W5 Solutions AB (publ)

Welcome to VFM Solutions' first quarterly report for 2024. Today I have with me our newly appointed CEO, Evelina Hedskog. Welcome, Evelina. Thank you. Newly appointed CEO, tell us, how does it feel?

Of course it feels really, really fun. I am very proud to have had the privilege to lead VFM Solutions.

And what are your thoughts and insights about VFM Solutions so far?

I think it's an exciting time we are in. We have a nice product portfolio with high-quality products. We have competent and very driven employees. We are in a growing market, so it's a very exciting time for our company. We did three acquisitions last year, so we have several new subsidiaries in the VFN family. Right now, there is a lot of focus on finding the synergy effects that we can have between our different businesses and capitalizing on on these acquisitions that we have made. If we look at the quarter in general, how has the financial development looked? We see a revenue increase and a gross profit increase that are completely in line with the growth goals that we have set up. We say that we will convert at least 0.5 billion last 2025. And it feels very good that we have a revenue increase that is in line with this. In addition, the stock market remains at about the same level, around 200 million, just like under Q4. And beyond that, we have received several nice orders here in April. Among other things, two frame agreements within the product segment Live Fire. So I feel very safe with the order entry forward, so that feels good.

Is there anything that you feel less satisfied with during the quarter?

Of course, we would have liked to have a better net profit than what we can provide. The reason it looks like it does is that we have too low investment in our projects, so the staff costs are simply too high. This was something we knew would come, it is a natural part of the cycle that the project can look like that. We knew it would come, we are not satisfied with it, but I do not see that it is a trend that will hold on.

If we take a look at the financial side, is there anything else you want to highlight here today?

During the first quarter, we have started battery production. It is a natural development. We already do different types of battery packs before battery charging and now we also have our own battery production. We see an increased demand for this from the military customers. This with supply security and to stick to European supply chains is extremely important and therefore it feels very nice that we can start with this now and see a great potential in battery production forward.

And you mentioned earlier information about your acquisitions. How do you look at the acquisition side during 2024?

Yes, that's a question I get very often. As I mentioned before, right now our focus is very much on consolidation and to make sure that we really find these synergies that we see that we can have between our acquisitions and our previously existing subsidiaries. So that's where the focus is now, in the short term. But in the future, the strategy is the same as before. It's a mix of organic growth and growth through acquisitions. So the M&A agenda is definitely still there, but in the short term, it's now a focus on consolidating and creating this base that we can then grow from.

If we continue with this statement, what can we expect from VFM in 2024 and the coming years?

With the geopolitical situation and the Swedish NATO intervention, it is very clear that we are on a growing market. And of course, we want the WFM to grow with the market we are on. And an important aspect of that will be to get out on the export market to a greater extent than what we do today. So I would say that we will put a lot of focus on especially the European countries and an increased export there. So that is something that stands high up on the agenda for us. Thank you Evelina.

Thank you Anna. And thank you for being with us and listening today.