Interim report 1 January – 30 September 2024

"In the third quarter of 2024, we saw continued strong contribution from the US, but also improving underlying performance in our other business areas.

The US operations continued to perform well, delivering an operating profit of SEK 53m and an operating margin of 7.7%. Despite a more cautious market before the elections, equipment sales remained strong. With the elections now over, we believe that projects that have been on-hold may be launched, contributing to continued high demand going forward. Our inventory and rental fleet are higher than at the start of the year. This is in line with our strategy to take market share in the excavator segment. We see opportunities to improve profitability further by gaining market share and capturing a larger share of the service and part sales potential.

In Germany, the market declined by 40% in the quarter and our deliveries of new trucks in units were down by 60%. Some customers have put fleet renewals on hold and others have cancelled orders. As a result of weak demand and a supply glut, we have seen growing price competition and decided to revalue parts of our inventory. We thus recognised an impairment of SEK 31m on our stock in the quarter. At the same time, our cost reduction program started to show results. Service and parts sales continued to grow. Demand is strong in most of our workshops and we could sell more with more technicians. We saw an increase in new truck orders and our electric rental business developed well. Overall, revenue in Germany decreased by 35% to SEK 372m. Operating result decreased to SEK -40m or, excluding the effect of the inventory impairment, improved to SEK -9m.

In Kazakhstan, our sales of new machines in units increased to 21 and our inventory position is improving. Total revenue increased to SEK 82m, or 7% of the Group’s turnover. The operating result increased to SEK 3m.

For the Group, revenue increased by 77% to SEK 1,141m. The operating result increased to SEK 2m, or SEK 32m excluding the effect of the impairment in Germany. Net debt increased to SEK 1,792m.

We are optimistic about our expansion into the US and the opportunities we see there. Demand is supported by a dynamic economy and a significant need to upgrade the country’s infrastructure. The German economy is weak. We have taken actions to cut costs and make our organisation more resilient. We believe demand will remain strong in the aftermarket and are optimistic about the long-term potential in Germany and in the opportunities and the opportunities in e-mobility and sustainable transport solutions. We continue to see long-term potential in Kazakhstan."