Konecranes Stock price
📊 Peer Group
📈 What is it?
The peer group consists of the companies with the most similar business model. They serve as a benchmark for putting a stock into context.
🧮 How is it selected?
Based on similarity of business model, meaning companies from the same industry with comparable products and a similar customer base. That's the only way to compare apples to apples.
🏛️ Why does it matter?
Whether a stock is cheap or expensive is best judged by comparison. A P/E of 18 or an EV/FCF of 20 can look cheap or expensive depending on the yardstick. The peer group gives you the most accurate one: companies with a similar business model that operate under the same conditions.
🎯 What does it mean for investors?
When a metric sits below the peer average, the stock is valued more cheaply relative to its competitors, and above the average more expensively. A discount to the peer group can be an opportunity, but it can also have a reason (for example lower growth). The comparison is a starting point, not a verdict.
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Key metrics
📘 Market Capitalization
📈 What is it?
Market capitalization shows how much a company is currently worth on the stock market.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It helps classify companies by size (Large, Mid, Small Cap) and indicates their market presence and relative stability.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Large-cap companies tend to be more stable, often pay dividends, but may grow more slowly.
- Smaller firms may offer higher growth potential but come with more volatility.
- Market capitalization is a useful indicator of company size — but not a measure of whether a stock is undervalued or overvalued.
📘 Enterprise Value (EV)
📈 What is it?
Enterprise Value represents the total cost to acquire a company — including its debt and excluding its cash reserves.
🧮 How is it calculated?
(= Market Cap + Net Debt)
🏛️ Why is it important?
EV gives a more complete picture of a company's value than market cap alone and is used in key valuation ratios like EV/FCF or EV/Sales.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Enterprise Value shows the true cost of buying a company, including all financial obligations.
- It is more accurate than just looking at market cap, especially when comparing companies with different levels of debt or cash.
- Professional investors prefer EV-based multiples because they better reflect the company’s full financial footprint.
📘 Net Debt
📈 What is it?
Net Debt shows how much debt remains after subtracting a company’s available cash reserves.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It indicates how dependent a company is on borrowed money and how easily it can service its debt in the short term.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Low or negative net debt signals financial strength and flexibility.
- Companies with strong cash positions are better positioned in crises.
- High net debt increases financial risk — especially in environments with rising interest rates or economic downturns.
📘 Cash
📈 What is it?
Cash represents all liquid assets a company can access immediately — including cash, bank deposits, and short-term investments.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It reflects a company’s financial flexibility and resilience — enabling investments, buybacks, or buffer in downturns.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A strong cash position means greater room for maneuver and crisis resistance.
- Cash-rich companies can invest, pay down debt, or repurchase shares.
- But excess idle cash might indicate a lack of growth opportunities.
📘 Shares Outstanding
📈 What is it?
Shares outstanding represent the total number of a company’s shares currently held by investors — excluding treasury stock.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It’s the basis for key metrics like Earnings Per Share (EPS), Market Capitalization, or the Price/Earnings ratio (P/E).
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Fewer shares in circulation typically increase earnings per share — making each share more valuable.
- Share buybacks reduce the number of shares and boost per-share metrics.
- Issuing new shares does the opposite — diluting shareholder value and lowering per-share figures.
📘 Price-to-Earnings Ratio (P/E)
📈 What is it?
The P/E ratio shows how many times a company's earnings per share are reflected in its current share price — in other words, how "expensive" the stock appears relative to its profits.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
The P/E ratio is one of the most widely used valuation metrics. It helps investors assess whether a stock appears cheap or expensive compared to its earnings power.
🧮 Calculation
📊 P/E (TTM) = Based on earnings from the last 12 months (Trailing Twelve Months):🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low P/E may indicate undervaluation — or signal underlying issues.
- A high P/E may reflect strong growth expectations — or an overvalued stock.
📘 Price-to-Sales Ratio (P/S)
📈 What is it?
The P/S ratio shows how much investors are paying for $1 of the company’s revenue – regardless of profitability.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
P/S is especially useful for evaluating growth companies or businesses not yet profitable. It reflects how the market values the company’s sales.
🧮 Calculation
Market Cap = €7.05b | Revenue (TTM) = €4.08b
Market Cap = €7.05b | Estimated Revenue = €4.32b
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low P/S may indicate undervaluation — or low profitability.
- A high P/S can reflect strong growth expectations — or excessive optimism.
- Especially helpful when evaluating companies where profits are low, volatile, or negative.
📘 Enterprise Value to Sales (EV/Sales)
📈 What is it?
EV/Sales shows how much investors are paying for $1 of revenue — considering not just equity, but also debt and cash. It’s the capital structure–adjusted version of the P/S ratio.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It’s ideal for comparing companies with different levels of debt. It reflects a company's true cost relative to its revenue.
🧮 Calculation
Enterprise Value = €7.07b | Revenue (TTM) = €4.08b
Enterprise Value = €7.07b | Forward Revenue = €4.32b
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- EV/Sales allows for capital structure–neutral company comparisons.
- A lower ratio may indicate undervaluation; a higher one may signal strong growth expectations or overvaluation.
- Especially helpful when evaluating high-growth companies with low or negative earnings.
📘 Enterprise Value to Free Cash Flow (EV/FCF)
📈 What is it?
EV/FCF shows how many years it would take for a company to "pay back" its enterprise value using its free cash flow.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It focuses on real cash generation, ignoring accounting noise — ideal for assessing profitability and value based on liquidity, not earnings.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low EV/FCF may signal undervaluation and strong cash generation.
- A high EV/FCF might reflect weak recent cash flow or aggressive growth expectations.
- Best suited for stable, mature businesses with predictable free cash flows.
📘 Price-to-Book Ratio (P/B)
📈 What is it?
The P/B ratio compares a company’s market value to its book value — showing how much investors are paying for each dollar of net assets.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
P/B is commonly used for asset-heavy industries like banks or industrials. It helps assess whether a stock is trading above or below its net asset value.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A P/B below 1 may signal undervaluation — or weak profitability.
- A P/B above 1 implies the market expects future value creation (e.g., brand, IP, growth).
- Best used for companies with tangible assets and strong balance sheets.
📘 Dividend per Share (DPS)
📈 What is it?
Dividend per Share shows how much cash a company pays out to shareholders for each share they own – usually on an annual or quarterly basis.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
DPS is the absolute value of the payout per share – crucial for income-focused investors and dividend strategies.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A stable or growing DPS often signals a strong, shareholder-friendly business.
- DPS alone doesn’t tell you how attractive the payout is – the stock price also matters (→ see Dividend Yield).
- Long-term dividend growth is often a hallmark of high-quality companies – like the dividend aristocrats.
📘 Dividend Yield
📈 What is it?
Dividend yield shows how large a company’s dividend is in relation to its current share price.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It allows investors to compare dividend payouts across stocks, regardless of price or payout size.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A stable yield can reflect reliable distributions.
- Comparing 1Y and 5Y yield shows whether dividend growth keeps pace with stock price appreciation.
- A low yield isn’t always negative – it can signal strong past performance or growth focus.
📘 Dividend Growth
📈 What is it?
Dividend growth shows how much a company has increased its dividend per share over time.
🧮 How is it calculated?
5Y: Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)
🏛️ Why is it important?
Consistently rising dividends are often a sign of financial strength and shareholder orientation – especially relevant for long-term investors.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Stable dividend growth is a sign of sustainable earning power.
- High dividend growth can significantly boost your total return:
- If a company pays $1 in dividends and increases it by 15% annually over 5 years, you’ll receive $2 per share in year 5 – twice as much as at the start!
📘 Payout Ratio
📈 What is it?
The payout ratio shows what percentage of a company’s earnings (per share) is distributed to shareholders as dividends.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It helps assess whether the dividend is sustainable – especially in relation to the company’s profitability.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low payout ratio means the company retains more earnings for reinvestment – typical for growth companies.
- A moderate payout (e.g. 25–50%) indicates a healthy balance between returns and reinvestment.
- High payout ratios may seem attractive but can carry risk if earnings decline.
📘 Consecutive Dividend Increases
📈 What is it?
This metric shows how many consecutive years a company has raised its dividend per share – without any cuts or pauses.
🧮 How is it calculated?
(Special dividends are not considered.)
🏛️ Why is it important?
A long track record of increases reflects financial strength, consistency, and shareholder commitment.
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A long dividend increase streak builds confidence – especially in volatile markets.
- Such companies are seen as reliable and income-friendly investments.
- The longer the streak, the stronger the company’s dividend discipline.
📘 Revenue
📈 What is it?
Revenue shows how much a company earns in total from selling its products and services – the gross income before any costs are deducted.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
Revenue is one of the key figures to assess a company’s size, market position, and growth potential.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Growing revenue indicates rising demand and can be an early signal of future earnings growth.
- Comparing actual and expected revenue reveals trends in the market environment and analyst sentiment.
- Note: Strong revenue alone isn’t enough – margins and profitability matter just as much.
📘 EBITDA
📈 What is it?
EBITDA stands for “Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization.” It reflects a company’s operating profit before the effects of financing, taxes, and accounting depreciation.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
EBITDA is widely used to evaluate a company’s operating performance – especially across capital-intensive sectors or international comparisons.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high or growing EBITDA indicates strong operational profitability – independent of taxes, interest, or accounting methods.
- It’s especially useful for comparing companies across sectors or geographies.
- Important: EBITDA is not a net income figure – it excludes key costs like depreciation and interest.
📘 EBIT
📈 What is it?
EBIT stands for “Earnings Before Interest and Taxes.” It reflects a company’s operating profit after depreciation, but before interest and tax expenses.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
EBIT is a core profitability metric that shows how well the company performs in its main business operations – independent of capital structure and tax environment.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high EBIT indicates strong profitability from the company’s core business – before financial and tax effects.
- It allows better comparison between companies with different debt levels or tax structures.
- Compared to EBITDA, EBIT already accounts for depreciation and reflects capital intensity more clearly.
📘 Net Income
📈 What is it?
Net income is the company’s total profit – the amount left after all expenses, taxes, interest, and depreciation have been deducted.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
Net income is the most comprehensive measure of a company’s profitability – showing how much actual profit remains after all business and financing costs.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Growing net income indicates that the company is managing all of its costs efficiently.
- It directly influences valuation metrics like P/E ratio and the company’s dividend capacity.
- Over time, net income trends reveal how resilient and profitable the business model really is.
📘 Free Cash Flow (FCF)
📈 What is it?
Free Cash Flow shows how much actual cash remains after a company covers its operating expenses and capital expenditures.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
FCF reflects a company’s real financial strength – regardless of accounting profits. It shows how much flexibility a company has for dividends, share buybacks, or debt reduction.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- High free cash flow means the company generates real, usable cash – independent of reported net income.
- It’s often the most reliable base for sustainable dividends and buybacks.
- Declining FCF can be an early warning sign – even when profits appear stable.
📘 Revenue Growth
📈 What is it?
Revenue growth shows how much a company’s sales have changed compared to the previous year – both on a trailing basis (TTM) and based on forward projections.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Forward = (Expected revenue ÷ Revenue in prior year − 1) × 100
Forward growth is based on analyst estimates for the current fiscal year.
🏛️ Why is it important?
Rising revenue signals growing demand, business expansion, and market share gains – especially important for growth-oriented companies.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Growth is the engine of long-term value creation – especially in tech and growth sectors.
- What matters is not just current growth, but its sustainability.
- Forward projections reflect whether analysts expect continued momentum – or a slowdown.
📘 EBITDA Growth
📈 What is it?
EBITDA growth shows how much a company’s operating profit (before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) has increased or decreased compared to the previous year.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Forward = (Expected EBITDA ÷ EBITDA from prior year − 1) × 100
The forward estimate is based on analyst projections for the current fiscal year.
🏛️ Why is it important?
Growing EBITDA indicates improving operational profitability – regardless of financing or accounting effects.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Strong EBITDA growth signals operational efficiency and scalability – especially during growth phases.
- EBITDA growth can be an early indicator of margin and earnings expansion – but should be assessed alongside revenue and EBIT.
📘 EBIT Growth
📈 What is it?
EBIT growth shows how much a company’s operating profit (after depreciation, but before interest and taxes) has increased compared to the previous year.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Forward = (Expected EBIT ÷ EBIT from prior year − 1) × 100
The forward estimate is based on analyst projections for the current fiscal year.
🏛️ Why is it important?
EBIT growth is a direct indicator of a company’s business performance – taking into account capital intensity through depreciation.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Rising EBIT signals improving operating profitability – even after accounting for depreciation.
- It’s especially important for evaluating companies with significant capital expenditures.
- Combined with revenue and EBITDA growth, EBIT growth provides a well-rounded view of operational progress.
📘 Net Income Growth
📈 What is it?
Net income growth shows how much a company’s bottom-line profit has increased or decreased compared to the previous year – both on a trailing basis (TTM) and based on analyst projections.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Forward = (Expected net income ÷ Net income from prior year − 1) × 100
The forward estimate reflects analysts’ expectations for the current fiscal year.
🏛️ Why is it important?
Net income is the ultimate measure of profitability. Growing net income signals stronger efficiency, cost control, and sustainable earnings power.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Stronger net income boosts valuation, dividend potential, and investor confidence.
- If profits stall while revenue grows, it may signal margin pressure.
📘 Free Cash Flow Growth
📈 What is it?
Free cash flow (FCF) growth shows how a company’s available cash – after covering operating expenses and capital expenditures – has changed compared to the previous year.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
Free cash flow reflects real financial strength. Growing FCF indicates more flexibility for dividends, share buybacks, and reinvestment.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Declining FCF may point to rising investments, increasing costs, or weaker operating performance.
- Especially for dividend investors, FCF growth is critical – since dividends are paid from actual available cash.
- A negative trend isn't always bad, but it deserves closer attention.
📘 Gross Margin
📈 What is it?
Gross margin shows how much of a company’s revenue remains after deducting the direct costs of goods sold (like materials and production). It represents the company’s “raw profit” before fixed costs, taxes, and interest.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Or simply: Gross Margin = Gross Profit ÷ Revenue × 100
🏛️ Why is it important?
Gross margin indicates how efficiently a company can produce or procure what it sells. It is a key measure of product-level profitability and pricing power.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high gross margin suggests strong pricing power and efficient production.
- Falling margins may signal rising input costs or competitive pressure.
- Compared to peers, gross margin offers insights into the quality of a business model.
📘 EBITDA Margin
📈 What is it?
The EBITDA margin shows how much of a company’s revenue remains as operating profit before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.It reflects operating efficiency without being distorted by financing or accounting factors.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
The EBITDA margin reveals how much operating income a company generates per dollar of revenue – independent of capital structure and tax effects.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high EBITDA margin reflects strong core profitability – before accounting distortions.
- It allows for effective comparisons across companies and sectors.
- A stable or growing margin signals efficient cost control and business scalability.
📘 EBIT Margin
📈 What is it?
The EBIT margin shows what percentage of revenue remains as operating profit after depreciation but before interest and taxes.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
The EBIT margin reflects a company’s core profitability while accounting for capital intensity (e.g. machinery, infrastructure). It’s especially useful for comparing businesses with different levels of depreciation.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high EBIT margin shows that the company remains efficient even after factoring in depreciation.
- It’s especially relevant for capital-intensive industries.
- Stable or rising EBIT margins over time are a strong indicator of pricing power and business quality.
📘 Net margin
📈 What is it?
Net margin shows how much of a company’s revenue remains as bottom-line profit after deducting all costs, interest, taxes, and depreciation.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
Net margin reflects a company’s overall efficiency – across operations, financing, and taxation. It shows how much actual profit is generated from each dollar of revenue.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high net margin means the company is not only strong operationally but also manages financing and taxes efficiently.
- Peer comparisons reveal business quality and competitiveness.
- Declining margins despite revenue growth can be a red flag for rising costs or inefficiencies.
📘 Free cash flow margin
📈 What is it?
The free cash flow (FCF) margin shows how much of a company’s revenue remains as actual free cash after covering all operating expenses and capital expenditures.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
This margin reflects the true liquidity generated by the business – independent of accounting rules or depreciation. It’s especially relevant for dividends, buybacks, and reinvestment decisions.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high FCF margin means a company consistently generates strong cash flow.
- It’s a positive signal for financial stability and shareholder returns.
- The long-term trend is key – a declining margin may indicate rising investments or weakening operating efficiency.
📘 Equity Ratio
📈 What is it?
The equity ratio indicates what portion of a company’s total assets is financed by shareholders’ equity – in other words, how much it relies on its own capital.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
A high equity ratio reflects financial strength and stability, especially during downturns. It’s a key indicator of a company’s solvency and long-term risk profile.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Companies with high equity ratios are generally more resilient and less dependent on external debt.
- Low equity ratios can signal higher risk or aggressive financial strategies.
- Important: Always assess the equity ratio in combination with the return on equity (ROE). This shows not just how stable the company is – but also how efficiently it uses shareholder capital.
📘 Return on Equity (ROE)
📈 What is it?
Return on equity (ROE) shows how efficiently a company uses its shareholders’ equity to generate profit. In other words: how much net income is earned per dollar of equity.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
ROE is a core profitability metric. It helps investors understand whether a company delivers attractive returns on the capital provided by its shareholders.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high ROE indicates that the company is using its capital efficiently and profitably.
- It’s especially meaningful for capital-intensive businesses or firms with high equity bases.
- Important: A very high ROE can also result from high debt levels – always interpret it alongside the equity ratio to assess financial health.
📘 Return on Capital Employed (ROCE)
📈 What is it?
ROCE measures how efficiently a company generates profits from its total capital – including both equity and interest-bearing debt.
🧮 How is it calculated?
It evaluates the return on all capital employed, regardless of how it’s financed.
🏛️ Why is it important?
ROCE is ideal for comparing companies with different financing structures. It shows how well management uses capital to create value for both shareholders and creditors.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high ROCE means the company uses its capital efficiently – regardless of whether it's funded by debt or equity.
- The higher the ROCE compared to peers, the more value the company creates with its invested capital.
- Especially relevant for capital-intensive sectors like industrials, energy, or infrastructure.
📘 Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)
📈 What is it?
ROIC measures how efficiently a company generates returns from the capital invested in its core operations – regardless of whether the capital comes from equity or debt.
🧮 How is it calculated?
- NOPAT = Net Operating Profit After Taxes
- Invested Capital = Operating assets minus non-interest-bearing liabilities
🏛️ Why is it important?
ROIC is one of the most accurate indicators of capital efficiency. Unlike return on equity, it is not distorted by leverage and shows how much value is created for all capital providers.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high ROIC shows how effectively a company uses the capital that is truly invested in its core operations.
- Unlike ROCE, ROIC focuses only on the capital that is actively used to run the business – and that requires a return (i.e. interest-bearing).
- Especially useful when comparing companies with large amounts of excess cash or non-interest-bearing liabilities – giving a more realistic picture of capital efficiency.
📘 Leverage Ratio (Debt-to-Equity)
📈 What is it?
The leverage ratio indicates how much a company relies on interest-bearing debt (such as loans and bonds) relative to its shareholders’ equity.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
This ratio helps assess a company’s financial structure and risk profile. High leverage can enhance returns – but also increases exposure to interest rate changes and financial stress.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low leverage ratio signals financial strength and independence.
- A higher ratio can improve returns in good times but increases risk during downturns or rising interest rate periods.
- 👉 Always interpret in the context of industry, capital intensity, and interest rate environment.
📘 Earnings per share (EPS)
📈 What is it?
Earnings per Share (EPS) shows how much profit is attributable to a single share – and is one of the most important metrics for evaluating a company's performance.
🧮 How is it calculated?
The diluted share count reflects potential new shares that could be issued through options, convertible bonds, or other rights.
🏛️ Why is it important?
EPS is the basis for many key valuation metrics like P/E ratio, PEG ratio, or payout ratio. It enables comparisons of profitability across companies, regardless of their size.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- EPS captures per-share profitability and is especially useful for comparisons over time or with analyst estimates.
- Rising EPS may signal consistent growth or share buybacks.
- Important: Always use diluted EPS for more realistic valuations – especially in companies with stock-based compensation.
📘 Free cash flow per share (FCF per share)
📈 What is it?
Free Cash Flow per Share shows how much free cash flow a company generates per outstanding share – after investments, but before dividends or debt repayments.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Free cash flow is calculated as operating cash flow minus capital expenditures (CapEx).
🏛️ Why is it important?
FCF per Share reveals how much real cash is available per share – useful for dividends, buybacks, or reducing debt. Unlike net income, free cash flow is harder to manipulate and often seen as a more reliable metric.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- High FCF per share signals strong financial flexibility.
- It shows how much capital the company can effectively reinvest or return to shareholders.
- Particularly relevant for dividend payers and capital-efficient businesses.
📘 Short interest
📈 What is it?
Short interest indicates how many shares of a company are currently sold short – that is, borrowed and sold by investors who expect the price to decline.
🧮 How is it calculated?
It reflects the percentage of a company’s shares that are being shorted relative to the total shares available.
🏛️ Why is it important?
Short interest serves as a sentiment indicator: A high value may signal skepticism or bearish expectations – but also increases the potential for a short squeeze if prices rise unexpectedly.
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Low short interest usually indicates market confidence in the company.
- High short interest can be a warning sign – or an opportunity if sentiment shifts.
- Especially relevant in volatile markets or ahead of key earnings releases.
📘 Employees
📈 What is it?
The employee count shows how many people a company employs worldwide – offering insights into its size, structure, and business model.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It helps assess operational scale, labor intensity, and cost structure. Combined with revenue and profit, it enables key metrics like revenue per employee or productivity.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high headcount can signal operational complexity – but also significant growth capacity.
- Revenue per employee is a key indicator of efficiency.
- Especially useful for comparing tech, industrial, or service-heavy companies.
📘 Turnover per employee
📈 What is it?
Revenue per employee indicates how much revenue a company generates on average per employee – a key measure of efficiency and productivity.
🧮 How is it calculated?
The employee count is typically taken from the most recent annual report.
🏛️ Why is it important?
This metric helps compare business models – especially between labor-intensive and technology-driven companies. A high value suggests automation, operational efficiency, or strong value creation per head.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high revenue per employee indicates a scalable and margin-strong business model.
- A low figure may reflect labor-intensive operations or lower value-add.
- Especially helpful when comparing tech companies to industrial or service sectors.
Konecranes Stock Analysis
Analyst Opinions
10 Analysts have issued a Konecranes forecast:
Analyst Opinions
10 Analysts have issued a Konecranes forecast:
Konecranes Events
Past Events
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JUL
24
Q2 2026 Earnings Call
2 months ago
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APR
29
Q1 2026 Earnings Call
5 months ago
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MAR
19
Special Call - Konecranes Plc
6 months ago
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FEB
5
Q4 2025 Earnings Call
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Konecranes — Q2 2026 Earnings Call
1. Management Discussion
Hello all, and welcome to follow Konecranes' Q2 2026 Results Webcast. My name is Linda Hakkila, I'm the VP, Investor Relations here at Konecranes. And today, with me as our main speakers, we have our CEO, Marko Tulokas; and our CFO, Teo Ottola.
Before we continue, I would like to remind you about the disclaimer as we might be making forward-looking statements. As per usual, we will first start with a presentation from our CEO. After that, our CFO, and then we are happy to answer your questions in the Q&A session. But now without any further comments, I would like to hand over to our CEO.
Thank you very much, Linda, and good afternoon from my behalf also. I'd like to start with some key topics of the quarter and start with commenting the customer activity. And I'm happy to say that we had a continued very strong and good customer activity throughout the quarter. That despite the continued geopolitical uncertainty, which has resulted some apprehension with customers and the timing of the orders as well as some volatility in supply chain.
Regardless of that uncertainty and apprehension, we had good demand, particularly in the Ports business segment as well as in defense, power and aviation in the industrial side to name a few. And because of that, our quarter 2 orders actually were very strong, and that resulted also in the highest order book that we have had in 3 years. This, of course, is a very good quarter 2 for us.
Now the uncertainty in the environment reflected maybe more on the sales and the delivery side, but our volumes remaining on the previous year level or actually slightly below, and that is mainly due to the expected timing of the ports order book. Our ability to execute and apply cost control resulted in a solid result, particularly in such a volume environment.
And also, I'd like to say that I'm really happy and particularly happy that we had good M&A activity in the quarter. So right after the end of the quarter, we were able to announce the recent planned acquisition of 70% majority interest in MFK, which is Mitsubishi Electric Corporation's wire rope hoist and gear motor business in Japan.
And of course, that is a very important milestone for Konecranes and in our expansion plans for our geographical presence. Japan is the third largest crane, crane service and wire rope hoist in the world. And of course, for our mid- to long-term plans, this is, of course, a very significant win. Very happy about that.
So now let's move on to the quarter financials and more specific comments. So we had good orders from all 3 business areas, 2 great orders for Port Solutions, 2 larger ones. I'll talk about that a little bit later. Navy order for Industrial Equipment and the Defense segment as well as solid growth for industrial service, both in the agreement base as well as in the orders.
And that resulted in an order intake growth of 13% year-on-year with comparable currencies. And consequently, to an order book that is 15% higher than the previous year at EUR 3.4 billion and the best order book that we have had in 3 years. And that, of course, gives us good prospects for the second half.
Our sales is still behind previous year. That is predominantly a ports deliveries timing issue. But there was also some industrial service and port service-related customer apprehension that reflected to -- from the agreement-based invoicing and resulting spin. But also, we've seen some developments towards the end of the quarter that are improving that development. Too early to say.
Solid margins, particularly if one considers the volume environment, 1.6% behind previous year, but that was predominantly impacted by the volume environment. Now moving on to our demand environment. And if you look at the 2 key indicators here, the capacity utilization and the purchase manager index or the confidence indicators, looking at first, the 2 largest regions, the EMEA and U.S. or EU and U.S., the capacity utilization has been flat roughly the last 12 months with some slight increase in the previous couple of months.
Funnels. Our own funnels are solid. Customers are hesitant to some extent. But as I've said -- as I was saying earlier, we do see solid activity in several customer segments in the industrial side. This capacity utilization related apprehension is more maybe visible in the service work and how much service workers customers actually place or order against the order book that we have and hence, that reflects somewhat to the delivery side in service.
Looking at the manufacturing confidence and the PMI expansion, that shows actually for the second quarter in a row in all 4 key market areas that we operate expansion. That has not all translated into demand for us yet. But generally speaking, that describes a more positive while still cautious environment. And China, although there is a clear slowing down or decrease in the purchase margin index still shows expansion. And that for us shows as an active market, although at the same time, very intense domestic competition.
Now I would next look at the Port segment. And here, the good activity level continues. So when we look at the container throughput index, that continues to be on a very high level historically, and we saw another 3% increase year-on-year in the container throughput.
And of course, the long-term drivers, they remain the same. The automation trend that we've seen, the geopolitical trends that drives also replacement of logistic flows and therefore, also the ports and terminals, the electrification and sustainability trend as well as then the demographics, which drive both automation and the outsourcing trends.
More on a current note, particularly if you look at the current geopolitical environment, and particularly this situation of crisis in the Middle East. The impact of that is somewhat, but in a smaller way in sales side and in the sales delays. But when we look at the demand environment, in fact, that is in the short and midterm, also having some potential positive opportunities.
We see some realignment of investments because of the change in the logistic flows and most recently is, of course, the announced plans in UAE that there would be a new terminal on the East Coast of United Arab Emirates because of the situation. And that's a good example of what these sorts of things actually may result in particularly in this industry.
And also the other thing is that our customers in this industry are the shipping lines and terminal operators, they are doing financially very well and very much continue the consolidation and investment into the terminals and in this business. And that, of course, is a positive driver for us.
Now looking still a bit more in detail to the volume development. As I said, orders were solid from all 3 BAs and particularly in Port Solutions, we saw a good order intake increase. We had 2 large orders, one from YILPORT, which was announced and the other one was an unannounced larger order. But besides that, we also had a decent order intake in Port Solutions in the other segments, too.
In the Industrial Equipment side, one large defense segment Navy order in the United States, but I can also say that we have continued to see solid component distribution business development also in the second quarter. And in the Industrial Service side, 5% growth in orders and 4% in agreement base, which, of course, is a positive thing.
We see an increase in Americas and Asia Pacific, but some decrease still in EMEA that maybe reflects the demand environment too. And on the sales side, Industrial Equipment saw actually growth, and the slowness has been in Industrial Service side, particularly in EMEA and in Asia Pacific.
And of course, as I said already a couple of times, the Port Solutions, it's the timing of deliveries issues. And most of that, of course, is planned and well known in advance. These volumes, of course, they resulted in the clearly high order book compared to the previous quarter and what we had last year. So we have a 15% higher order book than previous year at the same time. That's best in 3 years. All business areas increased.
And of course, we have a confidence building order book for second half deliveries since we have EUR 200 million higher order book for the second half of this year compared to the previous year at the same time.
And on this section, finally, I shortly again touch upon the -- our progression towards the financial targets. We saw a slight decline in the 12-month rolling comparable EBITA development in Industrial Service, Port Solutions and the group volume, whereas Industrial Equipment continued to gradually improve.
What I can, of course, say is that, well, we are well within the target range that we have set up for ourselves until 2029, as also communicated earlier. Now at this stage, I'd like to turn over to Teo, and then I'll come back a bit later also for 2 more things or 3 more things actually.
Thank you, Marko.
Thank you.
And let's move more into the numbers. And let's start with the group profitability slide. So as we already saw, so we had a decline in the group comparable EBITA of 1.6 percentage points to 12.7% now in the second quarter of '26.
When we take a look at it by BA, so we had actually an improvement in Industrial Equipment, we had a decline in Port Solutions and Service. And when we take a look at the business areas where we had a decline, so the main reason for the decline was the underlying volume development, which was downwards.
If we unpack the EBITA a little bit more with the help of the EBITA bridge on the right-hand side. So first of all, we note that the decline in euros was EUR 20 million. If we go more into the details and take a look at the pricing impact, so we had maybe 2% to 3% higher prices now than a year ago. When we combine that with the fact that the sales declined in comparable currencies by 2.8%. So we are actually looking at an underlying volume decline of 5% or even slightly more, which obviously flows into the EBIT development as well as a negative item.
Then when we take a look at the inflation, so actually, the inflation was roughly in line with the price increases that we had, so somewhere between 2% and 3% on a weighted average basis. And we did not now in this quarter have a really net of inflation gain or loss. So we were basically able to cover the inflation with the price increases, but not really more than that. This is as such okay, but it is, of course, a little bit different than what we have been having in the previous quarters because we have had quite many quarters where we have had a net of inflation pricing gain. And this time, that was not the case.
When we then take a look at the other elements, so mix impact was not really meaningfully big. So it was a fairly small one. We had a small negative from the execution, so from the performance in a year-on-year comparison. And then when we take a look at the fixed costs, so the delta in the bridge, minus EUR 7 million. So this is basically inflation and that much we were able to, of course, then compensate with the pricing.
As said, we were able to cover for the inflation, but nothing extra on top of that one. And then the overall end conclusion is that basically what comes through to the EBIT is then the volume impact. And the other topics are then more or less netting each other out. So it's the underlying volume development, which is behind the profitability development.
Then when we move into the businesses and start with the service. So the order intake was roughly EUR 400 million. That is an increase of a little bit more than 5% in comparable currencies. We had increase both in field service as well as in parts. When we take a look at the regions, we had an increase in the Americas and EMEA, but a decrease in APAC.
Again, taking a look at the regions, one can say that the Americas region order intake was very strong now in the second quarter. Then the agreement base continued to grow, again, higher than 4% growth year-on-year in comparable currencies, very good news there. And then the order book is higher than a year ago. It's also higher than at the end of the first quarter. So both sequential and year-on-year growth from the order book point of view.
Sales, minus 1.7% in comparison to the situation a year ago. Now despite the fairly good order intake, so we have some slowness in the sales. And like Marko already pointed out, so it comes partially from the -- maybe a bit lower-than-expected invoicing regarding the agreement base and also then that our order book is now a little bit higher than what it has been.
So part of it is in the order book in a way and part is in the slower than, let's say, normal invoicing from the agreement base. We, however, feel that this is primarily a timing topic and the sales performance will recover going forward to the second half.
Then when taking a look at the comparable EBITA margin, 21.2%. This is a decline of 1.4 percentage point year-on-year. Here, the reason is the same as for the whole group. So it is basically the underlying volume, which is causing the decline in the service EBITA margin.
Industrial Equipment then, very good order intake in the second quarter, more than 18% growth in a year-on-year comparison. So we had good growth in components. We also had good growth in process cranes, but a slight decline in standard cranes in a year-on-year comparison.
And then again, taking a look at the regions. So Americas was strong here also like in service as well. Also APAC grew, but EMEA was more or less stable in a year-on-year comparison. Then of course, the sequential comparison is interesting and important as well. There, we had a decline in standard cranes as well as in components, but process cranes were more or less flat in a sequential comparison.
It's worth noting that component order intake despite declining a little bit in a sequential comparison, still continued to be on a very good level. Here, too, the order book increased both in a year-on-year comparison as well as in the sequential comparison.
Net sales grew by 8.6% in year-on-year comparison. We actually here had a growth in all business units. Some delays from the customer deliveries point of view but nothing major and sales growth is there. So then when we take into -- take a look at the comparable EBITA margin, 6.9%, 0.6 percentage point improvement. So this is, of course, then a different story than in the service.
For example, volume increased and supported the EBITA. Also pricing gave a small positive here within Industrial Equipment. But then on the negative side, on the other hand, we have the FX, so euro-dollar in particular, which is impacting us, which is in a worse position from our point of view than a year ago. And then also from the execution point of view, it was not a completely clean quarter. So there was a little bit of that also included in the numbers.
Then Port Solutions, also here, actually excellent order intake, the growth, 17% year-on-year, like Marko already pointed out, we had 2 large orders that were received in the second quarter. Activity overall was good in RTGs, lift trucks also port service in a year-on-year comparison.
Then when we take a look at the sales, we have a clear decline, almost 13% in a year-on-year comparison. Again, repeating what Marko already mentioned. So this is primarily an order book timing topic. So the deliveries are scheduled for a later time. This was the main reason a couple of deliveries probably could have been going to within the Q2 and slipped to Q3.
Additionally, unfortunately, we were not able to deliver the pending Middle East case that was there pending already at the end of Q1. So that was a little bit less than EUR 50 million impact. But like I said, this, we had already at the end of Q1. But we haven't really seen any major new delays as a result of the conflict in the Middle East.
Then when we take a look at the comparable EBITA, 10.8%, 1.9 percentage point down in a year-on-year comparison. So of course, the decline is primarily as a result of the lower volume. The profit was supported a little bit by a U.S. tariff refund. So we have applied for refunds. We have received also refund. It was a little bit less than EUR 2 million for Port Solutions in this quarter, and this was a tariff that we actually originally paid last year and now that we have got a refund. So it is, of course, helping our Q2 result then this year.
Then a couple of comments on the balance sheet and cash flow. And here on the net working capital side, we have actually now for the first time in 2 years, we have a situation that we are on the wrong side of our target of being below 10% of rolling 12-month sales. This is because of the inventories. So it is the work in progress primarily, which is causing this. So of course, the sales are a little bit on the low side.
And of course, the flip side is then that the goods are in the inventory. So that is the reason behind that. Advances from customers are on a somewhat higher level, but it is obviously not enough to compensate for the buildup in the work in progress or the contract assets that we now have there. And this is, of course, also a timing topic. But we are, like I said, on the wrong side of the -- of our own target in this quarter.
This then, of course, impacts our free cash flow as well. So the second quarter free cash flow was not good on the negative. And when we take a look at it on a rolling 12-month basis, so we are now very close to a situation that we have cash conversion at about 100% at the end of the Q2 on a rolling 12-month basis. The cash flow is then, of course, reflected on this slide.
So on the right-hand side, we can see the net debt. So net working capital development has impacted this one. A bigger impact, however, comes, of course, from the dividend payment that was taken care of in the second quarter, and now we are in a small net debt situation at the end of the second quarter. When taking a look at the rolling 12-month ROCE, so we are there 22.5% with on a comparable return on capital employed basis. With these comments, I will then hand over back to Marko.
Thank you, Teo. Talking about our demand outlook. So we reiterate our earlier demand outlook. And in our industrial customer segment, we do expect that our demand environment remains to be healthy, as I was explaining earlier.
And then for Port customers, container throughput is on a high level. And as already earlier described, the long-term prospects are remaining very good. However, the uncertainty has not gone anywhere, and that is, of course, related to the geopolitics and the tariff policy that has also not changed and is almost equally as volatile as it was before. And that, of course, keeps the uncertainty in the demand outlook.
And from a financial guidance point of view, we reiterate the guidance of net sales expected to remain approximately on the same level or to increase from previous year and that our comparable EBITA margin is expected to remain approximately on the same level. So that means that we remain confident, thanks to a good order book and stable profitability development, but at the same time, realistic about the uncertainties in the environment.
And with that, I have one more message, and that is that we have at Konecranes worked to further sharpen our strategic priorities and ambitions. And I'd like to tell you more or we'd like to tell you more in connection with our quarter 3 results on October 23.
So you are very welcome to join us either virtually or in Helsinki, and we will then share more of these strategic priorities and ambitions and welcome a discussion with all of you. And with that, I am happy to close this section and move on to the Q&A with Linda.
Thank you for the presentations, Marko and Teo. Now we will start the Q&A session for today. So operator, we are ready to start taking questions through the conference call lines.
[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Daniela Costa from Goldman Sachs.
2. Question Answer
I have 2, and I will ask them one at a time. But first, I just wanted to understand on the service margin a little bit better because is there any impact also from mix? Or how should we think about the fact that parts went up and field services went down? I would have thought that is mix accretive.
But then from the other hand, we also had Asia doing better than the rest of the world. And maybe extending that to -- you mentioned the order book a bit when you were going through the explanations, I didn't quite get it, but what's been the trend of margins in the order and agreements book?
Maybe you want to take?
If we start with the service question and the mix impact there. So yes, it is correct that the spare parts have been doing and we're doing now from the order intake point of view and sales point of view, also a little bit better than the field service.
The difference also this time as in so many other times within the service is not so big that it would be significantly impacting the margin structure so that the mix typically doesn't have a huge impact within the service. This was undoubtedly a small positive, but nothing so much that it would be clearly visible in the margin.
Then we take a look at the gross margin in service and compare it to the situation a year ago, so it is very -- these 2 are very close to each other. Of course, now we need to remember that we have been having a little bit, let's say, additional cost burden as a result of the Middle East conflict because some of the cost items like fuel has been on a higher level than what it was earlier. But we have been able to mitigate that cost increase quite well within our -- with our own actions.
And hence, the gross margins there are basically more or less unchanged. So it is the volume drop that actually causes the decline in the profitability within service.
And the other question was about the order book margins. And I guess that is for service as well as elsewhere, the order book margins are roughly on the same level where they have been. in the year-to-date numbers, right?
That is correct. And of course, within service, the order book is maybe then more focused or it's more on the modernization side. So it's not maybe less the spare parts and the field service part. But by and large, of course, that is correct.
And now, by the way, when we take a look at the order intake now in the second quarter for service, so -- and like I said, it was quite good, more than 5% growth. This was not because of the modernization. So we didn't have more modernizations now than a year ago, actually the other way around. So modernization order intake was somewhat lower than in the second quarter of last year.
Got it. And just on the free cash flow, you had all these very large orders towards the back end of the quarter. Is it -- are we missing the advances from these recent large orders? And is that why the free cash flow was negative? Or sort of can you delve a little bit into what caused it?
Timing of the order intake is basically what caused it. So these came very much towards the end of the quarter. And then the advanced payment in a way, schedule was not in place to the extent that maybe it would have been if this had been done 2 months earlier or 1.5 months earlier. So this is the basic example in that one.
So there hasn't been any major significant shift within the contract terms from higher advances to lower advances or anything like that. So that -- so the advanced payments continue -- have been and they continue to be part of the way of doing business in these kind of deals where a cancellation would be a problem for us because of the tailor-made cranes.
The next question comes from Panu Laitinmaki from Danske Bank.
I have 2 questions. Firstly, on the guidance. So you keep it unchanged. You are behind last year after the first half. So could you talk about kind of drivers in the second half that enabled you to kind of reach the guidance, especially given that the margin comps are pretty high?
And then the second is on services. So I didn't fully understand the kind of comment that you had good orders, but then lower sales. So customers are -- could you explain the thing with the kind of lower delivery from the agreement base? And is this improving going into Q3 already?
Maybe I can start on that. On the confidence for the second half, particularly, and that's, of course, predominantly related to the stronger order book. So our order book is roughly EUR 200 million stronger.
And unless we see a deteriorating delivery environment compared to the situation that there is today, then, of course, that gives us confidence that we should be able to deliver the second half. And of course, the delivery -- as was also stated or explained by Teo as it relates to service, of course, that is something that drives the profitability also very well.
And that, of course, is predominantly the reason why we are confident on the second half guidance under these current assumptions and conditions. And the other question was about the service margin?
Service sales probably.
Yes, service sales, yes, sorry, yes. That service sales topic, I mean, you were referring to how come the service sales is behind or the book-to-bill to the orders is what it is.
Of course, that is, to some extent, there are elements there that may be not easy even for someone like us to explain. But the key reason is that, of course, customers, when they have such a environment where they either may be very loaded with the project, which is the case with some of customers or in some cases, have additional capacity or uncertainty themselves, they may hold back on the agreement-based orders or sales that they have already ordered in.
Hence, when they order less, then, of course, that is something that also results in a spin later or the sales that we would get from that inspection visit. And that, of course, why there is a lag or a snowball that we maybe push ahead of us or will push ahead of us in service.
Of course, the orders are there and the agreement base is there. So eventually, the customer will need to do that maintenance and that service and replace that part. And that, of course, why we are also confident from the service side that this will -- now that once we're back on growth track with the orders that will turn into sales.
One way of taking a look at the same with the -- in light of the numbers is that when we take a look at the agreement base growth, which has been 4% or more, and then we take a look at the invoicing from the agreement base. So it is growing less. So in a way, there is a delay in delivering the agreement base. And that delay is something like now was stated so that we feel that it is temporary and it will be fulfilled over time.
But now it has been -- there has been a mismatch within the growth of the agreement base and the agreement base related invoicing. But there is, of course, the other explanation as well. So if you take a look at the order book for service, which typically is fairly modest, but now it has been growing.
And for example, if we take a look at the order book for service at the end of Q1 and compare it to the end of Q2, so we have a higher order book. So some of the orders that have been done now, for example, retrofits that -- for which the quarter was quite good. So they have not been delivered. But of course, the order book will be delivered at a given time going forward. But of course, now the Q2 sales was maybe a little bit lower than what we would have wanted to be.
Okay. Can I just ask as a follow-up? So how should we kind of interpret this that you have been talking about a bit cautious service market for a while, but now the order intake trends were clearly better. So should we kind of understand that it's been an inflection point and it's getting better? Or is it still kind of softish given the sales dynamics that you explained?
It is a bit, let's say, market that is like I were describing cautious. So there are elements there that give confidence, but I would say that it's probably just to be on the conservative side to say that it is a bit too early to say, but the outlook is more positive than it was a few months ago. And there are elements there that could turn this much more positive going forward.
And if we take a look at the data that we get from the claims at the customers, so what we have been seeing is that the utilization rates seem to be going in the right direction, so up in the beginning of the year, so Q1 or so when we have been -- when we take a look at it now, so it's still on a higher level than year-to-date.
But then again, I mean, the last couple of months have not been superb in a sequential comparison. So there's maybe a little bit conflicting messages. So as cliche as it is, so one needs to say that the uncertainty is there. But then again, when we take a look at the behavior that we had from the order intake point of view, for example, in the Americas now in the second quarter. So both service and equipment were strong from the order intake point of view. So there are also good signs in that.
The next question comes from Mikael Doepel from Nordea.
Just a follow-up on this last one. So you mentioned that in terms of the service business, there are elements that are looking more positive than 2 months ago. Could you just clarify what elements are you actually referring to?
I believe that is -- as was stating that we see the activity in the so-called TRUCONNECT or the connected crane that is on a year-on-year basis is higher, but slightly lower in the last month's comparison. But in a year comparison between quarters, it is positive. So that's one small signal.
And of course, when we look at our sales funnels, they are on a rather healthy level. The uncertainty comes from things like that, okay, when does the order actually placed and when it gets delivered. And that, to some extent, it's the same on the service side.
There are not very clear signs that one could immediately be able to interpret that we are going in one particular direction. So it is the funnel value. So they are stable on a fairly good level when we take a look at the number of new cases that have come to the funnel.
So it is very stable in comparison to, let's say, what it was some months ago, if there is a difference within service. So it's maybe slightly to the positive. But what can one, I mean, conclude out of all of this so that in the big picture, it seems the overall environment seems pretty stable. And then there are these regional differences like now Americas looked much more positive than EMEA, for example, from the service point of view. And I guess the same applies to the equipment as well.
Okay. So it's fair to say that you -- I mean, in terms of the sales funnel, I guess, what you're talking about now is not only service, but broadly speaking, sales funnel that you see those as solid across business segments and regions?
Summary level, yes. So that is with differences. And I mean just on the service side, still maybe if you look at the modernization, there is quite a bit of modernization activity.
One of those things that in the last quarters, we have been in the funnel, I mean, because you can only -- you can only go so long without doing a modernization or replacement. That is also one sign when you are saying that what are the reasons why we believe that there would be a good trend. But again, that is only one sign.
Good. Then just a final question on the -- I mean, I guess, Teo, you mentioned the pricing net of cost inflation in the quarter was fairly neutral and it has been slightly positive, I guess, in the couple of past quarters. How should we think about this equation going forward? I mean, what are you seeing out there?
I could assume that maybe there is some increased cost pressures out there on logistics and other things. But at the same time, I would also assume that you're adjusting your pricing. So how should we think about this going forward? And also not really related to this, but in terms of the tariff refunds, what do you expect on that front into the second half?
Yes. If we start with the pricing. So I guess that it's the same commentary as we have been having earlier as well. So we feel that we will be able to price inflation in. So there can be, of course, certain delays if there are abrupt chokes to the system, either from the freight point of view or from the fuel point of view.
But as we can see now within the second quarter, we have been able to handle those, for example, now fairly well. And then we are cautioning that one should not think that we would be automatically be able to make net of inflation pricing gain going forward. So the -- our commentary is that we will be able to push inflation into the customer prices, but not necessarily much more.
If that is the case, that we can increase value added to the customer and can increase pricing more. So that's very good. But let's not count on that on a short and midterm basis. Then regarding the tariff situation. So of course, I mean, this goes in phases in the U.S., like you most likely know.
And of course, we will be applying for more refunds if the system allows that. So we will be following how it is done, and then we will be applying more as we go. But there are, of course, uncertainties related to this one as well. So time will tell in that how it will go impactice.
[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Antti Kansanen from SEB.
Just a couple of follow-ups left from me. First is on the commentary of having EUR 200 million more from the backlog for the second half. Is this comment predominantly for the Port segment? Or is it divided also for the industrial side?
Because it is divided by everybody, but of course, mostly ports where that is coming from, but all the business areas have a stronger order book. And if you look at service and also Industrial Equipment, the throughput times are generally speaking, shorter than ports, so for all of them.
And maybe coming back to the previous question on the pricing in the backlog. I mean, you mentioned that perhaps we shouldn't expect you to be able to price net of inflation gains.
But if you look at kind of that order backlog that is now set to roll out on the second half, are you fully covered for this kind of inflationary pressures that have this year hit, you mentioned fuel and perhaps some raw materials as well. Is there a concern that there might be a temporary kind of net of inflation headwind coming on the second half? I understand that you price in new orders with good pricing, but the existing backlog?
One could maybe formulate it so that in the big picture, we think that we are quite okay. But of course, if there are now from this onwards, let's say, during the second half of the year, again, a new shock on something as a result of whatever takes place in the world. So then, of course, it can be that there are temporary issues for us.
And the reason for that one is the same as we -- I think we discussed in connection to the Q1 as well, so that in those agreements and cases that we have in the order book, so it is difficult to get the price escalation there because it's already been agreed.
And if there are cost items that are unhedged, like fuel and freight, at least to some extent. So then that may be more difficult to cover on a short-term basis. But like I said, based on the current situation, we don't see a massive risk from that point of view. But if something unexpected happens, so then, of course, it may have an impact.
Okay. And then the very last from me is on the Industrial Equipment profitability on second half of last year, which is, as it was referred earlier, quite a challenging comp in margins are a bit of an outlier.
And if I remember correctly, you then flagged some temporary pricing gains from the tariff landscape. So could you maybe walk us through a little bit what's a reasonable expectation now on the second half versus what you did a year ago on the Industrial Equipment side?
Yes, of course. I'll start again. So of course, there was some tariff tailwind. I think it was EUR 2 million a quarter level in Industrial Equipment. And of course, that is no longer a tailwind, but it's neither a headwind on this year.
And of course, this -- my understanding also the currency is working against us a bit still in Industrial Equipment. Other than that, whether we had anything more specific than rather just good volumes last year and good execution that I have to ask Teo, from.
We had some like the R&D grant we had -- so -- but I mean, I guess that it is fair to say that when we take a look at the tariff situation, so the tailwind that we had from that one, that's not going to be there most likely unless there are again changes that we do not know of today, but that is maybe not there.
On the other hand, then when one takes a look at the FX, which has been for an industrial equipment, a little bit of a burden now in the second quarter, in particular, but also Q1. So this one, based on the euro-dollar rates now should not be going in the worse direction. It should be going slightly to the better direction now in the third quarter. And then, of course, the fourth quarter is still open, not fully hedged.
Okay. So -- and then there's obviously the volume impact, which should be perhaps positive also for the Industrial Equipment from the backlog, which helps you to offset some of these last year's tailwinds.
Yes.
There are no more questions at this time. So I hand the conference back to the speakers.
It seems that there are no more questions. So this concludes our Q&A session for today. I want to thank you everyone for following our event today. And before we close the call, I would like to remind you that we update on October 23. But thank you once again, and have a lovely day.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Konecranes — Q2 2026 Earnings Call
Konecranes — Q1 2026 Earnings Call
1. Management Discussion
Hello all, and welcome to follow Konecranes' Q1 2026 Results Webcast. Apologies for the small delay. We had some technical issues here at the studio.
My name is Linda Hakkila, I'm the Head of Investor Relations here at Konecranes. And with me today as our main speakers, we have our President and CEO, Marko Tulokas; and our CFO, Teo Ottola. Before we continue, I would like to remind you about the disclaimer as we might be making forward-looking statements.
As usual, we will first start with our presentations, both from the CEO and CFO. And after that, we're happy to answer your questions through the conference call lines. But now without any further comments, I would like to hand over to our CEO.
Thank you, Linda, and good afternoon, everybody.
I'd like to start by describing the first quarter operating environment and some of the key parameters to this first quarter.
First of all, as we all have obviously seen that there's quite a lot of geopolitical uncertainty. And this first quarter, it, of course, continued in the form of the conflict in the Middle East. This has created some uncertainty and apprehension amongst our customers, but also some supply chain discrepancies. But what we are very happy about that, what I'm very happy about that we managed to end the quarter with very good orders. If we look at our demand environment in general, there are many segments that held very, very well, where others also slowed and the same is valid for the different regions and business areas.
What I'm particularly happy about is that our relative profitability held very well, improved and actually was the first -- the best quarter 1 ever in Konecranes' history despite the lower volumes of this first quarter. So that really speaks for Konecranes team's ability to execute price and apply cost control also under such circumstances.
And in the next coming slides, we'll talk more about that. So again, if you look at this order intake development, that was really a good start to the year, and that's considering the environment very satisfactory. So our order intake grew almost 4% year-on-year with comparable currencies. At the same time, sales volumes, we are less happy about. There are a few reasons for that, to be specific, and we'll talk more about that. But as a result of these 2 things, of course, our order book grew to a very satisfactory EUR 3.2 billion. That is actually the highest level in the last 3 years, and it is a good starting point for the rest of the year. So our order book is, in fact, EUR 100 million higher in the end of quarter 1 this year as it was previous year for the deliveries -- for the 2026 sales.
Also, what we are very happy about that our comparable EBITA margin increased to 11.6%. That is the highest ever quarter 1 margin, as I already stated. It improved in the Industrial Services and Port Solutions, but slightly decreased in Industrial Equipment and particularly in Industrial Equipment because of the lower volume in quarter 1. These improvements were mainly driven by very good execution, favorable mix as well as pricing and applying cost control.
Now let's move on to look at the key operating environment parameters for first quarter, and there's 2 things that I'd like to talk about here, which are the most obvious one. And the first one is the conflict in Middle East, and the second one is the U.S. tariffs, which have been with us now for the last 4 quarters.
I'll start with the Middle East conflict. First and foremost, Konecranes operates in 4 countries in Middle East. We have roughly 180 Konecranes team members in that region. That is approximately 1% of our whole organization or our workforce. And the most important thing for us, of course, is the safety of our team members. And I'm really happy to say that our team has been safe and out of harm's way the whole duration of this conflict.
Konecranes sales to Middle East is less than 5% of group sales. And the impact on the first quarter to our sales related to this conflict is approximately EUR 50 million or somewhat less than that. We also have seen some freight and fuel costs rising, but that has been for quarter 1 result, a fairly limited impact. And we are managing those cost pressures either with our long-term hedging arrangements as well as our pricing actions and logistical rearrangements.
Secondly, related to the U.S. tariff situation, there's also been some changes. So the Section 232 tariffs, they do remain in place. But as -- I'm sure many of you have seen and heard in the -- from the other calls also, there is changes to the calculation methodology. And at the same time, when there are changes to the reciprocal tariffs, replacing the 15% with new tariffs of 10%. As a net effect of those -- both changes, our analysis shows that the net effect is negligible or nonmaterial.
And finally, the tariffs to the Chinese-made port crane port equipment, there is no material change, and they do remain in place. So in that respect, our operating environment opportunities have not changed. Now moving on to our demand environment in the next coming slides. And I'd like to start with the Industrial Service and Industrial Equipment as usual.
So when we look at our usual key indicators and to start with the capacity utilization, what is -- what can be seen here is that for our 2 largest regions, Europe and U.S., the manufacturing capacity utilization has been approximately flat for the last 12 months with some improvement in EMEA and a slight decline in the U.S. and that also reflects somewhat how our funnels look. But I can generally speaking, say that our sales funnels in the Industrial business remain solid, and we see good activity in many segments. But it's obvious, and it's necessary to say that particularly in such a situation, the customers' hesitation and, let's say, somewhat nervous reactions to these changes or different news is, of course, visible. And the decision-making, therefore, is slower or more difficult to anticipate than maybe usually it would be.
Now if you look at the same environment from the manufacturing demand indicator or the confidence PMI point of view, it is obviously the same picture, a fairly flat development in the last year. What is noteworthy here is that EMEA is showing expansion. It's actually the 4-year high and also now showing confidence or expansion in the EMEA region. That is, of course, good news and long waited. And as I said earlier, our funnels also in that respect are in good order.
The other thing I'd also like to say about this, of course, there's been some, let's say, decline in the Indian manufacturing PMI visible in this slide also as the graph on the top. From our point of view, the India market is -- continues to be a very solid market and the manufacturing activity is very buoyant and there are good funnels in place. There is no material change to that from our point of view.
Now moving on to the Port Solutions. Container throughput index, the main indicator here continues to be on a good level. In fact, it's actually for the first part of this year or first quarter of this year has been a very good solid development with the container throughput with minor decline in -- or slowing in the growth rate in the last month of previous quarter, and that can be contributed to the Middle East story, but it is still a very positive sentiment. And as always, here, it is important to remember that the long-term drivers for this container handling business and the investment to container handling is very positive. So there is the automation trend, the geopolitical trend of repatriation of volumes, the consolidation trend in the industries and the sustainability, electrification trends and then, of course, demographics, which all drive long-term positive demand or investment in the container handling industry.
Looking at the volumes, once again, as I stated, a solid order intake. That is an increase, particularly in Industrial Equipment. We did have one large process crane order Industrial Equipment. Also, there is some decrease in Industrial Service, but we continue to expand our agreement base, which is, of course the most important thing is our growth engine going forward. And we had a good quarter in Port Solutions, but didn't quite make the same level as we had last year first quarter, which is also a very, very solid quarter.
Increase in the Americas region and Asia Pacific, but slight decline in EMEA regionally looking at things. And on the sales side, it was a slower quarter, and that was actually in all business areas and in all regions. And there are basically 3 core reasons for this. First of all, seasonality, typically, quarter 1 is a slower season, particularly -- slower quarter in -- particularly in the industrial business side, timing of deliveries reflecting to our project businesses, imports as well as the process crane and industrial side. And then, of course, the Middle East impact, which was somewhat less than EUR 15 million. And these 3 contributed to the somewhat slower volumes in first quarter compared to last year.
But I'm also very happy about that the book-to-bill ratio continues to be positive and has been more or less for the last 1 year. And that, of course, means that we have a very strong order book that is on its highest level in 3 years since quarter 3 of 2023. at EUR 3.2 billion. It's an increase in Industrial Equipment and Port Solutions and a slight decrease in Industrial Service, and we had also sequential growth of this order book of 6.3% from the previous quarter.
And finally, such a solid developing quarter 1 for our profitability, particularly when we had somewhat lower volumes is something that builds confidence on us also that we are very well on track further for our financial -- long-term financial targets, as you see from this particular graph.
So I'd like to now ask Teo Ottola to join me next, and then I'll come back shortly for the demand outlook and the guidance.
Thank you, Marko. And let's actually continue with the profitability where Marko already started. So our comparable EBITA margin improved from 11.1% to 11.6% in a year-on-year comparison. Despite the improvement in the margin, the comparable EBITA in euros declined by EUR 3 million. And we can next take a look at some of the factors behind these changes with the help of the EBITA bridge that you can see on the right-hand side of the slide.
So if we start with the pricing, so pricing impact in a year-on-year comparison was something like 3% or so -- and when we combine that information with the fact that the sales declined by almost 5% in comparable currencies, we are actually taking a look at quite a significant underlying volume decline in a year-on-year comparison, which is obviously creating a negative impact to the EBITA comparison against Q1 of '25.
On a more positive note, so the pricing -- net of inflation pricing impact continued to be positive. Also, product mix was more favorable now than what it was a year ago, but particularly performance, so execution was better than what it was a year ago, and this creates a positive delta to the EBITA bridge. The difference primarily comes from Port Solutions, actually, when it comes to the execution.
Further, when we take a look at the fixed costs, so fixed costs were well under control, like Marko already mentioned, we actually had slightly lower fixed costs in Q1 now in comparison to the situation a year ago. However, then the currencies, and this is the translation impact that we are seeing here, translation impact was negative in the amount of roughly EUR 5 million in a year-on-year comparison.
So as a summary, the EBITA was burdened by lower underlying volumes. But then on the other hand, it was supported by good execution, good cost control and net of inflation pricing. Then we can move to the business areas, and let's start with the service as usual. Service order intake with comparable currencies was almost 1% up in a year-on-year comparison -- in this slide, we can very clearly see that now in Q1, the FX differences have been quite big. So the order intake declined by almost 4% in reported currencies.
Now the bullet points in the slides, so they are with reported currencies as they should be. But of course, now that the FX differences are big, so this skews some of the underlying development. For example, now in service, when we take a look at the different parts of the businesses, so we actually grew both in parts as well as in field service when we take a look at the situation in comparable currencies, of course, more in parts than in field service.
And then correspondingly in the regions, when we take a look at those, so with comparable currencies, we grew in the Americas as well as in EMEA, but there was a decline in APAC. Agreement base continued to grow nicely, 4.6% year-on-year with comparable currencies, whereas the order book was slightly down.
Going into the sales. So we have roughly similar underlying, let's say, comparable currencies growth as in the order intake, a little bit less than 1%. And again, there, when we take a look at the regions, so actually, we had growth in the Americas, stable in EMEA and decline in APAC when we take a look at the comparable currencies. And of course, the Americas, in particular, looks different when we take a look at that with the reported currencies.
EBITA margin improved by 0.2 percentage points to 20.4%. This despite somewhat sluggish volume development. The reason is primarily operational improvements that we have been able to do over the past 12 months or so. And in practice, it is visible as very good cost control in the Service business. Then Industrial Equipment, where we had good order intake growth, 11% in comparable currencies. If we take a look at that by business units, so we had very good growth in process cranes.
We had a decline in components and standard cranes in reported currencies. And then again, when we go and take a look at the same with the comparable currencies, so both of these were pretty flattish in a year-on-year comparison. Sequential comparison, which is also interesting in many cases. So sequentially, we actually grew in all of the major BUs, so in comparison to the fourth quarter.
Regions year-on-year, we did well in the Americas. APAC grew as well, whereas there was a decrease in EMEA against fairly tough comparables. Order book grew by approximately 10% in a year-on-year comparison. Sales or completely flat in comparable currencies, no growth, no decline. When we take a look at that with the bit by business unit. So we had a decline in process cranes, but then the other 2 main business units were more flattish from the sales point of view.
Comparable EBITA margin declined by 0.4 percentage points to 4.2%. The main reason behind that is the lacking volume. So there was no volume growth. This was partly offset by positive net of inflation pricing and cost control, but obviously only partly as the EBITA dropped both in percentages as well as in euros. Then Port Solutions, where the order intake declined by 3.8% in a year-on-year comparison with comparable currencies.
We had good order activity in the ASC, RMG cranes when we take a look at the more short cyclical product categories. So lift trucks, for example, year-on-year, we had growth in the order intake. Q-on-Q, it was a little bit down. And then again, on Port Service, year-on-year growth and in a sequential comparison, flat to slightly down in comparable currencies.
Sales came clearly down by 13% in a year-on-year comparison. This is primarily as a result of the order book timing, but it is also partially as a result of the Middle East conflict and the delays in deliveries as a result of that. So the group level delays in deliveries were something like EUR 15 million in the first quarter as a result of the crisis. Vast majority of that is visible in the Port Solutions. So it is partially explaining, but the timing of the order book is clearly a bigger factor here.
Comparable EBITA margin improved very well, 1.6 percentage point to 9.9% despite the underlying low volume. So we had very good execution during the quarter, as already mentioned, which was more than offsetting the negative development in the volumes. We also had a little bit, let's say, onetime gains in a way, provisions that were canceled in a way during the first quarter, but a clearly bigger explanation is the underlying good execution in the Ports business.
Then a couple of comments on the balance sheet and cash flow topics. Net working capital, that continues to be on a good level, a little bit higher than at the end of the year, -- sorry, 7.6% of the rolling 12-month sales, well within our target area of being below 10% of rolling 12-month sales. We had a little bit more inventories at the end of Q1 than at the end of the year. Consequently, also the cash flow -- free cash flow for the quarter was not as good as it has been during the previous quarters. But still, when we take a look at the rolling 12 months free cash flow, it is on a good level and cash conversion continues to be clearly above 100%.
Then EPS, the EPS numbers have been adjusted for the share split. The return on capital employed is on this slide as well, which continues to be between 22% and 24%, depending on whether one takes a look at the reported official return on capital employed or the comparable one. And on the right-hand side, we then have the net debt or in this case, net cash. Actually, we had net cash in the amount of EUR 185 million at the end of Q1. This one is missing the dividend payment that was -- that took place in the month of April and the dividends roughly, let's say, in the ballpark of EUR 180 million, a little bit less than that.
And with these comments, I will then hand over back to Marko.
Thank you, Teo. Now looking at our demand outlook. Our demand outlook remains unchanged, as I already said earlier. So the environment generally for industrial customer segments remains on a healthy level. And our port customers, container throughput is and was on a high level, and of course, the long-term prospects for container handling, as also earlier stated, they remain good, and there's no material change as a result of the recent developments due to these things.
But of course, the uncertainty related to geopolitics and trade policies is not at least nothing less than it was a quarter ago. So it does remain high. And that, of course, we have to keep in mind when we look at the demand and that translating to our order intake.
Now -- our financial guidance, we reiterate our financial guidance. So we expect our net sales to remain approximately on the same level or to increase in '26 compared to '25 and our EBITA margin to remain approximately on the same level compared to last year. So that means we remain confident about the future, but realistic about the uncertainties in the environment.
And with that, I thank you all. And now we move to Q&A. I welcome Linda back here.
Thank you for the presentation. And now we are ready to start the Q&A session. So operator, please, you can open the conference call lines.
[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Daniela Costa from Goldman Sachs.
2. Question Answer
I actually have 3 questions, if possible. Maybe I'll ask them one at a time. Just the first one, just to go back to, I think you've mentioned the sort of up to EUR 50 million impact on the revenues from the Middle East. Shall we expect that to be all resolved and to deliver on those revenues entirely within 2Q?
Just to be clear, it's EUR 15 million, 1-5, not 5-0. I'm not sure what you mean there, but 1-5 and maybe Teo, you can continue from there, right?
Yes, 1-5. EUR 15 million, and like I said, the majority of that is within the ports and smaller amounts within the other 2 business areas. We are expecting at least majority of that to be delivered during the second quarter. The bigger cases that we have there, so they have not been delivered as of now, but the expectation is that during the second quarter, that would be the case that they will be delivered.
Got it. And then just to follow-up on service on being sort of slightly weaker year-on-year, given what we have seen. I think you mentioned you had it in our presentation, the PMIs and manufacturing capacity utilization has not really deteriorated in any region. And you put pricing through, which I guess is also reflected in there. So was there any specific subsegment?
Do you think there was also some expectation on servicing, and that's coming back in Q2? How should we think about the underlying reason why this is weaker now?
I won't comment on the Q2, but I'd say, I mean, of course, the quarter 1 picture when it comes to service was, I mean, of course, as you correctly stated, there is some positive development in the PMI indexes. And also, we do see higher activity in the customers when we measure through TRUCONNECT or remote service connections compared to last year. But it is somewhat early to say that increased activity has not been yet reflected in -- or the increased manufacturing activity and therefore, also the needed service is not really reflected directly in the volumes yet.
And then just finally, I mean, you've -- I think in the remarks have said it wasn't a very big number. But nonetheless, you mentioned the whole freight and fuel costs within the statement. Can you just remind does that in your like pass-through clauses, we know you kind of pass through for raw materials, but do the clauses include any of these and it's just more a matter or a lag of time or freight and fuel costs are kind of dealt with that spot and they're not in inflation clauses that you pass on to customers?
Okay. So if we start with the freight, which is actually a much bigger topic for us from the cost mass point of view. So we have project deliveries and then we have other freight costs. And if we take a look at the project deliveries, so in most of those cases, the pricing has already been agreed when the when the, let's say, transportation has been ordered. But then when we take a look at the rest of it, which is clearly a bigger part of it. So we do not have generally those kind of pass-through clauses that we would automatically push forward.
So in case there are very sudden changes, so it is, of course, possible that it will burden our cost base. But then over time, of course, this will be taken to the customer prices. And then at the end of the day, it is a question of the pricing power then like so many other inflatory topics.
When we take a look at the fuel or energy, so we are not really hedged against fuel changes, but we are primarily -- or for the most part, we are hedged against the other energy costs, so electricity and gas and those kind of. There, we have hedges in place. The fuel, there are, in some cases, surcharges that we can use, but there is maybe the same thing as well so that over time, these kind of changes will then be taken to the contracts and we take it from there.
The next question comes from Panu Laitinmäki from Danske Bank.
I wanted to ask about the guidance for flat or higher sales. Could you talk about the assumptions behind that and especially the higher sales, where would that come from? Like I understand book-to-bill was positive in Q1, but how do you see the delivery from order book for the remainder of this year compared to what you had a year ago, for example?
As I stated also earlier, the order book starting this year and also at the end of quarter 1, it is positive compared to last year and about EUR 100 million in the end of quarter 1. So of course, we have more to deliver this year. There is, of course, the uncertainty related to the prevailing situation and how fast we can push the deliveries out. And we have in most of our businesses with at least a quarter or 2 to sell and the sales funnels are quite robust. So there is, of course, all the opportunities to also exceed sales or then if there is further headwinds, then, of course, we're confident that we can stay on the same level as we had last...
Maybe additionally on that, so the sales funnels continue to be in good shape. The number of new cases has been during the first quarter quite okay. The order book is there. It is higher than what it was a year ago. And then, of course, what we don't know is that if there are disturbances, geopolitical stuff or other that how it will be impacting to the future order intake. But like I said, the funnel values and the number of new cases, at least regarding the Q1 have been in a fairly good shape.
Okay. Then secondly, on the tariffs, so you said that I understood that the change in 2022 tariffs doesn't change much for you. But how should we think about the impact on your P&L, especially going to the later part of this year as a year ago, you mentioned like tailwind from tariffs that you increased pricing before you got any impact on the cost side.
So how should we think about tariffs impacting your profitability going forward this year?
Yes, you're correct. We were stating more or less 3 quarters last year that there has been tailwinds in tariff, but we also said at the same time that we expect that to level off towards the end of the year and this year, and that is more or less what has happened. So we don't really see a tariff tailwind nor do we see a significant headwind at the moment either this from the tariff specifically.
Okay. Maybe a final one on capital allocation. I guess this is a topic that we discuss often, but do you have anything new to update us on the M&A pipeline or thoughts around that?
No. When we have new to update, you will hear some with the others also. But I mean, just jokes aside, of course, it's something that we continue to work on, and it's a timing-related issue when we are able to materialize in that situation hasn't changed. It continues to be in our focus.
[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Mikael Doepel from Nordea.
So a couple of questions here. So firstly, on the demand outlook, maybe you could talk a bit more about that. I mean we are already into the second quarter of the year. The war continues. You mentioned some uncertainties. Maybe you could just provide a bit more color on what you see here? For example, with industrial customer segments, what do you see there?
Anything that sticks out in any way now heading into Q2 compared to Q1? And also on the port side, I mean, short-cycle orders were down sequentially. I think they were up in Q4. How has that been trending into Q2? Just trying to understand. Are we -- are you seeing kind of incremental or sequential weakening now given increased uncertainties? Or would you say that things are holding up fairly well?
Well, starting from the industrial business side, adding color to what was earlier said about Teo and myself that the funnels are in a healthy level. That is -- but what I said earlier about some, let's say, hesitation or nervousness, there is changes to how the customer behave, maybe on a shorter notice than there was earlier. But that is just something that with our tools and the presence that we have, we are confident because we have the ability to react to such changes quite quickly.
Maybe the segment related or industry-related picture, I mean, there isn't really a big change in terms of how it looks between the quarter, but it is also visible that the defense segment, the power segment as well as the aviation, what we also have discussed earlier were quite robust on the first quarter also.
And the defense segment related opportunities visible in the funnel, they have materialized and started to materialize in the fourth quarter and the first quarter of this year. So the segment differences, I stated in my first slide, they are maybe even more kind of far apart or more differentiated from each other than it was before.
On the industrial side, we discussed -- Daniela was asking about the service earlier. I hope that addressed that service-related question. But now if we move to Port Solutions picture overall, as stated earlier, there is no big material change in the demand picture as several times, of course, earlier discussed, these are rather big projects. And that, of course, is something that influences the how these orders actually appear in the quarterly order intake.
But from a funnel point of view, there are a number of bigger and smaller opportunities in the heavier or larger port equipment side, but also in the short-cycle business that we have on the lift trucks side, too. So it is not really that way a lot different picture.
Okay. And then I think there, you mentioned that the pricing was still positive net of inflation in the quarter. And I think you've been talking about this kind of effect fading away, but it's still there. So just wondering how do you see this trend from here? Should we expect that positive effect to remain? Or how do you view it?
Well, our standard answer to this one is that we should not expect at least any big net of inflation pricing gain going forward. We did have that now to some extent, still during the Q1. And I think that it's good to separate here the tariff impact and the other pricing impact.
So now like I guess, Marko already pointed out, so the -- we did not have a tariff-related tailwind now in the first quarter, but there was other, let's say, pricing, net of inflation pricing impact that was positive, maybe not to the extent that it was during the last year, but to some extent anyways during Q1. And even if the -- we would not advise to expect a continuous net of inflation positive impact. So the idea, of course, continues to be that we will be pricing inflation into the customer prices, including, of course, also the inflation that may arise as a result of the recent developments that there are. The timing of those is then, of course, something that requires a little bit management.
And then maybe one of the things to -- regarding which is pricing related to some extent is then the euro-dollar FX rate. So that one is obviously very, let's say, difficult to price in. And we are not actually, in a way, putting that into the same basket of pricing. So the FX, particularly in the IE side, industrial equipment side now had a negative impact to the margin in Q1 versus a year ago.
Okay. That's clear. Then just finally, if I can ask on the competitive environment that you see out there. I mean we are hearing some -- at least some of your peers talking about increased China competition and presence listening to some of your Chinese peers being quite vocal of increasing their production in EMEA and elsewhere. Just wondering how you see this impacting your business and your position? And what's your take on those kind of developments overall?
It's, of course, I mean, this is not a new thing. This is something that has been a topic for quite a long time, and we are very acutely, of course, aware of that and making our actions also to counter such a development from the Chinese competition. When it comes to the recent development, it's obvious that pressure in the home region or possible limitations to deliver to some parts of the world create new pressure to those that are still available for the Chinese competition. And that has changed the balance of the competition to some extent.
But that's not uniform in any way between different segments that we operate in, and it's not in any way significantly more or accelerated in the last months or quarters, as far as we see, this is a steady development. And as we've discussed in these calls, but also in the individual ones, of course, our approach is not only to make sure that our technology stays competitive. We are close to where the innovation happens, including China, but also make sure that our life cycle approach as well as our market reach with our distribution channels, well-known brands, they stay in good order and continue to be a competitive advantage that, of course, differentiates us positively from the Chinese competition. And in the end, those are the most important things as far as I am concerned.
So shortly, I mean, long answer to your question. Yes, there is pressure from the Chinese competition as there is also from other areas, but it is not in any way significantly increased, and we are aware of it, and we are taking our actions to counter...
There are no more questions at this time. So I hand the conference back to the speakers.
Thank you very much, operator. Thank you, everyone, for following our event today and sending your questions. Before we close the event, I would like to remind you that Konecranes will publish its Q2 results on July 24. But until that time, have a lovely spring.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Konecranes — Q1 2026 Earnings Call
Konecranes — Special Call - Konecranes Plc
1. Management Discussion
Hello all, and welcome to follow Konecranes' Sustainability Webcast. My name is Linda Hakkila. I'm the Head of Investor Relations here at Konecranes, and I'm today with our main speaker, Anniina Virta-Toikka, who is the VP of Sustainability.
Today, we will first start with our presentation, and after that, we are happy to answer your questions. Please note that you may provide or send your questions through the chat functions throughout the event. And please also note that the focus of this event is on sustainability.
Before we start with the presentation, I would like to remind you about the disclaimer as we might be making forward-looking statements, but now without any further comments, I would like to hand over to Anniina.
Thank you, Linda. Warmly welcome from my behalf as well. So today, we will be focusing on how sustainability creates long-term value. The focus will be a lot on environmental issues, but we will cover the whole ESG agenda, of course.
Let's start from the big picture. So sustainability has been and is still one of the key megatrends that are driving businesses the same thing for Konecranes as well. We have identified sustainability being one of the key enablers on doing our strategy, and it's integrated heavily. We create value for our customers by supporting them with their environmental targets. We fulfill their supplier ESG-related requirements, and on the other hand, our strong investments to build inclusive culture to create fair employer practices is an engaging factor for our current people and for the future talent.
Our sustainability agenda is built or aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and for these 9 goals, we can create some positive value. When it comes to sustainability agenda of Konecranes, it's built around four sustainability commitments. We are committed to deliver safe and secure material handling solutions. We are targeting for the megatrend of decarbonization by ensuring that we support our customers in reaching their targets as well as we have the most extensive service offering that extends the lifetime of the equipment. We are also focusing, of course, on our own operations.
On the other side of the social responsibility side, we're committed to create fair, inclusive and diverse and engaging working environment, ensuring that we respect human rights in the whole value chain. And as an overlying foundation of everything that we do is the fourth commitment. We expect the high ethical standards from ourselves and also from our business partners. This includes, for example, strong governance model that we have in place.
So far, in recent years, we have been celebrating our success on numbers, and last year was not any different. The biggest highlight from last year was our upgraded climate targets introduction. So we reached the SBTi target for our own operations 8 years ahead and now upgraded the target, more on that in the later slides. When we talk about the total recordable incident rate, the number was 5.2. It decreased from last year. But on long term, the target is to reach lower than 3 by 2030. So there is still some room for improvement, but we are in a positive track currently.
From the emission perspective, since year baseline 2019, the emissions from own operations, being the Scope 1 and 2 emissions, have decreased already by 54%. From the value chain Scope 3, the emission reduction is minus 20%. If we compare years '24 and '25, both of these decreased by 1 percentage, so last year was not equally good as previous ones. The reason -- main reasons are the increased gas consumption in our manufacturing sites due to the really cold winter in Germany, as well as from the value chain, this is so dependent on the annual sales mix.
On a really positive note is the inclusion index result that indicates a really strong inclusion among our employees. We have, again, been recognized a lot. One of my favorites is a recognition in the Financial Times, European climate leaders, where we were fifth time last year. Continuing about the ratings. From the CDP, we received last year, our second A rating, which is the best rating. On MSCI, we continued in a AAA class. And from EcoVadis, we upgraded our results to the platinum level and currently are among the top 1% of the companies entering that supplier sustainability questionnaire.
Sustainalytics, which is measuring the ESG risk, the risk level remained low, and we were among the top 3% on our industry. So brilliant results from that perspective. We continuously utilize these ratings as a benchmark to see how these external ratings are recognizing and valuing our policies, processes and progress. And so far, it has been really good, but we continuously continue to improve.
Then jumping to the environmental side for a while. First, starting from our climate action. In year '25, Konecranes total climate impact was a bit over 3 million tons of CO2. From that, a bit more than 1% of the emissions is generated by our own operations, Scopes 1 and 2. This includes the energy consumed in our manufacturing and the fuel consumed by our fleet. So nearly 99% of the impact comes from the value chain, which is quite equal to many of our peers.
The biggest emission category on our side is called use of sold products. This includes basically the emissions from the old equipment that was sold during '25 and how much energy they are utilizing during their whole long lifetime, that converts to 1-year emission. So the sales mix is really relevant. The second biggest category is called purchased goods and services, and there one individual most important category is the steel-related raw material purchases. And these two shares from this chart are within our target setting boundary.
In 2020 Konecranes committed to science-based targets, and as mentioned last year, those were revalidated. So our current targets are from the value chain to cut half the emissions before the end of 2030, from own operations to reach minus 60% absolute reductions and on top of that, we have additional target to reach carbon-neutral manufacturing by 2030. We have also committed to set the long-term science-based targets. And how to reach that? We, of course, have our transition plan, which is divided to two sides. For the external market transformation and the activities that are more in our hands.
The most significant or most sizable thing in the transition plan is the customer industry's decarbonization. And as our offering, in the industrial side has been fully electrified already for decades, now we are more talking about the ports and terminals environments. We're still the -- it's largely operated by diesel-powered equipment. So to reach our targets, we need to ensure that these customer industries are decarbonizing, which means basically continuously electrifying their operations. The trend so far has been really positive globally, but to reach the targets it needs further acceleration. We strongly believe that, that happens and our numbers at least so far look good.
The other industry where we expect some decarbonization is, of course, the steel-related industry or steel manufacturing industry. If that doesn't move forward so quickly, it doesn't put our target setting to a risk due to the fact that there is already low emission steel available. And this is the steel that is manufactured from scrap material in a manufacturing site that utilizes renewable energy sources. Last year, 1.4% of the steel raw material that Konecranes purchased was validated to be from these kind of sources.
Third, industry where we expect the change to happen is, of course, the energy market and especially the electricity market. And when this happens, it helps us to lower the emissions from the use of sold products and also the emissions from our own operations. The own actions I will cover in the next slide.
So the biggest thing, of course, is our offering. We do have offering that supports our customers in creating their low carbon targets. And for this, we are talking about -- mostly about the electric and hybrid equipment offering. But not only that, we are also ensuring to utilize in the product design, so-called design for environment principles, where we continuously want to improve the energy efficiency of the products as well as focus on the smart material selection, for example.
Here also, the megatrend of automation is supporting the electrification as we need electrified equipment to be able to automate the operations. The other thing where we create value and helps us to reach the targets is maximizing the life cycle value of the customers' equipment with our circular solutions. So our service offering is the most extensive in the market. And the whole idea is, of course, the extend the equipment lifetime, improve the productivity, safety and security also at the same time.
We, as a company, have a unique position because we are the ones who are designing the equipment, manufacturing or subcontracting it and then servicing it. So it means that our work is to maximize the whole life cycle value. Then the third category is decarbonizing our own operations, which is so far moving nicely forward. So the result is already on minus 54 percentages. There, the biggest share of the emissions are coming actually from our global vehicle fleet. And there, the biggest emission reduction action is electrifying the fleet, and that's moving as planned.
Currently, we are still in some -- perhaps some delays in the U.S. market where, for example, the infrastructure has not improved heavily on the charging side, as well as the offering of the vehicles that we particularly need for our operations is not where we thought it could be already at this moment, but we have been able to compensate that in other regions and moving nicely. One thing to share from our manufacturing side is our special case. Our manufacturing site in Sweden, in Markaryd, is currently operated completely fossil-free. There emission reduction since 2019 has been already 99 percentage.
So this is clearly creating value and this represents the value in numbers. So 40% of group net sales in '25 consisted of solutions that were extending the product life cycles. So this included the basic maintenance, modernizations, retrofits, and spare parts sales, 40% of the group net sales. And then when we talk about our Eco portfolio on the equipment side, we cover fully electrified and hybrid equipment. And as mentioned already earlier, the offering in the industrial equipment side is -- has been for decades fully electrified. So that's why we cover 100%. The focus on that -- on those equipments is then more to ensure that we continuously improve the energy efficiency and seek for low emission materials. For example, last year, we launched a first crane girder box that was manufactured from low emission steel.
On the Port Solutions side, 62% of the equipment sales was fully electrified and hybrid offering. There, we also had new product launches of fully electrified offering that going forward will enable us to reach our target. 62% represents a longer-term trend where the share of sales of Eco portfolio clearly increases.
Then moving to other topics in the ESG field. So now we're talking about safety and security. Safety and security are super important topics for all of our customers due to the industry where we operate in. In material handling industry, we are talking about equipment that are carrying loads or we talk about working at heights. So it's a severe thing to take into consideration.
Konecranes has some technologically advanced equipment innovations like our smart features that are not only increasing the safety of the customer operations but also securing predictive and uninterrupted operations. We do have a systematic management of the product security and cybersecurity as we are more and more connecting data to equipment and people together. We want to ensure that every single one gets to go home safe every day.
For that, we do have standardized procedures for our own employees. We take this seriously. We ensure that the safety culture is there. We need to ensure that there is never a job so urgent that it can't be done safely. We need to stop and pause and think and do it safely.
In other side of the social side, so we are responsible over to -- we have the responsibilities to our 16,500 employees globally. Based on their voice, based on our voice, we see the inclusive culture being at the company, which makes me especially proud that the company that operates in 50 countries has been able to create such an inclusive culture. One highlight from last year is that by the end of last year, we were paying a living wage for all of our employees. Living wage is a voluntary standard, that in many areas is a bit higher compared to standard minimum wage. And this measures per location, a minimum volume amount of money that enables a good living for a person.
We were rewarded with the first position in the Nordic Business Diversity Index for large cap by Impaktly last year. By the end of last year, 23% of our top management were females.
Last but not least, the high ethical standards. So we are following a strong governance on sustainability. We're also, of course, following strong governance on compliance and ethics topics in general. So we do have a governance model that we follow on the decision-making and with basic communication and ensuring that responsibilities are [ kept ]. Since '23 onwards, Konecranes have had ESG-linked incentives for the top management. Currently, we have these in place for both short-term and long-term incentive systems. We are embedding sustainability, compliance and ethical requirements to our business processes. So we do have integrated these topics directly to our policies and to multiple processes.
And one big thing that has been a focus area for past few years is the collaboration with suppliers. And there has been multiple reasons why this has been the focus point. One being that there has been a lot of emerging regulation on this topic globally as well as there are the most significant risks lie within the supply chain. One great tool that we have for the managing of suppliers is our Supplier Code of Conduct that was launched 2018 for the first time and updated last year. Currently, the coverage of fulfilling that is 78 percentage. So from our total supply chain, which covers more than 20,000 suppliers, 78% have signed or are committed to follow our Supplier Code of Conduct. And of course, this is only part of our sustainability due diligence. That includes the questionaries and audits, et cetera, as well.
We are coming to an end. So to conclude, how does Konecranes create long-term value through our sustainability work? Of course, the key thing is our offering. So we continuously are meeting the customers' decarbonization needs with our equipment offering. We have the most extensive life cycle services that are extending the equipment lifetime of our customers' operations as well as improving operations.
We are progressing with our own emission reductions. We are moving from fossil power to renewables, bringing more resilience to our operations as well. And we are extending the high sustainability standards to our value chain where, for example, the work with -- that we do with the suppliers is an excellent example.
That was my presentation. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Anniina, for your presentation. Now we will start the Q&A session. Maybe we'll start the discussion by discussing about carbon border adjustment mechanism, CBAM. So there has been a lot of discussion around CBAM. How do you expect it to affect Konecranes?
When CBAM was introduced some years ago, starting to focus on the -- so the focus is -- the aim is to tax the carbon-intensive raw materials, and it first focused on certain steel and aluminum raw materials. So it has been impacting us slightly the past years because we have been -- we had, had the obligation to report how much we import. We have a global supply chain, meaning that we are not so dependent on the imports to the EU on this matter. So the impact so far has been really limited.
Now EU made a draft proposal to extend the regulation quite significantly. It would mean that not only raw materials are included, but certain components and some ready-made products as well will be there. Let's see how it proceeds. But so far, based on our analysis, the impact towards us would be quite neutral. Of course, we expect that it would perhaps increase the prices and then the question is that how evenly we can offset that going forward.
Thank you. Then a question about inclusion and diversity. So what kind of activities Konecranes is doing to improve inclusion and diversity across the different levels of the organization?
Brilliant question. Our inclusion and diversity action plan is really expansive. I think that the biggest thing that we do is we are localizing these programs. We focus on the gender balance. We focus on offering more opportunities for females like having the female -- we had in the history, the female mentorship. We have a coffee and culture. Coffee sessions where we are opening the topic.
We don't only talk about, of course, the gender. We talk about the other aspects as well. The inclusive culture is a big thing. In the recruiting, we have -- we are taking it really seriously. We need to ensure that the recruitment processes are being equal, equal to all. But the local activities are making the biggest change currently.
Okay. Then next question about emissions. So Konecranes recently upgraded the near-term Scope 1 and 2 emission targets for the end of 2025. What are the main levers enabling this acceleration? And what progress have you seen so far?
Good. So we upgraded the emission targets for our own operations due to the fact that the old target was already set. And at the same time, as we are actually targeting for carbon-neutral manufacturing, it didn't make any more sense to have that target that was set. So currently, we are on minus 54% of the absolute emission reductions, targeting for minus 60%. As mentioned already, the biggest impact comes from our vehicle fleet. So there, of course, we are more locally doing the electrification actions where feasible.
We have progressed really well in downsizing the cars at certain levels. On our manufacturing sites, the biggest impact has been moving to fully renewable electricity in all of our manufacturing sites. Now we have continued with substituting other energy sources like district heating or utilizing the HVO with the diesel-driven lift trucks that we have. These things will continue. As always, the low-hanging fruits have been collected and now the biggest thing is the electrification of the fleet.
Great. Then moving to the next theme about Scope 3 emission reduction. Given that we are only 4 years away to 2030, how confident are you to achieve your Scope 3 emissions?
One commitment that we have done is that we have committed that by the end of this year, we would have a full electric offering, meaning that for every single product type, we would have the electric offering available. We're confident that, that will happen. There are only a few versions that are not globally yet available.
Then the question is how attractive these are for the markets. And as mentioned, so far, the electrification of these important industries has progressed positively forward. And we do believe that it continues, but with our own actions, we will not reach the target, we need the markets to transform.
Thank you, Anniina. This concludes our session today. So I want to thank everyone for following our event and wish you everyone a lovely day. Thank you.
Konecranes — Special Call - Konecranes Plc
Konecranes — Q4 2025 Earnings Call
1. Management Discussion
Hello all, and welcome to follow Konecranes' Q4 2025 Results Webcast.
My name is Linda Hakkila, I'm the VP, Investor Relations here at Konecranes. And with me today, as our main speakers, we have our CEO, Marko Tulokas; and our CFO, Teo Ottola.
Before we proceed, I would like to remind you about the disclaimer as we might be making forward-looking statements.
As per usual, we will first start with presentations, both from our CEO and CFO. And after that, we will start the Q&A session. We are happy to answer your questions through the conference call lines. But now without any further comments, I would like to hand over to our CEO.
Thank you, Linda, and good afternoon from cold, but very sunny Helsinki. I'd like to start with some general statements.
It was a really very strong year for Konecranes, and I'm very, very proud of our team and very proud to be part of the Konecranes team, particularly in a year like 2025. Konecranes has a very sound business model. We've been executing our strategy. And that, of course, in this sort of environment has really improved -- shown that an improved resilience in our results.
There was a very uncertain environment last year. We focused on executing our strategy and focused on the most important things. The year started on uncertain terms, but we acted fast and early, whether it's on pricing, focus on execution or tight cost control.
Towards the second half of the year, the market environment stabilized and particularly in the delivery side, it was visible, and that helped us to finish the year strong. And now when we look at towards 2026, we have a good order book in place, the structure is solid and our strategy for 2026 has a very good road map in place. So I'm really confident for year 2026.
So now let's look at how the year turned out and then also how the quarter 4 look like. Throughout the year, the demand environment stayed positive overall. There was a lot of positive development in many customer segments and Konecranes' broad presence in different customer sectors and geographies, of course, helped us in this sort of volatile environment.
Our orders were very strong, particularly in Port Solutions and Industrial Equipment. So we grew almost 12% in 2025 in comparable terms compared to 2024. The demand on industrial service instead was quite a tough demand environment. But even in this environment, we were able to strengthen our agreement base. We took very good care of our pricing and also made sure that we adjusted our cost base to the prevailing conditions.
We also took care of our margins and our cost structure, good execution in our project business, and we continue to roll out our products according to our strategy. And that, of course, meant that we were able to complete the year with almost 1 percentage point improvement in the comparable EBITA at 14%, record high level.
Moving on to quarter 4. And in quarter 4, our orders were also very good. So we continue very solid order intake and also sales. But it's also noteworthy that both decreased against a very strong comparison quarter of -- quarter 4 of 2024. So orders were down 4% and net sales roughly flat in comparable terms. Quarter 4 in 2024 had a very strong order intake in Port Solutions, but also in Industrial Equipment, where both actually had the second highest quarter of all time in Konecranes. And that makes quarter 4 of '25 also very satisfactory for us. Our order book continued to strengthen, and it was 3 percentage points higher or 7 percentage points in comparable terms.
Our profitability improved and increased to 14.1%. It was really very good project execution in Industrial Service, Industrial Equipment and in Port Solutions, Port Solutions with very good margins, but with slightly lower volume. And we kept our cost control intact and had a bit of pricing and tariff tailwind, but less than we had in quarter 3. And of course, the order book improved, and that means a solid start for 2026.
Now if you look at the market environment in general, how is the best way to describe it? Maybe one way to say that the market and the customers have maybe used -- got used a little bit to the uncertainty. So there is a cautious positive development in the capacity utilization rates as it is visible in this Industrial Service and Equipment slide, which shows the capacity utilization rates in the 3 main market areas. And our own funnels and our customer demand, how we see it. European sales funnels are good on solid level. There are some signs of improvement. But of course, customers continue to be rather cautious around this type of volatile environment.
In the United States, the previously very strong industrial equipment funnel has somewhat flattened down. But on the other hand, on the service side, we see some signs of improvement. So customers are starting to do the service that they may have put on hold temporarily during the kind of tariff-related uncertainty. It's, of course, too early to say how this actually pans out during this year, but we are optimistic in general about the market environment or continue to be so.
And in Asia Pacific, the market continues and the funnel continue to be on a stable level, but the tough competition continues, particularly from the Chinese competition.
And then if we take a look at the Port Solutions segment, here, the container throughput index, as we have discussed before, is, of course, the main indicator, and that continued to be on a very good level overall. Maybe there is some flattening in the growth rate, but it's still very positive.
Our funnels continue to be good. There are big and small cases in the funnel. And of course, it's good to remember here that besides the obvious container throughput traffic indicator, there is the long-term prevailing trends in port solutions that are, of course, driving investments. So that comes from the automation trend, the prevailing consolidation trend in that industry, change in the traffic routes driven by the repatriation and changing manufacturing locations. So of course, we continue here to have a kind of positive general view on the market as we have had also last year.
So reiterating again a bit more about the quarter 4 development against the strong comparison period and how the past 2 years have gone, as you see here, of course, the order intake in quarter 4 was slightly down from previous year quarter 4. But last year, the order intake was actually very good and better than previous year in the first 3 quarters. There was a decrease in quarter 4 in all business areas, some increase in Europe and some decrease in Americas and APAC. And actually, the same profile is true for the sales side of things.
Next is time to look at the order book situation, and we have had a solid above 1 book-to-bill ratio throughout last year, and we've been strengthening our order book throughout the whole last year since quarter 4 of 2024. So we have a particularly strong order book situation in Port Solutions. It is positive in Industrial Equipment with also a positive mix, but it's also a bit down in Industrial Service.
Now here, you see the profitability development over the last 2 years and again, comparing the quarters to each other. This is really a very strong progress and very strong execution to our strategy. There is increase in Industrial Service and Industrial Equipment in quarter 4, some decrease in Port Solutions. And like I stated earlier, that's mainly driven by the volume.
So Port Solutions continued to have good margins and good execution. And they also had a very good quarter 4 last year. Some less tariff tailwind, but still some visible in quarter 4, really good cost management and slightly weaker mix in Port Solutions, but we are very happy with this 14.1% outcome to quarter 4 last year. And that, of course, really helped us to reach this almost a percentage point year-on-year full year improvement on profitability.
Now then it's time to take a look at the -- how we track in our profit improvement progress or process. This is actually the third consecutive year in all 3 business areas where we consistently improve our profitability. All 3 business areas are well within their defined profitability -- midterm profitability ranges. And we've done this under rather challenging demand environment. But at the same time, of course, it is true to say that we have not really had a challenging downturn in terms of volumes. So as you will see here, there has been pressure on the volumes, and we've shown continuous good profitability improvement. And of course, with additional volumes, then this is -- we are confident that this continues to be a good story.
And now I would like to hand over to Teo, and then I'll come back in after a few slides to talk about the demand outlook and a couple of other things.
Thank you, Marko. And let's take a look at some of the business area numbers in more detail.
But before going there, as usually, so let's take a brief look at the comparable EBITA bridge between Q4 '24 and Q4 '25. So we had close to 1 percentage point improvement in the EBITA margin in a year-on-year comparison, and this translates into roughly EUR 5 million improvement in EBITA in euros. And let's unpack this now next a little bit.
So pricing impact year-on-year was roughly 3% -- and then when we combine with that information, the fact that the sales decline -- there was a sales decline in comparable currencies. So we are actually taking a look at the underlying volume decline of some 4% or so, which obviously is not good from the profit and profitability point of view. However, net of inflation pricing, mix and then particularly good execution, so project execution, for instance, then we're all working in a positive manner. And as a result of that, the net of those -- all of those impacts is positive by EUR 13 million, as we can see as a combination of volume, pricing, mix and variable cost on the slide.
And then fixed costs continued to be very well under control. So only EUR 2 million increase in fixed costs in a year-on-year comparison, whereas then the translation impact as a result of the FX differences was a clearly negative number, minus EUR 7 million. And as a result of all of these then combined, so we end up with the improvement of roughly EUR 5 million in a year-on-year comparison.
Then moving on to the business areas, starting with Industrial Service. So we had order intake of EUR 380 million. So this is actually a decline in reported currencies, but an improvement of more than 2% in comparable currencies. So like already mentioned in connection to the bridge, so actually, the FX differences continue to play a big role now in the fourth quarter as well.
Taking a look at the different parts of the businesses. So Field Service declined in the order intake in a year-on-year comparison, whereas Parts business cut up. And then when we take a look at the regions, so EMEA did well. So there was an increase, whereas then Asia Pacific and Americas both saw a decline in the order intake. Agreement base actually grew by 4.4%, like Marko already also mentioned. Order book decline of 7%. That's a big number. But in reality, that is almost all, let's say, everything actually is in relation to the currency changes.
Net sales, 3.5% higher year-on-year in comparable currencies. The story is very similar to what it is in the order intake. So Parts did better than the Field Service and of the regions, EMEA did better than Asia Pacific and Americas. Comparable EBITA margin, 21.9% on a very good level, 1.3 percentage point improvement year-on-year. The improvement did not obviously come from the volume as the net sales increase is roughly in line with the pricing change. It actually more came from pricing, from good execution as well as then efficient cost management in general.
Then moving on to the Industrial Equipment. So there, we have an order intake increase in comparable currencies of roughly 1%. However, when we take a look at the external orders, so this is down slightly by almost 1 percentage point against fairly tough comparables, fourth quarter of '24 was very good from the Industrial Equipment order intake point of view. Of the business units, we had growth in components in a year-on-year comparison. We had a decline in process cranes and standard cranes as well, a slight decline. One could maybe also say that this was flattish in a year-on-year comparison.
And of the regions, again, EMEA did fairly well, so increase there, whereas then we had a decline or decrease in the Americas and APAC. In a sequential comparison and taking a look at the business units, so components orders actually rose also in a quarterly comparison, so the component orders in the fourth quarter were very good. We had a decline in port cranes as also in a year-on-year comparison and then standard cranes were fairly flat in a sequential comparison, similar to what it was in a year-on-year comparison as well.
Here, our order book rose by 2% and of course, with comparable currencies, even more. Net sales up 3% roughly, taking a look at the total volume or then the external volumes, both roughly 3% up. The sales mix was such that it was a little bit more favorable from the margin point of view now in the fourth quarter of '25 than a year ago. And then when taking a look at the comparable EBITA margin, 11.7%, excellent improvement of more than 2 percentage points in a year-on-year comparison. Again, good execution, pricing and of course, also the already mentioned mix supported the profitability in the fourth quarter.
And then Port Solutions order intake, EUR 406 million. This is a decline of roughly 11% in a year-on-year comparison, of course, against very tough comparables. So also here, the fourth quarter of '24 was very good from the order intake point of view. When we take a look at different businesses within Port Solutions, so Lift Trucks actually had good activity as well as RTGs, Port Service, quite flattish in a year-on-year comparison. And then when taking a look at sequentially, particularly the business units that are more short cyclical like Lift Trucks and Port Service. So Lift Trucks had an increase also in a sequential comparison, so Q4 was higher than Q3, and Port Service was relatively on the same level in fourth quarter as in third quarter. So flat exactly like in a year-on-year comparison as well.
Net sales declined by as much as 7% in a year-on-year comparison. This was, of course, as a result of the order book timing and as such, as expected already earlier. Order book, however, is clearly higher than what it was a year ago, thanks to good order intake that has been there basically throughout the whole of '25. Comparable EBITA margin, 9.2%. So this is a decline of 0.5 percentage point. So this primarily obviously comes from the lower volume. So sales was lower than a year ago. Mix did not help here. So in ports, it was rather negative than positive in a year-on-year comparison, but this was partly offset by very good execution and project execution in the fourth quarter within the Ports business.
Then a couple of comments on the balance sheet side. Let's start with the net working capital. As usual, net working capital has continued to be on a very low level. So there is no meaningful change from the third quarter. Obviously, the structure is a little bit different. Inventories have turned into accounts receivable, but otherwise, very much on the same level. The improvement in comparison to a situation a year ago comes from accounts receivable as well as advanced payments.
And then on the right-hand side, we can see the free cash flow, which continues to be on a very good level, record levels actually also for '25 and the cash conversion continues to be clearly above 100%. Then consequently, of course, as a result of the cash flow, our balance sheet from the net debt point of view looks very strong or actually, we have net cash in the amount of more than EUR 160 million at the end of the year.
And then finally, from the balance sheet point of view, so the return on capital employed on comparable terms, 22.1% at the end of '25.
And then I will invite Marko back to talk about the outlook for '26.
Thank you very much, Teo. There is the outlook for '26. But before that, some other additional things, of course, our solid progress, very nice development, strong cash flow and balance sheet has 2 outcomes. Our Board of Directors is proposing to the AGM a share split with 1:3 ratio. That is, of course, due to the high price and to enhance the liquidity of the shares.
And we also have the Board proposing to the AGM that we increase our dividend from the previous year EUR 1.65 level to EUR 2.25 per share for [ 2025 ], which is very much in line with our stable to increasing dividend policy.
And now to the demand outlook. Although there is a volatility, of course, in the marketplace, we expect several sectors to keep the demand up. And in the industrial customer segment, we expect the demand environment to remain on a healthy level. And for the port customers, the container throughput continues to be on a high level as we saw before. And there is, of course, these long-term prospects in that business in general, the long-term drivers and then is, of course, supporting a strong container handling demand in the future. So the outlook continues to be good.
But at the same time, of course, it is good to keep in mind that this uncertainty related to geopolitical decisions, the trade politicians and the tensions, they do remain high. And of course, they may have positive and negative impact to our demand picture that may also come quite quickly. But generally speaking, we have a positive outlook on the margin.
And then finally, let's look at our financial guidance. So we have a starting order book that is better as already was elaborated also by Teo and myself earlier. The demand outlook is stable. So we are confident that realistic picture on the demand environment, and we are conscious about the market uncertainty also. So we expect our net sales to remain approximately on the same level or to increase in 2026 compared to 2025. And as you saw, our margins have been developing very well in '25. And we expect these margins to remain approximately on the same level also in 2026 compared to 2025.
And with that, I thank you all very much, and we can move to the questions and answers. Thank you.
Thank you, Marko and Teo, for the presentation. And now we will start the Q&A session. Operator, we are ready to take questions.
[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Daniela Costa from Goldman Sachs.
2. Question Answer
I have 3 questions, if possible. First, I wanted to ask you to -- if you could give some color on how you see the mix in Port Solutions going forward. I know you mentioned here it was slightly disadvantageous. I don't know if it's just one-off this quarter or given the nature of equipment, maybe more larger equipment, is that something that will continue? And then I'll ask my other questions right after.
The ports mix going to next year, of course, it is approximately flat, the mixed or neutral, the impact as I see. And I guess that is also your conclusion also.
That is actually my conclusion also. And I think that what you are referring to with the larger equipment. So of course, we have been talking about that, that potential mix might be weaker going forward in case the product -- let's say, the demand moves more towards the, let's say, heavier equipment. However, that has not happened to the extent that we would be expecting a deterioration in the mix for this year.
Got it. And then I guess we have seen in some regions quite a steep move on things like steel prices. Can you talk us through a little bit how we should think about that given the lag between orders and sales, the pricing that you're putting out at the moment? Do you expect that to be a headwind in the shorter term or not really you can pass it all to?
So your question was particularly about steel prices, right?
Yes.
So the steel prices throughout 2025, they have been approximately flat, and there's actually a slight positive or from our point of view, positive. So in that way that there is actually a somewhat lower quarter 1 steel price rates than there was in quarter 4 of 2025. The outlook is -- or the forecast is that there would be a minor increase in steel prices in 2026. But of course, only time will show that how will that materialize.
Our approach has been and it continues to be so, as still is for many of our products, a reasonably significant cost component that we will pass on the steel cost in our prices, and that's how all our pricing systems and our configurators have been built.
Finally, there is some regulatory developments in the market and the CBAM is one of them that, of course, eventually the CBAM regulation, although it is no direct impact to our products and so forth, that may drive steel costs up in the longer term, but that's not in the immediate visibility at the moment.
Got it. And then a final one, just in terms of like you have obviously very strong free cash flow. It looks like a decent size comes from the payables within working capital. Can you talk a little bit about sort of exactly what that is? And how should we think about payables going forward?
I'm not quite sure that what your question was. I mean, are you talking about capital allocation of our balance sheet in general?
Free cash flow.
Yes, of course, I mean if you're referring to the dividend policy only or to the question of other means of distributing the cash.
No. I'm just actually asking about free cash flow. Within your cash flow statement, there is a big positive of payables in the working capital. Yes.
Maybe commenting on net working capital as a whole. So now at the end of '25, we are on a very beneficial level. And we are clearly, let's say, we are several percentage points better than our, let's say, midterm target is, which is that we should be below 10% of rolling 12-month sales in net working capital. Now we are clearly below that. So the situation is very beneficial from the net working capital point of view.
And if the question is that, is that something exceptional? Or will it stay here or will it even improve? So one could maybe say so that this is, let's say, maybe in the midterm perspective, this is on the better side of the average. So maybe the overall in a way, level on a long-term basis could be even a little bit higher for net working capital. But definitely so that we aim to be below the 10% threshold of the rolling 12-month sales.
And then, of course, we will need to allow volatility in both directions as we are now seeing a very good situation. So it may be that in some quarters, we are seeing a little bit worse situation. So the payables, accruals and advanced payments, all of the combination of all of that is very important, but I would still stress the importance of the advanced payments. So this is a lot of customer project timing related, how the net working capital develops from one quarter to another one.
The next question comes from Antti Kansanen from SEB.
It's Antti from SEB. A few questions from me as well. I'll start with the guidance of flat to growing sales and especially on the Port Solutions side, how much of the backlog that you currently have do you expect to convert to revenues during '26? Or if you don't want to give the number, how does that compare to situation a year ago?
We maybe not give the direct number for the first question, but if we take a look at the overall order book, now that we have at the end of '25 for '26 and compare that to how much order book we had 1 year ago for '25. So the difference is now more than EUR 100 million.
For all [ 3PAs ].
For all 3PAs. And then, of course, it is fair to say that the ports business is a clear majority of that, particularly now that the FX differences are impacting so much to the order book of the service business. So that basically it is the same number or maybe even slightly more for ports than what it is on the group level. But this is, of course, with reported currencies. So if you take a look at comparable currencies, Marko showed both numbers. So then, of course, that number is higher. So it's about twice as high, not for ports, but for the group.
Yes, sure. And I was also thinking on the guidance, if we talk about, let's say, on the lower end of it that your sales will be on the same level as in '25. Would that imply actually that volumes would be down, I don't know, clearly. But anyways, one would assume that there, you talked about the net price impact on Q4, one would assume that the positive pricing continues through '26. So how should we think about that volume pricing trend in the backlog?
Of course, like we were saying earlier, the starting point is positive with a stronger order book. And of course, we have a stable funnel that we look with positive mind. So there is all the reason to be positive about the demand environment and the volumes also. But at the same time, there are some question marks. Teo mentioned one of them is, of course, is the currency rate. And of course, then the other one is related, of course, to the general development of the market environment overall.
But what we are trying to say with our guidance that, of course, we have a good starting point for the year, and we look at the volume development positively. But being appropriately, let's say, cautious about it also in this environment.
But logically, of course, you are right. So I mean, if the sales were flat in a year-on-year comparison and the order book for this year is EUR 100 million more than what it was for last year, so of course, then it would mean that the in and out volume would be lower, which could be, let's say, depending on various things. But of course, now we need to remember that what we are saying regarding the overall market outlook is that the sales funnels in the various businesses. So they continue to be good. I don't know. They continue to be stable and on a good level.
Yes, that's clear. Then the second question was on profitability. And maybe a reminder on the tariff-related pricing tailwinds that were kind of notable on previous quarter and still there on Q4. How should we think about kind of impacts of those going forward, maybe fading away? Any guidance on that?
Well, they repeated also in quarter 4 after being visible in quarter 3 and quarter 2, but not to the same extent. So as we have also said before, the expectation is that they will go away or deteriorate over time. And of course, it actually continued throughout the whole year, and there was a positive sign to us. We expect that you will not see the similar kind of positive tailwind going forward. But also it should not have a significant negative impact to the margins either.
Okay. That makes sense. And then the last question, and I guess, Marko, you almost started to answer on the capital allocation side. And I mean, obviously, there's a clear increase on the ordinary dividend. But I mean, balance sheet is getting stronger and stronger and capital allocation has been a bit of a discussion point. So any updates on further distribution, buybacks, anything like that?
Yes, I was so eager to start answering that question already. So I was preempting that. But no, I mean, of course, that our approach has not changed there. Of course, we have several potential means for the use of that cash, and we are working on all of them. And one of the obvious one is the potential acquisitions. And as we've said before, that has been a big part of Konecranes' history, and it continues to be so in our future also the inorganic part of the growth. And so we have a funnel of different size of opportunities that we are actively exploring.
And it's more a timing question that when we can realize those. And for that, for sure, we want to have maneuvering room and the increase in the dividend that was announced today, of course, that is, in our view, no way jeopardizing those -- that maneuvering room that we have going forward, given the available cash and then, of course, our ability to leverage the company.
Would you like to add something to that?
No.
The next question comes from Mikael Doepel from Nordea.
So a couple of them. I'll take them one by one. So if we can start to talk a bit about the net of inflation pricing. I think you mentioned it was positive still in Q4 of last year. How do you think about 2026? I mean if we put tariffs aside, how do you think about pricing net of inflation?
Maybe since you are going through the bridge, you may want to continue on this also.
Yes. The basic commentary here is the same as it has been. So we believe that we will be able to push cost inflation into the customer prices. And then, of course, the tariffs may change, the currency rates may change. But if we take a look at the overall underlying inflation, so the idea is that we will be pushing that into the customer prices. And in the past years, we have been able to do that in some cases, maybe a little bit even more than the cost inflation. So we believe that we can balance the situation from that point of view, but maybe it is not a good idea to expect a continuous net of inflation price benefit in '26 or further.
No, that makes sense. And talking about costs and just a follow-up, do you have any meaningful cost efficiency measures ongoing now that could support margins into this year? Anything tangible you could mention on that side?
Maybe 2 things I will mention. First of all, the topic that we have discussed also in the past is the ongoing industrial equipment cost efficiency program that we earlier announced that will continue until end of 2025. And on that note, we can say that we are still continuing that and we expect that to continue to bring us some benefits also -- additional benefits also during this year.
The second topic is -- or the second answer to that is that when it comes to adjusting our cost structure to the prevailing market conditions, that is what we did early last year also that in all accounts, whether it's the SG&A or cost that we have on the group level or, for example, in service, the costs that are directly related to customer projects. And that is business as usual for us and that we've done in 2025, and we continue to do the same in '26 if the market environment and demand so requires. But beyond those 2 things, we don't have anything specific to discuss about right now.
Okay. That's clear. And just finally, I think you mentioned in your opening remarks, you talked about the industrial service business and saying it was a bit of a tough environment within that business. Can you talk a bit about what you see there specifically happening across the regions, across the customer segments and how you expect 2026 to develop?
When we look at Industrial Service in general, if I start from just the market activity and how it looks, one thing that we've discussed earlier and we also can measure is how our remote connections also with what we call the TRUCONNECT product, how much activity the customer is having with our cranes business and then, of course, means that how much manufacturing or production activity there is and those productivity rates are down last year, the whole year, and they also ended with a negative sign that somewhere 6% to 7% compared to the previous year in terms of the general use of the cranes.
That's a fairly good proxy or explanation also to how much -- how the productivity and service develops for those particular customers, and that has a correlation to how our service business is actually developing. So that tells more that there is in this sort of environment where the customers have uncertainty of which direction the world is going that they have the tendency to hold back on not urgent or not critical measures. They want to do the things that have to be done to make sure that the equipment is productive and safe. That was a phenomenon last year and had certain impact to the service business. But it is obvious that you cannot do that for a very long time. So those equipment has to be taken care of. So that is something that usually returns.
The other positive aspect is that we kept on increasing our -- or improving our agreement base, which is essentially the growth engine for service and very important, so that grew more than 4%, 4.5% last year. And that is what we consider and I consider very important as a service core.
And then finally, I would say to that, and sorry for the long answer, easy to get excited on the topic. On service side, there is a lot of positive demand drivers like there is in the ports demand side in the long term. And whether it is the demographic trend of having less people doing this sort of thing or the automation trend that's also prevailing in some of the segments there, the outsourcing that similarly to ports actually is prevalent in many of the industrial segments and many others that also in the long term are drivers for demand in Industrial Service as well as in the efficiency drivers too.
If I may add to a little bit additional color on...
I thought I answered the whole thing already because...
That was very good, but I would maybe add one more thing. And I think when we have previously been saying that actually the differences between regions tend to be bigger than between customer segments in our demand. So now it may be that there start to be relatively big differences in demand pictures between different customer segments.
And there are maybe a couple of indications of that one. And one of them is that the thing that we have been discussing also earlier that, for example, in North America or in the U.S., there has been a little bit slowness on the service and equipment business on the other hand, has been maybe even surprisingly strong, so which would, in a way, maybe indicate that some of the segments are doing well and they are buying equipment and some others have maybe a little bit more issues with the utilization and they are maybe saving on nonessential service.
And also then this fact that our service spare parts are doing better than the Field Service may be an indication of the same thing. I mean, of course, the tariff thing, et cetera, can impact the spare part pricing and inflate that a little bit, but that doesn't explain the whole thing. So these kind of changes may be there happening a little bit because of defense and because of power and those kind of specifically, let's say, buoyant segments currently.
[Operator Instructions] There are no more questions at this time. So I hand the conference back to the speakers for any closing comments.
Thank you, everyone, for following our webcast event today, and thank you for asking such a great questions. [Technical Difficulty]
Konecranes — Q3 2025 Earnings Call
1. Management Discussion
Hello all, and welcome to follow Konecranes' Q3 2025 Results Webcast. My name is Linda Hakkila. I'm the VP, Investor Relations here at Konecranes. And with me today, as our main speakers, we have our President and CEO, Marko Tulokas; and our CFO, Teo Ottola.
Before we proceed, I would like to remind you about the disclaimer as we might be making forward-looking statements.
Here, you can see our agenda for today. We will first start with a presentation from our CEO, and he will give us a market update and guide us through the group performance. After that, our CFO, Teo Ottola, will guide us through the business area performance and talk about the balance sheet topics.
Before we start with the Q&As, our CEO will still summarize the main points of the quarter.
But now, without any further comments, I would like to hand over to our CEO.
Thank you very much, Linda. I'd like to start by saying that I'm extremely pleased with our performance in quarter 3 and throughout the year 2025.
Konecranes' team delivered a very strong quarter in continuation to our solid half year performance. Under the prevailing market conditions, this is an excellent achievement. This is -- with this kind of market uncertainty, an order intake, a growth of 23% year-on-year is a very good starting -- start for the quarter 3 or is a very good quarter 3. Our demand environment has remained stable despite the market uncertainty and our sales teams have been able to close well despite the timing-related hesitation.
Our orders are up now by 23% year-on-year in comparable currencies and our order increased more than 7% -- order book increased, sorry. The order intake increased in all business areas. Our sales amounted to nearly EUR 1 billion in the third quarter. This means a decrease of 5.5% year-on-year in comparable currencies.
Despite the decrease in sales, we reached a record high EBITA margin of 16.7%. That is an increase from second quarter level of 14.3%. Our profitability in the third quarter was supported by good execution, as well as some one-off items. We will go through the performance by business area later in this presentation.
The next, I will again go through some words to our general market environment. Let's start with our Industrial segment. In general, our demand environment remained good despite somewhat weaker macroeconomical data. The capacity utilization rates are the best macro indicators that describe these conditions for Industrial business area. And from the data, we can see some weakening year-on-year, but still our order intake in Industrial Service and Industrial Equipment grew in quarter 3. That was really driven by good activity in our standard equipment business, as well as some significant modernization and process crane projects.
At the same time, within our industrial customers, we have seen somewhat cautious behavior, both in timing of new orders, as well as delay in project delivery acceptance. Our operating environment continues to be impacted by geopolitical tensions and volatility, especially related to tariffs.
Now let's then talk about the market environment for Port Solutions. And in Port Solutions markets, we continue to see good activity. The Container Throughput Index, which is the main indicator here, continued at a strong level in the third quarter compared to the historical readings. It is now up by 3% year-on-year. And as we say in our demand outlook, the long-term prospects related to container handling or container traffic remain good overall.
Now we will now next take a look at our sales and order intake development. In the third quarter, the group order intake grew by 23% year-on-year in comparable currencies, and that is an increase in all 3 BAs. Looking at geographical markets, we saw some improvement in our order intake in Americas and APAC region, as well as some weakening in EMEA. Our sales in the third quarter decreased both in reported terms and comparable currencies, which was mainly driven by the lower order book in Port Solutions. And in the third quarter, we saw a decrease in net sales for Industrial Service and Port Solutions, but very strong delivery performance in Industrial Equipment after a less strong quarter 2. On a group level, we saw a decrease in net sales in all regions.
Moving on to the order book. And our order book reached its highest level since quarter 1 of 2024 and amounted to over EUR 3 billion at the end of the third quarter. We saw an increase in Industrial Equipment and Port Solutions, while there was a decrease in Industrial Service. Our book-to-bill has been positive throughout the year. And looking back to our long-term performance, our order book continues to be on historically good level.
And then finally, looking at the EBITA margin development, which reached also a record high level. In the third quarter, we generated EUR 165 million of EBITA. This translates to very strong EBITA margin of 16.7%. And this performance came from really solid execution, as well as some one-off items. And EBITA margin increased year-on-year in all BAs. Industrial Equipment reached its all-time high margin of 14.1% in the third quarter. And Industrial Service and Port Solutions also had very good margins of 22.7% and 11.8%, respectively.
Then let's move on to the performance towards our financial targets. Last year was very good for us, and our performance has continued strong also this year. This graph shows the rolling 12 months figures for our sales and EBITA margin and progress towards our long-term financial targets. Our group sales remained flat whilst our comparable EBITA margin increased when comparing the last 12 months to full year 2024. The group profitability in the rolling 12 months, we are at the lower end of our profitability target range of 13% to 16%. Of course, we consistently continue to work towards those targets. While increasing our EBITA margin, we also aim to continue to grow our sales faster than the market.
In Industrial Service, our steady progress over the last 5 years continues and the sales in the rolling 12 months remained relatively stable, but our EBITDA margin increased to 21.5%. We are already today well in line with our target range, but naturally still closer to the lower end of the bracket. And in Industrial Equipment, sales in the rolling 12 months remained flat. And also our EBITA margin for the same period decreased compared to full year 2024. That is mainly due to the weaker H1 and particularly the weaker quarter 2. While the quarter 2 performance for Industrial Equipment left room for improvement, our performance in quarter 3 was, in turn, exceptionally strong. Also here, we will continue to work to strengthen the over-the-cycle performance of the Industrial Equipment business.
Then moving on to the Port Solutions. We have continuously improved our financial performance during the last 3 years, as you can see from the graph, and we will also continue to so in -- we continue to do so in quarter 3. Our sales increased in the rolling 12 months compared to 2024, which is already a very good year. And our EBITA margin for quarter 3 remained at a high level, which resulted in an EBITA margin of 10.8% for the rolling 12 months. Needless to say that I'm very pleased with this progress.
Now, I will hand it over to Teo Ottola, our CFO, for some time, and then I'll return back in a moment.
Thank you, Marko. And let's move on in the presentation. Actually, before going into the business area numbers, so let's take a look at the comparable EBITA bridge between Q3 of this year and Q3 of last year. As we have seen, the margin improvement is large in a year-on-year comparison. And when we take a look at the euro, so this turns into EUR 22 million improvement. And if we unpack this next a little bit.
So first, starting with pricing. So our prices were somewhere between 2% to 3% higher than a year ago, maybe closer to 3% than 2%. But nevertheless, this improvement or increase in prices is somewhat less than what we have been having in the beginning of '25. When we combine this price increase to the fact that our sales declined more than 5% in a year-on-year comparison. So actually, we are looking at quite a significant underlying volume decline in the third quarter in comparison to the situation a year ago. And this, of course, creates a negative operating leverage impacting the profits as well. But there are then several positive things supporting our profits.
First of all, net of inflation pricing, so that was slightly positive in a year-on-year comparison, even though the positive impact comes primarily as a result of tariff-related price increases, so we have increased prices in line with the tariffs. But then as a result of the inventory turns being slow, so actually, the benefit comes first and then the cost will be flowing in a little bit later in terms of material consumption.
In addition to that one, we had a clearly better mix now than a year ago. But the biggest explanation of all is very good execution that we had. So the performance of the business was excellent, particularly in the project execution, which is visible primarily in the ports, but also in the other business areas. When we combine into this one that our fixed costs actually were lower than what they were a year ago, we were able to create this improvement in the EBITA despite lower sales.
When we take a look at the performance a little bit more in detail, so we can note that our performance this time was helped by some one-off type of levers, things. One of them was that we actually received an R&D grant in Finland in the amount of roughly EUR 4 million that was booked in the third quarter. This is, of course, visible in the fixed cost, and that is one of the reasons why fixed costs are now lower than what they were a year ago. I already mentioned the tariff-related price increases and the tailwind that we got there. So that was less than EUR 5 million, but several millions anyway. And then we had also some provision releases within the Industrial businesses. And altogether, these are, let's say, roughly EUR 10 million or so.
Then the next one I'm going to discuss is not like a one-off topic. It's normal business practice. But as a result of the good project execution within Port Solutions, in particular, we were able to release provisions and that impacted positively our result in the third quarter. So normal business as such, but this quarter was better than average definitely from that point of view. So they are some of the topics explaining the profitability and the profits within the third quarter.
Let's then move into the businesses and start with Service, as usual, maybe here worth noting that exactly as in the second quarter, so also here, the FX impact is quite big. So let's more focus on the numbers with the comparable currencies. In Service, order intake grew by almost 9%, 8.7%. This is clearly higher growth than we have had in the first half of '25. This growth was actually supported by some large modernization orders that were already mentioned by Marko as well. But even if we excluded those ones, or the delta as a result of the modernizations, we still would be having growth even if the majority of the growth is created by these modernization orders. When we take a look at the field service, so actually, our order intake declined in a year-on-year comparison. And in parts, it was an increase.
Then taking a look at the regions, we had increase in the Americas and EMEA, but a decrease in APAC, and it's worth noting that the modernization deals took place primarily in the Americas.
Agreement base continued to grow more than 5% with comparable currencies and order book was slightly lower than what we had a year ago.
Net sales grew only by 1.2%. And this is, of course, less than the price increases have been. So the underlying volume actually was lower than what we had a year ago. There, the reason is basically the slowness of order intake in the field service, and we had a decline in sales in field service within the Service. Spare parts were basically stable in a year-on-year comparison. And then from the region point of view, stable in EMEA, whereas decrease in the Americas and Asia Pacific.
Comparable EBITA margin improved by more than 1 percentage point to 22.7% despite the somewhat sluggish sales development. This was primarily driven by very good cost management within the Service business, but to some extent, also by pricing, which was partially in relation to these tariff-related price increases and the timing tailwind there.
So then Industrial Equipment, very good order intake, close to EUR 350 million. That is as much as 26% growth in external orders when comparable currencies. When we take a look at this by the business units, so we had actually growth in process cranes and components, but we had a decline in standard cranes. And then of the regions, decrease in EMEA, whereas the other 2 regions saw growth.
Then the sequential picture, which is important as well. So in comparison to the second quarter, actually, we saw sequentially a significant increase in process crane orders. Components were more or less flat in a sequential comparison and standard cranes declined slightly. Order book is higher, clearly higher than what we had at the same time 1 year ago.
Sales grew very nicely, 6.3%, again, with external sales in comparable currencies after a little bit, let's say, lower first half. We had increase in standard crane and component sales, but a decrease in process cranes, which then also, at the same time, meant that the product mix was somewhat better than a year ago.
Then when taking a look at the margin, so excellent EBITA margin, 14.1%, a very big improvement in a year-on-year comparison, of course, driven partially by volume. So the underlying volume improved here in Industrial Equipment quite a bit. There were also some of the one-off items that we already discussed. For example, the R&D grant is mostly visible in the Industrial Equipment. But then also good execution otherwise, as well as the optimization program that we have been running has been giving benefits also for this quarter. And the mix also was slightly better than a year ago.
Port Solutions, good order intake or excellent order intake here as well, more than EUR 450 million, that is 36% growth in a year-on-year comparison. We had very good order intake in yard cranes. This would mean primarily RTGs and ASCs. If we take a look at the regions, Americas and APAC improvement, EMEA, a decline. And here also, again, taking a look at a little bit of the sequential topic, but also the so-called short-cycle product categories within Port Solutions. So lift trucks, there we had year-on-year growth in the order intake, but sequentially down. And then from the port service point of view, we had growth both year-on-year as well as sequentially.
Sales was clearly down by almost 19%. This was, of course, known from the point of view that the order book was lower for the third quarter than a year ago. So order book overall is in good shape, 10% higher than a year ago, but the same thing continues now for the fourth quarter as we had for the third quarter as well. So we have less order book for the fourth quarter now than what we had 1 year ago for the fourth quarter. So the order book is more beyond this year or beyond the current year than what we had the situation 1 year ago.
Comparable EBITA margin developed very well, 11.8%, 2.2% improvement. This is, obviously, not driven by volume because the volume declined very much, but primarily because of the very good execution, supported by some of the provision releases, like I said, and then also the product mix, particularly in Port Solutions was clearly better than a year ago.
Then next, a couple of comments on the net working capital, cash flow. We actually had net working capital of only EUR 285 million at the end of the third quarter. That's only 6.7% of rolling 12-month sales. This is very well in line with our target of being below 10%. If we take a look at the, let's say, delta to the situation a year ago, it is primarily inventories where the decline has come. And then in sequential comparison, it's maybe more accounts receivable. This net working capital development, together, of course, with the good result meant a very good free cash flow on record levels, this one as well, more than EUR 200 million, which is then, of course, consequently leading to this slide where we now actually, during the third quarter, have moved from being in net debt situation to being in net cash position, not much, but negative gearing anyways at the end of the third quarter.
On the right-hand side, we can then see the return on capital employed, which is 21.7%, and this is a comparable number, but also the reported number is more than 20%.
We have added actually a slide on the U.S. tariffs as well because that, of course, continues to be a relevant discussion topic. On the right-hand side of the slide, we have the Konecranes exposure. So these are the numbers that we have already given earlier. So the internal volumes from Europe to the U.S. is EUR 180 million or less than EUR 180 million. And then on top of this internal volume, we obviously then also have deliveries of fully assembled port cranes and lift trucks. We are, of course, subject to the normal reciprocal tariffs of 15% in, for example, in the complete cranes. But then many of our components, particularly spare parts are also subject to so-called steel derivatives where we are then subject to a 50% tariff. And also the tariff codes added now to the steel categories in August was impacting us as well so that we have now more components and parts within the 50% category than what the situation was before.
What we have done is that, we have increased prices, more or less, in line with the tariffs. We are, of course, monitoring the situation. We are monitoring what the competitors are doing, how the customer demand is developing. We are discussing with the suppliers to be able to define the steel content of the components because, of course, that can help us to, in a way, get the tariff, particularly the steel derivative tariffs on the right level if we can prove that what is the share of actual steel in the components.
So all in all, we have been able to manage the pricing well. This most likely will become somewhat more challenging going forward so that maybe not all of the tariff increases are possible to put into the customer prices. We do not expect this to be having any major impact on the margins, but the situation may be in the future, a little bit more tighter than what it has been so far.
This actually was the last slide that I had, and now I invite Marko back to the stage.
Right. Yes, let's see how this works. So we had some issues with the first slides earlier. So now this should be now working again.
So now let's look at our demand environment, demand outlook. So our demand in the industrial customer segment has remained good and continues on a healthy level. However, the demand-related uncertainty and volatility, due to these geopolitical tensions and trade policy tensions remain, particularly in North America. This translates into higher uncertainty, both in the timing of the order, as well as some postponement of maintenance activities within industrial customers or Industrial Service customers that, of course, may impact also the delivery performance or delivery acceptance of customers.
Our sales funnel remained on a strong level and funnel development during the quarter was stable. Comparing against the previous quarter, the numbers of new sales cases is slightly down.
Then to our port customers, the global container throughput continues on a high level and long-term prospects related to global container handling remain good overall. And our pipeline of orders is good and contains projects of different sizes.
And I'll reiterate our financial guidance for this year. Our net sales is expected to remain approximately on the same level in 2025 compared to 2024. And we continue to expect that our comparable EBITA margin is -- to remain approximately on the same level or to improve in 2025 compared to last year.
Now, before we start the Q&A, I'd like to go over 3 themes that we are leveraging to build on our strong foundation and to -- continue to drive the long-term profitable growth. Historically, looking at in the long-term -- long run, these have been and are the fundamentals behind our success, and they are the ones that are still very relevant today and will continue to provide us further runway also into the future.
First of all, our Konecranes customer base is diverse and global. Our dual channel market approach gives us the most comprehensive access to customers globally and to different segments. Our broad product and service life cycle offering continues to give us an advantage when catering to the customers' wide needs and create stability against customer segments demand volatility and helps us to address specific customer segments within those markets. This approach to the market, our offering and our customer excellence culture is critical, but personally this -- but it's also personally something that I'm passionate about and I want to continue to foster.
And then secondly, I would like to emphasize the life cycle approach of Konecranes. Developing a service and life cycle approach over decades has been and is very much in the Konecranes' DNA. We are not only providing equipment to our customers, but also taking care of them during the lifetime. That long-term customer relationship and focus on servicing all makes and moves -- feeds our service -- sales funnel continuously with equipment and service products. That -- this cornerstone in our operating model has served us well, but it continues to provide us further runway for growth and efficiency. The life cycle approach is naturally our way of doing business, but it's also the only sustainable way to operate in today's world.
And thirdly, it is the technology leadership. So Konecranes has been the innovator in this market and reinforcing our technological leadership continues to be crucial. So focusing on technology innovation and development allows us to differentiate our offering versus our competitors. It creates more value to our customers and helps us to leverage the life cycle approach even more in the future.
So in conclusion, we have a strong foundation and great teams in place to build on our success and drive for expansion and growth. And I thank you very much for your attention.
Now we move on to the Q&A. So Linda?
Thank you, Marko, for the presentation, and thank you, Teo also. So now we are ready to start the Q&A session, and we will first start taking questions through the conference call lines. So, operator, we are ready to start taking questions.
[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Daniela Costa from Goldman Sachs.
2. Question Answer
I want to ask on 2 things. First, I guess, starting with the growth in Industrial Equipment, given you mentioned sort of like the capacity utilization figures in the beginning, which haven't sort of yet started any big recovery. Can you talk about sort of what drove -- was there any particularly -- particular verticals? Was there some prebuying on the components? Or what has -- or market share gains or something, what has kind of caused really the strength there and how sustainable you see that going forward? That's first. And I'll ask the other one after.
Yes. I mean, maybe the key reason there or the main point is to say -- you refer to the segments or the verticals. And, of course, that is -- although the general capacity utilization may not be yet more on the contraction, not reinvestment level, but there are several verticals that are quite strong at the moment and drive demand. I'd just name a few. The obvious one, I guess, on everybody's lips is the defense segment. So that has been, of course, a topic for quite a while already. And in the third quarter, we not only saw more opportunities in the funnel, but we started to also see quite a few actual orders in that segment. That is a clear example.
There are other areas where the long-term investment trend for other reasons than just productivity or capacity utilization are strong and maybe aviation is another example of where there's quite a lot of investment activity. And there are a few others. And that, of course, is one of the key reasons why we continue to have a solid order intake there.
And then, of course, finally, I would also say similarly in the Port segment, when we talk about larger investments or bigger projects, particularly in the process crane side, they tend to take quite a while to decide and for the customers to make the investment decision and then place the order. And therefore, it is not always exactly easy to forecast or predict. And secondly, not always exactly in line with the macroeconomical indicators.
And the second one just on Port Solutions. I think in many calls before, you've talked about sort of the opportunity or on the whole STS situation in the U.S. with replacement of Chinese cranes and tariffs there. But the U.S. is just proposing an even bigger scope of what they could be putting in terms of tariffs on China. I know about a year ago, you said that you were building the supply chain domestically there for the STS. Can you talk a little bit about, let's assume, this 100% on STS and the 150% in the remaining port equipment would go through? Where do you stand now in terms of building the capabilities to supply and to get a share of this opportunity domestically? And are there any side effects elsewhere in the world where you're seeing any increase in competition from the Chinese? Just give us a picture of how this has changed given the scope seems to be changing of what will be included there?
Maybe I'll start and then you complement in case I forgot some part of the question. First of all, the recent development in those tariffs that was early -- announced in early October, they're, of course, not yet, in our understanding, completely clear on what is the scope of application. And secondly, what is actually how much tariffs are being applied. So there is a certain uncertainty and, of course, what will be the final solution. And that, of course, is for us and also the market, something that needs to be and must be clarified in the end.
But that doesn't take away the essence of your question, which was that have we been preparing? And the answer is that, yes, we continue to prepare for the possibility to manufacture in the States. And we have been looking, mainly based on subcontractors and utilization of our own existing facilities and the industrial team that we have in the States, which is more than 2,000 people today in several manufacturing sites. So we have an opportunity to explore that, too. But that is the local U.S.-made scope. There is that, let's say, gradual up parcel or move to that direct -- to that eventual outcome, which means that there are products that would be manufactured in Europe or other parts of Asia. And there, we have even more activities going on and readiness for supplier as it is already today.
I recall that your last part of your question is that, do we see increasing activity elsewhere? Then to some extent, might be the right answer, and that is maybe more towards the other parts of Asia as well as in the Southern Hemisphere.
Yes. Maybe to add on this competition elsewhere topic that, of course, if we talk about the STS', so we will need to remember that the market share for the Chinese competitor is also globally very high. So that this, of course, in a way, it may increase the competition elsewhere, but the market share already is there for the competition also outside of the U.S.
And then if one takes a look at the RTGs, so there the situation is that the, let's say, our relative market share in the U.S. is significantly bigger than what it is for STS'. So there, on the other hand...
And it would be the same elsewhere also.
Yes, and would be the same elsewhere. So that these 2 products are from this geographical split point of view, a little bit different.
Yes.
The next question comes from Panu Laitinmäki from Danske Bank.
I have 2. Firstly, on the margin outlook. So, obviously, Q3 was strong and had some one-off positives that you mentioned, and it was above your long-term target. But how should we think about kind of Q4 and going forward, given that you kept the guidance where the low end of having margins at the same level as last year would imply quite, let's say, lower margin for Q4, if I would read it kind of directly? So, yes, could you explain how should we expect margins to develop going forward?
Maybe you start with this, Ottola.
Okay. I can. So, yes, the short answer to the question that do we expect the fourth quarter margin to be equal to the third quarter margin? So no. So we are expecting fourth quarter to be lower than the third quarter. Third quarter was high. And, of course, there are these topics that we were discussing, there is about EUR 10 million or so, let's say, clear one-offs, one can say the product mix was very good. So this is maybe not a one-off, but doesn't necessarily repeat itself as such. And then the productivity or efficiency or execution, whichever word we want to use, was particularly good in the third quarter. So maybe from that point of view, Q3 was a little bit of exceptional.
Other than that, of course, unfortunately, other than what we have in the guidance and what now concluded between, let's say, our expectation on Q3 versus Q4, we are not -- or we have -- we do not communicate more on that, unfortunately.
Okay. Maybe another one is on the order intake outlook. So, I mean, it's a bit mixed if I listen to you, you say that there are less new cases coming to the pipeline and you flagged increased uncertainty in the market. But on the other hand, we saw pretty good orders in Industrial Equipment and you mentioned these strong verticals. So, I mean, what should we expect going forward? So is it kind of driven by these strong verticals better than the macro implies? Or are you seeing some pressure from macro going forward?
Yes. Of course, when we look at these new sales case trends and so forth, that tends to fluctuate a bit month after month, so that's maybe something not to put too much attention. But generally speaking, the -- and it's good to remember that we operate in so many customer segments that quite well kind of evens out these fluctuations in the different segments. And now we are held with certain strong segments that are making up for that, let's say, general somewhat more fluid picture. But what can just be simply said that our sales funnels in the industrial side, and I understand you were more referring to that are stable and they are on a good level on average.
And maybe to build on that one, I mean, like you pointed out, so the sales funnels are basically stable and the number of new cases is slightly down. I mean, if there's nothing major there. But actually, the average size of the case is slightly up. And that's why the funnel as a whole looks fairly stable despite all macro discussion and topics that there are.
The next question comes from Antti Kansanen from SEB.
It's Antti from SEB. A couple of questions from me as well, and I'll start with something that Teo, you said on the EBITA bridge that you flagged that you had maybe a temporary benefit from tariff-related price hikes. So I didn't fully understand what you mean by why would you benefit first? And what were you referring then on the cost impact that might come later? So a bit more clarity on that one, please?
Yes. The reason is that, when we are increasing the prices at the time when we start to import the goods to, for example, in this case, to the U.S. So first of all, we have old inventory in the U.S., which is with the old prices. That's one thing. And then the other thing is that, when you are using average price in the inventory, so it tends to be so that the material consumption comes through at a different time when the sales number actually comes. And this may create a mismatch, which we are here also seeing. So that's good when it works like this. But then the reality is that, as we have not tried to gain anything on the tariffs as such. So, of course, the disadvantage will be coming a little bit later. It can take a while, depending on the component that we are talking about. In Service, it will come quicker. In Equipment, it will come a little bit later, but it will balance itself over time.
Okay. But it doesn't sound like this would be a kind of a major driver for any margin fluctuation that we're seeing, for example, on the Industrial Equipment side, which was obviously a big step-up from the second quarter and maybe there will be a bit of a step down, but this is not a massive driver on the margin?
The overall number, like I said, is less than EUR 5 million, and it is split basically between Industrial Equipment and Service. So from that point of view also, it's not a massive driver. Plus it will not probably vanish in 1 quarter.
Right.
So it will take a little bit -- it's like a rolling in a way, impact because of the average price that we, in practice, have from the inventory management point of view.
Okay. And maybe a second kind of clarification, the EUR 10 million or so that you're kind of flagging as say, EBITA one-offs this quarter. That's mainly on Industrial Equipment, impacting mainly the Industrial Equipment division. Am I correct?
That is correct. So actually, the tariff-related price tailwind that we just discussed is more in Industrial Equipment than in Service, exactly because of this thing that the impact comes through quicker in Service and slower in Industrial Equipment. And the R&D grant, which is the other big topic is primarily within Industrial Equipment.
Okay. And then the second question, maybe this is a similar topic, but project execution on the port side. If I remember correctly, I mean, the previous quarter margins on the ports were very good as well compared to the history. I didn't remember that you flagged mix back then, but that was also kind of a good execution and now continues on the port side. Is there something that we should maybe see as kind of a structural improvement, something that we can extrapolate going forward? Or are we still kind of wait and see whether this is sustained?
Well, I'll start again then. First of all, in the ports execution, I mean, always one thing that happens, these are big projects. And when you deliver a big project, of course, you make certain provisions for that project risks. And this execution in this particular quarter, some of those provisions were released. And hence, that's also relative to the sales. So the volume impact wasn't as big. It has some mix impact. But the underlying reason is the same that our project execution has been on rather conditions. There isn't or hasn't been recently any significant, let's say, difficult projects. That, of course, in the nature of the business cannot guarantee that that would not happen at all. But I think our project management capabilities already over the last few years have been improving kind of consistently. And in that way, we are kind of confident that we can do that quite well now. But it doesn't remove the fact that, I mean, in that sort of business that there is some risk involved also.
Yes. The main point from our point of view is, of course, to be able to have this improvement trend so that, of course, every now and then a quarter is better and then maybe also worse. But when the trend is in the right direction from the project execution point of view, so then things are good from our point of view. From the mix point of view, there probably isn't anything structural that would need to be taken into consideration. We have, of course, consistently been saying that we want to grow more in port services than in other areas there. But as long as we have good order intake from the Equipment point of view, so this will not be visible in 1 quarter or maybe even in 1 year so that this is a much longer sort of project to change that structure.
Okay. Then last one for me is on the order side. I mean, I guess there was a couple of bigger ones that you flagged both on Industrial Services, on the process crane side, obviously, on the ports as well. Was this a bit of an active quarter in terms of big projects? And is there something explaining the timing? Or am I just reading too much into it? You also mentioned that the average case size is growing. So was this a particularly active big project quarter for some particular reason or just a coincidence?
I mean, coincidence is maybe not the word that I would use, of course, it's part of a consistent and continuous work and working on the funnel and the timing of the orders because the customer-related reasons sometimes, of course, happens. It's not entirely under our control for sure.
Maybe I'll answer that mainly related to the process crane business, and you see that the process crane business orders particularly was good. And in that case, I'd say that we had, in the same quarter, several quite successful larger projects, whether it is in power or aviation, or to some extent, also elsewhere. So that is maybe a slightly larger than usual quarter, but that doesn't take away that both in the ports and in the industrial process crane side, there are still further opportunities in the funnel also. This is just timing-wise, particularly in process crane good quarter.
I would say that it would be a little bit difficult to find the connection between the decision-making timing and something that has happened in the world from the macro point of view or even from the macro point of view to us so that coincidence is not the right word, but there is probably not a big scheme behind that would explain this timing.
If you find, please least let us know.
I'll do that.
[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Tom Skogman from DNB Carnegie.
This is Tom from DNB Carnegie. Sorry for asking about the margin guidance, but I mean, the January to September margin is already 1 percentage point higher than it was 1 year ago. So is there any reason you did not change the guidance in group that we should be aware of as a risk element for Q4?
Maybe, Tom, since they asked the previous related question also, you can start on this, too.
There is -- we are not expecting anything dramatic in the fourth quarter that would be somehow deviating from the normal course of business significantly. I guess that it is rather that we would be saying that the third quarter was a little bit on the higher side because of the topics that we have been discussing. So fourth quarter -- this year's fourth quarter, like many other years' fourth quarters as well. So it is a combination of primarily of mix and then, of course, the underlying volume. And this balance is then, of course, very important from the margin development point of view as well.
Okay. If then looking at kind of building blocks for 2026, I would just like to get a bit of clarification when I do my own EBIT bridge. So to my understanding, there is no cost-cutting kind of program ongoing for next year. So what do you -- what would you like to guide when it comes to fixed costs? And this modularization of products, is that kind of rather a negative or a positive next year as you have indicated you have both the new and the old generation of products in manufacturing next year?
I didn't quite get the last part, so I'll let Teo answer that. But the first part when it comes to the fixed things, we first -- we don't guide the fixed cost per se, but there is some tail end of this industrial restructuring program also remaining. And, of course, when it comes to fixed cost, we are closely observing the demand environment. And we have also, during this year, made adjustments to the organization as needed based on the demand environment.
I guess the other question, if I understood Tom correct, was that is the product renewal/launch in Industrial Equipment going to be a positive or a negative for '26 in comparison to '25?
Sorry, Tom, I didn't quite get that. So yes, first of all, those launches are now progressing basically to the second launch year. And during this year, the launch has been towards the second half proceeding all the time better. So I mean the amount of products that we are converting is catching up is probably a good way to say it. So that is proceeding quite satisfactorily, I would say. And now we have in all 3 regions, the new viral posts available also. So in that sense, the readiness is there.
It is -- as I think I explained also last time when you have a new product, you run in manufacturing for some time, you will run 2 products in parallel. And that, of course, has the tendency to increase manufacturing cost. And secondly, you have some product cost, variable cost-related timing to catch up with the old legacy product that has been in the market for quite a while. In both accounts, we have still next year, some costs on the new product that are higher than the existing product. But we are moving ahead quite well on that, and we are -- we have been kind of preparing for that for the most part. So I wouldn't take that as a very significant consideration.
Okay. And then the big tariffs on RTG cranes, I don't understand why we discussed so much the STS cranes. I mean, isn't the RTG crane the big opportunity for you in the U.S. I mean, that is much more high-margin products than STS cranes and the Chinese companies have been very strong there as well. And in that product, you have already set up to deliver quickly basically.
Yes, that is true. At the same time, it is -- although we don't exactly comment on the competitors' market share in the region, but the Chinese competition in this case is not as big on the RTGs as it is on the STS. That's maybe the main reason to your -- or the main answer to your questions.
But do you expect kind of a clearly increased market share in RTG crane orders in '26 and '27 if the current tariffs are holding up basically?
No, I think, like I said, the Chinese competition where this is facing, of course, is not big on RTGs in the same way as they are on STSs. That's probably as much as we can say on that market topic.
You don't want to disclose at all what -- I understood that the Chinese have not 50% of the market, but 30%, 40% of the market in the U.S. Isn't that right?
Not in the RTGs. Not on the RTGs.
Okay. Then finally, on electrification, it's like a big theme. Do you have -- all companies that operate within electrification show pretty good growth at the moment. But what of these ones are big end customers to you that you see that they are expanding and ordering cranes from you?
Did you say -- I think the line is a little bit bad. Did you say what are the big customers...
Electrification -- just generally, electrification is a very strong sector when we look at the engineering. And you have a lot of sales -- I mean, it could be Hitachi, it could be ABB or Siemens or whatever, but what type of products do you see strong demand?
Okay. So you're asking our demand from that segment that benefits from the electrification. Sorry, I misunderstood. I understood our electrification of the products now I heard that, of course. Yes. I mean, of course, that is one demand driver that when the whole world is more moving towards electrification, automation and in that way, more sustainable, then that drives demand in different ways, more directly and indirectly. And this indirect demand that is coming from the investments to the more sustainable machines and so forth is driving also demand in these customer segments.
They are, however, generally speaking, not as large or as big crane users as many others. But it is true that we -- you can see that positive demand in also in those segments and in some cases, also quite large pieces of equipment. So, I guess, the answer to your question is that, yes, that is certainly a one demand driver also.
And what about gas turbines? They are investing massively at the moment, for instance, the gas turbine manufacturers.
Gas turbines is one way, of course, I mean, besides wind and nuclear and hydro and a number of other things are one way of generating the electricity. We have seen it historically also that demand moving from one technology to others. And now it is more maybe on that gas and, of course, the wind and nuclear and so forth. So that is true.
But on the other hand, it is then being -- there is a reduction on the other side at the same time in the other technologies. And those are typically the users for those sort of equipment for gas turbines, there are other large pieces of equipment or bigger projects because of the technology involved.
The next question comes from Mikael Doepel from Nordea.
Just a follow-up on the order intake here. So, I guess, what you're saying is that you had a few big orders in the quarter across the key segments -- basically across all segments actually. But you're also saying that you have a fairly good pipeline of projects, both in Ports and Industrial. Just trying to get my head around looking at the numbers in Q3, EUR 1.1 billion, how would you describe that? Is that normal in your view? Or is it exceptionally strong? Or how should we think about the level of orders in the quarter and when we think ahead from here?
I mean, you're referring to quarter 3 now or the following quarter…
Yes. Exactly.
Yes. I mean that was the same topic that we discussed a moment ago. So I would maybe reiterate, first of all, the really strong funnel is maybe not what we said earlier. So we have a stable funnel and there are opportunities, large opportunities also in the funnel as there has been on the first half of this year. So that hasn't per se changed. And it's a timing question when those actually realize. That is not something extraordinary. They have always existed there and it's just more -- are kind of timing-related topic that when they actually mature and so forth and now particularly for the industrial side of things. So it is -- it was a good quarter also from a bigger project point of view and hence, the large order intake. But as it was stated by Teo also earlier, we had a rather stable order intake in the other -- very stable order intake in the other areas, broadly speaking, too, and growth in the agreement base and growth in basic service, too, which is in that way, many way, the very important thing also or most important thing.
Okay. And on that topic, actually, I missed what Teo said in the beginning on Industrial Equipment when you talked about the sequential order intake increase. If you just could repeat that, please, in Industrial Equipment?
Yes. Sequentially, we actually had a very big increase in process cranes. So in the heavier side, we were more or less flat on the components. So -- and then the standard cranes were slightly down. So standard cranes were actually down both sequentially and year-on-year, whereas then process cranes this time have done well in the third quarter. So it was up both year-on-year as well as Q-on-Q.
With not a very good year last year.
With -- maybe against easier comparables, that is correct. And components, which is maybe the most important one, taking a look at it from the demand point of view, has been, let's say, up year-on-year and flattish sequentially. So, I mean, very hard to conclude anything significant from that one either.
There are no more questions at this time. So I hand the conference back to the speakers for any closing comments.
Thank you very much for all your questions. We have covered a lot of different topics, but I would still have one question left here in the chat.
So, can you please talk about the ship-to-shore cranes opportunity? Where can you produce outside of China? And do you need any additional CapEx to start new production? Or is it possible to use the existing plants?
Well, for the STS cranes, we have and we have had also the possibility to produce those products also in this time zone in several places. And there are 2 locations in APAC and Southeast Asia, where we have also working on a subcontracting-based model to produce STS cranes. So that is nothing new as such. So that is a typical thing for us that we have to make sure that we have several kind of channels in place all the time. Now because of this situation, we have been, of course, accelerating those activities or those projects to find the subcontractors.
Thank you, Marko. I think this concludes our session today. So I want to thank you all for following our webcast, and I want to thank Marko and Teo and wish you all a lovely evening. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
Konecranes — Q3 2025 Earnings Call
Financial data from Konecranes
Revenue
Revenue is the sum of all sales generated by a company, e.g. for its products or services.
Revenue (TTM) metric explainedDirect Costs
Direct costs are the costs incurred directly in connection with the manufacture of the product or service.
Gross Profit
Gross Profit indicates how much of the revenue remains in the company after deducting direct production costs. If the percentage share of sales is calculated, this is referred to as the gross margin.
Gross Profit metric explainedSelling and Administrative Expenses
Selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) include all expenses for marketing and sales as well as the general administration of the company.
Research and Development Expense
Research and development costs (R&D) provide information on how much the company invests in the research and development of its products. The costs are particularly interesting as a percentage of revenue and in comparison to direct competitors.
EBITDA
EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) is the company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The EBITDA margin is calculated as a percentage of sales.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation represents reductions in the value of the company's assets (e.g. due to wear and tear on machinery).
EBIT (Operating Income)
EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) is the company's profit before interest and taxes, also known as the operating income. The EBIT Margin is calculated as a percentage of sales at
.
Net Profit
Net Profit represents the profit or loss after deduction of all costs.
Net Profit metric explainedStocksGuide Premium
| Jun '26 |
+/-
%
|
||
| Revenue | 4,079 4,079 |
6%
6%
100%
|
|
| - Direct Costs | 1,697 1,697 |
12%
12%
42%
|
|
| Gross Profit | 2,382 2,382 |
0%
0%
58%
|
|
| - Selling and Administrative Expenses | 1,272 1,272 |
0%
0%
31%
|
|
| - Research and Development Expense | - - |
-
-
|
|
| EBITDA | 667 667 |
1%
1%
16%
|
|
| - Depreciation and Amortization | 138 138 |
6%
6%
3%
|
|
| EBIT (Operating Income) EBIT | 529 529 |
0%
0%
13%
|
|
| Net Profit | 384 384 |
0%
0%
9%
|
|
In millions EUR.
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Konecranes Stock News
Company Profile
Konecranes Oyj engages in manufacturing cranes, lifting equipment and machine tools. It operates through the following segments: Service, Industrial Equipment and Port Solutions. The Service segment comprises the maintenance and installation services for industrial equipment. The Industrial Equipment segment produces industrial cranes and components. The Port Solutions segment consists of lifting equipment for ports. The company was founded on April 15, 1994 and is headquartered in Hyvinkaa, Finland.
StocksGuide Premium
| Head office | Finland |
| CEO | Mr. Ottola |
| Employees | 16,403 |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Website | www.konecranes.com |


