Operator
Welcome to Cavotec Q3 Report 2026. For the first part of the conference call, the participants will be in listen-only mode.
During the questions and answers session, participants are able to ask questions by dialing pound key 5 on their telephone keypad. Now, I will hand the conference over to CEO David Pagels and CFO Kristoffer Robertson.
Please go ahead.
David Pagels
Good morning, and welcome to Cavotec's third-quarter presentation. I am David Pagels, the CEO of Cavotec, and together with me today, I have our new CFO, Kristoffer Robertson.
I would like to start with a short introduction of Cavotec for those of you who are not familiar with us yet. Cavotec was founded 50 years ago by three entrepreneurs in Sweden.
Since the foundation, Cavotec has focused on delivering innovative engineered solutions that enhance safety, reliability, and performance in areas such as ports and other industries where our electrical cable reels or remote controls are needed. We have a competitive offering, and our products enables decarbonization of ports, mines, and other industrial applications.
Our underlying markets are continuously strong, driven by megatrends: electrification, automation, and regulations. Today, 50 years after our foundation, we are present across the globe with over 700 employees.
I would like to comment the highlights in the third quarter. Again, in the quarter, both order intake and revenue developed well.
Order intake grow strongly at close to 29%, and revenue increased by close to 19%. We have successfully focused on working capital, which has led to an improved cash flow in the quarter.
Our order backlog is set at record level with €160 million, which reflects a strong demand for our products and services. The results showed a good improvement, and we had a positive EBIT of 0.8 million compared to a slight loss last year.
However, our profitability is not yet satisfactory, and the organization is fully focused on completing the implementation of our cost-saving measures. Far this year, we have incurred restructuring costs of approximately €1.4 million, and we will continue these activities during the final quarter, with a goal of reducing our cost base by approximately 3 million, taking full effect by early 2027.
The measures that we have taken include the closing of the Rotterdam office and moving the remaining headquarter functions from Lugano in Switzerland to Stockholm in Sweden. Now, I want to turn to our recent market developments.
During the quarter, we announced several significant orders. One order that I would particularly like to highlight is our first MoorMaster order for India, which also represents the country's first installation of automated mooring technology.
We will supply our MoorMaster system to the JNPA port in Mumbai, one of India's largest container ports. The order is valued around 5 million with delivery scheduled to in the fourth quarter of 2027.
This is an important order, the first automated mooring ever in India and a significant reference project, which natural we expect will pave the way for further orders in India. We have also signed an order valued at 8 million covering shore power systems for newbuild container ships operating by a leading global shipping company.
This segment represents a good growth area for us, and we have signed several large orders for shore power solutions in the last quarters. In addition, during the quarter, we also entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with a company called Evias to introduce their automated ground-based charging technology to ports worldwide.
Evias' technology enables electrical vehicles to charge while in motion or standing still, which increases the equipment utilization rates and saves space in busy ports. We will serve as an exclusive distributor and installer of Evias' technology for the global port sector.
This collaboration is a response to growing customer demand for electrification of horizontal transport within the ports. By that, I now hand over to Kristoffer for more details about the financial development.
Kristoffer Robertson
Thank you, David. As David mentioned, order intake continues to increase.
It's up 28.8% from last year to €46.8 million. This is driven by good demand in the whole business, and especially for shore power systems and motorized cable reels for ports and the mining industry.
Following the good order intake in 2026, we now have a healthy record-high order backlog of €160 million. I would also like to remind you that Cavotec is a project-driven business, which means that both order intake and revenue fluctuates between quarters.
The project-driven character of the business also means that we have long delivery times, often over a year for larger projects, such as installation of shore power systems. Revenue increased strongly with 18.9% to 46.2 million euro 42.6 million euros.
We saw a strong sales development in both Ports & Maritime and Industry, with sales growth of 26.9% and 9.5% respectively. This development is, as with order intake, mainly driven by the good demand for shore power systems and motorized cable reels.
Let us now move on to profitability. Our operating result has improved in the quarter.
EBIT increased to €0.8 million with an increase in the EBIT margin to 2%. The higher revenue during the quarter had a positive impact on profitability in Ports & Maritime, while Industry, with its normally higher margin, reported somewhat lower profitability in the quarter.
In the quarter, we have also taken €0.2 million for the cost-saving measures, and the adjusted EBIT increased to €1 million, with an adjusted EBIT margin of 2.4%. Items affecting comparability in the third quarter relates to optimization of the organizational structure and efficiency improvements.
Items affecting comparability in the same quarter last year relate to relocation of the registered office from Switzerland to Sweden. Profit for the period was negative and amounted to -€1.6 million.
We are still not satisfied with the result, but we have improved following two tough quarters in the first half of the year. Income taxes amounted to €1.6 million, compared to €0.7 million last year.
This is mainly due to higher taxable profit in the new Swedish parent entity. Earnings per share, basic and diluted, amounted to -1.5 euro cents, compared to -1.6 euro cents last year.
Cost-saving measures have been initiated early 2026 and will be fully implemented during the year. The measures will reduce costs on an annual basis by approximately €3 million, with some effect in the second half of 2026, and with full effect in early 2027.
The measures include, among other things, optimization of the organizational structure and efficiency improvements in IT and administrative systems. The total cost for the measures is estimated at approximately €3 million, and this cost will be incurred on an ongoing basis during 2026.
Year-to-date, the cost-saving program has contributed €0.7 million positively to our EBIT. Now, let's move on to performance in the segments.
We start with our largest segment, Ports & Maritime. Order intake increased 25.8% to €27.5 million, reflecting good demand, mainly for shore power solutions, with deliveries planned for 2027 through 2029.
The order backlog increased 27.2% to €131.1 million, and grew 2.3% from €128.2 million at the end of the second quarter 2026. Revenue increased 26.9% to €24.5 million, mainly due to deliveries of shore power solutions contracted in 2024 and 2025.
However, we have seen intensified competition regarding shore power products installed on the vessels, which is impacting margins negatively. Adjusted EBITDA increased to €1 million, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 3.9%.
Remember that Ports & Maritime has a project-driven nature with long lead times. We are happy to see that in the Industry segment, the order intake continued to increase up 33.2% to €19.3 million, mainly driven by good demand for motorized cable reels.
Following the strong order intake, the order backlog increased 27% to 28.9 million, and increased 4.5% from 27.7 million at the end of the previous quarter. Revenue increased 9.5% to €18 million, driven by deliveries of motorized cable reels and good demand for services.
Adjusted EBITDA amounted to €1.6 million, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 9%. We continue to see big market potential in the Industry segment.
As David mentioned, in addition to our focus on cost-saving measures, we're also working intensively on various initiatives within the organization to increase our internal efficiency. During the autumn, we have focused on working capital, which has gained positive results.
The operating cash flow increased to €7.8 million, compared to €2.8 million in Q3 '25. This is an effect of improved working capital.
Net debt decreased to -€3.2 million from €8.8 million at 31st of December '25, and down from €10.9 million at end of Q2. The leverage ratio, measured as debt to adjusted EBITDA for the last 12 months, amounted at the end of the quarter to 0.52, a decrease from 0.96 at end of '25, and a decrease from 2.33 at end of Q2.
The group's financing was shifted from Switzerland to Sweden during the second quarter of 2026 by entering into a new 5-year financing agreement with SEB, securing more favorable terms. With that, I'll hand back to David for the final remarks.
David Pagels
Thank you very much, Kristoffer. Let me quickly summarize our presentation.
We report strong revenue and order growth across Cavotec Group in the quarter, driven by healthy demand for our products and services. The operating cash flow was strong in the quarter thanks to higher results and improved working capital.
We have a record high order backlog of €160 million to be delivered in the coming years, all-time high since I joined Cavotec. We have a competitive offering and operate within attractive customer segments that enables decarbonization of ports, mines, and other industrial applications.
Our underlying markets are continuously strong, driven by megatrends: electrification, automation, and regulations. As I mentioned before, our profitability is not yet satisfactory, and the organization is fully focused on completing the implementation of our cost-saving measures in the group.
We will continue to build a stronger Cavotec, and I am confident that we are well-positioned to create long-term value for our shareholders. By this, we have ended into a third-quarter presentation, and are ready to take questions.
Operator
If you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key 5 on your telephone keypad to enter the queue. If you wish to withdraw your question, please dial pound key 6 on your telephone keypad.
The next question comes from Lara Motadi from ABG Sundal Collier. Please go ahead.
Lara Motadi
Hi, Lara here stepping in for Albin Bonnevier. A couple of questions from our end.
You seem to have a strong order momentum. Should we sort of begin to extrapolate this in the development ahead, and perhaps a bit can you give some comments on current trading?
How has the order intake developed in October compared with Q3?
David Pagels
Operator: Welcome to Cavotec Q3 Report 2026. For the first part of the conference call, the participants will be in listen-only mode.
During the questions and answers session, participants are able to ask questions by dialing pound key 5 on their telephone keypad. Now, I will hand the conference over to CEO David Pagels and CFO Kristoffer Robertson.
Please go ahead. Good morning, and welcome to Cavotec's third-quarter presentation.
I am David Pagels, the CEO of Cavotec, and together with me today, I have our new CFO, Kristoffer Robertson. I would like to start with a short introduction of Cavotec for those of you who are not familiar with us yet.
Cavotec was founded 50 years ago by three entrepreneurs in Sweden. Since the foundation, Cavotec has focused on delivering innovative engineered solutions that enhance safety, reliability, and performance in areas such as ports and other industries where our electrical cable reels or remote controls are needed.
We have a competitive offering, and our products enables decarbonization of ports, mines, and other industrial applications. Our underlying markets are continuously strong, driven by megatrends: electrification, automation, and regulations.
Today, 50 years after our foundation, we are present across the globe with over 700 employees. I would like to comment the highlights in the third quarter.
Again, in the quarter, both order intake and revenue developed well. Order intake grow strongly at close to 29%, and revenue increased by close to 19%.
We have successfully focused on working capital, which has led to an improved cash flow in the quarter. Our order backlog is set at record level with €160 million, which reflects a strong demand for our products and services.
The results showed a good improvement, and we had a positive EBIT of 0.8 million compared to a slight loss last year. However, our profitability is not yet satisfactory, and the organization is fully focused on completing the implementation of our cost-saving measures.
Far this year, we have incurred restructuring costs of approximately €1.4 million, and we will continue these activities during the final quarter, with a goal of reducing our cost base by approximately 3 million, taking full effect by early 2027. The measures that we have taken include the closing of the Rotterdam office and moving the remaining headquarter functions from Lugano in Switzerland to Stockholm in Sweden.
Now, I want to turn to our recent market developments. During the quarter, we announced several significant orders.
One order that I would particularly like to highlight is our first MoorMaster order for India, which also represents the country's first installation of automated mooring technology. We will supply our MoorMaster system to the JNPA port in Mumbai, one of India's largest container ports.
The order is valued around 5 million with delivery scheduled to in the fourth quarter of 2027. This is an important order, the first automated mooring ever in India and a significant reference project, which natural we expect will pave the way for further orders in India.
We have also signed an order valued at 8 million covering shore power systems for newbuild container ships operating by a leading global shipping company. This segment represents a good growth area for us, and we have signed several large orders for shore power solutions in the last quarters.
In addition, during the quarter, we also entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with a company called Evias to introduce their automated ground-based charging technology to ports worldwide. Evias' technology enables electrical vehicles to charge while in motion or standing still, which increases the equipment utilization rates and saves space in busy ports.
We will serve as an exclusive distributor and installer of Evias' technology for the global port sector. This collaboration is a response to growing customer demand for electrification of horizontal transport within the ports.
By that, I now hand over to Kristoffer for more details about the financial development.
Kristoffer Robertson
Thank you, David. As David mentioned, order intake continues to increase.
It's up 28.8% from last year to €46.8 million. This is driven by good demand in the whole business, and especially for shore power systems and motorized cable reels for ports and the mining industry.
Following the good order intake in 2026, we now have a healthy record-high order backlog of €160 million. I would also like to remind you that Cavotec is a project-driven business, which means that both order intake and revenue fluctuates between quarters.
The project-driven character of the business also means that we have long delivery times, often over a year for larger projects, such as installation of shore power systems. Revenue increased strongly with 18.9% to 46.2 million euro 42.6 million euros.
We saw a strong sales development in both Ports & Maritime and Industry, with sales growth of 26.9% and 9.5% respectively. This development is, as with order intake, mainly driven by the good demand for shore power systems and motorized cable reels.
Let us now move on to profitability. Our operating result has improved in the quarter.
EBIT increased to €0.8 million with an increase in the EBIT margin to 2%. The higher revenue during the quarter had a positive impact on profitability in Ports & Maritime, while Industry, with its normally higher margin, reported somewhat lower profitability in the quarter.
In the quarter, we have also taken €0.2 million for the cost-saving measures, and the adjusted EBIT increased to €1 million, with an adjusted EBIT margin of 2.4%. Items affecting comparability in the third quarter relates to optimization of the organizational structure and efficiency improvements.
Items affecting comparability in the same quarter last year relate to relocation of the registered office from Switzerland to Sweden. Profit for the period was negative and amounted to -€1.6 million.
We are still not satisfied with the result, but we have improved following two tough quarters in the first half of the year. Income taxes amounted to €1.6 million, compared to €0.7 million last year.
This is mainly due to higher taxable profit in the new Swedish parent entity. Earnings per share, basic and diluted, amounted to -1.5 euro cents, compared to -1.6 euro cents last year.
Cost-saving measures have been initiated early 2026 and will be fully implemented during the year. The measures will reduce costs on an annual basis by approximately €3 million, with some effect in the second half of 2026, and with full effect in early 2027.
The measures include, among other things, optimization of the organizational structure and efficiency improvements in IT and administrative systems. The total cost for the measures is estimated at approximately €3 million, and this cost will be incurred on an ongoing basis during 2026.
Year-to-date, the cost-saving program has contributed €0.7 million positively to our EBIT. Now, let's move on to performance in the segments.
We start with our largest segment, Ports & Maritime. Order intake increased 25.8% to €27.5 million, reflecting good demand, mainly for shore power solutions, with deliveries planned for 2027 through 2029.
The order backlog increased 27.2% to €131.1 million, and grew 2.3% from €128.2 million at the end of the second quarter 2026. Revenue increased 26.9% to €24.5 million, mainly due to deliveries of shore power solutions contracted in 2024 and 2025.
However, we have seen intensified competition regarding shore power products installed on the vessels, which is impacting margins negatively. Adjusted EBITDA increased to €1 million, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 3.9%.
Remember that Ports & Maritime has a project-driven nature with long lead times. We are happy to see that in the Industry segment, the order intake continued to increase up 33.2% to €19.3 million, mainly driven by good demand for motorized cable reels.
Following the strong order intake, the order backlog increased 27% to 28.9 million, and increased 4.5% from 27.7 million at the end of the previous quarter. Revenue increased 9.5% to €18 million, driven by deliveries of motorized cable reels and good demand for services.
Adjusted EBITDA amounted to €1.6 million, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 9%. We continue to see big market potential in the Industry segment.
As David mentioned, in addition to our focus on cost-saving measures, we're also working intensively on various initiatives within the organization to increase our internal efficiency. During the autumn, we have focused on working capital, which has gained positive results.
The operating cash flow increased to €7.8 million, compared to €2.8 million in Q3 '25. This is an effect of improved working capital.
Net debt decreased to 3. -€3.2 million from €8.8 million at 31st of December '25, and down from €10.9 million at end of Q2.
The leverage ratio, measured as debt to adjusted EBITDA for the last 12 months, amounted at the end of the quarter to 0.52, a decrease from 0.96 at end of '25, and a decrease from 2.33 at the end of Q2. The group's financing was shifted from Switzerland to Sweden during the second quarter of '26 by entering into a new 5-year financing agreement with SEB, securing more favorable terms.
With that, I'll hand back to David for the final remarks.
David Pagels
Thank you very much, Kristoffer. Let me quickly summarize our presentation.
We report strong revenue and order growth across Cavotec Group in the quarter, driven by healthy demand for our products and services. The operating cash flow was strong in the quarter thanks to higher results and improved working capital.
We have a record high order backlog of €160 million to be delivered in the coming years, all-time high since I joined Cavotec. We have a competitive offering and operate within attractive customer segments that enables decarbonization of ports, mines, and other industrial applications.
Our underlying markets are continuously strong, driven by megatrends: electrification, automation, and regulations. As I mentioned before, our profitability is not yet satisfactory, and the organization is fully focused on completing the implementation of our cost-saving measures in the group.
We will continue to build a stronger Cavotec, and I am confident that we are well positioned to create long-term value for our shareholders. By this, we have ended into third-quarter presentation, and now ready to take questions.
Operator
If you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key 5 on your telephone keypad to enter the queue. If you wish to withdraw your question, please dial pound key 6 on your telephone keypad.
The next question comes from Lara Mohtadi from ABG Sundal Collier. Please go ahead.
Lara Mohtadi
Hi, Lara here stepping in for [Albin Barnevik?] .
A couple of questions from our end. You continue to have a strong order momentum.
Should we sort of begin to extrapolate this in the development ahead, and perhaps a bit can you give some comments on current trading? How has the order intake developed in October compared with Q3?
David Pagels
We normally don't do extrapolations or or send any signals about the forecast, but I agree with you there, Lara, it's a it's a strong momentum. We see that now.
We have a lot of activities and a lot of quotations. As mentioned by Kristoffer before, we have a long horizon when it comes to the Ports & Maritime segment.
At the same time, we have a different little bit of a different pattern with on the Industry segment. Industry segment are shorter order books or or projects.
At the same time, it is also driven by we delivering one project, a prototype, and then when that prototype is successfully installed in in our customers' machines, then all of a sudden it leads to then repeating flow business going to the years years to come. I must say I'm confident with the momentum that we have in the sales organization.
We're very active in the field, and I am confident that we have a interesting future ahead of us.
Lara Mohtadi
Very clear, thank you. While you had two announced orders that added up to €13 million of Q3 order intake, roughly half of the P&M's 28 million, could you maybe comment on how the smaller orders developed in the quarter, sort of the run-rate business?
David Pagels
The smaller orders compared to the big orders, is that what you mean?
Lara Mohtadi
Yeah.
David Pagels
I think we have a mix of big orders. We talked about the one to this shore power systems.
We talked also about the big ones with the JNPA with the automated mooring for MoorMasters in India. It's always a mix between the bigger orders, and the big orders are mainly related to Ports & Maritime, and Industry is a bigger flow of smaller orders.
At the same time, as I mentioned, they very often turn into flow business going forward. I think it's the nature of the business that we have this combination of, and I wouldn't say that I see more of one or the other.
At the same time, I clearly see that we have a good, strong momentum in the Industry segment. That's how I can summarize it.
Lara Mohtadi
Okay. Roughly, there was a 7 percentage point gross margin decline, how much of that is from the vessel-side shore power pricing, maybe?
Kristoffer Robertson
I can maybe answer that one without going into too much detail, but as mentioned, we have seen an intensified competition on the vessels, and that's clearly impacting part of that. Yeah.
Lara Mohtadi
Okay. Great, very clear.
That's all from my end. Thank you very much.
Operator
As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key 5 on your telephone keypad. There are no more phone questions at this time, I hand the conference back to the speakers for any written questions or closing comments.
Kristoffer Robertson
Yeah. All right, sorry, we're just scrolling up here.
Have some questions online. One question here from [Johan Evelöv?]
at JPC, and I'll read it here: "Dear David and Kristoffer, thank you for the presentation and for all the work done. Four questions below.
One, how do you look at the cash flow trends in Q4 and into 2027?" I can begin answering that.
I think coming out of a very strong Q3, our focus is still to work on working capital and sort of delivering on the backlog we have. We don't do generally guidance forward-looking, but we will obviously continue doing what we have been doing.
Then on number two: "Could you provide some flavor on the level of planned deliveries of the order book in Q4 and into 2027?"
David Pagels
I can answer that one. We have, as mentioned, we have this mix between Ports & Maritime and Industry.
We have a busy Q4, naturally. That's, for you who follow us, knows that we have a little bit of a hockey stick every year, and same thing is happening this year, that we have a lot of planned activities and planned deliveries for Q4.
It's very busy days, that's clear. Also we have a solid outlook when we look into 2027.
As I mentioned, a record-high order backlog needs to be delivered, and that will be delivered in the years to come. I'm confident with that.
Kristoffer Robertson
Yeah. On number three here: "Would it be correct to say that if you exclude leasing costs, Cavotec would already be in a net cash position?"
This is something that we would not maybe comment on explicitly here. Then on the last one we have: "Finally, are you satisfied with the overall margin level and trends in the order book?"
David Pagels
I can take that one. Yes, in general, we are satisfied with overall in the margin in the order book.
We have some trends. We see an increasing demand within the Industry segment.
We see some margin pressure that we already highlighted in the presentation, especially from the Chinese competitors on the shore power ship side, which of course we are tackling by innovative solutions and at the same time also trimming down the cost of our products. Of course we're tackling that, but at the same time we see a stronger growth and also going forward for the products that we have better margins in.
I'm confident that what we have in the order backlog is going to be interesting to deliver.
Kristoffer Robertson
On the same note, we have a question from Marc Saint John Webb from Quaero Capital: "You seem to be well positioned on growth markets with a strong order backlog. How will you convert this into profitability and value creation?"
David Pagels
As we said, we have done some trimming of the organization. We're continuously working on bringing more efficiency into everything we do.
Whatever we do today, we need to do it better, quicker, cheaper, more efficient tomorrow. That's the mindset that we have cascaded out in the organization, and that's why we have taken those recurring costs in this year, and therefore I think we are better positioned for 2027.
Again, we don't really forecast or speculate in what we're going to go in the forward-looking there, I just wait and see. Yeah.
Kristoffer Robertson
Another question from Marc: "Tell us about the competitive environment changes in Ports & Maritime, on which products, Cavotec's competitive advantages and barriers to entry versus new entrants."
David Pagels
In that case, as I mentioned before, it's on the shore power ship side where we are doing both new equipment, delivering to new shipyards building new vessels. Everyone now has to be delivered with a shore power solutions on the ships.
Of course, there we face competition from competitors that are strong and really eager to take part in that market. At the same time, we also have a growing segment when it comes to shore power ship-side retrofits, where also the existing fleets of vessel and container vessels, which are huge, we're also doing retrofits on those for shore power.
We do it either when they are in dry dock, or we do it also while our customer are sailing and using the ships, and we do the installations onboard on the vessels during a trip from Shanghai to Rotterdam or whatever. That is something which we already skilled in.
It's not easy, it's quite complex to do, but we have done it, and we have a solid part of that in our order book as well going forward.
Kristoffer Robertson
Yeah. Then another question: "What are the lead times on your orders in the Ports & Maritime and Industry?"
I think we mentioned it before, but for Ports & Maritime, lead times are obviously longer. We're looking at from 9 months up to 2 to 3 years even, and Industry, it's shorter and around 3 to 9 months, roughly.
One more, I think we're getting to the end here: "The cash flow was very impressive. What is the reasons behind that?"
As mentioned, this is really a lot of work related to working capital, collections of overdues, but also collections of advances in new projects. That's the key sort of drivers behind the improved cash.
Then: "How are the cost-saving measures progressing?" Another question here.
Yeah.
David Pagels
You or me?
Kristoffer Robertson
No, we are seeing the results from it already, as mentioned, but as also mentioned, we are continuing to implement these cost-saving measures throughout the rest of the year as well. I think that's it from the messages online.
David Pagels
Good. Okay.
We have no further questions, in that case, and thank you all for listening in, and we're looking forward to see you at the fourth-quarter report, which is on the 19th of February in '27. Have a good continuing of the week and way forward.
Thank you very much.
Kristoffer Robertson
Thank you.
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