Sweco AB

Society. Transforming it is the most necessary and inspiring challenge we can imagine. One Sweco proudly rises to. Every day since 1958, our concept of architects and engineers working together has brought new perspectives to the most pressing challenges of our time. Times change, but our philosophy hasn't. We believe the collective knowledge of citizens, communities, clients and consultants create solutions that stand out and transform. It's why, with our global expertise and local presence, we're at the very centre of the green transition and society's most seismic trends. Take urbanisation. Digital developments are reshaping the role of the city. Demand for climate-adapted solutions are soaring. A new type of urban planning is essential, with sustainable innovation from micro to infrastructure level. Take sustainability. We're navigating the energy transition shoulder to shoulder with clients, creating solutions that are reliable, resource efficient, climate smart, making society more sustainable and more resilient. And take digitalization, the most powerful opportunity to steer a smarter future. By mastering emerging technologies, we are supporting sustainable urban development at every step of the process. With the expertise, determination and responsibility of each Sweco consultant, together we are solving the challenges of our complex world and transforming tomorrow for all of us. Sweco. Transforming society together.

Good morning everyone and welcome to this presentation of Sweco's Q3 report. We will be joined this morning by Sweco's president and CEO Åsa Bergman and CFO Olof Stolnacke. They will take us through the results of this third quarter and after that we will of course open up for questions. Please Åsa.

Welcome everyone to Sweco's Q3 presentation. Before we present the quarter, let me give you a quick recap of Sweco. Sweco is Europe's leading architecture and engineering consultancy with operations in eight geographical business areas across some 15 markets in Europe. We are a well diverse business operating across three broad segments with a healthy balance of private and public clients. The foundation for Sweco's long term success is our mix of competencies spread across 21,000 experts, our focus on organic and acquired growth, as well as our efficient and decentralized operational model. The third quarter shows that we continue to deliver a strong combination of organic and acquired growth. Net sales increased by 19% in the quarter. Adjusted for calendar, the organic growth was 9% and the The acquired growth was 6%. Positive currency effects added another 6% to net sales. EBITDA increased by more than 40% to 465 million SEC. And there was a slightly improved margin to 7.2% despite a negative calendar effect. The result was mainly driven by our continued good momentum in pricing and recruitment and positive contributions from acquisitions. The result was negatively affected by weaker demand in some markets and segments. Moving over to the operational highlights in the quarter. Overall, we noted a positive development in most business areas. I can conclude that we have done a good job at maneuvering the market conditions and so far adapting well to challenges. The organic growth is on the level where we want to be and it is positive to see seven out of eight business areas deliver strong organic growth in the quarter. We also had a positive EBITDA development in six out of eight business areas. In this quarter, I would like to highlight the continued strong performance in Denmark and Belgium, both delivering a good growth and result. The Netherlands also reported a solid quarter and Germany continues to take steps in the right direction. However, the situation remains challenging in parts of the UK market. This resulted in negative growth and a negative result due to one of cost that we are taking to get back on track long term in UK. We also continue to take necessary actions where needed in other markets. We continue to strengthen our order book and on the M&A side, the pace remains good with three new acquisitions in the quarter, which I will come back to later in this presentation. Let us now take a look at the market situation. The green transition continues to be a core driver for us and a key theme across most markets and segments. We can see this in the energy segments where demand is strong in all countries. We are also seeing good to strong demand in the water segment and in environmental services. Transport infrastructure remains good. But the macroeconomic situation is challenging in parts of the segments where we operate. And this is mainly seen in the building segments. Demand remains weak in residential and commercial buildings. Parts of the industry segment is also being affected in some markets. with clients being more cautious. This means that we need to continue to stay agile and adapt to the market conditions to capture opportunities and mitigate challenges. Our well-diversed offering and flexible organization is a strength for Sweco. And with that, I will hand over to Olof to walk you through the numbers. Please, Olof.