Knowit AB (publ)

Thank you. And with me today, I also have Marie Björklund that we'll talk a little bit later. First, I would like to take you through some operational highlights during the third quarter. In our largest business area solutions, we are happy to deliver a continuous positive trend in utilization. And in addition to that, the EBITDA margin improved for the second quarter in a row. This is mainly a result of our cost reductions and organizational changes. The market is still uncertain with long sales cycles. After summer, the market had a slow start with projects starting up later than normal, particularly in experience and insights. In Norway, we have continued to develop our strong partnership with several customers, creating a very stable foundation during the quarter. In Sweden, we still meet the largest challenges, although we see some improvements in certain segments. Finland and Denmark are developing strong in some areas, but we still need to work more to reach a stable ground in others. We can take the next slide, please. And take a look at our business areas in more detail, starting with solutions, our largest business area, reporting net sales of 750 million SEK for the quarter. The EBITDA margin increased to 8.1%. And as I said, we are happy to see that utilization are slowly improving. uh the geographical differences remains in finland we outperform the market we still have challenges in sweden and denmark and in norway we have a continuous strong client relationships and a really good platform to work with and our efforts to optimize the organization and reduce costs pays off, but it's yet too soon to say that we see a broad market recovery. Next slide, please. Going over to our digital agency experience reported net sales of 235 million SEK in the quarter. The business area had a very tough quarter with negative results due to slow start after summer. of course affecting the utilization a lot. Sweden and Denmark are the most difficult markets where we continue to take action to improve profitability. We have a strong inflow of requests from clients, but the competition remains fierce and clients take time to decide upon new investments. We can take the next slide, please. Business area connectivity reported sales of around 190 million SEK for the third quarter. EBITDA margins slided below last year at 11.3%. Our ability to adapt quickly to market changes have been a strength during this recession. And we also have long projects in connectivity, making it easier to handle a start after the summer. We are in a competitive market, but we still continue to recruit at a controlled pace. We have a solid position in the industry segment, a key to be able to continue to deliver strong results despite the current market weakness. We continue to maintain a strong focus on sales. We have increased sales capacity and ensured utilization rates at a good level. Moving over to our management consultancy, Knowit Insight, reporting sales of around 160 million SEK for the third quarter. The business area reported a loss in line with the same quarter last year. Just like experience, the start after summer was very slow, with projects being delayed into the end of the quarter, and this, of course, has impacted both utilization and margins. Our position in cybersecurity and legal remains strong, and we have had a net recruitment in the quarter. We work hard to develop and strengthen our offerings with defense, launching highly appreciated training programs for employees to prepare for possible assignments in the industry, the quarters to come. And with that, next slide. And with that, I hand over to you, Marie, going through some financials.

Thank you, Per. We can take the next slide. So back to the group as a whole, we delivered sales of approximately 1.3 billion SEK a decrease of 14%. There is a popular calendar effect for the quarter of around eight hours, but due to the timing of these extra hours during vacation, there is no effect on the revenue or EBITDA. We are around 10% less employees, of course, affecting revenue, but besides that, the revenue from subconsultants is less than Q3 23. The adjusted EBITDA amounted to 57.9 million SEK for the quarter, a decrease compared to the same quarter last year. This leads to an adjusted EBITDA margin of 4.4% in the quarter. Last year, it was 4.9%, so it's slightly down. We do have some layoffs this quarter, as well as restructuring costs, but far less than both Q2 this year and Q3-23. and we now consider it at a level where we see it as a normal course of business. We also managed to keep savings on a good level, but we are now meeting comparable figures on Q3-23, which also included savings. Cost awareness is still high up on the agenda for the quarters to come. We see that the market is still challenging, even though we see signs of improvement. especially in solutions and connectivity. Competition is tough. Prices are under pressure, but still above the level of last year. Salary revisions have been kept at our expected and desired level. Next slide, please. This slide shows the development over time and also on a rolling 12-month basis. Our adjusted EBITDA for the latest 12 months is at $436 million and revenues at $6.6 billion SEC at an EBITDA margin of 6.6%. We note that the adjusted EBITDA margin improved compared to Q1 this year and are in line with Q2. In other words, we do have a trend of stabilizing results. Next slide, please. This is an overview of our net debt development. We have 600 million SEC in used credit facility, and we have a total credit facility granted of 1 billion 50 SEC. Future considerations amount to 26, and other liabilities, mainly leasing debts, amount to 524 million SEC affected by amortization. This totals a net debt of 792 million SEK, and divided with our EBITDA of 582 on a rolling 12-month basis, we are at a leverage of 1.4. We have a stable balance sheet and a good financial position. Also, this means that we are well within our financial target, which is set not to exceed 2. Next slide, please. We have a solid platform and a strong position as a digitalization partner in the Nordic region. The share from the public sector has decreased compared to last year, following a significantly softer demand in some areas compared to a year ago. The demand within defense continues to be strong. We have a strong and solid position in the industry sector, allowing us to grow despite challenging market conditions and our retail share has gone up also, and we see an increased demand from certain customers. Clients remain focused on business-critical projects also in an economic downturn. And with that, I leave it back to you, Per. Next slide, please.

Thank you, Marie. Well, to summarize, we see a positive trend in our largest business area solutions with both utilization and margin improving. Competition is high in all areas. Our top priority continuously is to remain a high focus on sales and client relations. Sweden and Denmark are the most challenging markets and require further cost control and efficiency. And we are proud to have a strong position as a Nordic partner in the digital transition. We are in good shape for further growth when the market improves. And with that, I open up for questions.