acquisition are also still part of our everyday life, and we will add more fine companies to our group with whom we can further develop together with the entrepreneurs. We'll hand over to Niklas, who will guide you through our Q2 report.
Thank you, Ulf. During the second quarter of the financial year, the group's revenue increased by 23% to SEK 549 million, where the growth for comparable units, adjusted for trading days and currency, was 7%. As Ulf mentioned, the business climate in our main markets in the Nordic region remained satisfactory, particularly in the industrial sector. The economic turbulence that characterized the market in the wake of inflation, interest rates, and the deterioration of certain sectors has not yet had any tangible impact on our customers' behavior. The component shortage in general, showing signs of improvement, although delivery times remain relatively long in certain product areas. Under the circumstances, the companies are maintaining a high delivery capacity.
Purchase price and cost increases are continuing, but at a more moderate rate than we have seen previously, but we are still taking measures to compensate for this. As regards pricing, the weak Swedish krona has had no major impact on sales to date, but is a factor that the operations also manage in their pricing decisions. During the quarter, we also had a strong contribution from acquisitions, adding an additional SEK 77 million , corresponding to 17% to revenue growth, not least from the acquisition of Askalon, that we consolidate as of June, and that had a very good start in the group. Also, strong performance from our new company in Denmark, Regal A/S, that were consolidated during the quarter. The period included one less trading day versus last year.
Our EBITA in the group increased by 20% to SEK 65 million for the quarter, corresponding to an EBITA margin of 11.8% versus 12.1% the previous year. Contributing to the profit growth were the increased revenue, both organic and from acquisitions, as well as strong and improving gross margins and a very strong EBITA growth in the business area Components. The slight deterioration in EBITA margin for the group compared to last year, during the quarter is related to lowered margins in the business area Services that I will come back to. Operating profit rose by 20% to SEK 59 million, corresponding to an operating margin of 10.7%. Operating profit was charged with amortization of intangible non-current assets of SEK 6 million.
arising in conjunction with acquisitions and with depreciation of right of use assets in and tangible non-current assets of SEK 17 million. No exchange rate translation effect impacted operating profit. Profit after financial items totaled SEK 55 million, and profit after tax amounted to SEK 43 million. When we summarize the first half of the financial year, we can report that our revenue increased by 24%, which 8% was attributed to comparable units, adding to this revenue from acquisitions that added an additional 15% to revenue growth. Our operating profit rose by 33% to SEK 140 million, corresponding to an operating margin of 10.8%, and our EBITA increased by 28% to SEK 125 million, corresponding to an EBITA margin of 11.9%.
Profit for the period increased by 31% to SEK 85 million, corresponding to an earnings per share of 1.75 kronor. Commenting on the rolling 12 months numbers, per June 2023, we see that we are very close to SEK 2 billion in revenue, up 22% compared to one year ago and approximately SEK 400 million more than at the time of our listing in March of last year. This is, of course, thanks to the many acquisitions that we have made during this period, but also the strong organic revenue growth during this period. Our EBITA is at SEK 231 million, increasing by 23% compared to the corresponding rolling 12-month period. Our EBITA margin has increased to 11.9%.
Earnings per share, rolling 12 months was SEK 3.20 and increased by 33% compared to the corresponding rolling 12-month period. One reason for the larger increase in EPS being the share repurchases that we have made during the period. Now to some comments per business area, and I will start with the components business area. Sales and earnings in the components business area were positive also during the second quarter, with sales increasing by 29% to SEK 461 million and EBITA increasing by 32% to SEK 66 million. Our EBITA margin increased to 14.3% compared to 14% the previous year. Revenue growth for comparable units was 10%. The business area's return on working capital, measured as EBITA over working capital, was 69%.
Momentum Industrial continued its strong performance during the quarter with a healthy rate of sales and volume and earnings growth. Growth was particularly favorable in the mining, paper, and automotive segments. The launch of the company's upgraded business system at the end of the preceding quarter has been successful. During the quarter, the recently acquired company, LocTech, was also integrated into Momentum Industrial's business. The specialist companies generally performed well during the quarter with favorable demand and growth in sales and earnings. Some companies continued to experience delivery disruptions, although the general outlook is somewhat better. During the quarter, the acquisitions of Askalon and Regal was completed, both of which had a positive impact on the business area's earnings. Askalon noted very healthy demand from customers during the quarter, including customers in the nuclear power industry. After the end of the quarter, the acquisition of Processkontroll Items was completed.
Most of the companies in the business area services had a stable revenue trend during the quarter. Revenue declined by 2% to SEK 91 million, compared with the same quarter of last year, and for comparable units, the revenue declined by 7%. This is due to the large units, revenue, Rörick and Mekano, having certain delays for some larger deliveries and somewhat lower project sales, which affected the business area's revenue for the quarter. The situation improves toward the end of the quarter with scheduled work and favorable capacity utilization ahead of the summer. During the quarter, it was also announced that the Carl A, with its operations in Helsingborg, will be merged with Mekano's operations in the same city.
The business area's operations in digitalized maintenance, Intertechna and Mytolerans, noted increased customer activity and an improvement in demand toward the end of the quarter. EBITA amounted to SEK 7 million, corresponding to an EBITA margin of 7.7%, down from 9.7% compared to one year ago. The business area's profitability, measured as return on working capital, increased, however, to 61%. The Group's profitability, measured as the return on working capital, amounted to 60% for the reporting period, and that is measured over a rolling 12 months. The return on equity for the same period was 32%, an increase from 28%.
Positive to note is the stronger cash flow for the period, cash flow from operating activities before changes in working capital for the reporting period total 123 million, compared to SEK 66 million for the comparable period. During the reporting period, inventories increased by SEK 60 million, operating receivables and operating liabilities declined by SEK 19 million and SEK 40 million respectively. Accordingly, cash flow from operating activities for the reporting period amounted to SEK 112 million, up from the SEK 46 million the previous year.
Cash flow from investing activities for the reporting period amounted to SEK 289 million, which includes acquisitions of SEK 284 million, and net investments in non-current assets of SEK 5 million during the period. IFRS 16 effects on cash flow is in total zero, of course, but with a positive contribution to operations of SEK 31 million and the corresponding negative effect on financing. At the end of the period, the group's operational net loan liability amounted to SEK 305 million, compared with SEK 48 million at the beginning of the financial year. The difference is largely attributed to cash flow from operating activities, of course, but also the acquisitions made during the reporting period, as well as the dividend that we paid out during the quarter.
Cash and cash equivalents, including unutilized granted credit facilities, totaled SEK 704 million. We have ample room to grow with acquisitions.
Thank you, Niklas. We'll give you some input about the growth strategy going forward. Looking at the acquisition candidates we normally approach, we want them to show a number of characteristics. They should have a strong and defendable position in the value chain, with well-developed customer and supplier relationships, with an ambition to further develop these into strong partnerships. As we focus on certain verticals, we look for companies that are market leaders or have the potential to become market leaders in these verticals. We define a vertical in terms of several layers, including, one, which type of business is it off the market, OEM? Two, place in the value chain. Three, type of offer, spare parts, service, installation.
Four, technology area, for example, hydraulics. Five, customer market application, for example, food and beverage, pulp and paper, et cetera. Finally, we see companies that are profitable and through various activities can become even more profitable or grow with existing level of profitability. The target company should be or have the potential to be at least 10% EBITA margin, meaning we should turn over working capital about five times to achieve a sufficient profitability EBITA through working capital. We have proven processes and resources who work on acquisitions in three areas to evaluate and implement acquisitions. We work with add-on acquisitions on a subsidiary level. Add-on acquisition is to strengthen the current offering or geographical expansion based on our capital allocation model, or as we call it, our internal focus model, which helps each company prioritize their goals and activities.
The subsidiary CEOs is commercially responsible, with support from the Group if the company meet the profitability target. The acquisition at business level, with the focus in three areas: Aftermarket, companies that can complement the operation within Momentum Industrial in Sweden, Norway, and Finland. Specialist, companies in leading specialist positions in the market niche in the Nordic region. Technical Service, companies with technical industrial service, primarily in Sweden. Acquisition at Group level are larger acquisitions, where we support the companies and business areas with specific expertise in transactions, financial analysis, communication, and more. Since our listing in March 2022, we have acquired 10 companies with a total annual turnover of around SEK 600 million, and they will be managed as independent niche companies, all in accordance with our philosophy of decentralized business responsibility. Pleasingly, we have continued to strengthen the Group with a number of interesting companies this year.
During the first half of the year, we have completed five acquisitions with the combined annual turnover, approximately SEK 450 million, and added 140 employees, whom we warmly welcome to Momentum Group. During the second quarter, we acquired the Danish Regal, which strengthened our position in Denmark through their established market position in transmission and electrical automation. Through our largest acquisition to date, Askalon, we take an important position in the industrial valves in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. At the end of the quarter, we entered the acquisition of Items where we strengthen our offer with instrumentation for demanding operations. The acquisitions are clear examples of the path taken for the group, with the focus on the acquisition of strong companies with a clear quality and sustainability focus, which strengthen our offer within profitable product verticals.
A decentralized business model is a key where we develop each company individually based on its own merits and as a group, build up competence in several industrial niches. Looking ahead, we have a strong platform, a good businesses, which means we can work with a strong focus on our selected product and service verticals in our acquisition process. Our focus is develop Momentum Group further in the next half year in 2023 by growing organically as well as by making carefully selected acquisitions. We continue on the set path of developing the group with leading position in various niches. We are at the same time well prepared for if a slowdown were to affect our operations.
In order to be able to do so, we focus on our cash flow and the margin around double digits in order to maintain EBITA through working capital larger than 45% to finance our expansion. I mentioned before, our operating net debt is SEK 305 million compared to SEK 48 million, where the change is explained by acquisitions and the dividend we paid during the quarter. Our cash flow, together with cash and cash equivalents, including granted credit that we did not use, in total SEK 704 million provides security and guarantees a good financial position and room for acquisition also going forward, and to still have a reasonable net debt through EBITA, EBITDA.
We will continue to work in a structured way with our capital allocation through share buybacks when it's favorable for us, as well as add-on acquisitions to strengthen the offering or geographical expansion based on our capital allocation model, or internal focus model, which helps each company prioritize their goals and activities to focus on. All in all, with aim to increase earnings per share. Thank you for your time and interest listening to our Q2 presentation, which are available with the report on our website. If you have any question or specific request, do not hesitate to contact us through our IR mail or by phone. Thank you very much, and have a nice day.