First of all, apologies for the concern regarding the technical issue we had with Teams this morning. We are doing this completely ourselves, so we don't have an agency and so on. I think it was some sort of update with what I heard regarding Teams. There was some concern there, but now I'm really glad that you all are on this call. As usual, this call will be recorded. We'll put that out on a web page later on. As usual, Maria Fogelström, our CFO, joined this call and will help me answer questions and so on, if any. Maria, yes, for questions, how to do when you want to ask questions?
Yes. If you have any questions, please use the Q&A function. The chat is turned off during the meeting, but you can still use the Q&A.
Super good, thank you. I will start by sharing my screen. I hope you all see the screen now. Jumping directly into the numbers here for the Q1 reporting. As you can see or saw that the order intake is decreased by 18%. We have a big currency effect in the quarter, and I will come back in a separate slide about the currency effect and how that is calculated and why, and so on. That's been quite cautious. Also the Q4 last year in order intake was quite strong, that also impacted the Q1 order intake this quarter. As I said, big currency effect. Looking at the sales number, also down actually in consolidated Swedish krona numbers by 16%. Actually the currency effect stands for 10%. The sales adjusted for the currency effect was -16%.
There is also another specific order that last year came in in Q1, and this year it will come in Q2. It's not saying that we have lost it and so on. It's a calendar effect, depending on if it comes in Q1 or in Q2. This year it comes in Q2. After all these adjustments, it was a quite flat quarter. It's still a bit cautious out in the market, luxury and also outdoor. I think what's happening in Middle East, it doesn't improve the situation. I think in general, the end consumer is a little bit more cautious, also affecting our first quarter. Coming back to the currency effect, how that is calculated.
There is a consolidation in financial numbers, and the balance sheet is consolidated using the balance sheet end of date and 31st of March numbers currency rate, and profit and loss is calculated by using the average numbers for the quarter. The way we calculated the currency effect, we don't have almost no invoicing in Swedish krona. All invoicing is done abroad, either in euro or in Hong Kong dollar or in U.S. dollar and so on. The way we calculated the currency effect that we, first of all, of course, we consolidating the group by using the average rate for the P&L and the balance sheet for the balance sheet. We got the consolidated numbers. We do the similar consolidation again, but using the rate we had end of March last year. The difference that we get there is the currency effect.
The way we calculate it is that means that in Hong Kong, we calculate by Hong Kong dollar, in China with Chinese yuan and Bangladesh with BDT, et cetera. On these slides, you can see here the big impact if you compare first quarter last year with the quarter this year. Here on this table, you have the average rate, and the below table, you have the balance sheet rate. The balance sheet is for the balance sheet at the end of date rate. Here is the average rate during the quarter. As you can see, and also as you most likely know, the Swedish krona has been quite volatile during the quarter from being really strong in the beginning and then getting weak in the end.
That also has a big impact if you take Hong Kong dollar, 40% in average, and a stronger Swedish krona and the Indian rupees and so on. If you look at the balance sheet rate, the Hong Kong dollar here is 5.9% as per balance sheet date end of March. These rates here impact the P&L, and these rates here impact the balance sheet. There's a difference. The reason I explained this is that I sometimes get questions how because some look at only this end of the quarter rates, I can compare, but here is the average rate during the quarter, which has an impact on the P&L. We had an operating profit of SEK 15.4 million versus SEK 23 million last year. We had some non-recurring cost of SEK 2.3 million, where SEK 1.8 million is related to structural project cost. What is that?
We want to grow, so we have taken costs for project. Not going into detail, I cannot do that now. Will something good come out of this? What will come out of this? It's too early to say, and I will come back on that if and when it happens. When, if it happens, I don't know yet. It's something we're working on, and we have taken costs for this project, but it is that we want to grow, so that is part of that. Then other personnel costs is that we want to move, and we need to have focus on the right things. That means that we are decreasing costs in some areas, increasing costs in some areas, and during this change, there will be one-off costs, and that was here in the quarter. It was not much.
Normally, I probably not would mention that, but these two, together with this one, make SEK 2.3 million. I thought to be transparent for you, I think it was worth mentioning. Adjusted for this, the operating profit is SEK 17.7 million. This year we also have some other costs. Also, I would say offensive growth cost to be taken. Hopefully, the intention that this will bear fruit in the coming quarters. Holland, we started up a new company. We've taken the cost here. U.S., we employed three more employees last year. That was not in the Q1. Sri Lanka, we started up a new company as well. We putting effort in for the future growth. We have a strong balance sheet with the net cash position of SEK 56 million that we need for the growth and what we aiming for.
The income, as you know, most likely is very much volume driven. A quarter with the lower volumes also gives less operating profit and operating margin. The goal here is to be between 10%-12% minimum. We have a way to go and how to reach that is by both volume driven, but also looking at the cost side. This is exercise we are working on. Looking at 2025, compared on product group with 2026, there's been a decrease in packaging from 20 to 14 orders. At the same time, if you remember me, I used to say that now we putting more effort into packaging, so this is contradictory. The order that I mentioned in Q1 that will come in Q2, that is a packaging order. That will mean that this packaging will be stronger in Q2 versus Q1.
Look at the quarterly here. In Q1, we had a really strong gross margin. If you compare to the history the last years, the strong gross margin, it depends on different things. One is the product mix. As we didn't get this packaging order, the packaging has, in general, lower margin. That will then be impact on the Q2 lower gross profit in the Q2. In Q1, that also made it opposite. There was a really strong gross margin. The product mix has one thing. Also, the more in-house production we get, the higher gross margin we also get. We had, especially in Bangladesh and Portugal. Of course, also that the U.S. dollar has some impact here. The weaker U.S. dollar, as we are selling some in euro, there will be some that we are buying in the U.S. dollar.
That had also some dollar effect. Cost side, as I mentioned, we are looking now to move cost from one side to another, and we will do some sort of cost-saving program, but at the same time, we will spend efforts in other areas as well. It's to be having the right resources at the right areas. Operating margin, as I mentioned, we are not pleased with that in the quarter, and the goal is to be 10%-12% in the future. This is same, showing the numbers, but in a graph with the lower sales in Q1 and also the lower operating profit here. Jumping further, here is the balance sheet, Maria.
Yes. As Krister mentioned, we have a strong balance sheet with a net cash of SEK 56 million. As you can see here, we have cash amounting to SEK 102 million, which is quite much, but we have also chosen not to take it out as we have upcoming investments in Bangladesh. We have intentionally left money in Bangladesh to be able to finance the investments there. I also want to highlight the inventory levels because I see that we already have received a question about the inventory levels. That is a constant focus area for us. The levels we have now are reasonable, but of course, they will depend on the sales as well. But we keep focusing on the inventory level, and the levels are reasonable for now. As you can see, they have decreased compared to Q1 last year.
On the cash flow side, some short comments as well. As you can see, there is quite a big effect in the accounts receivable during the period. We have that in Q1 2025 as well. That is mainly related to seasonal effects within the quarter, where, for example, March was a stronger period than January. It is also related to specific clients with different payment terms, which can have quite a big impact on the accounts receivable levels. There is also quite a big change for the other liabilities, but a big portion of that is also related to timing differences between other liabilities and accounts payable.
Very good. Thank you. Key financial indicators. We'll not go through this in detail. I just want to mention the average number of employees that has gone up since 2021. As you can see, mainly in Bangladesh and Portugal, and at the moment, I don't foresee that we will increase the number of employees until the new factory in Bangladesh is ready. We have increased number of employees for existing production, both in Bangladesh and Portugal, and we also built up the new factory in Vietnam and so on. So here, we'll be relatively stable until the factory in Bangladesh will be ready, which we predict to be in the middle of next year sometime. Some comments. Cautious market in Q1. We talked about a big currency effect. We talked about the proposed dividend is still the SEK 1.50 that we said in the last interim report.
We have managed to succeed with the Science Based Targets, something that has to be approved here. That is really good and also good for some of our clients asking for that. We are one of the few label companies that has been approved for this now. That is really good. Also in terms of marketing that we show that we are a reliable supplier. In Portugal, we have now a new Managing Director with a long international experience. I'm really happy to announce that, to have that managing director on board. Elizabeth, the previous MD, is now retiring, so there will be a period of overlapping, but I'm really confident that this new MD will make Nilörngruppen Portugal taking the next step. Really good on that. The Nilörngruppen Bangladesh factory, the new project is ongoing. It's a lot of getting all these designs and so on.
We have the land now, and we have not started with the building project, not yet. It's a lot of getting all compliance and so on in place. Not so much more to update on that. We expect to be ready to move into the factory in middle of 2027. Then, of course, it takes time until the factory is up and running in full. We have expected the half of the investment of this $10 million to be machineries. Machineries will be invested not all at once. We will invest during a period once we get the orders and so on. Of course, we will need to have an original setup of machineries and so on from the start, and then we will add on more as the ordering comes and the turnover start.
We have done quite a big investment in the past. Now, what I meant by that is that we are really strong in these areas. We can see that if you compare Nilörngruppen with other smaller competitors, the market is quite fragmented with a few really big players and smaller ones. This is also why we see that more and more smaller companies are up for sales. This is also the demand from our clients. That's also why we're focusing on all this, with the specialists and to boost the sustainability, CSR compliance, sourcing, material specialists, and packaging. We will have a much stronger offer towards our client. We increase the production capacity.
That is also in terms of higher margin once we will do this, but also in terms of demand from our clients, to be a more relevant supplier and also in terms of CSR compliance, as it's more easy when you have your own production. We are marketing and strengthening in the U.S. We are now established in Holland, and we have still not employed a Chief Commercial Officer. This is something that we will continue to work on. We are quite picky on this one to find the right person here, and we still have not found it. We're still looking for that. Consolidation in the market, we want to take part of that, so we are working on that. Here, I showed this also earlier. This is where we were five years ago, and this is where we now expanded, and we have always been strong in design.
We have a strong balance sheet, so we can take the next step. We have moved out in the packaging, having another category manager to be able to support and take that next step. We have been really strong, moved out in the sustainability, CSR, employing in different units, and I don't know if you've seen, but I would give you an advice, look at the Nilörngruppen annual report, where you also have the sustainability report. It's really impressive, I would say, the job we are doing here. It also say quite much about Nilörngruppen and the steps we have taken. Nilörn:CONNECT, the digital solution, coming back to that a little bit later. Here is the moves that we want to take the coming five years. We want to be stronger within RFID. We want to be stronger within heat transfer.
Heat transfer, we have many clients working with heat transfer in the outdoor industry, and here we are not strong in that. We have so much to be done here. Also the packaging, we'll continue to move out, digital solution, and increase our own production to move that out. What is heat transfer? Heat transfer is on the other, when it's pressed with heat, and it's not printed into the textile, but we deliver this, and it's printed or pressed on the garment in the garment factory. This is heat transfer. Why we have not been strong in that in the past is that heat transfer is a very technical product, so we need more knowledge in-house. This is an area if we can make some sort of acquisitions, I think heat transfer will be really suitable for us.
We have the client, but we are not strong in this, so the synergies, as I see it, is good here. Nilörn:CONNECT is our digital solution, and this is something that is a demand from our client to help and enable them to connect with the end consumers and to fulfill the DPP and the legislation within that. This is mainly through QR codes and connected through that. We have RFID. It's with antenna inside, as you can see down here. It's an antenna in these labels. This is more on the logistics side. This started with the really big retailers, and then it's moving down for the medium and small client as well. This is becoming much more frequent also for us.
Here, it's super volume driven, and you need to have big volumes to have a good margin, because it's a quite low-margin product. Here, we will work on getting the bigger volumes in here as well. I can see the time is running. We're aiming for the operating margin of at least 10%, so this is what we should get back to. When we will do that, I think if we will look at the cost side, but also once we get more enhanced production, we will come up here again. Will it be this year or will it be next year? I cannot say, but this is clearly goal for us to work on that. That was very much on the presentation side.
Maria, sorry for rushing at the end, but I see the time is flying, and I have also a presentation for the staff coming up here very soon.
Yes.
Maria, any questions?
Yeah. Thank you, Krister. We have received some questions. Some of these have already been addressed too during the presentation, I will pick the ones that I think are the most relevant and that we haven't discussed so much in detail. We have received one question about the volumes, and it is: Can you raise your volume significantly by bringing in new customers, or are you dependent on your existing customers?
Good questions. We are now focusing more and more on getting bigger clients on board, and we have some. The advantage and disadvantage with this business, I would say, it take time to get new clients on board, but the client you have is also very loyal. We're aiming for getting new clients on board. At the same time, we're also working on getting a wider range of the product range on the existing clients. We're working actually on both things. Getting more focus on that, focusing on the big clients and less on the small. We have a quite long tail of small clients, but we are shifting focus now within the group.
Yes. Thank you. We also received a question about the luxury segment. Do you still expect normalizing in luxury during summer?
Good questions, and we see some uncertainty in that. I'm a little bit more hesitant about that. I think maybe more towards the autumn time now than in the summertime, as we predicted in the past.
Thank you. I see the time is running out, but there are two more questions I would like to ask. We will take these two as well. The first one was about the order intake. You mentioned a strong pipeline, but can you give us any concrete metrics on pipeline size and conversion timelines to help us gauge where orders are heading in Q2 and for the half year Q1?
Yeah. The biggest impact between the quarters is the packaging one that I declared that will come in Q2, that was in Q1 last year. There's a certain uncertainty in the market. We especially think what's going on in the world at the moment. It's not one client. It's a more general trend. We foresee that we are in the market, and we think that it will come up again here. We also, as you mentioned earlier, this big currency impact on this. No lost client or anything like that. It's more the time lag.
One final question that I thought was interesting. How are customers reacting to Nilörn:CONNECT? Do the customers want to have their data in your system, or can it be integrated within the company's own data systems?
Absolutely. Good question there. I would say that ours is the node in the center where we're collecting data from the client's system, and we can share with the end consumers, and we collect data from different system. We are not owner of the data, we are owner of the statistics. We package it in a nice way that we present for the end consumers, but also back to the brand owners. We can take data from different sources and systems. We will be there in the center helping our client out with this. Also for them to fulfill the legislation. I think it start off very much to fulfill the DPP regulations and then also supporting for them to have the possibility to talk with the end consumers through the QR code, mainly.
That sounds good. Unfortunately, I think that was all for today. For you who feels that you haven't really got answers to your questions, please feel free to reach out to me or Krister, and we will come back to you separately.
Thank you very much for listening, and sorry once again for the hassle we had in the beginning. Hopefully, it will be better next time, so we can start on time. Thank you very much for being with us. Thank you.
Thank you.