Ambea AB (publ)

Thank you so much and welcome to Ambea's presentation of the fourth quarter 2025. I'm Mark Jensen, CEO, and with me today is Benno Eliasson, CFO. We will start with a brief overview and our growth drivers, and then Benno will take you through the financials and business areas before we wrap up with concluding remarks and Q&A. Ambea is the leading care provider in the Nordics with operations across Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. We operate through strong brands and business areas covering elderly care, social care, and staffing and competent solutions. This breadth and scale create resilience and long-term growth potential. In 2025, we reached over 16 billion SEG in sales and delivered an adjusted EBITDA margin of 9.6% on group level. And we continue to grow through both organic expansion and acquisitions. Let's go straight to the highlight of the fourth quarter. Quarter four was characterized by strong growth and continued investment to support future growth, which I will come back to. Net sales increased by 15%, mainly driven by acquisitions, but also solid organic growth. We continue to build our pipeline of new care places and expand capacity in Vårdokker and Nytida, while Validia strengthened its positions through acquisitions in child welfare services. At group level, adjusted EBITDA amounted to 347 million SEK, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 8.3%. Let's look at our future growth. Organic growth is a cornerstone of our strategy, and the demand for care continues to rise across the Nordics. We have almost 1,700 care places in our pipeline, which is an industry leading number in the Nordic care sector. During the quarter, we added new contracts and expanded our own management pipeline. Vårdokker signed two new contracts for new nursing homes in this quarter, contributing to 250 new care places in the Stockholm area, And totally in the second half of 2025, we signed six new nursing homes. Nytida added new assisted living and daily activity capacity, and Stendi also expanded through new contracts and increased capacity. Looking ahead, we have a strong number of planned openings across our business areas during the coming 12 months, almost 500 new care places to be opened, which supports continued growth and improve economies of scale. In a mid-term perspective, Vårdag alone will in the next five years employ another 2,000 qualified care workers as assistant nurses, nurses and operational managers as our organic pipeline materializes. This is why we continue to develop and invest in our workplaces, our work environment, leadership and development and career opportunities. More about that later in the presentation. We will now have a look at acquired growth. Acquisitions are an important complement to organic growth, and we have maintained a high level of M&A activity with a focus on bolt-on acquisitions. During the quarter, Valida expanded through two strategic acquisitions and entered child welfare services, a new sub-segment strengthening our Finnish platform, and adding 210 million SEC in annual net sales. Nytida also completed a bolt-on acquisition aligned with our strategy. We continue to see an active pipeline, and we remain selective, focusing on quality assets, strong operational fit, and value creation through integrations. Let's have a closer look at revenue growth on the next slide. Revenue growth remains above our long-term target, driven primarily by strong acquired growth combined with solid organic development. This reflects the strength of our business model. We grow by improved occupancy, expanding capacity in our existing operations, signing contracts for new care units, and by successfully integrating acquisitions. Overall, this creates a balanced and sustainable growth profile. At the core of our model is quality in care, strong local leadership and long-term partnerships with educational institutions, which I will talk about on the following slides. The satisfaction level of our care receivers and their loved ones are of the utmost importance to us. In quarter four, we continue to receive strong results from care receiver surveys carried out in all four Nordic countries. The foundation of high quality is our employees. In our latest ENPS survey, where we ask our employees whether they would recommend Ambea as an employer, we continue to see a strong result of plus 26. It is particularly pleasing that Validia participated in the survey for the first time and achieved its highest EMP score ever. During the quarter, Validia has continued to strengthen its long-term skill supply. Collaboration with vocational schools and universities has been deepened to create clear pathways into care professions, for example, through mentoring programs. You can read more about our quality and sustainability work in the quality report. I would like to highlight two other initiatives that will support Ambea's continued future growth. During the quarter, we launched a new group-wide and value-based leadership framework designed to strengthen our leadership across the organization. The new model established a common Nordic standard for leadership and strengthens our ability to lead in a complex and regulated care environment. This model has a start brought to life through two new leadership programs, Leader Impact and Next Horizon. Leader Impact focuses on operational leaders closest to care delivery, strengthening execution, change capability, and day-to-day leadership quality. Next Horizon, developed together with the Stockholm School of Economics, builds long-term strategic and cross-border leadership capability at senior levels. Strong leadership is a key driver of care quality, employee satisfaction, and operational stability. Just as important a leadership capability as a prerequisite for growth, opening new care homes requires strong, ready leaders. Our ability to develop leaders internally is therefore a key enabler of scalable growth and important factor in attracting top leadership talent to Ambea, supporting our growth pipeline. Today, we have more than 1,050 physical workplaces spread across a large geography in four countries. A distributed organization with many different workplaces requires strong leadership to withhold and further develop a good and attractive work environment for our care workers. And this is why we continue to develop and invest in our leadership across the entire organization as a core strategic priority. Now turning to care concept development. During the quarter, we also launched our strengthened care co-offering in elderly care through a renewed and improved version of the Good Day, our care model for residential elderly care. The extensive update is directly aligned with the new Swedish Social Services Act, which raises requirements and evidence-based and structured care delivery. To ensure rapid and consistent execution, we launched a new model at a national management conference with all Vardagas operational managers, creating clear ownership and alignment across the organization. Besides workplace information and on-the-job training, we've also introduced web-based training to support implementation at scale, giving all employees practical standardized guidance in daily care delivery, and importantly, this makes the model scalable and transferable. The same concept is now being prepared for rollout in Altiden in Denmark, adjusted to Danish elderly care legislation and national culture, demonstrating that the Good Day is a robust platform for residential elderly care across markets. Overall, this strengthens compliance, consistency, and long-term quality while supporting scalable growth in our core residential elderly care segment. During 2026, we will continue to strengthen communication around the Good Day to existing and new care receivers, their relatives, and our customers in the municipalities. Now, I will hand over the presentation to Benno, who will provide a financial overview of our performance this quarter.

Thank you, Mark. Net sales grew with 15% and were primarily driven by the acquisition of Validia, but we also saw solid contributions from Nytida and Vardaga. The good growth we have seen in recent quarters continued, driven both by acquisitions and organic growth in Nytida and Vardaga. Validia added 410 million SEK to the net sales, which is almost 6% higher than last quarter. Stendi and Altiren faced a headwind in SEK of 5-6%, because of the strong Swedish currency. They both showed steady growth in local currency. Turning to EBITDA, this slide shows how the different business areas have contributed to the adjusted EBITDA of the group. The acquisition of Validia, of course, affected EBITDA. From a seasonality point of view, Q4 is a slightly softer quarter for Validia, but still added 32 million to the group. Stendi faced very tough comparisons with 30 million in positive one-offs last year, as well as decreased underlying EBITDA and on top of that the currency headwind. Total decrease in SEC was 54 million SEC. Nytida continued the EBITDA growth with expanded capacity and higher margins. This quarter Nytida added 23 million SEC more to the group EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA in total increased by 1% to 347 million SEC and adjusted EBITDA margin in the group was 8.3%. Down 1.2 percentage points from last year's exceptionally strong Q4 of 9.5. Cash flow. Operating cash flow continued to increase during the quarter, supported by strong profitability and good working capital management. Our operating cash flow increased by 19% and amounted to 1 billion 40 million in the quarter. This is the first time we exceed 1 billion SEC in a single quarter. and cash conversion is now again over 95% rolling 12. Again, this shows that the underlying cash flow is very strong, and we had some softer cash flow quarters in the beginning of the year with negative one-off effects affecting cash flow. This slide shows the utilization, the way from EBITDA excluding IFR 16 down to the free cash flow post-tax. We are now back at rolling 12 numbers above 800 million and expect that to increase further in the coming quarters, when the one-off effects of the Validia acquisition and the settlement of the old Norwegian dispute is out of the rolling 12 numbers. The solid cash conversion gives us both flexibility and strength to continue investing in quality and growth. And now to the utilization of the cash flow. So this is how we've used this year's generated 824 million in free cash flow. 185 million was distributed to our shareholders as dividend. 1,268,000,000 SEK was spent on the four acquisitions and 485,000,000 SEK was spent on the share buyback programs. Net debt has increased by 1,160,000,000 SEK of course driven by the strategic acquisition of Validia which mainly was financed by external loans. The increased debt has led to increased leverage from 1.7 times ABTA to 2.3 times still with much headroom to our financial target at below 3.25 times. And now to the earnings per share. This slide shows the strong development of our earnings and dividend per share over the years. Reported earnings per share, EPS, increased 10% this year and have a compound annual growth rate of 33% since 2021. The proposed dividend per share, DPS, of 2.65%, gives an increase from last year of 20% and a compound annual growth rate since 2021 of 23%. The positive development in earnings and dividend per share is mostly due to the strong underlying earnings development, but it's also positively affected by the share buyback programs conducted the last year. And on that positive note, we continue to the overview of our six business areas in the fourth quarter. And as usual, it's starting with Nytida. Let's say it's increased by 6%, driven by both acquisitions and startup units. It rose by 19% to 144 million SEC compared to 121 last year, thanks to the continued good performance in previously completed acquisitions, together with improved occupancy for startup units and some adjustments made in the service portfolio. We have continued to adapt our service offerings in favor of those services with expected high demand going forward, as well as successfully adjusting capacity to meet the changing demand. During the quarter, we have acquired four units from Cerrigmo Care, with a total annual turnover of 45 million SEK, and opened one new facility with 38 care places, supporting continued growth. And then turning to Swedish elderly care, Vardarga, and Vardaga continues to deliver solid growth. Net sales increased by 7%, driven by higher occupancy in both new and existing facilities, and by the Avasta acquisition. Sales in own management grew by 9%, reaching 977 million SEK due to the higher occupancy in new as well as established nursing homes, and net sales in contract management also increased. EBITDA decreased by 4%, to 117 million SEK, mainly due to the high startup costs for more openings than last year and costs related to planned openings in early 2026. For the quarter, the EBITDA margin was 8.3 versus 9.3 in the same quarter last year. And for the full year, we reached a total margin of 9.5%, and for mature units, the EBITDA margin was 11%. During the quarter, we opened one new nursing home in Nynäshamn with 50 care places and increased capacity in one existing nursing home in Nacka by 38 care places. And on the next slide, we turn to a business area in Norway, an overview of Stendi. Stendi had a weaker quarter. Occupancy fluctuated in the quarter and negatively impacted profitability. In local currency, net sales increased by 4%, but in sick, net sales decreased by 1%. EBITDA amounted to 39 million SEK, and the margin declined to 4.7%. The earnings performance was partly due to the lower and more fluctuating occupancy, which could not be fully offset by lower personal costs. This reflects also the fact that the comparative period benefit from one-off effects, which led to exceptionally strong Q4 2024. Taking that last year's positive one-off of 30 million into consideration, The Q4 EBITDA margin was 2.8 percentage points lower this year, and at least 1 percentage point in margin represent temporarily cost in this quarter, which means that the underlying performance is closer to last year than what you see in these reported numbers. And Stanley continues to adjust capacity to match shifts in demand and to protect profitability over time. And now to our Finnish business area, Validia. Validia is reported as a new business area from second quarter and has been consolidated in Nabea's accounts from April 1st, 2025. Validia had a solid performance in the fourth quarter and net sales amounted to 410 million, up 6% from the third quarter, and EBITDA reached 32 million SEC, corresponding to a margin of 7.8%, which also reflects a seasonality slightly weaker quarter. And this quarter also included transaction startup and integration costs related to the recently completed acquisitions and the establishment of a new sub-segment. This means that the underlying margin is somewhat higher than the reported margin in the quarter with more than one percentage point. The entry into a new sub-segment child welfare services through two acquisitions with an annual turnover of 210 million SEC will strengthen the platform and support continued growth. Furthermore, the integration of Alivia into Ambea was completed during the quarter. No further integration costs are expected. We will continue to create growth in Finland through new establishments, both on acquisitions and continued development of the existing operations. So now take a look at Altiren. Altiren delivered stable performance with growth in local currency driven by higher occupancy across both elderly and social care. Net sales increased by 6% in local currency. In SEC, however, net sales were flattish and in line with last year. Net sales in own management increased by 10% in local currency. The decline in contract management was due to the termination of one social care contract. The profitability improvement continues. This quarter EBITDA increased to 11 million SEK, corresponding to a margin of 3.3% up from 3.0 last year. The new national elderly care legislation, effective the 1st of July this year, enables expansion of own managed nursing homes. And we are evaluating several opportunities to sign contracts for new nursing homes. And finally, Klara. Clara saw lower net sales due to weaker demand across several services. Net sales decreased by 8% to 97 million SEK. The historically strong supply of nurses in the labor market has led to some customers to employ their own staff instead of purchasing external services from companies like Clara. EBITDA amounted to 12 million SEK with a margin of 12.4% compared to 10.4% last year. The good margin development reflects cost adjustments and continued focus on profitability, even in a softer market environment. And with that, back to you, Mark.

Thank you so much, Benno. Our financial targets remain as we drive profitable growth, strong margins, and disciplined leverage. And we remain committed to consistently deliver on all three financial targets. In Q4, we delivered on our targets supported by a growth strategy, cash generation, and active capital allocation. The rolling 12-month growth rate is now at 13%, which is above our growth target, thanks to the high pace in acquisitions and good organic growth. Profitability landed at 9.6%, which is above the target of 9.5%, but also reflects the significant investments we have made in the quarter. Our leverage is down to a ratio of 2.3 times net debt to EBDA, well below our target of 3.25 times. We have in the quarter secured a new financing agreement with committed financing of 5 billion SEC, and thus have the financial capacity to engage in the right role on acquisitions. To summarize the fourth quarter and the year, we continue to grow and invest for the future. We have an industry-leading pipeline, an active M&A agenda, and we continue to strengthen our Nordic platform. Our focus remains on care quality, leadership, and operational performance, enabling us to grow and add new care places, creating shareholder value, as well as value to society. And before we open for questions, I would like to provide an outlook into 2026. We remain focused on growth and further strengthening our market position. Investments in our operational structure support a higher pace of openings and continued market share gains. Our already industry-leading pipeline will further expand across countries and business areas, and we will see more bolder acquisitions. At the same time, we maintain an active capital management through dividends and share buybacks aligned with our policy and financial position. The board proposed a dividend of 2.65 SEK per share, an increase of 20% compared to last year's dividend. The dividend is in line with our dividend policy and adjusted from items affecting comparability. Given the company's strong financial position and cash flow, the board has decided to implement another share buyback program of 2 million shares. As a team, we are committed to make the world a better place one person at a time and be a positive force in NordicCare. Our 41,000 employees are solving important tasks to people and society every day, and I'm proud of their work and strong achievements. And this concludes our presentation, and we will now open for questions.