CAG Group AB (publ)

Hello and welcome to today's broadcast where I am with CAG Group and the company's current CEO Åsa Landén Eriksson and the new CEO Peter Strömberg who will present the company's Q1 report 2026. If you want to ask questions to the company, you can use the form to the right and we will take it up after the broadcast. And with that, I leave the floor to you, Åsa and Peter.

Tack så hemskt mycket och trevligt att ni har valt att lyssna in idag. Det är lite vemodigt, min sista kvartalsrapport här för CAG. Men vi går rakt in och pratar om vad vi har att säga. Så ska jag på slutet presentera Peter Strömberg. Han ska rättare sagt få presentera sig själv. Han och jag byter vaktombyte här i nästa vecka, den 7 maj, då CAG har årsstämma. What you can remember is that we have now completed the acquisition of Clara Financial Consulting, which we announced in February. We are very pleased with this. This means that we now have three fairly even segments, if you can call it that. We have the defense segment, still our largest, bank and finance, which is close to the same size, about a third. And if we call the rest for system development, it is perhaps a little less than a third. So it feels like a very good base for our business. Vi har också fått ett nytt, fint, stort, långt ramavtal med FNV och Försvarsmakten via NESP som vi är delägare i och det gäller potentiellt i hela sju år, tre år är den initiale avtalsdagen. and it is a big deal. But as usual with framework agreements, one should consider it as a hunting license and a very good basis to have as a way of agreement in our businesses with our biggest customers, FNB and the Defence Force, in the future. And another little wonderful thing is that, at least as employers, we have two extra days. Räkenskapsåret jämfört med föregående år och de ligger i nästa kvartal Q2 och Q4. Så det är lite key takeaways. If you look at our development over the past few years, my time at Seager, we have grown by 10% over these years on average. And we have also grown about the same amount in turnover per share, which feels good. And we have, as you can see, had a very stable margin between 8 and 9.2%. So we usually say that we are a panzer crusher and we will continue to be so. We also have an interesting part which is that we have a lot of recurring income from our three-year contract income, which they are most often in our operation and management business primarily, but also other larger occupations, for example for Swedish nuclear fuel management in burned out nuclear fuel, where we operate a system that we manage for them. Tittar man på kvartalet då, januari till mars i år, så var det väl kanske inte vårt allra roligaste eftersom intäkterna går nedåt och det tycker man ju aldrig om. Men hälften av den här nedgången är hemförlig till... The development of our subsidiary through technical tests, you who have listened before, remember we did it in Q1 2025. And the rest is actually due to the fact that we are fewer consultants primarily. Then, as I write in the VD-word, we have also had a little influence of long claim control processes and long processes also when you can see almost unpleasant accusations of good agreements that are already submitted and it takes a very long time in the justice system, which means that we get a stop in the business in some ways and I think that as a citizen of society is also very And as a company leader, you get a little tired. But it is still a quarter where we can show a stable margin of 8.3%. And our adjusted margin in Q1 last year included 3 million that we put aside for the development of this daughter company. So we saw a lower margin this year, 8.3% versus 9.9%, but still, yes, Någorlunda. Man är ju aldrig nöjd som vd. Vi har haft en bra cash conversion, en bra kassaflöde och vinst per aktie ligger stabilt. Och är ni aktieägare som lyssnar så kan man glädjas åt den kommande utdelningen som vår stämma med all sannolikhet rustar för. Vi delar ut 4 av 30 det här året då, vilket är en yield på ungefär 4%. So this is what the quarter looks like, and as we said in the beginning, we have closed the acquisition of Clara Financial Consulting, and that feels really good. It strengthens our banking and finance segment, and it gives us more services within portfolio management, where our company within operations and management also has a more system-technical basis. Klara works more with processes within capital management, processes and systems, but with a lot of focus on Sin Corp Dimension, which is a large portfolio management system now owned by Deutsche Börse. We have many common customers from the old CAG and Klara within the capital management world and portfolio management, both public, such as the APF funds, Alekta and MF, whatever you call them, privata kapitalförvaltare And for this, of course, we have paid money. You see there our initial purchase difference, which also included a part in SEGA shares, 25% of the initial, so to speak. And then we have an additional purchase difference, which is in three annual tranches, with a bit of a backslide. So all parties here have started to cooperate really well and feel excited, so I'm super happy with this. If you look at the business flow, I mentioned the framework agreement that we have with FNV and the Defence Force Nya Nesp, which we are very happy about. It is about system services and life cycle support for the technical system of the Defence Force. And as I said, it will be a very good platform for us to take business forward. But as I said, it was no order, this is more of a framework agreement that gives a hunting license. We have received it, I was about to say, our usual flow of new assignments from the customers who follow here within Svar primarily FNB, Saab, Berge, Hägglunds and Björvik. In banking and finance, we have received several new applications at Finansinspektionen and Swedbank in insurance and mortgages. And in our operations and administration, we have also received a major increase on a large insurance company and also on a provider of education services. A bit more secretive on that side. But also other customers in various industries such as Terracom, NCC and Atlas Copco. So there is a business flow even if the market is not yet the most competitive market I have seen during my career. But as I said, we at CAG have a very nice distribution of our segments. You see there, the defense segment continues to grow. So with industry, defense industry and defense authorities, we are up 38% in this quarter. The general public sector has been good at 16% and banking and finance, as I said, next quarter will be close to a third of our revenues. And then we have this recurring revenue component is also a strength for CAG. I think, maybe you have noticed that you have seen this customer weapon, but I usually say that you become as happy every time you see it. They are fantastically fine customers, stable both in defense and banking and finance and in e-commerce and system development. And the public sector also has many, many fine customers. No mentioned, no forgotten. So that's good. So not only do we have a very good reputation and a nice customer base, but we also continue to have a very good financial position. We have a good cash register here at the end of March. You see 128 million. We have a net cash register at almost 100. And now we have taken up a new credit here, an acquisition credit for the acquisition of Klara at 50 million. But when we add that to the balance sheet, we have almost zero in existing loans, so to speak. So we have continued to be in a very good financial position to be able to continue to do acquisitions, both with the cash and with debt, if we want. We hope and believe that the year-end is also the 7th of March with a 10% discount on outstanding shares to be able to make acquisitions. And I think it feels good that during my time here that we have grown in profit per share as much as nominal, that is, we have made good value-making acquisitions. So that feels good. So with that, let's get to the end. This is a reprise of what I said in the beginning, and maybe it will be a little more exciting, new forward-looking here, when Peter Strömberg will present himself. So we'll change a little setting, then I'll come back and say goodbye. But welcome, Peter. Thank you.

Super good, thank you so much. It's fun to be here, really. There's a lot of excitement about this too. And it's fun to meet you all who are listening in one way or another. I'm sure we will meet both digitally and maybe even physically in some context. I hope so. Good, thank you so much Åsa. So who am I? I'm going to start on the 7th of May and release Åsa after all the years at CG. I can start by saying that my background is quite cut and cut for maybe working in this business. I have both finance and tech background. to education and a lot of other things, which is of course very exciting. I didn't know that at that time when I took a master's degree at Stockholm University or via Stockholm University in IT and tech and finance. As the art director of the school and I am also part of the home team today and will also join the Aurora exercise that takes place for full during these weeks and until a long time to come. I will explain why it is interesting when you are in a company like CIG. Then I have been in the construction of stock exchange systems around the world for global stock exchanges on the derivative side, on the share side, within wealth management and so on. That is to say, I was part of the global financial infrastructure to move society towards democracy, even within the financial part. Within Nasdaq Tech and OM Technology and OM as it once was. And I ran and had mainly eight or nine of the largest stock exchanges in Asia and Europe as my customers. And it was a highly transaction-intensive system. We call it fintech today. Plus, it was also very, very much about cyber security, protecting data, building environments that were incredibly resilient, both in terms of introspection, but also, of course, for the transactions and how important they were, every nano and mil. Because that's how you calculate it. Then I moved from the softwares side to operations, which was a pretty exciting step to get it over-delivered in terms of softwares to operations. And also move large development environments to data centers and cloud services, which was the era then. It gave us an amazing opportunity to be part of an exciting phase in Avanza's history. During the time I joined in 2014, we had maybe 275,000 customers and I left many years later on an exciting journey as responsible for all tech. And 8-9 years later, there were 1.8 million customers with 20% of the French population. And I know that Avanza still sees it that way. And I really did that. I thought I could help so many people to a better saving and placement. Which I thought felt like an incredible privilege. And I learned super, super much in leading tech organizations in the next phase. Then I stepped further into something else that is about physical deliveries and big digital transformations. In Foxway, where I now also left for just a few weeks ago. As a digital boss. And that is exactly what we are also doing and helping many customers with in CRG in several industries, almost regardless of which industry or vertical we are talking about. Which I am completely convinced will also be exciting dialogues with many of the CRG companies in the future, how we can best help many of our customers regardless of segment in moving digitalization in many ways. From old digitalization to modern digitalization or other parts. Between Avanza and Foxways, I've also been a board member and worked as an advisor in tech startups and scale-ups. Quite a lot to increase The steep part of my learning in terms of building companies today. How do you build tech companies today? It is incredibly important when you have been in such big roles as I have done, or rather organizations. This has happened so much and we also notice that at CAG, no matter what type of customer we meet. the talent transfer that needs to take place within the era we are in, and much much more. So it has been incredibly exciting to meet that. I have also worked in tech due diligence with both Backing Minds and Nordic Capital and many other exciting investors. They have also had the privilege, or I have had the privilege, of being a part of it. And then, of course, for quite a long time, together with Åsa, I have sat in the board since 2020. Känns otroligt häftigt att vara med i den resan tillsammans med ÅSA. Jag är otroligt imponerad av både jobbet som ÅSA har gjort och byggt tillsammans med hela CIG-organisationen, varenda person som jag har fått förmån att träffa under de här åren. Ibland har jag bara varit styrelseledamot och ibland har jag gått in och haft möjligheten att vara mer i taktiska projekt eller andra delar eller bara bollat idéer med olika personer inom CIG inklusive ÅSA. So that I really think was super fun. We can... On top of that, if you look at the future without making it too long, my role as CEO in the future will of course be to focus on ensuring the continuity and long-term customer value that CIG and ÅSA have built for a very, very long time. It is super important that we make sure that we keep that. It is a very well-managed company, incredibly strong customer relations with socially critical regulated environments. The area I'm familiar with, but now I need to put it in a deeper way, which is also very important. And the fact is that it will also be super exciting, I think, to work in the talent transfer that takes place in the business world and in society, actually. And maybe the most exciting era, someone might think, when it comes to that. It is a continuous talent transfer, both for CAG as a company, because we need to be further ahead than everyone else to also be involved and help in that talent transfer in all technology development. But also the fact that my personal view is that it always starts with the people. It will always start with the people. There may be technology and then business. And we will continue to do that. Then it is as usual when you start such a role, even if I have never had a leadership role in that way. But I will focus until the summer on, of course, performance. Prioritize and understand where I need the most. Where CIG creates the highest value. And above all, to get to know the organization in a new way. Which I have great respect for. That I need to do. I need to support both people within CIG, our subsidiaries and colleagues. And find my way to lead that. After Åsa's fine work. I can't stop saying that I see CIG's decentralized model as an incredible strength. I think we see it over and over again. My role is to continue to enable cooperation and pace, where it really creates customer benefit. Not to mention what also creates benefit for us, the competence we have within CIG that we would like to continue to develop and deliver. In short, I see great opportunities for C&G, both what I can do and help with, together with many here, but also opportunities that have already been built before me, which I think is incredibly fun. And in a way, it always starts with the customer. Och sen ser jag verkligen fram emot att ta det här vidare, leda CG med otroligt duktiga kollegor på en spännande resa framåt.

Fantastiskt.

Yes.

Vad kul. Vilken jättebra presentation tycker jag. Tack för alla fina ord. Nu försöker vi dyka in här samtidigt då. Verkligen. I just want to say two more words. I want to say thank you to everyone who has been with me on this journey. I think this picture summarizes a little bit. Bilden med vår ordförande Bosse Lindström där till vänster är såklart när vi ringde i klockan december 2018. Jag började i mars 2018 så det var ett otroligt år och det här till höger är då bild på Peter och mig från CG's stora AV i augusti. Så jag vill tacka alla som har lyssnat och så vidare men vi kanske ska ta lite frågor då först.

Yes, thank you for the presentation, both of you, and it's fun to hear a little bit about you, Peter, about your background. You as a viewer, if you want to ask questions, you can use the form to the right, and we'll get to that in a moment. But let's go straight to the first question. Yes. The turnover drops by 6%. At the same time, you see a positive market situation. How should it be interpreted?

Well, one could say that the year started a little slower than we had thought. And I have actually heard that in the bushes out on the market from several parties, not just in the consulting industry. March was of course a nicer month, so hopefully we see a easier market in the future. We have said that for a long time in the sector, and of course you can still worry about the Hormuz-sund. But we see a business flow that is still quite good in the quarter. I really hope that we will come back to a positive growth here in the future.

Thank you. If we move on to the competition, you can see that it has continued to press the prices in your business.

We have managed to keep up the prices well. We have had a positive price trend for several years now. But in selected tasks where the requirements may be a little lower and where there are many who can deliver, perhaps many single consultants also who sit with house loans and so on, there it can be tough. I understand. In the report, you also point out long handling times.

How much does that affect your business?

Jag kvantifierar inte i pengar och så, men jag ville faktiskt göra det där inlägget i mitt sista vd-ord här för att det är någonting som såklart har pågått länge. Just nu var det lite extra... Tråkigt. Det är säkkontroller. Det tråkiga är att det ofta är säkkontroller av personer som kan ha jobbat 20 år inom försvarsmakten. Man vet att det är hela och rena personer, men ändå så är det. Det är tajt om resurser i myndigheterna som inblandar i de här processerna. And the same applies to framework agreements and things like that, which are often overreported for quite weak reasons. And the justice system also has a bit of a problem with resources. And what do we get sitting there with... who have a task, we have a contract, the customer wants our services, and thanks to these, sometimes actually quite unnecessary, I must say, I'm not saying that we should not do sales checks, but there are probably other ways to handle it that would be at least as safe as today, then we will be sitting with a loss of income, quite simply, because we only have time to sell in most cases. I see it as a small social problem that we need to look at.

In Q1, we see that the EBITDA margin is falling. How soon can you be back to 10%?

That is the absolute ambition. We have our financial goals at 10%. And if you look a little forward, you should not say too much, but we have one extra working day in Q2 and we will also get sales from Klara Financial Consulting, which will contribute positively to our margins. So that's definitely our ambition. If the market keeps up in some way, we will absolutely be able to do that.

I turn to you then, Peter, as the incoming CEO. Du var inne tidigt här på i din presentation om hur viktigt det är med kontinuitet till exempel. Och man kan ju mellan raderna förstå att det är ingen strategiförändring i nuläget. Men hur vill du ändå justera ledarskapet åt något håll i din första tid?

I think both Åsa and I know that we are quite different. And I think that's good enough for a start. I think it will also show how that type of leadership that we are a little different in, without us thinking about it all day. I think I will be out more than I have always been. Partly because it is important to me. Because I also need to get the impression both in the organization and with customers and so on. So I think that will be a difference. Then what that leads to in the form of internal cooperation or different parts or coordination in a different way. And then I have another background in the form that I have been on all customer and buyer pages of everything we do. soon also on the defense industry and defense power side, to be honest. And I think that can also make a difference. Maybe how I ask the questions, maybe how I act and maybe also how we will put the strategy in the form of some evolution. But I think that Åsa and I are the same. We both think evolution rather than revolution, which I think is both important for the entire CRG and also for the customers in the future.

Absolutely. This will be great.

You were talking about defence, and we will jump over to the so-called geopolitical uncertainty, which unfortunately exists. How do you see risk in relation to what opportunities this can give you, since you are exposed to the defence industry?

I don't think so. if the situation in Hormuz affects so much, but it is already clear several years ago that Sweden and Europe and NATO need to build up their defense in a better way again. We know that. There is a war in Ukraine and we at CG are completely behind that We have to strengthen our defence for many reasons. I personally don't want to see any dictatorship in Sweden or in Europe. And we have to realize that our neighbors in the east are aggressive. So in that way, it is really a long-term game we are playing here. at CAG and try to be the best possible partner for both the Swedish Defence Force and the Norwegian authorities and also in the defence industry to really do what we can to support that work.

From my point of view, I think CG has a fantastic opportunity to expand what the nation of Sweden also needs in the form of innovation. Because both the defence power and defence industry, but also the business world, this is something new for Sweden. To work with dual use and that kind of thing around the power of innovation. And there CIG has been in almost all the different perspectives, which I think is very important to help in that and work with all types of innovation for different types of customers in these different segments. What is common for everyone is resilience. Both in a threat or war situation, but also in a peace situation. And to build resilience. And that has always been through banks and finance, no doubt about that. And it has been about cybersecurity and it has been about vulnerability and so on, no matter if we're talking about Avanza or someone else. And this is super important. And of course, in terms of situations, it is also an opportunity for us to show what we can do and in what way we can do it well and which we can help in it. So that's also one thing. The risk lies in some of the things that Åsa has already pointed out, that we are not so good to integrate the industry, the defense industry and the defense power. An example of this is in drone technology and so on. There are very innovative companies that innovate super fast, while purchasing models and also safety testing may go a little slowly. And we should not sit and point the finger in any direction, but rather help each other and see how we can change it so that there are opportunities and we get maximum innovation. That is what social change really is.

Thank you for that answer. I would like to hang on to a positive data point here in the quarter. The cash flow has improved despite slightly lower results. What is it that drives that?

Ja, det är jättetrevligt kastaflöde det här kvartalet. Egentligen så är det kanske inte så tungt ändå för att vi har... I think we have hardly had a single customer loss during my time and our customers pay very nicely on time. We have the most very solid Swedish well-treated customers. So it means that most of our income is converted into cash flows. So it can actually be more how the days are in the quarter that do that. So, faktiskt. Men det är trevligt att se ett bra kassaflöde.

Då hade jag faktiskt inga fler frågor. Men om ni vill köra några avslutande ord så absolut. Kör på.

Thank you very much for the great questions and thank you to everyone who has listened. And a personal thank you from me as well during these eight years that I have been with CEG. And as you have heard, I hope, we will end up in very good hands. So I hope that you will continue to follow a successful CEG journey even from now on.

Thank you very much. Good luck, Peter. Thank you very much. See you in Q2. Det gör vi.

Hej då alla.