Bouvet ASA

Last but not least, I would like to welcome you to the presentation of the first quarter results in BOV. Welcome to those of you who have taken the trip here, and welcome to those of you who are on stream. We will do this in an ordinary way. I will tell you a little about what we have been doing and the store, and then Trude will tell you more about the numbers. When we started last quarter, I said that it is quite a privilege to actually be able to come here quarter after quarter and tell about the results that people create in Bove. And maybe even more so, just this quarter as well. So I just want to say a thousand thanks to the Bove'ers who have created this, to all of you on the stream and you who are here. Thank you very much for that effort. Our job is very easy, and I'm very happy to tell you about the numbers. So let's start with the first quarter. The highlights were that we increased our operating revenues by a little over 70 million. Then we rounded up the billion, 1 billion and 15 million, and that is a growth from the same period last year of 7.5%. It's a bit funny with the billion, because in 2022, and most of you here know our numbers, in 2022 we'll round up to 3 billion in revenue per year. In 2023 we'll round up to 3.5 billion per year, and now we'll round up to 1 billion per quarter. So that's a bit of luck. We also increased the operating results from 131 to 135. And that gives an EBIT margin of a solid 13.3%. And we are very proud of that. And then, We got new employees, five from last quarter. That means that in the last 12 months, we have a rate of 205 new employees, net, in the last 12 months. And that falls into the ranks of a number of solid 12-month periods, which we can look back at, with growth in new colleagues. So those were the highlights, financially. And then I just wanted to highlight perhaps the most important strategy formulation we have at Bove. And that is this. We have had this with us since the beginning of time, which is starting to be 22 plus years ago. And that is that we should be the most trustworthy consultancy, with the most satisfied employees and customers. And the reason for all this is long-term. Long-term when we think about employees, long-term when we think about competence development, employee satisfaction, long-term in the customer relationship, how we stand with our customers and grow and develop ourselves together with the customer. And then it is perhaps most important in times like this, where it is uneasy to be around us, and then we have a sharp focus on building the Bovee-community. with learning, sharing, working together and having fun together. So that is important, perhaps even more important in times like we are in right now. Now let's take a look at our progress. What has happened this quarter. And we have always had a very healthy mix between what is public owned companies and private owned companies. From the pandemic, you remember that we had a very strong growth in private owned companies. In the last few quarters, we have seen some strength within the public sector. Within both segments, we have net growth this quarter. But still, most in the public sector, and that is 12% in public owned companies versus 5% in private owned companies. What drives the growth in public owned companies is especially what we do within Kraft, with Statnet and with Svenska Kraftnet. And what we do within transport with Banne Nord, and not least the defence, and some directors, such as NVE. So that is what is the main drivers in the public positive development. I will come back to this, but what is ... Here are the relative amounts. quite stable, but I would like to point out one sector that stands out, and I will come back to that. I will say a little more about what we are working on within that, but that is within energy supply. So that, if I remember correctly, it went from 17-ish, 17-18 percent last quarter, and now up to 20, but I will come back to that. But that is actually what stands out in the distribution in different sectors. So, we have a vision. We are moving forward and building a future society. We live in an industry where there is an increasing technology development. Last quarter I talked a little about what we are dealing with, how many customers come to us and need advice and guidance within artificial intelligence. Microsoft is one of the world's leading technology suppliers, and we are a close partner of Microsoft. Microsoft Fabric is Microsoft's answer to data platform and data analysis. Here they have taken all the best they have from various analysis tools and put it together under one umbrella, which they call Fabric. And we are what is called a Microsoft feature partner. That means that we are allowed to be with Microsoft in listening to early product announcements and feedback to Microsoft regarding how this product develops. And then we work with a lot of customers who have this in their portfolio. Equinor, Digi Rogaland, I will tell you a little more about Digi Rogaland afterwards, because what we do just before this, Haugaland Kraft, Gasco and so on, and a number of other customers, we work with Microsoft on. This is exciting, just as artificial intelligence, and what Microsoft delivers there, has created a huge demand for our competence, this is a driver for the activity we see in existing customers. And then, speaking of Dig i Rogaland, I will pick out some customers that I would like to share a little about what we do. Dig i Rogaland is a collaboration between 20 municipalities in Rogaland, and their goal is to be able to offer even better construction services and similar services across municipalities that cooperate closely. What we have done here, and here we use Microsoft Fabric. What we do there is to place sensors in the roadway. It measures, counts vehicles passing, measures speed. It gives feedback on weather data, temperature. And then we have to combine that with weather data and information services from the state highway and other weather data sources. And then that is made available to those in the municipality who work with, among other things, salting. And then this has been done around the center, where there are schools, especially schools and educational institutions, so that the municipality can be in charge of salting, creating safer traffic conditions, and safer access for children and young people to schools in Rogardand. So this is an example of how we use data platforms and analysis tools to provide even better in-house services. So this is an example. And then there is one A very dear customer that we have had the pleasure of working with for more than 20 years, and that is Forsvaret. And Forsvaret is standing in front of a big lift. There are big investments, also in digital infrastructure, and there are completely new demands for collaboration. We have worked with the Defence Ministry for more than 20 years. This means that Bovere, in many regions, has developed solid and deep domain competence in the defence business. And that has made us a special position, because many of our employees are insured, and can therefore work on the defence's security systems. And that is good for what we are going to do in the future. And then we work on a lot of areas in the defence. We work on the supply side, we work on administrative systems, and then we work on the systems that are the operational end of the defence, i.e. the more strict, the more strict operations of the defence. I would like to highlight three areas that tell us what we are working with. The first one is called Norwegian Command and Control Information System, or NORCIS. And that is a command and control system that is used by the leadership in the defence. This system is about retrieving information, integrating information for even better decision making support. And it has several sides to it. When the defence plans its operations, they depend on a good understanding of the situation, and that helps the Nord system. Then they see the operational area, and then you see your own forces, and you see enemy forces plotted in. Then there is planning and implementation. This system is used for both tactical, strategic and tactical planning and implementation of operations and the disposal of resources. And then there is communication, safe and political communication, through the entire solution between units. That is what Nordsjælland does. And then there is analysis and post-treatment to become even better at implementing the operations. This is command and control. When you think about the fact that we have new members, we have existing friends who are new members of NATO, then you understand the importance of this, because now our cooperation in Norway has been very much about the transatlantic and towards partners in Europe, and now it is much about the picture of cooperation here at Nordkarlotten between Norway, Sweden and Finland. So we see that there will be quite a lot of interesting tasks to take on. So that's that part of it. Then we work with what is called forehand recovery of civilian resources. And then it's like this, the army has its military resources, and then you plan to use civilian resources. We know some of that from the private sector. Those with four-wheelers, which are diesel and petrol powered, can be disposed of by the defence in peacetime, so that they can pull it off in crisis and war. But it's much bigger than that. It's about cars, boats, it's about machines, it's about industrial facilities, it's about areas. And all that, the defence works with, through the requisition law, to be able to plan requisition in times when they need it. This is a digitalised solution that we have worked out together with the defence. And what it does, it integrates with all kinds of different systems in the public sector to register publicly. that gives the possibility for the defence to pre-recruit. So we have a team in Bergen that has developed this solution and manages this solution for the defence. Important. And then we work with my side of the defence. So it's those who are in duty, those who are in the defence today, and those who have retired. So there you find all the information about themselves, about their services, saved pension, and so on and so forth. So that's the defence's... the defence's side of the defence, basically. Forsvaret, a very exciting customer for us, and right now, we feel responsible for the actuality of being allowed to work with Forsvaret in developing new, good solutions. Then we have UD. A customer we have been allowed to work with since 2010. UD's task is to take care of Norway's interests internationally, in short. And we are allowed to be with UD and work on many different things. Right now, as several have brought with them, a new directorate has been established. A directorate called Export Control and Sanctions. A directorate that will work with the consequences of the world situation we are in. There we are allowed to work with UD and to adjust for the digital solutions. We work with project management, we work with architecture, security, around the solutions that will support that directorate. We are working on securing client infrastructure for important clients in UD. UD is also an organization that is in the process of developing, so there is a need for a lot of changes in integrations, and we are working on that with UD. And perhaps one of the most exciting things that hits many in UD is the interaction within UD, how they cooperate, communicate and communicate. And then you see down there, Teamworking Solutions with Microsoft 365, and what is then referred to as co-pilots, who are actually digital assistants, and low-code solutions. So that's what we work with in UD. Exciting. Tells a little about what we do. And these customers are a little different, but all very exciting and interesting tasks. And then. Høydepunkt i kvartalet er ODA, ODA Nettverk og Abelia sammen. De publiserer en liste over de 50 ledende tech-kvinnene i Norge. And we are very happy that what we find on this list is our own, Rebecca Olsson Omslandseter. Rebecca works in the southern region of Norway. She is on the list of the leading tech women in Norway. Her specialty is artificial intelligence. She just finished her PhD in artificial intelligence. She is one of our role models, one of many. We are very happy about that. We appreciate that she is on that list. I just want to say congratulations, and congratulations to the 49 others as well. And then we have Sharing culture is BoV. We believe in building competence, sharing, and this quarter has been quite unique, actually. I told you in the previous quarter's presentation the interest and the search for insight around artificial intelligence. Here I have taken up some other technologies, but this quarter has been actually quite special. We have had a lot of breakfast seminars. There have been 2,000 participants in those breakfast seminars, only this quarter. And those of you who have followed us, you have heard about how many we have had here on a yearly basis, but we are starting to slow down on those numbers, so that has been quite enormous. There is a lot at stake in the fact that there is a lot of technology going on. I mentioned artificial intelligence. co-pilots, all these digital assistants that come up in different areas of use, what happens to security, and that, for example, as I mentioned with data analysis and platform, and not least what happens also, all this technology, it is such that it affects people's work patterns, and that requires change management, it requires organization development, So that requires the entire portfolio of Bove-competence, and that is a huge question mark. So a lot of people come here. And then we have carried out a lot of customer evenings. Then we open the doors, and a lot of customers come in, and we have fun with the sharing of skills and social issues. And then we have been part of the public sector and hosted the first conference in the public sector for artificial intelligence. So that was also the first... The first and a highlight. But the most important thing for us is what is at the last cool point. And that is what we call our most beautiful adventure. And that is Bove One. Some call it the Holmenkoll-staffet. This is really our most beautiful adventure. Because in all regions, people gather in Bove. And then they share a lot of competencies. And then we have a lot of fun afterwards. So that has been the quarter with sharing and... And what can I say? Enthusiasm and fun. Let's go back to the sectors. To sum up, it is relatively similar, with one big difference. And that is what is happening within energy supply. Some oil and gas growth is renewable, mainly what we do within Equinor and a number of other actors in the segment. But I would like to highlight what is happening within energy supply. And that is what the activities we have within the companies that deliver power to you and me and everyone, and that is companies like Eidsiva with Elvia, that is companies like Lyse, Skagerak, Haugaland, such companies. There it is good activity. But what is the big driver of activity in that sector, that is what happens in the network development and network modernization. Everything is directed towards a close energy cooperation, especially in the Nordic countries, but also with the whole of Europe. All countries in Europe are part of this, and the projects we work with are directed towards Olympic data for when this collaboration will be further intensified. And then we have large and many teams that work within StatNet. And this is about new connections, but it is also about the modernization of the network and the balance, the automation of the balance within the network. And then there are two large customers we work with. That is StatNet. And then we work with Statnets motsvarenhet, which is on the other side of Kjølen, which is Svenska Kraftnett. So both of them are big customers of BoV. Exciting tasks, and if you think about social benefits, this is what we experience in the middle of the green shift. And that is incredibly exciting. Our customer mix has increased steadily, so now we are up to 66% of our business is connected to the 10 largest customers. In short, I can just say that this is completely in line with our desired development. This means that we, as customers, understand, as I talked about, for example, at Forsvaret, we get more people who can defend their business in depth. The same applies to the energy sector and so on. This means that we get more jobs from those customers. and we get more interesting tasks, and we can take more responsibility. What is happening this quarter, now there has been a weak expansion, but from the same period last year, there has been a significant increase. And then there is a contrast to exactly that slide and that part of the story, because we have the strategy that we first and foremost focus on the existing customers we have. And then we think that gives interesting tasks, and it is good for the customers we have, and it is good for us. And then there is this part of it, and that is that there is a little less space for all the new ones. But there is always room. Those who represent the biggest growth here, of the new customers, who were not part of our agreements a year ago, is one customer that I talked about in the last quarter presentation, whom we were very happy to get a new contract, and that was Innovation Norway. Innovation Norway has a big task ahead of them, and we are the sole supplier to Innovation Norway. So that is part of this, and then there is another customer. When we did the purchase of the business on Hedmarken, which is now BoVe-Inland, we also got a customer within a segment that is not very large in BoVe, which is bank finance. But then we got a customer called Dun & Bradstreet, who works with credit ratings. And these two customers are what makes the biggest growth here on new customers. And then, our geography. There are two things I would like to highlight. On your right, there is a new region. We like to make things simple. We have a focus on things. We divided the region east into the region east and the region Aksjøs, Buskerud and the inland. This is also a result of the fact that we bought a business abroad, so we got the business outside of Oslo. Aksjøs, Buskerud and Inlandet, we have three offices there. We have Drammen, Sandvika and Havar. These are areas where we think we have a good opportunity to attract both new customers and new people. This is a long-term approach. If we look at the region now compared to the same period last year, When we look at growth and development, it is especially in two regions that we have had the greatest development. One is Rogaland, where we have a net growth of a little more than 100 employees. And then there is Akershus, Buskerød and Inlandet, plus Region Øst, the former Region Øst, which was a year ago. There we have a growth of 90 net employees. So it is in those two regions that we have had the greatest growth. Something we want too. We think that is the market with the greatest potential. Especially what is happening in Oslo, Drammen, Sandvika and Hamar. So that is about the geography. And then there are our employees, who are the very value of BOV, and we are up five from last quarter. Q1 is normally not our largest recruitment period, Then it should be said that it is also affected a little by the times we are in. So a little conscious recruitment. Conscious recruitment where we see we can grow. And then there is a little to let go a little on the gas where we see that it changes. So a little wisdom in recruitment work is the reason for these numbers. And as I said, 205 in the last 12 months. I'm very happy about it. So that was what I was going to say about the store. Then I'll come back after Trude and tell you a little about what we think about the future. But then, Trude...

And it's fun to be able to present those numbers. You are proud of what this organisation is able to perform in the course of the quarter. There has been a lot of activity and the turnover has increased, and that is also the profitability. So I will, as usual, talk a little about the numbers, then a little about the operating revenues, then the operating results, and then the impact of the changes in revenues on the results, and then the flow of funds when I return to the beginning afterwards. If we look at the key figures, we have an increase in operating revenues of 70.6 million, which gives 1 billion 15.7 million in revenue this quarter, which is an increase of 7.5%. As Per-Gunnar mentioned, this is the first quarter we are guessing over 1 billion in revenue. The results came to 135 million, an increase of 2.5%. This has given an EBIT margin of 13.3%, which is a decline from 13.9% in the previous quarter. This is in view of the fact that we had three fewer working days in the quarter. And then there were several who took out vacation and vacation compared to the Easter days. As mentioned, the income growth has been 7.5%, primarily from our own consultants, and the increase has been 10.2%, which is 911.1 million. The turnover from our own consultants is now 89.7% of the total turnover. Last year it was 87.5%. If we look at the sub-consultants, we had a reduction of 10.3%, down to 1.3 million. We can see that the relative turnover of sub-consultants was 10.8% in the first quarter last year. The first quarter was 2023, and now it is 9% in the second quarter. We have strengthened and changed the strategic platform, and we are now clearly developing Bove with our own employees. We only use sub-consultants when we have strategic causes in larger alliances. When it comes to surplus income, which does not do much, it is 13.3 million. If we take a closer look at the revenue from our own consultants, we had an increase of 10.2%. Primarily, we have become 12.8% more employees. That is, we have increased with 205 new employees throughout the year. This has given us a result impact of 98 million. If we look at the price adjustment, At a time price of 5.1%, it has a positive effect. In addition, we have had a large demand for Boves services in the quarter, as Per Gunner has said. This is after an increase in the factorization rate of 1.1%. We will now deliver services from all regions we have gathered across, and also from our entire service range. In addition, as mentioned, we have three working days less in this quarter. If we take a closer look at the change in operating revenues, we had a total increase of 70.6 million in this quarter. If we look at the various elements, the change in the number of employees at 12.8% has had an effect of 98 million. An increase in the hourly rate by 5.1% has led to an increase in revenue by 39.5 million. The change in the invoicing by 1.1% has led to a positive effect of 9.8 million. These three working days have had a negative effect of 35.5 million. And the fact that employees have taken out vacation and vacation in connection with Easter has had a negative effect of 25.9 million. If we take a closer look at the operating results, we had an operating result of 135 million, which was an increase of 2.5%, compared to last year. And as mentioned, there was a operating margin of 13.3%, which was a reduction from last year to 13.9%. We have a total increase in operating costs of 8.3%, and this is primarily due to the fact that we have become 12.8% more employees, and also a general increase in the number of employees in society. In addition, we have had an increase in annual income of 4.3 percent over the past 12 months. This can be seen in relation to the increase in the hourly wage of 5.1 percent. We have had this extra employee allowance. It does not affect this quarter. It will have a smaller impact in Q3 and primarily in Q4. The limit is increased to 850,000 per employee. If we look at the impact of changes in revenue on the result, the increase in the number of employees by 12.8% has had a positive impact on 30.1 million. The increase in the time price has had a positive effect on 25.9 million, and the increase in the turnover of 1.1 percent points has had a positive effect on 6.4 million. These three working days have had a negative effect on 23.3 million, and the holidays have had a negative effect on 5.9 million. If we look at the cash flow, it has been at 69.7 million for the quarter, compared to last year at 133.2 million. This is a one-off effect in that we have changed the system, so this quarter is the normal quarter. The operating profit for the last 12 months has been 459.7 million, and investments have been negative 11.4 million. I have gone through the figures, and here are the outlooks. Back to Begunnar.

Do we need them? No, I don't think so. Of course, the numbers and the results that I have told you about come from the fact that we are very lucky where we are with the customers and the sectors we are engaged in, there is a strong demand. And some of what I highlighted was exactly what I was talking about with the energy supply and in the defence. and also oil and gas in Equinor, and again in the public sector. So there is a strong demand in the customer relations we are in. Something that goes back to most of the customers we work with, is safety and quality in deliveries. That is something that is completely comparable. That we work with safe solutions, and we deliver quality. I think we can describe where we work. We work with socially-critical solutions, socially-critical infrastructure, where safety for society and its inhabitants is the most important thing. So that is a big driver of the work we do internally, in order to be able to deliver externally. And then there is something about the fact that we are in a time when, and this is true, there are restless times around us. But the customers want to connect to these long-term and strategically committed collaborations. And many of the customers I'm talking about are customers I talk about every time you come here. And that identifies the relationships we have. So these are long-term agreements where we know the solution, we know the business, and the customer experiences and gets access to continuity in their deliveries, which is a very positive form of dependency. And then we take big steps on technology. A lot is happening on technology. We take big steps on it, we invest in it, and we believe that we are well positioned for all the opportunities that new technology brings to our customers and to us. So we invest a lot in it, and that is important for the long-term picture. Last quarter we wrote increased competition. We nuanced that a bit and said that the competition is quite diversified. What we mean by that is that within many of these sectors, many will say that there is increased competition. But it depends on what kind of agreement you are in, what kind of relationship you have. And then there is a fairly varied picture, for example within some sectors, and then I can highlight the public sector. Within a part of those sectors, especially the public sector, we see that there is significantly increased competition on a good number of competitions. And there is also reduced demand. In addition, other parts of the public sector are greatly increased after the question. So the whole picture in the competition situation is quite different. So it varies. But in a picture that varies, we are well positioned in terms of contracts and relationships with customers, so we have a lot to do. And you can see that in the numbers we can present. But we know, and we see, that around the market there is movement. But again, where we are, we have a high degree of activity on those customers and in the relations we are in. So that sums up our story from Q1 2024. We can also take questions, and then we have a microphone, if anyone has any questions. Then all those who are on the stream will also get the questions. If anyone has any questions, I have Trude here with me, and Lisbeth, who works on the economy side with us, the economy director, so we should be able to answer what you had to ask about.

New Old Cliven ABG. I can ask a few questions about the rate of invoicing. According to my calculations, the rate of invoicing in Q1 is perhaps another percentage point above what was normally considered before the corona pandemic. It seems very strong given the market you are in. Can you give a little more color to how you work with that and maybe also say if there is something special in the first quarter or is it normal good operation?

We work a lot all the time with normal good operation. Then it is clear that We present figures on the totals, and we work with things where things happen within different regions, where we see improvement work, so that's part of it. But in general, this is about the tasks we are in. There is high pressure. And I talked about electricity supply, against the Olympic dates that are in the European Union. It requires a lot. The promises in the defence are a high priority. So fundamentally, this is about us being in a position of commitment that has a lot to do and has a bad time. So that's the basics. But it's clear that when we get such numbers, it means that the job we do with working with the operational in Bove, how we... how we work, that also gives fruit. So it's a combination of two things. You have probably noticed that we have not talked about any special initiatives. It is talked about in the industry that you cost efficiency and so on. We have nothing like that. We are on the normal. We work with operational operation and improvement of it all the time. So that's actually the answer. Other questions? No? Then we thank you for making it. And we hope to see you again in Q2, when we're going to publish it. We hope that's just as good. We'll see. Have a nice day. Goodbye.