Olvi Stock

Welcome to our Q2 and Half Year Report.

Before we get going, the usual disclaimer. So we'll be referring to future events. And as such, there is always some uncertainty with those statements. By now, you're familiar with Tiina-Liisa, our CFO and CIO; and myself, Patrik, who has the pleasure to be the CEO of the Group. We want to start by looking at the numbers and then reflect on our performance in further detail.

So net sales profit grew and accelerated during the second quarter. We're pleased with that. The volumes also grew during the whole first half year period and were boosted by the acquisitions, the three acquisitions that are included in H1 numbers. What I want to emphasize when it comes to our performance on both volume, net sales and EBIT or profit growth is that there's an organic element that's important to call out. We grew organically across all our markets, except for Denmark. In Denmark, the challenges continue as do our focus on improving our operations. We put in a lot of effort in making sure that we run the facility efficiently. We've made some changes to our management, and we're currently actively seeking more volume to use that excess capacity we have and to make sure that we can cover our overheads.

Going back to the broader picture and the overall performance. We're very pleased with the fact that our mix is improving. Our novelties have been really well received by consumers across our markets, and there's a clear preference for our brands, which means that our shares are staying strong and our performance is solid. I mentioned already on the previous slide that the volume was boosted by acquisitions. And by now, all four acquisitions have closed. Also the most recent one, Varska, which is included from July numbers onwards. So for the first half, it's three of the acquisitions. And now for the balance of the year, we'll see all four companies included in the numbers. So we can expect some support there on net sales and volume from the acquisitions, whereas the profit improvement will be more visible than in '27 after the synergies start to materialize this year, the first year is all about integration and bringing the teams on board.

Also want to call out the fact that with these acquisitions, we've entered four new markets. We're now active in Sweden, in Norway, in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Serbia. So we have our own businesses in these four countries now. And as such, we're able to service 25 million new local consumers. So it's quite a significant reach, improvement of our reach, extension of our reach, if you like. And another aspect I also want to call out is the balance of our portfolio. We are now with these four acquisitions in a position where half of our portfolio is nonalcoholic and the other half is alcoholic. So that gives us a great place from which to build future sustainable growth across our territories and beyond.

So with those entry words, I'll hand over to Tiina-Liisa to take us through the numbers. Thank you.

Thank you, Patrik. So let's start going through the financial performance, and we will start with the quarter two, so the latest three months.

Volumes were 300 million liters in quarter two. Weather was quite normal and supporting that way the season start. So volumes grew 4.2%. If we exclude Denmark from these numbers, the volume grew by 8.4%, so double what we can see in the report. And in Denmark, we have to remember that the previous year's figures included a significant share of the private label production in Denmark, and that is causing the decline of the volumes. In channel-wise, the hotel and restaurant channel and export grew the most in categories, the mild alcoholic beverages grew the most with the emphasis on beer and mixed drinks. And there we have cocktails, ready-to-drinks and also hard seltzer, for example.

New businesses also contributed and affected the sales volume by 4.7%. And when we now refer to the new businesses, we are talking about this Latvia, Valmiermuizas, then the new markets in Sweden, Norway, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. And as it was mentioned, Varska operating numbers are not included in June numbers, but from quarter three onwards. Only balance sheet part is combined to quarter two numbers. And overall, the market shares have remained at a good level in this tight price competition.

Net sales grew 15%, and that's because the average sales price per liter increased through the optimization of our product portfolios, prices and range also. EBIT grew 21%. In gross margin level, profitability improved both in euros and in relative to net sales. So our gross margin percentage is now 42% compared to the 41% last year. And with that, we are covering growing fixed expenses and therefore, able to improve the operating result. Successful launches of new products, price and this product portfolio optimization and improved profitability, especially in the Baltic countries and Belarus supported the profitability development.

And then when we go to the segment level in quarter two. So in Finland, we can see that our volume grew 5.8% and net sales 5.6%. So growth focused on the retail trade, while in the HoReCa segment, the consumers' moderate purchasing behavior continued still in Finland. Always market shares remained strong and also volume growth was achieved both in non-alcohol and in alcohol categories. And we can mention, for example, the hard seltzers where the growth is continuing very strongly, and we are a market leader there. And this new soft drink brand is performing or started very well. So our own brand soft drink sales has grown from last year.

In EBIT-wise, in Finland, the growth was 1%. The strengthened product portfolio has supported the net sales growth, but increased price competition, higher retail sales weight. Then the impact of the cost inflation also accelerated by Iran war, particularly in freight and packaging materials, then limited opportunities for price increases and investments in the marketing of own brands have made profit improvement not possible in quarter two. Then rest of the Europe saw volumes grew 2.7%. And then the organic sales volume decreased by 10% or 10.6%. And if we exclude Denmark, the organic sales volume remained at the previous year level. And new businesses increased the segment sales volume by almost by 12%.

In the net sales, the growth was 18%. And here, the organic net sales declined by 2.8% while excluding Denmark, organic net sales increased by 2.5%. So other companies in Denmark has been able to increase the average sales price. New businesses increased the segment net sales by 19.2%. So the average price was increased by product portfolio optimization measures in several markets and the higher price point of the brands represented in Sweden and Norway. EBIT in Rest of the Europe segment grew almost 11%, Baltic countries has improved significantly and the impact of the new businesses was already clearly positive in the second quarter. But we have to remember that the synergies will begin to materialize mainly in '27. And yes, Denmark is burdening the segment's profitability heavily by making losses.

Then Belarus, volume grew 5.6%, and that its growth driver is there mainly non-alcohol, water and soft drinks. Net sales grew 24%, and that is supported by price and product portfolio optimization measures, mainly in beer and soft drinks, then successful launches of new products and improved delivery accuracy. EBIT, 48% and the improvement in profitability was supported by the increased gross profit due to the improvement in the average price and net sales, as I explained.

Then when we check the first half of the year in total, we can see that the volume grew totally 3.8% and was more than 500 million liters. The development -- the sales volume improved in the second quarter as we saw. The sales volume increased by 4.4% in organic. And again, excluding Denmark, the sales volume grew by 8.1%. Launches of the new products, strong local brands supported the growth in sales and keeping the market shares at a good level. Net sales grew by 13.5%, following the new acquisition, improved portfolio mix and better average sales price. EBIT plus 9.6% and the profitability improved in Baltics and in Belarus is the main cause of that one and thanks to the more optimum product portfolio in general.

And then shortly, the first half of the year in segment-wise in Finland, we can see that the sales volume and net sales growth has been pretty similar, so more than 4%, both. And EBIT-wise, -- the EBIT has been in the same level, and that is because of the reasons that was explained when we discussed about the quarter two. Then the rest of the Europe volumes plus 1% and the net sales, 16.4%. So the average sales price has grew in the many markets and the new businesses are contributing in the net sales more than to the volumes. EBIT decline was mainly due to the Denmark, as mentioned before, where the operating result is at a loss due to the low sales volumes. The low capacity utilization rate and the cost associated with the ongoing development program increased the operating loss, but there are actions going on.

On the other hand, profitability has been significantly improved in the Baltic countries through measures such as price and product portfolio optimization. The integration of the new subsidiaries has gone according to the plan takeover and business development costs, among other things, are burdening profitability in '26. And then we are kind of heading to the '27 with all the developments. In Denmark, to improve profitability, efforts are focused on securing additional production volume and adapting operations to the changed volume level.

Belarus sales volume 6.7% plus net sales 22% plus and EBIT 31% plus. What has caused this good development in Belarus? The stable exchange rates, growing consumer purchasing power and the market growth, especially in non-alcoholic product categories have supported the overall market development. Local company has been able to strengthen also the branded sales and improved profitability in gross margin level.

Then the financial KPI summary. So we can see that the equity ratio is a little bit lower than last year. But we remember that we have been financing now the Iisalmi new brewery with the green loan. And also, we have used short- and long-term loans to finance our growth and the new acquisitions. Earnings per share, a little bit higher than last year. Operating cash flow, clearly better than last year, and that's because of the better net working capital situation. Investments are in the high level or EUR 24 million. And the main investments are still going in Iisalmi, we are finalizing our warehouse and in logistic investment. And then we have started also in Lithuania new warehouse investments. So we are also investing in growth.

Personnel has increased mainly because of the new businesses. And in sustainability, we are participating in the United Nations Global Compact Beyond Basics program, which then deepens expertise in managing the human rights impacts of procurement. I think those were the highlights of the financials.

Very good summary. Thank you. So with that, now that the half year is behind us, we're able to update our guidance and narrow the range. So the range that we're communicating and aiming for this year will be between EUR 84 million and EUR 90 million in terms of EBIT operating results. But for the balance of the year, of course, the year is not over. We're in the middle of August, so we consider it still summer. So summer is still here. We're going to keep pushing the business forward along with our chosen priorities. So this year has been about growth. It's been about development and efficiency. We will keep growing in our new markets and domestically, organically, especially also driven by nonalcoholic categories. These new markets and new consumers and new need states that we'll be approaching more on that later this year will also support our growth. And then we will, of course, focus on our own business, making our operations as efficient as possible, making sure we leave no stone unturned.

But with that, we close and open for questions. Thank you. Maybe we'll start here in the room, and then we go online if there are further, please.

Maria Wikstrom from SEB. I first wanted to touch upon the new guidance. Of course, it's just like a small downgrade on the high end of the range. But given that you are already ahead of last year after the first half of the year, so why wouldn't you see this trend to continue so that you can get the range? And then as you write here that the estimate operating result has been updated based on the actual results of the first half of the year, so what did disappoint during the first half of the year?

Thank you. Good question. I'm sure Tiina-Liisa wants to elaborate on, maybe two things come to mind. And one is, of course, the impact of the situation there in the Strait of Hormuz, its impact on logistics costs and then packaging materials. So that was a change, a negative surprise, the continuation of that conflict. And then secondarily, I would probably call out the Varska deal. It closed later than we had expected. It's now closed. It's good news and will carry on. But in our previous guidance, we expected it to close already in April-May time. So I would call those two out, if there's something additional.

Maybe to add that this Iran war thing is affecting and it's causing uncertainty. We have been able to offset the kind of the price increases mainly, but there is some uncertainties in some markets that can be fully the whole year to offset these price increases. And then also, I think that as we have mentioned, Denmark, so to be kind of the acknowledge that unfortunately, we have not been able to turn around the operations as we were hoping. So there is also a slight deviation. As you said, it's a minor kind of change or specification in the guidance, but we wanted to kind of make it now so that we are also kind of open what we think that these kind of things will affect on that.

You mentioned the Danish turnaround. So did the operating loss expand in the second quarter compared to the first quarter? And then I'm also interested in the measures to turn around the operations given that it has been going on for a few years now that one starts to wonder if it's actually possible to turn around the Danish operations.

Thank you for the question. I understand your concerns. So indeed, what we have done is focused on our operations, making sure that we streamline it in line with the volumes as much as we can. The primary priority really is to find more volume. We're running the factory at very low capacity currently, meaning we were looking for volume not only in the Danish market, but also in other markets and across our business. That's always been part of the play there with Denmark being geographically well placed to produce for other markets, be it for export purposes or then for our own domestic markets now with having presence in Norway and Sweden. So those I'd call out.

I'd also emphasize that we made changes to management where we have confidence in our ability to present more compelling cases, both to local sales and then addressing those opportunities beyond. So that's a few things that we've done, but we can't shy away from the fact that the volume we were looking for is not there at the moment. So we need to continue pursuing that.

I think you kind of asked that is the kind of situation changed from quarter one to quarter two. I think it's a pretty similar situation that we are doing these changes right now. But yes, as we said that the situation with the profitability has not improved compared to the last year.

Yes. And then my final question is, I'm interested in -- I mean, what I would -- I mean, define organic volume growth. So I'm interested, like your volumes were up 4% in the quarter. And if you would exclude the Danish portfolio changes, it was up 8%. So how much would have the volumes been up organically? So without these acquisitions and I mean, without the negative impact from the Danish portfolio changes?

Thank you for the question. I don't know if we can give an exact percentage, but in full transparency, we intend to clarify this point. We had some questions on that. So I don't have a percentage to give we can confirm there is organic local domestic organic growth bar Denmark that we can confirm, but I can't give you a percentage because I simply don't have it top of mind.

But as you saw that in Finland, in Belarus, there was organic growth coming through. And also in Baltics, there is some organic growth also happening. So you remember that last year, the first -- or the second -- the first half of the year was not easy, the weather was not that supporting. So that is also a little bit helping there.

And then finally, I wanted to ask, I mean, your views that now positively, we have seen some signs of Finnish consumer confidence to pick up, I mean, during the summer months. So how do you expect this to impact your business during the second half of the year if the trends were continuing and the Finnish consumer would be more spirited than it has been over the last 2.5 years?

Well, I guess that's what we've been waiting for and hoping for. Whilst we -- indeed, we read positive headlines, we see some positive underlying numbers, some of the retailers report positive figures. I think what still holds true is the price pressure. So consumers are still conscious as to what they spend. We don't see the premiumization kick in yet. We don't see that spilling over into the HoReCa channels yet, but there are signals that, that should come. And when we get there, we will be, of course, stronger than we've been before. We're sitting today here in Finland. And from that perspective, it's also interesting to point out an agreement with Pernod Ricard to represent their portfolio in Finland, making us stronger in the HoReCa trade. And then when the market recovers, we're well placed to take our share of that. But yes, the signs are there, and we're hopeful, but we won't build our business on hope. We'll keep performing regardless of the market situation.

And maybe one more, as I just came from Anora's Q2 call and there, the CEO said that it seems that the weather is favorable for extending enjoyable moments before they drink. So if we now look over to some months of Q3, how does the weather look for you guys?

I'm glad that Anora seems to be referencing our moments of enjoyment. And indeed, we intend to deliver those. Again, we're not building the business on hope. I'm not able to predict the weather, but we will be here and we're ready to serve if there's a spike in demand for sure. Thank you for all your questions. Shall we see if there's something online?

Yes. There are a few questions in the chat. So first question; is the seasonality in the new markets as heavily weighted towards Q2 to Q3 as it is in Finland?

Well, if you look at Sweden and Norway, the answer would be yes. Then in the Balkans, there is also seasonality, perhaps not as dramatic as in the North.

Next question. Why don't you report M&A contribution anymore? It will be important to understand the underlying development, especially when Varska is included.

Thank you. Good question. And as already referenced here today, we intend to provide further clarity on that. It's an area of opportunity. Thank you.

Next question. As an early take, which one of your acquisitions has been the most positive surprise?

Well, I'm glad to say we haven't had many surprises. So they have delivered against expectations. But in any integration, in any acquisition, there are always learnings, important learnings. I think we're very pleased that we can confirm that all four deals are now completed. So that was important. And I think one of the aspects there, the key aspects was to expand our reach into new markets to service new consumers and look for growth there, both for the acquired business and then complementing that with group products. So that's all working well. And then indeed, to upweight the non-alcoholic part of our portfolio, achieving what we now have, which is a 50-50 split between non-alcoholic and alcoholic. So these have all materialized.

And of course, there are small examples. In Sweden, we have been able to started sandals beer sales, and it has started quite well above the expectations. So I think that has been a positive surprise in a way and also that we have found a way to also widen the portfolio with our products in Norway and Sweden and other markets also in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Serbia, quite quickly. So anyway, we have started the integration and preparing the synergies for '27. So at least those have been positive kind of surprises that our people are kind of working very heavily towards the targets.

Thank you. Was it mistake to cut private label volumes in Denmark as you now lack scale?

Well, there's a two-pronged answer to that. There was part of the volume we wanted to get rid of. There was another part we wanted to have and we lost. So we're trying to recover some of that volume that has an economic justification.

What have you assumed for Varska in 2026? And is the EBIT contribution still less than 5% from M&A in 2026?

I believe it's too early to comment, and we haven't so far, so we won't elaborate on the 5% that we mentioned previously, but thank you for the question.

And last question, did you lose market share in Finland in Q2?

We did not, not on the major categories. Performed better than market.

That was all the questions.

Thank you. Then with that, as we have answered all the questions, we thank you for your attention and wish you a nice weekend. It's Friday. So keep enjoying life. Thank you.

Thank you everyone.

Welcome. Welcome to our Q4 and full year '25 financial statements. Before we start, let's do the usual disclaimer. So today, we'll be referring to our expectations for '26. And of course, any references to the future comes with a degree of uncertainty.

Many of you, I hope, have already gotten familiar with us. I've got Tiina-Liisa with me, who is our CFO; and I am Patrik, myself.

I'll start by summarizing the year, some key highlights. A bit about our history as well in terms of performance over the last couple of years. Then Tiina-Liisa will take us through Q4 numbers, full year numbers, then we'll come to the guidance, and then will reflect on the key focus areas of 2026. And after this, is the questions. We'll have time for questions, and we ask you please to drop them in the chat. Today, we're in a studio, we're live, but there's no one here, but our assistant. So we'll take the questions and answer as many as we can live right now. And those questions that we won't have time to answer, we'll take them in writing later on. Thanks Tiina-Liisa for reminding me.

So indeed, if we look at the full year as a whole, the results are strong. We were able to retain a high level of performance already achieved in 2024. And when I refer to sustainable growth, not only am I referring to the fact that we have been growing our EBIT and our net sales for a number of years already. But I'm also referring to the way in which we've done that. And we're exceptionally proud to be recognized secondary in a row by Times Magazine as one of the world's best companies. We're amongst the top 500 leading companies when it comes to sustainable growth.

So this is a source of pride for our whole organization and something that both consumers and customers are recognizing. We've also invested in our data and our processes and competencies, and this is visible in the expanding margins. Of course, our team stands behind everything we do. Our people is a core asset, something we invest in. And we're glad to see that our People Power Index has retained its high level of AA+.

Beyond the people, of course, it's about products. And our products to portfolio remains strong. Our brands are performing in our markets. Despite the challenges we've had, partly with weather, partly with some lost sales in Denmark. A much smaller market in Latvia. Our shares are strong. We've even taken share in our key categories, and we'll get back to that as well in some of our later remarks. And I want to close on perhaps the largest news of last year, which was towards the end of the year when we announced four acquisitions, three of these have now closed. And through these acquisitions, we're entering into three new countries and we'll get access to 26 million new consumers in these new home markets. Again, a topic we'll return to in just a bit.

Disposing on the topic of sustainable growth. And 2025 was actually the tenth year, tenth consecutive year of EBIT and net sales growth. And this is something remarkable. I think it's a strong testimony to the work done by previous generations, the strength of our portfolio and our ability to scale up our operations both from a performance and a capacity perspective. So really, really strong performance.

Now I'll let Tiina-Liisa talk to us through Q4 and the full year numbers in just a bit. But before that, passing on the acquisitions. So four acquisitions in total, three have closed. Starting from the left on your screen there with Valmiermuiza, this is a premium brewer in Latvia, one which will open up further. HoReCa growth for us will drive the premium part of our portfolio. The Valmiermuiza brands are not only beers. We have premium soft drinks there. So it's a balance between alco and non-alco. And these products are relevant across the Baltics. We've even seen them present in some of our other markets. So this is a great value-add premium part of our portfolio.

Then the next is about Bosnia. Bosnia Herzegovina, to be specific, bringing us down to the Balkans. We're there in the West Balkans. Now if you combine the population of Serbia and Bosnia, we have a significant new consumer base there. If you take the whole of West Balkans, there's more than 20 million consumers there alone. So a very interesting. A new market opening also brings us closer to the Mediterranean, Thinking about the coast there in Croatia, Albania and so forth, supporting our export efforts, bringing production closer to the point of consumption.

And then the third acquisition that also has closed is Brewery International. It's a company founded in Norway in 1992. They also have operations in Sweden. They import beers and wines, and through this acquisition, we have now access to all channels across Sweden and Norway.

And then the final, Varska, a big mineral water producer in Estonia. And still, we expect to close finally before summer, and this will add to our non-alco volume, roughly 10%, bringing our total portfolio to balance. So we'll have 50% alcoholic beverages, and 50% nonalcoholic. So very exciting opportunities across the four acquisitions.

So then closing here on the map. This is how our presence now looks like servicing all of Northern Europe being able to expand the reach of our own products to our new partners there in Sweden and Norway. Offering also access to all of these countries to our branded partners and then indeed extending our reach down to the Mediterranean, the Western Balkans through our new friends there in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

With that, let's have a closer look at the numbers and then come back to some of our reflections for 2026, please, Tiina-Liisa.

Thank you, Patrick. So we will focus first in quarter 4. And there, as a total, the net sales continued to increase, thanks to the improved average sales price despite a small decline in the sales volumes.

And as we stated lastly in October, it was planned and known that these expenses would be more focused in the second and third quarters of 2025. And therefore, profitability did increase significant 72.5% in quarter 4. to EUR 16.1 million. This was possible, as said earlier, due to the fact that costs were loaded in the earlier quarters compared to '24 as well as improved gross profit due to the impact of price and selection changes and production efficiency.

Volumes grew in Finland and Belarus. A major part of the decline in Baltic Sea region came from Denmark. From sales channels, HoReCa was growing, which was positive to see. The earlier mentioned significant EBIT improvement came from all the segments. Costs were allocated to earlier quarter this year as the major sales and marketing inputs were made during the summer season, but also some cost-saving measures were taken to support overall efficiency and the profitability.

Then the full year '25. Volume development was affected mainly due to the four things. First, change in consumer behavior towards non-alcoholic beverages, secondly, unfavorable weather in the summer season. Thirdly, the weak development of consumer purchasing power. And then finally, fourthly, the loss of private label agreements in Denmark.

On a positive note related to volumes. Non-alco product category share of total sales increased according to strategy and was 43.6%. And mostly importantly, despite this intensified competition, market shares were maintained or even increased in all main product categories. Profitability was supported by 4.1%. Gross profit increased to 41.7% of net sales. And that is thanks to portfolio optimization measures, improved efficiency of our own operations, and then the stabilization of the increase in the cost of goods sold.

On the other hand, logistics sales and marketing expenses were clearly higher level than last year. All this together, EBIT maintained in a good last year level, and improved slightly. Then what comes to the segments, segments in full year '25. In Finland, volumes remain in the last year level. This average sales price growth supported the net sales. In the second year in a row, we saw strong profitability improvement as the EBIT grew 15.4%. Last year, it was 47%. Supported by, for example, this improved production efficiency, delivery accuracy and improved product range. The biggest EBIT growth during the past 2 years has come from Finland.

Then Baltic Sea region. Volume decline came from Denmark, and that's because this discontinuation of several unprofitable products and a lot of private label agreements. And then from Latvia, decline of the total market was the main reason. As a result of these market impacts and the greater investments in sales and marketing, as well as increased payroll expenses and logistics costs, EBIT for the Baltic Sea region decreased by 23% to EUR 17.9 million.

Denmark is still making significant losses. And in Latvia and Lithuania increased competition caused by smaller-than-expected market burden at the profitability. But at the same time, the mentioned investments in brand visibility, campaigns, pricing, helped in maintaining and securing always competitive position and the market share. So even though the market has declined, we have kept the market share. And on a positive note, Estonia market was more resilient than other Baltic countries.

Then in Belarus, in nonalcoholic product categories, sales increased in line with the strategic targets. Nonalcoholic beverage categories accounted for 62.9% of the sales volume. That's the highest in the group. In alcoholic products, sales of the largest product category, beer remained at the previous year level. And during the reporting period, greater inputs were made in the sales and marketing of these product categories than in the previous year.

So EBITDA growth was 3.7%. There is no changes in general in Belarus situation. So there is nothing new to report on that one. Then if we check this full year other financial KPIs. So equity ratio has remained very strong level. We used EUR 8 million more in investments, almost EUR 29 million was related to the Finland. So we were able to finalize the high-bay warehouse house last year and increase the warehouse capacity. The brewhouse will be taken in use this year before the summer season. And also this inner logistics will be developed further during this year.

Then about EUR 16 million of these investments were subsidiaries in the Baltic Sea region. And in Belarus, this replacement investments were done through the subsidiaries cash flow financing totaling about EUR 8 million. Net result improved to EUR 64.8 million, and that increased, of course, the earnings per share. And that was then over the EUR 3 this last year. Then in operating cash flow, there was a small decline because of the increased taxes and a smaller decrease in the net working capital.

In sustainability, as said, recognition from the Time magazine as one of the world's most sustainable growth companies for the second consecutive year was a good accomplishment and demonstrated strong performance by reaching this A- level in the CDP assessment. And additionally, as you can see, our CO2 emissions in Scope 1 and 2 decreased by 4% -- and then some, of course, good news for the shareholders.

The dividend will be distributed during the '26 from the '25. And the Board of Directors proposes to have a small increase in the dividend to EUR 1.35 per share, and this will be paid in spring time yes, in spring time and then second part will be then done in September. May and September, yes. But I think that was the financial part.

Yes. And then, of course, there's also interest on the future. So our near-term outlook, I'm sure is a point of curiosity. So indeed, we're providing a range again as we have done previous years. And range that we're looking to deliver this coming year or the year that has already started is between EUR 84 million and EUR 92 million in terms of EBIT.

What's important to bear in mind, and hence, there's a bit more explanation on this slide than in the past is the impact of these newly acquired companies. Again, I want to repeat that three of them have closed. The fourth Varska, we expect to close by summer. So these companies are partly included in the estimates. However, we must remember that this is the first year. So there will be integration costs. And before we can fully benefit from the synergies, sometimes we'll have to pass.

So we expect a greater impact in 2027 and onwards. This is really the year of integration and making sure that we capture the maximum value of what we have acquired. Hence, we estimate that the EBIT impact of these acquired companies during the year of 2026 will be less than 5%. So that gives you a bit of a guidance on the value of those businesses in the short term.

And when it comes to '26 overall, a few things. We want to continue growing. We intend to keep developing our business, and we will seek out efficiencies. So the growth will come both from the non-alco part, as we have seen already during '25 and the previous years, strengthening our efforts there, expanding the reach of our own brands across new markets. And then also strengthening the overall portfolio of brands that we represent in our new and current countries.

On the development side, on the other hand, we will continue our journey of learning around everything related to net revenue management and data and analytics, scaling up our competency. And that's based the integrations, as mentioned, a key item of focus. We must bring our new family members of whom there's nearly 500 on board to make sure that we start all working together towards the same objectives.

So therefore, organizations and organizational learning is also a key source of development and focus. Then on the efficiency side, we've made significant investments in [indiscernible] as I mentioned the high bay warehouse. The Brewhouse is almost up and running, and they're already doing some test runs there in time and on schedule. We must make good use of our investments.

So therefore, as we continue to invest in these areas that will drive long-term growth for us, we remain focused on disciplined cost management across the business. Our priority will be to ensure that spend aligns with our strategic objectives and that we continue to identify efficiencies across functions. And all of this will support the sustainable growth that we have already enjoyed for 10 years and enjoy -- intend to enjoy for a long time coming.

So with those words, I believe we have covered the key messages we wanted to cover today. So now we'll turn to our support team for questions that you have placed online. But thank you for your attention so far. Please?

Yes. I have a few online questions here. The first question, can you give any indication of how much you made for all of these companies?

The purchase prices are not disclosed, so no.

Next question. Have you included all four acquired companies in your guidance or only the three approved ones?

Thank you. Good clarifying question. So again, three are closed, have closed during January, integrations are ongoing. One is still to be closed. We have considered all four, but in recognition of the fact that they are not fully on board since January 1 for the full 12 months. You can elaborate on that further?

Basically, the guidance is including the three acquisitions that are closed in the estimation, but then Varska has not closed it and kind of the estimation is that, that will be closed during the -- or before the summer. So naturally, that is not included the whole year in the estimation. Thank you.

Next question. Why was gross margin up 2.2 percentage points in Q4? Will gross margin continue to develop like this?

Yes. I think we made references to some of the portfolio changes, and we lost some volume. We also walked away from some volume. Then we've been focusing on strengthening our brands and the overall portfolio mix. So this is now flowing through, and that's what you see in our margins expanding. So we see it as a permanent improvement in terms of performance.

Yes. I think, of course, the intention is to keep this level and gradually to improve our efficiencies as we have been doing the whole time, developing the portfolio, using this net revenue management, see also the premiumization in the portfolio. So there is many things that are affecting that one.

Next question. You know that HoReCa outperformance in Q4. Is it possible to even deepen your on-trade performance and penetration, how sensitive on the HoReCa volumes to tourism?

Very good topic. So we've called HoReCa the source of growth in our strategy, and it's something that we are methodologically pursuing across our markets. And I mentioned, for instance, the Valmiermuiza acquisition is partly part of this journey where we look to strengthen our presence. This is an opportunity area for us. If you take our beer share across our markets, we're stronger in our global market share in each country than we are in the HoReCa trade. So we see opportunities to continue growing there.

Thank you. What worked well in your pricing and product mix actions? What products were successful in each market? And also, what gains do you expect from these actions in 2026?

That's a good question. Thank you, and it's a broad question and perhaps also a quite detailed question. We should bear in mind that our group represents more than 5,000 SKUs. So I won't be able to go into detail, obviously, on each, but I'll call out some territories, some spaces.

One is the non-alco part. It's been a part of focus for a long while. We need to remember that Olvi in Finland, for instance, launched the first nonalcoholic beverages already in the 1,800. So it's not a new thing for us. It's a thing that's been constant in -- on our journey. That's what we call our such a multi-beverage operators. So continuing to drive growth there is one part of the equation.

And then the other really links in with our strategy of being multi-local. We are really pushing to have the strongest local partnerships, the most relevant brands. We know our consumers. We know our customers, and this is a part of our strength that we're building on. And it's showing to be working really well in us keeping our market share as growing more on our branded side than on the store on brand side. So our portfolio balance is shifting in a healthier direction from gross profit perspective. I believe I have answered the question.

Next, here's a question. This is also a long one. What worked well in your pricing and product that was already here.

Can you comment anything about the profitability levels on your recent acquisition? Where do you expect to gain synergies from?

Okay. Again, a good question, maybe touching on some of the -- the obvious ones in terms of logistics and customer management. Then I want to call out that we're talking about significantly different types of business.

On one hand, we're talking about mineral water. On the other hand, we're talking about brewing. And on the third hand, we're talking about distribution business. So the margins and the contributions will be different. I don't know if we can go in much further detail on.

Yes, I think that we can then kind of discuss this more during this year when we are also kind of closing the integration plans and going forward. But I think that, as Patrick said, that there is a little bit different type of acquisitions. So those which are add-ons in the countries businesses like in Estonia and Latvia. Of course, the synergies are a little bit different.

It comes from the product portfolio. It comes from the logistics and different kind of things. But then when we come to the new markets, so that's kind of different kind of synergy. So of course, we want to expand our reach as it was said earlier. And hopefully, we can then utilize our portfolio and the new part of the portfolio in our current markets and vice versa. So there are different kind of synergies naturally. And we think that this -- especially these new countries are also the platforms for the future development then.

Next question. When did the private label exits happen? When are we on normal comparison figures? What is the plan to stabilize Denmark and recover Baltic Sea regions profitability?

Sure. Good broad question. On private label, then now zooming on Denmark. The situation is stabilized. Now we're looking for growth, and we're also happy to work with the trade partners in Denmark on appropriate opportunities there under their brands. So that's been done, if you want to look at it from that perspective.

Then in the Baltics we need to recall some of the messages that we've shared during Q2 and Q3 results reviews. We went into summer strong. We had really strong plans, both on marketing and product placement in store, some of which then were a bit too heavy versus the market that followed. We had challenging weather over summer and then in terms of the Latvian consumption. The market simply was much smaller. So that was a costly exercise. So therefore, we're going into this year with a more balanced plan and that in itself will, of course, support not to forget the acquisitions. We're getting new customers, new streams of revenue, new team members. They will always energize us and help us push for the next level of performance.

And I think that in general, for the '26 what comes to the Baltic Sea region, as Patrick said, of course, we kind of expect to have more stable here maybe in what comes to the market maybe changes and our own kind of performance. But I also want to highlight that this add-on -- we bought this [indiscernible] business 3, 4 years ago, and it has been a very good add-on there. So with this kind of development, we can improve the whole kind of situation in the market...

Next question. What is your consideration about the share buyback you started? Is this a signal that you will use share buybacks more actively -- actively in distribute profits going forward?

Maybe you want to take it. It was quite clearly spelled out in the announcement when we're doing it.

Yes, I think this payback approval that Board gave to the management that is targeted, and that is targeted for this performance programs that we have. So that is the reason for this payback.

And the amounts are small and it's not a strategic shift.

It's something that we've done before. 80,000 in total. So it's for our own rewarding program you use.

Thank you. I think that's all the questions we received now.

Wonderful. Well, thank you for your activity. Thank you for your interest. Thank you for being here. and we'll see you in a couple of months' time.

Yes. Thank you.

All the best.

Welcome back. Welcome to our third quarter interim report. Thank you to those who are joining us here in the studio and for all of you online. Before we get to the actual content, let's remind ourselves of the disclaimer and the fact that we'll be referring to future events, which always include a certain level of uncertainty. Most of you would know us by now by the means of introductions.

I'm joined here by Tiina-Liisa Liukkonen, our Chief Finance and Information Officer; and then myself, Patrik Lundell, the CEO.

Let's get to it. So the third quarter results are in, and we're in for the final stretch of 2025. The market has been softer than anticipated throughout the summer period. Consumer confidence and spending remain under pressure, all of which is visible in our results. But despite this challenging operating environment, we've been able to keep our shares. We haven't lost our strong market shares. Quite on the contrary, we've even been able to gain some shares in many pockets across our business. And additionally, we've been able to expand our margins.

So let's have a look at some of the highlights of the third quarter here. So as I mentioned, the weather at the end of summer throughout the third quarter remained unstable, affecting the overall market demand. We did enjoy a 3-week spell of sunny weather in Finland, which increased demand there in the local market. But especially across the Baltics, we had a long rainy summer, and this impacted the demand directly. So despite the challenging environment and the smaller-than-anticipated market, we kept investing. We invested in our brands, in our own operations to ensure that we remain competitive and that we come out of this cloud stronger than before. We kept our shares and we even grew shares, as I mentioned. Now for instance, if we go to Latvia, where we communicated during Q2 that the market was much smaller than last year, the same applies for the third quarter. But despite that, we took 3% market share in the beer category in Latvia. So that's a clear demonstration of our actions actually carrying dividends. And more broadly, across many of our markets, we took share in the non-alcohol category, for instance, mentioning waters and Finland specifically. So we've been working on our portfolio, developing it both through innovation and by managing the mix, and this is now visible in the margin expansion.

But in addition to managing and maintaining our profitable core business, we're also pursuing growth now through acquisitions. And we'll come back to this at the end of the presentation, but we've made acquisitions or communicated our intent to bring on board 3 companies now, 2 in our domestic current markets and 1 that brings us into completely new territory. So with all of this being said, we come out of summer stronger than before, and we remain confident in our ability to deliver a strong first quarter, and we do not see any issues with our operating model overall. But with those intro words, Tiina-Liisa, please, why don't you share some of the numbers with us?

Yes. Thank you Patrik and hello from my side too. So let's start with the quarter 3 results. Our net sales and sales volume remained at the previous year's level. So in total, quarter 3 was behind our expectation. As said, especially due to the rainy weather and the late summer in Baltics and also in Belarus. This economic and political uncertainty has continued, and that's reflected in the consumers' purchasing power in all of our markets. Despite of the challenging market and intense competition in quarter 3, we were able to maintain our shares and expand our margins, which is a good achievement in challenging market conditions. Even though profitability improved as measured by gross margin percentage, overall profitability measured by EBIT declined almost 10%. There are a few reasons. It was affected by decreased volumes or not that high volumes that we expected, investments into the sales, marketing and pricing, higher logistic costs and then business development measures.

But then let's have a look at the segments in quarter 3, and there were differences between the business segments. In Finland, we can see good growth in quarter 3. As mentioned, July 3-week heat wave significantly boosted demand and ensured a good third quarter sales for Finland. Our strong brands performed well. For example, non-alcohol and hard seltzer categories continue to grow. And hard seltzer turned 5 years this year, and we have kept our position as a market leader all this time.

Strong own brand sales and very good delivery accuracy, thanks to the new investments in Iisalmi boosted the sales and profitability and especially in July during the high demand when we performed very well.

Now then in Baltic Sea, rainy and unfavorable weather conditions, together with the weak development of consumer purchasing power, tight price competition and decrease in the consumption of alcohol products in general, impacted the profitability together with the high expenses, especially in the marketing and sales. Sales volumes declined, especially in Latvia and Denmark. In Latvia, the overall retail market continued to decline. But the good news is that we achieved growth in HoReCa sales.

In Denmark, our soft brand Jolly sales was significantly better than last year, but this gain did not offset the impact of lost private label leaders. However, always market shares have mainly remained at the level of the previous year or even improved in the Baltic countries. So even the market has been softer, we have performed in this market condition.

EBIT declined almost 25% and the effect was due to the decreased volumes from Latvia and Denmark. But also Lithuania's profitability was affected significantly in quarter 3 by the tight price competition in the summer season.

And then in the Belarus, there was a cold weather in the late summer, and that affected the overall demand. But the kind of the good news is that the sales of this non-alco products grew as it is a strategic target for us. In profitability, we see a decline, and that is because there has been higher fixed costs and especially for example, logistics cost has been higher than last year.

Then the whole year until the September. As said, the whole year sales volumes were affected by continued weak consumer demand, then general market uncertainty and this unstable summer weather. And the quarter 3 sales were weaker than expected, especially in the Baltic Sea segment. In Finland, we got this heat season in July, but that we didn't saw in the Baltic Sea region or in the Belarus.

Net sales grew, and that is thanks to the higher average sales price. But despite this challenging market, as said, we retained our market shares in all our main product groups, and our net sales remained at the previous year level.

Profitability-wise, as said, the relative gross margin improved year-on-year, and that was 41.7%. We are happy that we have been able to improve this relative profitability measured by gross margin as that is the base for sustainable profitable growth in the future.

EBIT decreased due to strategic investments in business development and growth, including costs associated with these announced acquisitions and the modernization of information systems as well as the increased sales and marketing activity and higher logistic costs. For example, in this -- example of this modernization of information system, we are renewing our ERP system and also putting effort on our demand and campaign planning.

Then the whole year by segments. In Finland, in terms of these product categories, as I said, sales of hard seltzers and non-alcoholic products continue to grow. And even though there is a change in consumer behavior slightly reduced to the overall demand for alcohol products, the most significant change in the sales volume was due to the optimization measures taken in the beer range in '24, which has a negative effect on the sales volume compared to last year. The operating result improved almost 9% compared to last year. And that is mainly as a result of the sales volume growth due to the sales peak caused by the heat in July, improved production efficiency, the stabilization of cost increases and changes in the product range. So many things has affected. Market position remained strong, as said.

But then Baltic Sea region. Price competition has continued intensive and sales volumes declined due to the consumer weak purchasing power, weather conditions and lower consumption of alcoholic products. This we have already mentioned. We have managed the market decline quite well. As always, market shares have mainly remained at the previous year level or even improved. As mentioned, sales volumes declined, especially in Denmark and Latvia, but the reasons are same as mentioned in the quarter 3. Profitability has not developed according to our plans in Baltic Sea region. EBIT decline is 31%. We saw that in quarter 3, it was less, but in overall, it is 31%. And the decline comes from Denmark, Latvia and Lithuania. In Denmark, the process of changing the focus of business operations from private label manufacturer to own brand business is in progress, but we have not yet made our operations profitable. In Latvia and Lithuania, intensified price competition caused by weak consumer demand during the summer season, especially in summer season, together with the significantly higher investments in brand visibility, campaigns and pricing weakened our profitability due to the smaller-than-expected market. But at the same time, this helped maintaining our competitive position. Profitability drop in Latvia and Lithuania is expected to be temporary as profitability has already improved in September compared with the previous months.

Then in Belarus, we see that the sales volumes and net sales are in the last year level or the sales volumes are in the last year's level and the net sales has improved, and that is because the average sales price has also improved. In overall, EBIT has declined, and that is because there has been more fixed cost. The gross margin has been in a good level, but there is a bigger amount of fixed costs and especially the logistics cost has been growing this year quite significantly.

Then financial summary. So some of the highlights from here. So overall, our balance sheet and financial position are strong. As announced together with the acquisitions, we are planning to finance these acquisitions by operating cash flow and also utilizing existing short-term finance instruments. In sustainability side, in '25 Reputation & Trust survey done in Finland at the end of the quarter 2, we received a good rating in all areas and excellent in the products and services among both the general public and investors. Among the general public, our results were the best in the measurement history and among the investors, the second best. And we are especially proud of this good result in product and services because that is the core of our business.

Then investments. The total investments are EUR 10 million more than last year, and the main part is coming from the Finland. Finland investments proceed on schedule. This new high-bay warehouse has significantly improved the delivery accuracy. And we will see the proof of that one in the moment in the video. So I think that now we can go and see what has happened in Iisalmi.

[Presentation]

Great. So I hope you enjoyed the video and the scenery beyond the important content that Tommy shared with us. So we're super proud of all the work that has been done in Iisalmi and we're probably a bit biased if we say, but I'm sure you agree after having seen the video that this is a brewery that's in the most beautiful place in the world. So we invite you to visit.

But back to other topics. So in terms of our near-term outlook, we've changed our guidance based on the actuals of Q3. I want to emphasize that we still expect a strong fourth quarter. Tiina-Liisa mentioned referenced some of the investments we've done this summer. There were heavier investments in the similar space at the end of last year, which we are not expecting to repeat. So we're overlapping some of those costs, and thereby, we have great confidence in our ability to deliver a strong fourth quarter.

In terms of strategy and getting to those acquisitions that I promised we would reference, we are committed to our strategy. The strategy is working. Our brands are performing. We have solid market shares. Our margins are improving. Our efficiency in our operations are improving. So we will continue to execute in line with our plan, and we have great confidence in our ability to deliver growth also in the long term. Part of delivering that growth is expansion, expansion through acquisitions. So let me just briefly touch on the 3 pieces of news we've shared during the third quarter.

So in Latvia, we've spoken about Latvia today as we did during the second quarter. You've heard that the market is much smaller. Having said that, though, there's 2 brands that are performing. There are 2 brands that are growing. One is our Piebalgas premium beer in the market. That's growing. The other one is Valmiermuiža. And we, as a whole, have taken those increased shares of the market that I referenced, 3% more share in beer. So there is growth in the market. There's growth to be had, particularly in the premium part of the portfolio, bringing Valmiermuiža on board is very much a local expansion. They have regional relevance as well. I've even seen some of their products, our products here in Finland. They also do soft drinks. So it's also leaning in on our multi-beverage strategy.

Then in the middle here, you see another picture of a beautiful brewery this time in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Banjalucka Pivara brewery that we are looking to bring on board as all of these acquisitions by the end of the first quarter of 2026.

Now in the case of Banjalucka. This not only brings us in addition to our beer portfolio, healthy operations there, but it provides us access to an entirely new market. If you look at Western Balkans, you'll find roughly 20 million consumers. That's not very different from the combined amount of consumers that we are able to service in our domestic markets today. But if you look at the whole of the Balkans, you include Greece and Romania, we're quickly talking about 60 million consumers. So we're opening up a new territory for our business.

And as Banjalucka today is very much committed to beers, we have an opportunity to quickly extend their range and their offering there in the local markets with our in-house portfolio of non-alcohol products and other alcoholic propositions. This will also help us to build our already existing experts in the market to bring some of the production locally and be an even stronger player there in the region.

And then the third acquisition brings us to Estonia, where it's a local acquisition of the Värska Originaal water business. This is a longstanding operator in the region, a strong local player also with regional relevance. We see their products across the Baltics. We see them in Finland and beyond. This is a growing business, all nonalcoholic, but beyond water as well. So they have enhanced waters, vitamin waters, magnesium waters, one of the novelties that they brought recently out. So this is a local and regional player and leans very much in on our ambitions to grow in the non-alcohol space. Their volume alone adds roughly 10% to the total non-alco sales of the group today. So 3 very interesting and relevant acquisitions that lean in directly on our strategy, enable us to be stronger in our current markets, enables us to seek growth across the regions that we operate in. And then through the Banjalucka acquisition opens up a completely new region for us.

So we're very excited about these acquisitions and bringing the new team members on board and going into 2026 with many levers to pull and many growth opportunities. So with that, we close and invite the participants here in the room and all of you there online to ask your questions. Thank you.

Sanna Perälä from Nordea. You walked us through the market development quite well, but I have one question that's regarding Finland. You mentioned the good weather that was supportive in Q3, but was there anything else besides the good weather that supported the nice growth we saw?

Yes. I think Finland is referenced many of the important points there, one of which is our delivery accuracy. So through the investments already done and taken into good use during Easter of this year, we got the highway -- high-bay warehouse. I sometimes make that mistake, the high-bay warehouse in good use, which improved our delivery accuracy. So we were able to sell more than previous years and sell across our portfolio. So that's also the part that we want to emphasize that our portfolio mix was stronger. And then other internal efficiencies combined then with the less strong growth on input costs. So many things played in our advantage. Did I forget something?

Yes. I think as a summary, it is that we have a better capability now to respond, for example, this kind of peak seasonal demand. And now we can show that we can respond on those ones and we can kind of deliver and that's where also they get the benefits from those.

So you expect the good development to continue and it's not just the weather?

Yes, we're not in the weather business, although we have to accept that demand is impacted by the temperature outside.

Well, then you mentioned the portfolio optimization and product mix. So could you describe some of like concrete actions you have taken perhaps during this year or in Q3 that well, optimizes your portfolio going forward?

Yes. So coming in -- thank you for the questions, by the way. Coming into this summer, we had stronger plans in the Finnish market as we did across the regions. We did more media investments. We also placed more secondary placements in store. We had a clear focus. We had 5 priorities that we went after, and we were able to deliver double-digit growth across all those 5 priorities. So we've been quite focused and committed to delivering on specific areas.

If you want specificity, for instance, in the non-alcohol part, we were focused on waters, building our KevytOlo brand, which is the leading brand in Finland in terms of the juice enhanced waters. We saw tremendous growth there in waters. Overall, we took nearly a bit more than 2% market share this summer. So they're carrying dividends, the actions we are taking. And this is then, of course, changing the shape of our portfolio.

Well, then if we look at Q4, you already touched upon that in my previous question, but how do you see the overall market development going into that? Do you -- or how confident are you that your sales will remain on a positive growth track?

Maybe we take this together. But if I start what we don't expect consumer sentiment to dramatically change. We expect the environment to remain similar. But what we are -- on one hand, we're overlapping some investments, which we're not repeating. On the other hand, as I mentioned, we're coming out of summer stronger than we went into summer. So we've got increased shares. We're taking a bigger slice of the pie now than we did a year ago. And then we've been quite tight on our internal cost as well, driving out teasing out efficiencies where we can to make sure that we deliver a strong fourth quarter.

So we are quite confident that we can manage the internal part. So we know that what kind of expenses we had this year, what we had last year, and that's why we are believing that the quarter 4 in a profitability wise is better than last year. But yes, the softness in the market has not disappeared. That remains to be seen how the quarter 4 is going to be. But I think that we have seen kind of quite much of changes already in the summer season. So it cannot go any worse maybe than this has been in the summer season. So I think...

And to point back to what you said previously as well about September, Latvia and Lithuania, we already see the needle moving in the right direction. So that gives us confidence as well.

All right. That's clear. Well, then moving on to the guidance for 2025, which you restated yesterday. If I calculate it correctly, you need to improve 50% in Q4 on your EBIT level to reach the lower end of the guidance range. So what steps do we need to see or do you need to do in order to reach that?

Thank you for the question. It feels like it's a bit of a follow-up on the theme we've already been touching on. So indeed, we have taken those measures. We have them in the plan, and we have line of sight of the costs we had last year and things that we're not repeating this year, maybe to mention the fact that we spent in marketing and sales activations more in the fourth quarter of last year than we are planning to do this year. We have already invested that in summer. So there's these shifts, which gives us confidence that despite the market being where it is, we're controlling our own operations. And by that, we expect a strong fourth quarter.

And if I follow up on that, is this improvement mainly from Finland and Baltic Sea region or the other one only?

We see it across our business. So we have taken these initiatives across our business in all. Thank you very much.

Then I still have 2 more questions to go. You've seen your non-alcoholic categories growing across the board, while alcoholics are somewhat more depressed. So can you share what's their share of revenue or volumes these days?

So if you look at our volumes in total, and you can refer back to the annual report of last year, you'll see that roughly half of our volume is beer. And then if you take soft drinks and waters, that's roughly 25%. But if you take all of our non-alcohol combined, I believe you'll find in the report even for the first time, you'll find a specific number. Maybe you want to repeat, but it's more than 40% that's represented by non-alcohol.

And that stands still in Q3 2025?

Yes. So year-to-date, it's even grown.

Yes.

Right. And lastly, about the acquisitions. They look quite promising, but have you quantified any synergy potential there?

On the acquisitions?

Yes.

Yes. But we're not disclosing those details. But yes, we have that part of it is to grow and really make sure that we work stronger together than separately today.

We have only stated that kind of that those businesses are profitable now. And of course, we have found synergies as those companies are in Latvia or Estonia. So we have the operations there. So then we can find some synergies in the future in many aspects also.

This is [ Matti ] from OP Markets. I'd like to ask also about these acquisitions you made. And I think the Baltic acquisitions make perfectly sense, and they are perfect match to your existing portfolio. But then this Bosnia acquisition was a bit surprising, at least for me. And how do you see kind of the country risks or this kind of what could possibly go wrong there going to the totally new market?

Sure. And we have some experience, of course, of entering new markets, and we've been quite successful in doing that in the past. So we expect the same here. We are indeed going into Western Balkan. If you think about the Croatian coast, you think about Montenegro, Albania, the tourism that's growing there, we'll be able to serve them not all the way from our domestic markets, but from our local future domestic markets. There's growth there to be had.

Then if you look at Bosnia Herzegovina in itself, it's a small country, it's a small market. But then when you go beyond into Serbia and some of the neighboring markets, Greece and Italy, again, there's good momentum already today that we expect to only accelerate and broaden our offering through that. So there's clear building blocks that gives us confidence in the growth. And when you point to the uncertainty in the region, I'd like to emphasize that these markets are all applying to become EU members. So we're very much leaning into the Western Hemisphere here. Actually, Bosnia Herzegovina will be our western most country after Denmark, if you look at it geographically. Thank you for the question.

Maybe one follow-up, like the opportunities you just mentioned. How do you see kind of the -- you said that you have option to export your existing products via these new acquisitions. So how do you think what are the key products you are trying to get into the new markets?

I don't want to spoil the surprise from the local consumers and tourists that visit the region. We'll see that in the future. But again, if you think about what the acquired company is doing today, they're doing great with their local beers. They're seeing strong growth in their local range. But it's only beer. So we can add the obvious waters, soft drinks, our cocktails, we can bring many of these products to the local offering, energy drinks, new waters, all these types of categories are up for grabs. And indeed, we're already in the market. So now having a domestic machinery there and the sales force will bring us a lot of additional strength behind that offering that's already in the market. I hope I answered your question.

Yes. Maybe then 2 more questions. One, like you said that your logistic cost has been increasing. And is that the case in all the regions and segments? I'm sorry. Oh, I'm so sorry.

Yes. So the logistic cost. So is that the case that they've been increasing in all the segments and other regions? Or is it specifically the case in the Baltic Sea region? Or how do you see that?

It's more southern bound, the challenge there where we have to leverage external warehousing and then you see increases in logistics costs. So that's the combination. So not so much in Finland, but do you want to expand on it?

I think last year, we saw the logistics cost increase in Finland. And now we can see it more kind of powerfully in Baltics, but especially in Belarus. So the inflation kind of comes a little bit late, for example, in Belarus, there's a lack of drivers and the gasoline cost and everything like that one. So I think that's the combination. And also that our business is growing. So we need more warehousing and these kind of things. And these external additional warehouses are also then a little bit extra cost.

All right. And then final one. How do you see the -- market is now a bit soft, but how do you see like the next year? Any educated guesses?

We don't want to be guessworking. I think weather-wise, we should expect at least similar weather, if not slightly better. That's one part. In terms of the economy, I mean, we read the same newspapers and follow the media broadly as you would. There are different views on will it recover, when will it recover? I think suffice it to say, eventually, it will. And that's why we have great confidence in our plan and the actions that we're taking where we're investing in our core business, we're investing in our capabilities, our efficiency. So we will be stronger by every day that goes. So whenever the market returns, we're more ready than before.

And it's a kind of combination. So for example, in Finland, the salaries has increased, people have more money, but when do you have the confidence to use the money. So of course, there are statistics or kind of guesses that wiser than us are doing that it should be a little bit better next year, but that we do know. We do not have probably a high expectation it will be totally different next year than this year.

Maybe just whilst we move to online questions to say that we're not only planning next year, we're planning the next 20 years. So eventually, we'll get better. Please. Was there something online as well?

Yes. So we have a few questions that we have received online. So first, let's go to Belarus. So there are the temporary restrictions on distribution of profits to the parent company from Belarus. So there's questions related on that, that you have EUR 60 million cash in your balance sheet and how much of that is sitting in Belarus that you cannot -- that you currently don't have access to? And how do you see the risks in continuing operations there at the moment?

Yes. Let's take this together, maybe on the operations there, things are performing under these circumstances well. We have our Lithuanian longstanding CEO in-charge there, and we're able to operate. Our team is safe and doing well in terms of the working conditions and we're maintaining the asset with necessary investments. So from that perspective, things are ticking along. Then in terms of the cash reserves, we haven't been very specific on it, but maybe you want to elaborate with a few words.

Yes. I think in our financial statement in the year-end, we have stated the cash amount in Belarus. In the quarter reports, we have not stated that one. But I think that what we have said that usually, the cash flows are related to the size of the business. So...

Thank you. Then let's move on to Finland. So how do you see the consumer demand at the moment in Finland?

It feels like we're kind of repeating the same narrative here. It's been a soft year we had in Finland. We had those 3 weeks of warm weather in July, which kind of fixed the third quarter. So overall, it's cautious, I would say, but there's maybe cautious optimism if you zoom in on Finland alone. So there's -- the reports we read on the future there indicates a cautious recovery, whether it's in property prices or others. So we're expecting that eventually the Finns will gain confidence again and start spending a bit more.

Thank you. Then moving on to Denmark. So how much volume growth would you need in Denmark to turn it profitable with the current margin structure?

That's a very specific question, but it points clearly to the issue we have. So when we started the kind of the turnaround initiatives in Denmark, what we did, we walked away from some of the most unhealthy business we had, which wasn't profit accretive. Now then if you want to ask how much more volume, it's not as simple as that because it depends what type of volume. But what has happened is that we've also lost some of that base volume that we would have liked to keep. So we're looking for volume broadly, but it has to be something that helps us justify our existence for the long term. So it has to kind of build a path to recovery. I don't know how much more specifically we can answer.

Yes. But I think we stated already that earlier, the volumes were mainly private label, so the retailers kind of own brands. And now we are making the shift to our own brands, Olvi own brands and investment own brands. So basically, the leaders that we have lost, we do not need the similar kind of leaders to be profitable with our own brands. But how much that we have not been specific, of course.

And maybe we can share the YOLI story there. We've increased our share many times over, and we've been able on the soft drink specifically to replace some unhealthy volume with healthier YOLI volume, but that doesn't cover the other losses in the water and beer segments.

And that just came a follow-up question on this about losing the private label contracts. So was that your own decision or the partner's decision? Both?

Yes. It's always a commercial decision, right? It's a negotiation and then you either win the deal or you don't.

Then moving on to the M&As. So can you share how much roughly did you spend on the 3 acquisitions that you have done lately? And then how much of the M&A-related costs did you incur in Q3?

The acquisition numbers, we haven't shared. Then in terms of costs because we mentioned that part of our fixed costs were associated with developing and M&A, but what kind of -- do you have a round figure or percentage or...

No, it's a multiple hundred thousands, of course, because you have many acquisitions going on and usually the processes are quite long and these kind of things. So we have not stated this one, but that for the year-end, I think we try to do some kind of summary and kind of disclose that more then.

Thank you. And then to the final question, this is also related to the M&A. So are you currently working on many new acquisitions? Or were you working on just these 3 and they happen to materialize at the same time?

Well, this is an ongoing topic, and I think it's suffice to say that we intend to remain strong and develop our business, and we have confidence in our model, and we will continue to invest both domestically and beyond.

All right. If that was all from the questions perspective, thank you for joining us. We look forward to meeting you again when we close the year, early next year. And in the meantime, we wish you a good continuation of the weekend end of year.