Projektengagemang Sweden AB (publ)

Good morning and a warm welcome to this quarter's presentation for Project Engagement Q1 2024. Vi gör ett bra kvartal, en bra start på året och våra åtgärder biter. Vi har också skapat en bra grund för ökad potential i lönsamheten framöver och vi har fortsatt att positionera oss för att vara redo när marknaden vänder. Jag heter Liselotte Haglind och jag är tillförordnad vd och koncernchef. As usual, we will start by taking a look at the market. The market has been still weak in the quarter. We see it both in housing, commercial properties, social properties and new production. Despite the rising optimism that the top of the interest rate is now reached and that the interest rate will be lowered here in May and June, it will take time before the market is in the lead. But, and what is important, is that when there is an increased predictability of where the economy is headed, it usually becomes a positive belief in the future. With the macro-trend areas, our customers are affected by both energy transition, industry and security issues, and competence and specialists are needed to solve these complex and challenging problems. Therefore, in the long run, the demand for our services is growing. We need constructors, installers, project managers, environmental experts and architects to solve the problems of tomorrow. We see an increased need, but also a requirement, to take care of the buildings that we have already built and instead of tearing and building new ones, make sure that we take advantage of the buildings we have. We also see with the geopolitical increased tensions that we need to increase our security and our resistance power, both around buildings and close to the environment and society in general. And with Sweden's entry into NATO, we need to invest in society's resilience. Vi ser att industrin fortsätter sin omställning till fossilfritt och här behöver vi snabbt hitta lösningar på bland annat vindkraft, solkraft, vattenkraft för att möjliggöra näringslivets satsningar. Det här är många och stora komplexa utmaningar som vi står inför och för det så behövs det experter på byggnader och deras närmiljö. Det var en kort inledning utåt och vi tittar in i projektengagemangskvartal 1. Det är ett bra kvartal lönsamhetsmässigt och våra åtgärder biter. Vi gör en ebitda marginal på 8,3% och det beror främst på att vi har lyckats med våra kostnadseffektiviseringar kopplat till lokaler som ska vara hälften så stora och dubbelt så värdeskapande. Ebitda-resultatet är 18,2 miljoner kronor. The turnover has decreased. It is 218 million kronor. This is mainly due to the measures that we have communicated about already this autumn, that we have reduced staff in those markets and areas where we see that the demand has been weaker. We also have a quarterly effect in the quarter at minus eight hours. The FTEs that we have included this year are reduced and therefore the growth will not continue to be as strong under 2024. It will take time before the growth gets faster. At the same time, we have invested a lot in increasing, growing and taking market share within the areas that we see that demand is increasing. Energy, industry and security. And here we have won several orders in the quarter and we are also growing personally. We have recruited 45 people into project engagement during the first quarter. We also see that the strategy we have around pricing works and we continue to increase our prices and I am very pleased with the level we are at today. The degree of debiting is affected by the market, but it is also affected by the fact that we have off-boarded a number of people out of the company during the quarter, a 30-thousand, linked to this transition that we are doing and it affects the efficiency. 71.4% is the debiting rate, and here there is a potential. 1% increased debiting rate makes an effect of 11 million kronor on the EBITDA range. And that we now have a more efficient cost structure and a better base for increased profitability, there is a potential forward when the market turns. If we look at our segments and start with architecture and management, the willingness to invest here is still low in commercial properties and housing, but there is a large underlying need. In architecture, and especially in interior architecture, which is exciting, we see a careful, careful lightening in the quarter. The turnover is affected by a lower rate of debiting and fewer employees. The hourly rates continue to increase, as I said, which we put a lot of focus on. The EBITDA margin in the quarter ended at 5.9%. One of our tasks this quarter is Re-Energy Frövi, which has been called Sweden's greenest industrial project. It is the Swedish company Varm that has built a very similar greenhouse in Frövi, where from May 2024, 8,000 tons of tomatoes will be grown annually. This greenhouse covers 100,000 square meters and uses waste heat from Billerud's carton factory, which is just inside. This is a unique solution in Sweden. Here, PE has contributed with construction laws, the design of premises that are in the area and VVS planning. Then we go to our largest segment, construction and environment, and here we find our constructors and environmental specialists. The market for this segment during the quarter has been still challenging in services related to new production, with a lower rate of debiting as a result. We still have an EBITDA margin in the quarter that lands at 9.8%. Vi ser en fortsatt god marknad inom industri och utveckling av redan byggd miljö och där breddar vi fortsatt vårt tjänsteerbjudande. Vi ser fortsatt behov av rådgivning inom bland annat tillståndsfrågor, förorenade områden och naturvärdesinventeringar där vi stärker vårt erbjudande och rekryterar miljöspecialister. I kvartalet så fick vi förtroende av Svea Solar att ta fram just naturvärdesinventeringar och miljökonsekvensbeskrivningar inför ett flertal solparksprojekt som de ska starta. And then installation, our third segment. They continue to strengthen their result development and show for the sixth quarter in a row a better margin than the previous year's quarter. The EBITDA margin lands at 8.2% for the quarter. Really happy. And the improvements are mainly linked to the transfer that he has made within the security facilities, as well as that we have managed to increase the revenue and debiting rate. At the same time, the turnover has been affected by the fact that we have fewer employees, and this is linked to this earlier adjustment. We see a continued shift here, from new construction projects to reconstruction projects, and there we have a broad competence. Due to this, there is an increasing emphasis on various factors such as energy efficiency and digitization, which this segment contributes a lot to. I kvartalet har vi fått förtroende i ett ramavtal med Stockholm Vatten och Avfall med fokus på att säkra god kvalitet för vattenförsörjning som omfattar i stort sett hela bredden på PS-kompetens. Then we move on to the financial statement. The result per share was 0.51 kronor versus 0.26 kronor the previous year, that is, a doubling. The cash flow from the running business was 42 million kronor. Net debt was 2.5 times versus 2.3 the previous year. Net debt exclusive IFRS 16 was 133 and the entire net debt was 227, that is, decreasing. So till sist, vårt första kvartal 2024 var ett bra kvartal lönsamhetsmässigt. Våra åtgärder byter. Vi gör 8,3% i rörelsemarginal främst kopplat till att vi har tagit de här åtgärderna kring kostnadseffektiviseringar. Samtidigt har vi jobbat med att ställa om och positionera oss och vara redo när marknaden vänder och vi visar med de här siffrorna också på potentialen för den ökade lönsamheten framöver. Every hour, every day is important for us and it will continue to be very important that we continue to work with price, efficiency and cost control. But above all, it is to continue the market focus that we have really had in quarter one. To grow in the areas that we see are beneficial and continue sales and growth in those areas and deliver high customer value. Vår tillgång är just våra experter och jag vill tacka er alla för ett otroligt fint första kvartal. Stort tack också till våra kunder och till våra partners. Och med det så ska vi se om vi har några personer med oss på tråden.

Good morning, this is Niklas Färn from SEB Equities. Nice to hear from you, Niklas. Hi. Hi, and I have to congratulate you on a very positive surprise today, especially when it comes to profit development. But we can start by talking a little bit about the top row. I wonder a little bit. Can you develop some thoughts about the market and the demand? You mentioned an expected rate peak, which is probably in the expected picture, and perhaps that you could come back in the form of an increased demand for you during 2024. What is it that may have changed in the market now that we are writing slutet på Q1 en bit innan i april jämfört med när ni gick in i det kvartalet som ni redan visade idag. Tack!

Yes, good question. And this is what is extra exciting right now to understand. We notice, as I said, that the market is still weak and that there are not enough investments on the market. But as soon as you start to understand how it will develop, it is still the case that there are investments. So we notice a little cautious movement. And I also think that many start to position themselves before autumn when we hope that it actually starts to move even more and do not really have the opportunity or time to wait. And that's what we see a little bit right now. Then it is so that It always takes time before we are back in the reliance that was before the conjecture went down. So it will certainly slow down and I think we will probably have to wait for the biggest effect by 2025. Thank you very much.