Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Proact's Q1 report 2025. I am Magnus Lönn, I'm President of Proact, and I'm here for you who have been listening to this meeting before. You see that we have a new dude here to present our Q1 report. It's me, Magnus, and Noora, our CFO. And I myself, I took over as CEO for Proact first of March this quarter, but I have a long background in the company in the sense that I have been leading our Nordic and Baltic business for the last three years. I have also been Deputy Group CEO for the last year, so I'm well aware about our company and our potential and our business foremost. It's really glad to have you all on the call here to walk you through this quarterly report.
I will give you a short introduction to Proact as a company for you who are new to the call, and then I will give you a short overview of the market that we are operating in. Of course, we will dig into the quarterly highlights, and then Noora will guide us through our financial result, and then I'm more than happy to take questions at the end of this session. Let's get started here. Proact, we are a leading expert when it comes to providing critical business infrastructure to our customer, and this we have been doing for over 30 years as a company. We were founded in Sweden three decades ago. What we are really, really good in is exactly this around IT infrastructure, and I will go a little bit more into detail around this later on.
This is actually something that every customer in today's society has a critical need of because all our businesses may be more and more digitalized, and this is the area where we are in. Today we are operating in 12 different countries, and you can see them here on the map, so we are very Europe-centric. We serve around 2,000 customers on an active basis, and we have a yearly turnover of roughly SEK 5 billion. We have been stocklisted since 1999, so a well-established company. As you can see to the right here, over the past five years, we have actually done a good growth session, growing our revenues and also EBITDA foremost. Today we are around 1,200 experts across our countries, and I would say that we are really, we are a local trusted partner.
Nowadays I'm also very proud to say that we are a local European partner because this is, given the last turbulence in Q1, something that we experience that our customers are valuing more and more, I would say. That is us in short, but take the next slide here. From an operational standpoint, we have divided our business into four different business units, and this is also how we report our financial numbers. The red one here is Nordic and Baltics, and this is roughly half of our company in size when it comes to revenue. We also have business units in the U.K., and we have one business unit called West, which consists of Belgium and Netherlands. We have our business unit Central that consists of Czech Republic and Germany.
Out of these business units, we are also delivering, we have located our service hubs, and I will go into more details around that, but that is actually where we produce our services that are supporting these 2,000 customers that we were talking about with our own produced services. If we look into our revenue stream as a company, I would say that we have a really good spread when it comes to how we generate revenue here. We have the two to the left here, our system and support services. This is actually the core of Proact where we were started 30 years ago, and then we have expanded out this, so hence there is a different size of it. Our system is that we are helping our customer with designing, providing, and installing a system that is taking care of their critical infrastructure.
It can be servers, it can be storage, it can be Nvidia infrastructure that is enabling AI, for example. It could be on-prem, and it could be in our data centers. To all the systems that we are selling, we are very often providing our own support, meaning that if a customer gets a critical failure or something in their environment, our team is there to support and help and fix it. This is something that is really working well and is really appreciated by our customers. We as a company also have the possibility to provide what we are selling also as a service, meaning that we own the hardware and we operate the hardware on behalf of the customer. This is something that we are actually seeing growing more and more, and this is what we call managed cloud services, MCS.
Of course, we as a company, we are a tech company, and at the end of the day, that means that we are experts in what we are doing. We are also selling our competence in the form of consultancy services. I would say that all our consultancy services are related to the competence that we have. It could be designing a new data center, it could be cloud-native service, it could be around public cloud, and things like that. We have a really skilled team. For you who follow other tech companies and also in general, I would say that cybersecurity and finding solutions for them, this is on top of every company's agenda. If you think about it, the best solution or protection for cybersecurity is actually to have a good backup of your data.
If something happened to your primary site, then you could restore your data and then you can get back to business again. This is something that more and more customers actually realize. They can invest an enormous amount of money into cyber protection, but at the end of the day, the ability to restore and back up your data is probably the best protection that you can have in the environment that you're operating in. AI is, of course, a super important driver, and we see more and more of that coming. We are the experts in building the infrastructure around AI, and that is important to point out. If you look into the market, I was talking about that we are in a very good position.
If you can see here down to the left in the graph here, this is the society that we all are living in, that the amount of data that we are consuming, both as private persons but also as a company are generating, is actually growing. This data needs to be stored somewhere, and that means that then there is a need for services and taking help from a company like us. If I would bet, I would say that the amount of data beyond 2026, it will just continue to increase because this is how we see it. You also see, unfortunately, that these cybersecurity trends and the spend in the market that will just become more and more because it's like a war against criminality that is becoming more and more sophisticated, and then ways of finding and to protect it.
At the end of the day, I think we Proact here are actually super good positioning because we can help and design so that when, and I say when because the likelihood is very high that you get attacked by cybercriminality, you can restore your data and you can get up and run your business again. This is some of the key, what to say, experience and knowledge that Proact possesses. Hybrid cloud, this is also something that we see more and more coming, that many of our customers, especially I would say the last year, have really rethought what they think about where to store the data. Maybe it is not the best thing to store your critical business data in a cloud that is operated by an American company.
Two years ago, this was not the question, but given the last 100 days and what's happened in the U.S., now many customers are really rethinking this. Here we are actually there to help our customers designing the most optimal solution for them to help and store and protect the data. I was mentioning that we see an increase of AI, and this is a sort of a customer case that we were working with during Q1, and that was that Göteborgs Universitet, a really science-focused environment. They were building up an environment for their research to test and apply new methods. We enabled them with adding Nvidia card in order to test and use AI to their data. This was something that we developed over the past couple of months here together with Göteborgs Universitet.
This is a concrete example of how we can use our competence and what we are doing on a daily basis together with our customers. This picture is actually something I really like, and I will guide you through it because this in essence describes what Proact is doing. If you look into the blue part here, there it says data management, and it says on-premise, private cloud, and public cloud. This is actually how every company is built up because if you have a tech infrastructure, you need to store your data somewhere. Either it can be on-prem, meaning that you have your own hardware and things within your company, then we can help you with that. Either you outsource and have your data in a private cloud provider like us, then we can help you with that.
You take help of Microsoft, Google, or Amazon and have your data stored in their public cloud, then we can help you with that. This blue part is actually the core of what Proact has been doing for 30 years. We are experts in this field, and it does not really matter if your data is located on-prem or in the cloud, we are there to help you. In today's society, every customer has this setup and structure, and this is how we design IT infrastructure today. Of course, you see the yellow part here. Of course, we want to do something with our data. We are using AI to extract more data, do things more quicker. You need to have a foundation that your AI is operating on, and this is what we are helping you.
Today also, some of the hardware is moving more into software with cloud-native and container technology, and this is a way to develop applications quicker. Here we also have experts that are doing this on a day-to-day basis that can help you. Of course, all of this happens around the key value for the customer, which is to protect the data, make sure that you have backup and recovery, make sure that your data is secure, and if something happens, then we are there to help you. To the right here, you see this is also how we can deliver it. Either we can help you and sell only technology, or we can sell technology with premium support, or we can sell it as a service. It does not really matter. This is really a flexibility that we have as a company.
At the end of the day, we have super skilled 1,200 people that are here for helping our customers. I think Proact, as a European trusted local partner, we have a really good position to be in. I'm really feeling excited about this, I realize when I talk to you. With this, that was both a short background about Proact and also around our market. Going over to some key highlights here. As I mentioned in the introduction, I am the successor of Jonas Hasselberg first of March, and I've been working with Jonas since the last three years, so I have a good understanding of our business. Even more exciting was that we acquired BlakYaks, which is a British consultancy company based in the U.K. that is an expert in cloud transformation and Azure technology.
It is fantastic to have them on board and joining the Proact family. Their cutting-edge knowledge will for sure help us going forward, and for us, the U.K. is a super important market, so with them on board, we also feel confident that we have strengthened our U.K. position. What was also really, really great during the quarter was that we were named Enterprise Partner of the Year by NetApp. NetApp is a global expert company within data storage. We have a super long relationship together with NetApp, and we are helping a lot of our customers with NetApp technology. Just to be named this and be best in Europe, I think that is a testament to our skills foremost for our own staff that are working on this on a daily basis. This is good.
When it comes to the financials, and Noora will guide you through here very shortly, we had a revenue of SEK 1.2 billion, and our EBITDA landed around SEK 80 million. Noora, would you be so glad to walk us through the more details around this?
Thank you, Magnus. Turning to slide 10, revenue in the first quarter, as Magnus mentioned, reached SEK 1.2 billion, an increase of 2%, largely driven by good performance in Nordic and Baltics, offset by lower sales in business units U.K., West, and Central, with the BlackYork acquisition contributing positively with 0.6%. Organic growth reached 1.5%. System sales increased 7.8% to SEK 688 million, and sales from services business decreased 4.8% to SEK 524 million, driven by higher system sales in Nordic and Baltics, offset by lower sales in U.K., West, and Central.
Cloud service revenue decreased with 6% to SEK 271 million due to contract terminations and higher customer churn, mainly in West and Central. Improvements in Nordic and Baltics partially offset the decline but could not fully compensate. On slide 11, annualized recurring revenue amounted to SEK 1.7 billion in the first quarter, a decrease of 2.8% compared to Q1 2024. New cloud service agreements amounted to SEK 122 million in the first quarter, compared to SEK 182 million last year. Onboarding of cloud contracts is typically between three to six months, hence revenue effect will come over time. Next page, please. Adjusted EBITDA amounted to SEK 79 million, mainly due to lower revenue in the services business and reduced gross margin. Business unit Nova in Baltics stands out this quarter with an EBITDA increase of SEK 15.1 million.
We have initiated cost efficiency measures in the U.K., West, and Central to create a more sustainable cost base over time. Further to cash flow and net cash position on the next slide. Our net cash position at the end of the quarter amounted to SEK 101 million compared to SEK 330 million at year-end 2024. Changes in working capital had a negative impact of SEK 57 million on cash flow, partly due to tougher terms from both customers and suppliers, including timing effects and revised payment conditions. Despite this, our strong financial performance enabled both M&A activity and share buybacks during the quarter while maintaining a solid financial position. Now some details starting with business unit Nordic and Baltics. Revenue landed at SEK 717 million in the quarter.
EBITDA increased with 20% to SEK 80 million, resulting in an EBITDA margin of 11.2%, being well above the group target of 8%. System revenue increased by 28% to SEK 500 million, driven by several large deals in Sweden. Service revenue grew by 5.4% to SEK 217 million. Business unit Nordic and Baltics continues to deliver impressive results in the first quarter. Further to business unit U.K. In the U.K., revenue decreased with 13.7% to SEK 159 million, primarily driven by lower system sales. EBITDA declined to SEK 1 million, corresponding to an EBITDA margin of 0.6%, mainly due to lower system sales volumes and continued pressure on gross margins. BlackYork contributed positively to adjusted EBITDA with SEK 2 million, achieving a strong EBITDA margin of 28%. Business unit West on this slide.
Revenue in West decreased with 21.3% and landed at SEK 181 million in the quarter, reflecting a downturn in both system and service revenue, primarily due to lower activity levels and churn. EBITDA decreased to minus SEK 4.2 million with an EBITDA margin of minus 2.3%. The decline in EBITDA is primarily due to lower revenue, with efforts underway to create a more adaptable cost structure. Finally, business unit Central. Revenue decreased to SEK 183 million in the quarter, mainly due to lower system and service sales in a tough market climate. EBITDA landed at minus SEK 1 million, corresponding to an EBITDA margin of minus 0.6%. The EBITDA decline is primarily due to lower revenue, particularly in the cloud services segment. On this slide, our financial targets. As mentioned, organic growth in the quarter was 1.5%.
Coupled with the recent acquisition of BlackYork, we reached a total growth of 2%. We still have a way to go to reaching our target of 5% of organic growth and additional 5% growth via acquisitions. EBITDA margin in the quarter was 6.5%, and last 12 months sum up to 6.8%. We are moving towards the long-term target of 8%. As I previously mentioned, we are in a net cash position, meaning that our leverage is well below the set level of two times EBITDA. And ROCE is at 15.9% for the last 12 months. This concludes the financial overview of this quarter. Back to you, Magnus, with some final comments.
Thank you, Noora. Trying to wrap up here. As you can see, I mean, we have a continued strong performance in the Nordic and Baltics, of course. Super happy with that.
I am also really pleased that during the quarter we made the acquisition of BlackYork because this really strengthened our U.K. position. Also, this expertise with cloud-native services is an area where we also see we will continue to grow going forward. I am really glad to have them on board. As you also can see in the report, I mean, we are having challenges in West and Central. As Noora explained, it is mainly really related to customer churn, and we have had experienced contracts. I would also say that especially in Germany, we have a tough, I would say, macro financial situation. The market there is extra challenging. Of course, there will be even more competition when it comes to sales and things like that. We have initiated cost efficiency measures across the board here.
I believe that over time, we will also work with address them. I mean, as an example, going back, Noora have been doing great now for a time, but we also had some challenges. It takes time to get this in the right position. Overall, I would say that when we look into the market context, it has been Q1 especially turbulent and things like that. I think we, as I believe strongly that we as a company really stand out as a local European trusted partner. That is what we see that our customers are really valuing and appreciating. Of course, this turbulence that is in the market with tariffs and things like that, it might make an impact on our customers' decision, but this is something that we are really closely watching in the coming quarters here.
With this, I am opening up for questions to all of you, and thank you a lot for listening in. We see here, Daniel, please go ahead. I learned out that there is a first out here.
Yes, thank you very much, Magnus, and welcome to Proact and these calls. The first question is on Nordics and Baltics and the strong system sales here in the quarter, up SEK 110 million year over year. Is that driven by the market performing well, or you mentioned a couple of large deals, especially in Sweden? What type of deals, customers, and markets do these relate to?
It's a super good question. I think in the Nordics, one of the big drivers here is unfortunately the uncertainty that we are experiencing in the surroundings. We are working with both public customers and also private customers.
I would say that every customer in the Nordics region is now really revisiting how they are storing their data, do they have a backup, how are they protected. Of course, that drives investments because many have probably taken these questions around cybersecurity, data intrusion, and so a little bit too light. With the market condition that has changed, I would say many are experiencing that. We are a long-term partner, meaning that we are having long-term relationships with our customers. That also builds trust. As you saw, we were also able to increase our revenue during the quarter. I would say that is the main drivers.
Yeah, I see.
Does it also mean that it looks promising for the rest of the year, or do you expect any short-term hiccups here in Q2 in the Nordics, or do you expect that to be the outperformer in 2025?
I will answer like this, that I would say that Q1 was quite turbulent, and things and the macroeconomic, I think that impacts everyone. I mean, it's really hard to predict what will happen in the future. We are, of course, focusing on what we can impact, and that is what we are doing on a day-to-day basis. I will not either promise or commit to anything. I am really looking forward to talk more in the coming quarter here. We have, yeah, I stop there.
Fair enough. Fair enough.
The second question on the services development in Q1 here in general, down quite significantly year over year, minus 6% to a historically quite stable grower line. Anything to keep in mind here for the rest of 2025? Is it the low utilization on the consulting side or any large lost deals behind this?
No, I mean, as you can see also, we have challenges especially in West and Central that we are addressing. We have had, in my opinion, too high churn in our customers. Of course, that accumulated over time then gives us this decrease. Worth mentioning is also that during the quarter, we were signing SEK 120 million in new contract deals. That will, of course, materialize over the coming quarter. We have some more work to do in our other business units before I am happy at least.
Yeah, I see. You touched upon it already here, but cloud revenues down, I think, 7% year over year in Q1 here, and order intake lower than last year, even though you mentioned SEK 120 million here. Any reasons for that to pick up this quarter, or that the customer churn picked up in this quarter specifically, or was it an expected development driven by, for example, contract expirations where customers have already hinted that they will not extend the contracts with you, or is it only a sign of a weak market?
No, I mean, to some extent, it is related to bigger uncertainty in the market, especially outside the Nordic, I would say. In Germany, the market there is extremely tough. They are really struggling with their financials in the country on a macro level.
Of course, that means that some decisions in deals that we have been working with for a very long time might have been pushed into the future. I would say I would expect that especially outside the Nordics, this will continue at least one quarter before we know more what's happening.
Yeah. I see. I see. Just to follow up there on the German weak development and some customer churn, do you understand that they have left for another partner or solutions provider or another solution, or they have just decided to reduce their investments in this area?
Yeah, it's a super good question, and we have really dug into this. Many of the customers that we have lost, we have lost due to price because some other vendors have really lowered price expectations, things like that. For us, we are not in that game.
I mean, we are not racing to zero because we think we are delivering value, and value, then it should be well worth paying for. As I said, it's very easy that you end up in a situation, especially when it is tough in the climate, that there will be a race to zero. We are sort of looking into that. Of course, some customers, if you have had a long relationship, maybe they want to test another partner and things like that. Our doors are always opening. We are, for sure, making sure that we are building long-term relationships here.
Okay, that's fair. I have a separate question here.
As the new CEO of Proact, also heading up the Nordics business, are there any structural reasons for why Nordics and Baltics should bear a higher profit margin than the other segments over time? Or do you see a journey where you can drive these other margins up to the Nordic levels by implementing a new kind of thinking that you executed in the Nordics?
Yeah, otherwise, I wouldn't have signed up for this new work, of course. I think we have done a great job here in the Nordics. We have a good momentum, have a good team. Of course, my ambition is to spread that to the rest of our team. We have a fantastic management team. We have some more work to do. I'm really looking forward to continue to develop Proact going forward.
Yeah, sounds good.
Then the final question on M&A and the ones that you have been involved with so far before the BlackYork acquisition, what type of acquisitions do you think fit best for Proact and comes with lowest integration risks and obviously highest possible return?
Yeah, that's also a super good question. Konora, who we acquired four years ago, I think that is a super good example. We are working super good together. We are doing business together. All of the founders are still in the company. That is what I think it should be. We are considering BlackYork as the same thing. I mean, we are allowing both of them to do their business, and we are focusing on strengthening each other. That is what I think how M&As should be done. Focus on value creation.
Over time, you implement the integration and synergies that you need, but do not rush it. That is my philosophy.
Very good. Thank you very much for the replies. Speak to you next time.
Yeah, looking forward to it. Do we have any more open questions here? I would like to thank you all for listening in. Noora and I are really looking forward to a report coming quarters. Talk and see you soon. Have a great continued day. Thanks a lot from us. Bye-bye.