Good morning and welcome, everyone. Andreas and I are proud to report Strong Results for Q4 and for the Full Year 2025. So let us go straight to some of the performance highlights. The organic growth in the quarter was 3%, and this was supported by 6% growth in Technology and Solutions . We had a good finish to the year in Technology and Solutions with 2% improvement sequentially. And the adjusted organic growth for the group, and that means when you exclude the closed down of the SCIS business, was 4%. And now to something important. The operating margin was 8% and 8.2% adjusted in the quarter thanks to strong delivery across the entire business. North America achieved a 10% operating margin in the quarter, and Europe delivered another quarter with more than 8%.
We have improved the operating margin now 20 quarters in a row and are delivering on the 8% target that we communicated three and a half years ago. EPS real change, excluding IAC, was also strong at 18%. We had continued strong delivery in terms of cash flow with operating cash flow of 88% for the full year, and the net debt to EBITDA ratio improved further to 2.1x. Based on the stronger underlying performance, the dividend proposal is SEK 5.30, which represents an 18% increase. Looking at the future, we announced a very important milestone for our journey with the acquisition of Liferaft yesterday evening. This is a leading provider of threat intelligence, and I will provide more details regarding the strategic importance of Liferaft at the end of this presentation.
So let us then shift to the performance in the business lines and the segments. And we deliver strong margin development in both business lines with 12.7% for Technology and Solutions , 6.6% for services in the quarter. And the real sales growth, as I stated, in Technology and Solutions was 6%, so 2% improvement compared to the previous quarter. And the growth in Security Services was 1%, and this growth is obviously negatively impacted by the SCIS business where we're closing down the government part of that business. So with that, let's move to the segments, and we are starting, as always, with North America where we're delivering a very strong set of results and a record 10% operating margin in the quarter.
If we start with a growth of 5%, this was driven by good portfolio development and price increases in the guarding business and by good development in technology. The real sales growth in Technology and Solutions improved to 4% compared to lower growth in the previous quarter. When looking at the profitability, strong leverage and cost control in guarding together with solid profitability in technology and the recovery in the Pinkerton business all contributed to the record level operating margin. All in all, very strong performance, record-breaking 10%, so well done by our North America team. We then move to Europe where we are also very pleased with the development.
The organic growth was 4% in the quarter, and the growth was supported by price increases, including impact from the hyperinflationary environment in Turkey and also by solid growth of Technology and Solutions , while active portfolio management in the services business had a negative impact on the growth. Sales growth in Technology and Solutions was 7%. But it's the profitability development that stands out with 110 basis point improvements to 8.1%. And the margin improvement was driven by both business lines, including positive impact from the business optimization program. The Security Services business was positively impacted by high margin on new sales, active portfolio management, and also the divestiture of the airport security business in France. And we also recorded solid improvement in the operating margin in the Technology and Solutions business line driven with good portfolio development and solid cost control.
As commented earlier, we expect the work where we're addressing low margin guarding contracts to be completed during the first half of 2026. So all in all, solid development by our European team and also here in operating margin at a record level. Shifting then to Ibero-America where we are pleased to report good organic growth and decent margin improvement. The growth was 5%, and this was driven by high single-digit growth in Technology and Solutions and price increases in the services business. But similar to Europe, there is a negative impact on the growth from active portfolio management, but we're making good progress here and driving good conversions to technology solutions. And the real sales growth in Technology and Solutions was 7% in the quarter.
The operating margin improved 20 basis points in the quarter, and the improvement was primarily driven by positive impact from active portfolio management in the Security Services business line. So to conclude, strong delivery in 2025 by our Ibero-America team. And looking then at the performance across the group, we are driving disciplined execution of our strategy, and I'm really pleased to see strong execution across all segments. And the client retention is solid at 90%.
So with that, turn to the finance update and handing over to you, Andreas.
Thank you, Magnus. First of all, if I sound different to normal, it is because I'm about to lose my voice. I apologize for that. We start with the income statement where we had organic sales growth of 3% and improved the operating margin with 70 basis points, 28%. It is a strong quarter where we improved our operating income with 15% adjusted for currency. As we communicated in Q2, we have introduced two new KPIs which are adjusting our organic growth and our operating margin for the government business to be closed down within SCIS. In the quarter, the adjusted organic growth was 4% and the adjusted operating margin was 8.2%. Looking below operating results, there are no material developments in amortization of acquisition-related intangibles nor in the acquisition-related costs.
The Items Affecting Comparability was SEK 78 million, and this was related to the ongoing European transformation and Business Optimization Program. The full year cost for these programs was SEK 382 million, approximately in line with our previous guidance. We have executed the Business Optimization Program in a good way where the annualized savings in Q4 are in line with the targeted SEK 200 million savings. The Business Optimization Program is now closed, and in 2026, the only remaining program is related to the European transformation. Here we estimate to have a full year 2026 program cost of SEK 225 million-SEK 250 million, a material reduction compared to the SEK 382 million related to the programs in 2025. In Q3, we took a SEK 1.5 billion cost in Items Affecting Comparability related to the closed down of the government business within SCIS.
The closed down is progressing according to plan and had limited impact on our operating result in Q4. We continue to expect the vast majority of the business to be closed down by the end of 2026, and we will also start to see an accelerated execution of the closed down during the first half year. Our finance net came in at SEK 383 million, a reduction of SEK 146 million compared to last year. And here we continue to see a positive trend of reduced financing costs as interest rates and our debt levels are going down. For the full year 2026, we estimate the finance net to continue to reduce and land around SEK 1.6 billion to be compared to the SEK 1.8 billion for the full year 2025.
Moving to tax, here we had a tax rate of 29.5% for the full year, slightly higher than our Q3 forecast of 29.2%. The full year tax rate was impacted by the SCIS closed down cost in Q3 where we estimate around half of the cost to be tax deductible over time. Adjusted for the closed down impact, the full year tax rate was 27.2%, and we expect the 2026 tax rate to be in the approximately same area. All in all, we have a strong quarter where we grow our FX adjusted EPS with 18%. As we summarize 2025, we have improved our adjusted operating margin with 60 basis points to 7.7%, grown our operating result with 11%, and grown our EPS with 18%. At the same time, we also achieved our financial target of an operating margin of 8% the second half year of 2025. The adjusted operating margin in the second half was 8.2%.
We then move to cash flow where our operating cash flow was solid at SEK 3.9 billion or 128% of operating income. The cash flow was supported by lower growth rates and a continued improved DSO, but also negatively impacted by the additional $44 million payroll in our U.S. guarding business as we communicated in the third quarter. This negative impact is a timing impact only, which occurs every fifth to sixth year. The free cash flow landed at SEK 3 billion, supported then by the solid operating cash flow, reduced interest payments due to the lower interest rates and debt levels, and positive tax timing impacts. Looking at the full year 2025, we deliver another year of record cash flow. The operating cash flow was more than SEK 10 billion or 88% of the result, supported by good working capital focus and lower growth rates.
We have now delivered operating cash flows above our financial targets of 70%-80% of the last two years, a result of our strong focus to build a more qualitative business and also structurally improve our working capital over time. This has, of course, also translated into stronger free cash flows, which creates increased flexibility and opportunity for us as we move into a new phase of our strategic journey. Our cash generation will also be positively impacted as our items affecting comparability continues to reduce as we go into 2026 and beyond. We then have a look at our net debt, which was SEK 31.3 billion at the end of the quarter. This is a reduction of SEK 2.1 billion compared to Q3, mainly supported by the strong free cash flow, but also by the strengthened Swedish krona.
In the quarter, we paid the second tranche of our dividend, and we had SEK 321 million of total IAC payments, whereof approximately SEK 160 million was related to the final payment for the U.S. government and Paragon settlement. We have now made all three payments related to this settlement and expect no further cash flow out related to the case. Looking at the right-hand side, our net debt to EBITDA reduced to 2.1%. This is an 0.4x improvement compared to Q4 last year where positive EBITDA development, good cash generation, and the strengthened Swedish krona have supported positively. We are well below our target net debt to EBITDA of less than three times.
Moving on to have a look at our financing and financial position where we continue to have a strong balance sheet, remain with strong liquidity, and we have no financial covenants in our debt facilities. After a period of important refinancing focus, our main focus during the second half of 2025 has been to amortize debt supported by the strong free cash flow generation. In the quarter, we repaid SEK 1.9 billion of debt, and throughout 2025, we have amortized a total of SEK 3.3 billion. This continues to support our cost of financing going forward, and looking at the maturity chart, we have very limited refinancing needs throughout 2026. As always, we remain committed to our investment grade rating.
With that, I hand over back to you, Magnus.
Many thanks, Andreas. So I'd like to share a few perspectives regarding our strategic development and the Liferaft acquisition before we open up the Q&A. First, we are proud over the fact that we are reaching our 8% target in the second half of 2025. Back in 2022, when we did the Stanley acquisition, we accelerated the work to change the profile of Securitas, create a company with the strongest technology and digital offering to our clients in combination with high-quality guarding services. And when looking back at the last four years, we have been executing well. We are a sharper, more focused company today and operating at a different margin level. And as we're entering 2026, this also means that we can then start to retire this bridge that we have kept coming back to every quarter and over the last three and a half years.
But looking at the future, we are very excited about the acquisition of Liferaft. So when I look at the transformation of Securitas during the last six, seven years, we have kept a clear focus on investing in the core capabilities that we consider critical to winning in this industry and also are focused on presence, technology, and data. And in this context, we strengthen our guarding value proposition. We have improved the profitability of guarding. We have built a globally leading technology position and a more modern and digitally capable business. So we have strong pillars in our business today. But we have also worked to meet the increasing client demand for better understanding the risks and the threats facing their business. And over the past five years, we have developed in-house risk intelligence capabilities that we are providing to more and more customers.
So all this is good, you might say, but what is then the importance of the Liferaft acquisition? Well, Liferaft is one of the leading SaaS-based threat intelligence providers focused on OSINT, and that's open source intelligence. This is a very strong team with deep expertise in threat intelligence, and they have been a partner and provider to Securitas for many years. And with Liferaft, we will be able to scale and leverage their capabilities across our client base and in the process strengthen our client value proposition. When looking at the financials, the company is currently prioritizing rapid expansion and growing organically around 30% on an annual basis, but also then reinvesting very strong growth margins to accelerate organic growth. And given the increase in demand in this market, I fully support this approach.
And the acquisition is fully in line with our strategy to create a more scalable business model and becomes an important addition to accelerate growth in high-margin, recurring monthly revenue. And as previously stated, the recurring monthly revenue for the group exceeds more than SEK 1 billion. So we are thrilled to welcome the Liferaft team when we are closing the transaction, joining forces to shape the future with more intelligence-led security. And the future is promising. With the transformation of Securitas, we are well positioned with a clearly differentiated client offering, well positioned for profitable growth. And we are operating in an attractive market, but also a growing market where we see steady increase in the demand for quality security. We have transformed to reposition our client portfolio with a clear focus on segments with more sophisticated security needs and higher growth profile.
We partner with our clients for the long term. We see that our deeper engagement model where we leverage our technology and digital capabilities is generating higher value for our clients and also for us. The approach is working. So like Andreas and I have commented, we're executing well in our plans, 20 consecutive quarters of operating margin improvement and solid cash flow generation. We've had a clear focus on enhancing the quality of our business and margin improvement in recent years. But as more and more units reach the required profitability thresholds, so from my perspective, that means for a good sustainable business, they also gain the right to shift focus to profitable growth. With the business now in much better shape, we can shift emphasis towards commercial synergies and driving growth.
As stated many times, we do this with a clear focus on building a more scalable business. We are confident and excited about our longer-term opportunities, and we are looking forward to sharing more in the Capital Markets Day in June. In conclusion, we are on the right path, well positioned for the next phase.
With that, we conclude the Q4 presentation and happy to open up the Q&A.
If you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key 5 on your telephone keypad to enter the queue. If you wish to withdraw your question, please dial pound key 6 on your telephone keypad. The next question comes from Francesco Nardinocchi from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning. This is Suhasini from Goldman Sachs, actually. I just had a couple of questions, please. So if we think about your growth and margin expectations for first half versus second half of this year, would it be fair to say that because of the impact of your underperforming contract exits that's going to be completed by first half this year, maybe the growth is a little more weighted to second half and similarly on margins? I'm not sure I read, but how much are you expecting to pay for the acquisition of Liferaft, and how is your M&A pipeline looking at this point in time? Thank you.
Yeah, thank you. So when you're looking at that, I think it's the right assumption that finalizing that work will have a negative impact in the near term from the active portfolio management. But that's why it's also so important and so positive that we are soon done with that work. And as I commented in the last couple of years, we were more quick in North America in terms of finalizing that work. So I think that is obviously something that we're looking forward to also in Europe. Then when you look at the growth in Q4, we had 6% growth in Technology and Solutions , and that's a clear improvement compared to the previous quarters. We have a strong offering. Solutions is more of a portfolio business. Technology part, there is also some variability with installations, but we feel that we are on a good path.
I think that is the other part that I would just highlight because that part of the business, there is no impact from active portfolio management .
We have not disclosed the purchase price related to Liferaft simply due to commercial reasons that we are not doing that. But we have paid a fair market price for this type of business overall. And there will be some more details coming as we have closed the transaction as well. On the M&A pipeline side, as we have said, we are ramping up our focus on continued bolt-on acquisitions within Technology and Solutions and some targeted also acquisitions in the intelligence area. We made a few minor ones outside Liferaft, but we are still in ramp-up mode, I would say. So the pipeline is not there, there is not a huge pipeline at this point in time, but it's something that we are working towards improving.
Thank you very much.
The next question comes from Rémi Grenu from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Morning gentlemen. First, a quick question on the 2026 outlook. I guess given you've achieved the 8% and the CMD is not before June, we are left a little bit in the dark in terms of margin development. So just trying to have your view on 2026 margin development if we exclude I mean, excluding the positive impact that the closure of SCIS is going to generate, but on an underlying basis with the portfolio of the company, do you believe that there is still potential for margin improvement from the current run rate at the end of 2025? So that would be the first question. The second one is on North America. The organic growth very suddenly accelerated in Q2, and it's been normalizing a little bit over the last two quarters. Just trying to understand the drivers of that sudden acceleration and what's happening since then.
Why it's coming back down? Is it about volume normalizing, lower pricing, and also taking a step back on that market? What do you think is the structural level of organic growth in North America? And then the last one. You've come to the end of that strategic plan in 2025. Have you started to have a think about the new KPI for management remuneration, variable remuneration, and going into the next phase of the company? What do you think would be most relevant in terms of aligning the interest of shareholders with management?
Very good. Thank you, Rémi . So we don't provide guidance, but first of all, I think it's been really important for all of us internally and also externally that we are delivering on the 8% because it represents a very significant shift. When you're looking at 2026, driving good growth in Technology and Solutions will have a positive impact on margin. You could also expect some positive impact from active portfolio management work that we still have some of that work yet to be done. Business optimization program, we've commented as well. We've successfully completed that in 2025. It should also help and support. So generally speaking, I mean, we are and I spelled that out, I think, back in 2022, is that 8% is important to achieve.
We believe that now we have a really good opportunity to also be related to your third question, calibrate more precisely as well, how we maximize the value creation. Because we've had very hard focus on improving the quality and the margin, but it's quite obvious to us as well that we get done with some of the structural work and the heavy lifting and the cleaning. We're largely done with that now, and that also means that we can then also start to shift focus on more profitable growth going forward. And I think that is something that we that is clearly on our minds, and it's also clearly something that we're also reflecting also in how we're calibrating some of the incentive programs as well so that we really gear those towards maximizing value for our shareholders. So I think those are the key points.
North America, maybe briefly on your side, Andreas.
I can just follow up on the KPIs because there is also a misunderstanding related to that up until now. We have both long-term incentive programs and we have short-term incentive programs. It's right, as you say, that operating margin has been a focus for the long-term incentive programs, but in the short-term incentive programs, which is a material part of total compensation, it is also about driving growth in the earnings as well. So I just want to highlight that, and then if you want to take the.
Yeah, no, that's an important point because if you look also at the operating result growth, really solid double-digit levels in 2025 in constant currency. We are here obviously to drive that type of change, but it's always got to be a balance as well. We should also remember that operating margin improvement is also helping and accelerating also the operating result growth. I think that's an important clarification about the programs that we've had up until now. When you look at North America, we feel good about our position. We feel good about the market in general. I wouldn't and it's a little bit difficult to call out the specific growth numbers.
This is something that in our industry, it is a little bit difficult to get a very clear understanding of how the total market is developing, but I would say that we are well positioned in terms of the segments where we are and also segments where there is, generally speaking, a higher emphasis on the quality. Security is important, but there is also very healthy underlying growth. So I would say that we are well positioned, but it's difficult, Rémi, to call out a very specific overall growth number. But I believe with the offering that we have, we should be able to grow at least with the market and preferably above market rate. And that is very much based on the strength of the offering, but also that we are well positioned in terms of the segments that we serve.
Great. Thank you very much.
The next question comes from Andrew Grobler from BNPP. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning. Just a couple from me, if I may. Firstly, just in Q4, in terms of European growth, can you talk through the tailwinds from Turkey and also the headwinds from portfolio management? So sort of to get to the underlying numbers there. And then definitely on a longer-term perspective, technology keeps evolving at pace, as we can see from the stock market. Just wondered what you're seeing in your end markets and if at this stage there's any signs or you expect to see over time price deflation within your monitoring activities and the extent to which that's possible. That'd be really helpful. Thank you.
Thank you. When it comes to the European growth rates in the fourth quarter, you can say more or less all the positive growth is coming from Turkey, in essence. That's the first statement. So Turkey had an impact for sure. If you're then looking at the where we have good volume growth was in Technology and Solutions in Europe, and then there was a negative impact that we have not quantified related to the APM that is impacting the Security Services portfolios. I think those are the three pillars to bear in mind when looking at the European organic growth. And then, Andy, on the technology, I mean, what we call the technology business is essentially a business where we drive or we design, we install systems, and then we operate and serve those systems for our customers.
So there's a couple of different components, but a big part of the value, I would say, when you look at kind of the three main areas of activity, installation, service maintenance, and also monitoring, is that that work is quite tightly connected. So when we are doing good integration and installation work, we're very well positioned to also provide the best type of service and maintenance. But more and more of what we are doing and what we're also interested in building is more the recurring revenue. And they're obviously connected services. Those are usually not just simple kind of monitoring lines, for example. It's usually part of a broader value proposition. And there I believe that we are in a good position based on the great strengths that we have built.
And where also the deep integration of Stanley has really helped us because we have built genuinely good service capability and levels and also rich service offering to our clients as well. So I think that we are in good shape in that sense from a market perspective and also the offering that we bring.
Okay. Thank you. And then just lastly, Andreas, thank you for all your help over the years and best of luck with whatever the future may bring.
Thank you. And likewise, Andy.
Thank you.
Remember to say a special thank you to Andreas at the end of the call today as well. But I'm glad you commented that, Andy. Andreas has been a great partner all along here.
The next question comes from Allen Wells from Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Hey, good morning, Andreas. Good morning, Magnus. A couple from me, please. Firstly, just following up from Rémi's question on North America. Obviously, very mindful that active portfolio management has been a headwind to growth. And as that starts to end, you flagged in Europe in the first half, that should be a positive as you switch to that growth focus. But as Rémy flagged, as we look at North America, the portfolio management has ended and growth has slowed sequentially from 2Q through to 4Q, the 5% we saw in 4Q. To what extent is that slowing in North America? You guys maybe holding back to focus on margin rather than kind of fully pushing the commercial engine in the business? And to what extent maybe is it just that it's a continued tough market that it's still hard to drive growth in? That'd be the first question.
Secondly, just like a bit of an update on the technology side. Obviously, growth improved sequentially the 6% in the quarter, but it's still well below the 8%-10% target. So I'd be keen just to understand of that 6%, how much is pricing, how much is volume, and how you think about the outlook towards that 8%-10%. And then third question, just on free cash flow, just in the full year, obviously a positive outcome overall, but there was a positive impact from working capital for the full year. I don't typically think of you guys as a positive net working capital business. So what extent is that net working capital number kind of sustainable? And how would you think about a potential unwind as we move through 2026 as well? Thank you.
Thank you, Allen. I think on the first question, we don't see any change in the trend in North America. I mean, some variation there will be between the different quarters. We are well positioned, like you highlighted. We're done with the active portfolio management . And it's obviously a dynamic market. But when you look at what we are winning and what we are losing, yeah, we feel good. So no major issue or anything specific to read into that from my perspective.
When it comes to the Technology and Solutions growth, when we set the target of 8%-10%, it's important to remember that was also including acquisitions. And there we have done limited. We've been focusing on integrating and then also taking down our balance sheet, although it's something that we are looking at ramping up. So in that context, the 6% is a decent number. When you look into that 6%, on the technology side, it is definitely volumes mainly from that growth. If you're looking at the solution side, it's a combination of both volume and price. So all in all, more volume than price when it comes to the 6%. And it's also a decent number, we should say. When it comes to free cash flow, a couple of lenses here.
I mean, we said in the last capital markets day, yeah, there will be a mixed shift in the working capital with the technology and technology business coming in. But we also said clearly that we are working on structurally improving our working capital. And that's really what we have been doing over the last couple of years, which is giving a positive result. So we have definitely structurally improved on the working capital side. And we also showed that in the 88% cash flow this year, 84% last year. So it's also not just a temporary change. Then, as you all know, we have seasonality in our cash flow where our Q4 cash flow is stronger. And now the number is coming in somewhat below Q4 last year, but still at a very strong level.
So going into Q1, yeah, it will definitely be weaker from that standard seasonality that we're having. But the underlying trend, I think, is most important when it looks at the cash flow given we have volatility. And there I hope you all see that we have elevated the cash flow and we are now delivering above our financial targets two years in a row.
Thank you.
The next question comes from Viktor Lindeberg from DNB Carnegie. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Thank you for taking my question, too, initially, if I may, and looking at the winding down of SCIS in 2026. If you could share some more details on the run rate and how it's sort of expected to progress and where we may be end of 2026 in terms of revenue. Are we all the way down to zero or is it only maybe halfway there? And the second question is associated also to this, trying to tease out the underlying cost base for the, call it group, other item or overhead line items here. So if you could share any guidance or thoughts on the underlying costs for the Securitas business excluding SCIS, that would be very much helpful. Thank you.
Thank you. If we'll start then with the government business within SCIS closed down, as I mentioned here earlier as well, we have started to see some impact in the fourth quarter from the closed down on the top line, but it's not much. You should expect to see an accelerated impact the first six months from the closed down activities. Then if you're looking at your question there, where will it be at the end of 2026? We expect that most of it will for sure be done. The vast majority will be done by the end of 2026. I hope that helps a little bit by understanding how we expect this to progress throughout the year.
When it comes to other in our segment reporting, three components, as you know, our African, Middle East, and Asia business, we have our SCIS business, and we have the group cost. The African, Middle East, and Asia business continue to deliver strongly in the quarter, comparing them to last year. The SCIS business was fairly stable when you look at the bottom line. And then on the group cost, it was higher than last year. And here we've been running tight cost control throughout the year when in the fourth quarter we released some more project investments in the quarter. That's the main reason. And then some year-end reconciliation. But that's the main reason compared to last year. To understand the trend there, I would also very much look at the full year number.
Okay. That's very clear. Another question on the topic you have brought up, Magnus, in the CEO letter. This quarter you mentioned the run rate is about or at least $1 billion or looking at the SaaS and recurring revenues. I recall you mentioned 18 months ago a run rate of $1.25 billion per month. So just to understand, are we talking apples to apples here or why the mentioning or maybe confusion from my side here?
Thanks, Viktor. No, we're just keen also on highlighting that we have quite a significant number. I mean, we are clearly above that $ 1 billion, but we will share a lot more detail in the Capital Markets Day in June because this is an important focus area also in terms of building the more scalable business.
Okay. So it has not deteriorated over the past 18 months. That's what you're saying?
No, no. No, we have seen growth in the business since then.
Clear. Thank you.
As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key 5 on your telephone keypad. The next question comes from Johan Eliason from SB1 Markets. Please go ahead.
Yes, good morning, Magnus and Andreas. I just had a bit of a detailed follow-up to Andreas. You mentioned that in 2026 you expect some SEK 225 million-SEK 250 million in Items Affecting Comparability. Is that sort of including this 1% of revenue you are sort of reviewing right now or could there be some one-offs on top of this from this review? Thank you.
Relevant question. The number that I mentioned is excluding any impact from strategic assessments, which obviously then could be both a positive or a negative number, so to say. Excluding that just for clarity.
Okay. Excellent. Many thanks.
The next question comes from Nicole Manion from UBS. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning. Just one quick follow-up question from me, please, on the Security Services margin. Obviously, that's now up more than 100 basis points over the past couple of years. Just wondering if you can give us a sense of how much of the improvement there you've seen this year, although over the last year is portfolio management versus what's coming from price increases or any other drivers. Are we pretty close to peak margins in this side of the business as you get to the end of the portfolio pruning or are there other levers you think you can look at as you move into next year? Thanks.
Thank you. A couple of different drivers, Nicole. When you're looking at that margin improvement, new sales margins have been consistently very healthy. And that's a good indication that we have a good offering. Clients see the value in that offering. Active portfolio management has also there contributed. But I would also say that we've also been working to also run the business leveraging the new platforms that we've invested in in a more efficient way. So automation and also AI has also been helping us to also optimize how we run the operation. If you're looking at the services margin on a group level, I think that there is further opportunity to continuously improve that in the next couple of years. So I would not agree with the comment that this is kind of peak margin.
We believe that driving the things that we have been driving but also continuously strengthening the value proposition, we are in a good position to enhance the value, essentially.
Great. Thank you.
There are no more questions at this time. So I hand the conference back to the President and CEO, Magnus Ahlqvist, for any closing comments.
Thanks a lot, everyone, for your interest. Special thank you to you, Andreas. Highly respected and appreciated colleague. I also think in the dialogue also with many of you have also been a really good asset. Just to say thank you. But obviously then looking ahead as well, we are now full speed in terms of the assessment and also seeing really good interest also for this position. We will come back on that matter. Most important today, I think, is just to, yeah, for me to also express our appreciation from the entire team.
Thank you very much, Magnus. Thank you, everyone on the call as well, for really good collaboration the last couple of years. Highly appreciated.
I think with that, we wrap up the Q4 and 2025 presentation. Thanks a lot, everyone.