Good morning and welcome to the presentation of the results of the first quarter 2026 for Multiconsult. My name is Grethe Bergly, I am the CEO, and with me today is also our CFO Ove Haupberg.

Before I dive into the figures, just a brief reminder of who Multiconsult is. We are an engineering and architect firm with a history going back more than 100 years.

We report in three segments: Multiconsult Norway, that contains our engineering business; Architecture, that contains our four architect subsidiaries, LINK in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, and A-lab in Norway; the segment International contains Multiconsult Polska and our Swedish engineering subsidiary Iterio. In the market, we operate in four business areas, and all the subsidiaries and segments work across these four business areas.

Historically, the split between private and public clients have been 50-50, and over the past few years, we have delivered a profitable growth based on a robust business model and a diversified, strong professional environment. Looking at the figures for the quarter, we had a good start of the year with a 5.5% growth, of which 4.4% was organic, and excluding calendar days, the revenue growth in the period was 8.4%.

The billing rates increased compared to 2025. The EBITA of 160.5 million represents a margin of 10%, and adjusted for calendar effect, the EBITA percentage is 12.4%.

We still have a challenge with cost increasing more than revenue, but it is a positive development as far as the gap over the last quarter has been reduced. The sales in the quarter was good, and our ambition and commitment to strengthen profit remains firm, and we work along the axis of the organization, effective business support, and cost control.

Ove will go in more detail when it comes to the figures later on. The sales and order intake: the sales in the quarter has been good, with increased sales year over year and largely unchanged market condition, reflecting a stable underlying activity level.

The trend on defense-related opportunities continues, and over a period now, we have seen that frame agreements is increasing as a preferred contract model, and the level of frame agreements is record high for us as a company. Please note that volume of frame agreements is not included in the reported figures, as framework agreements are not included in the reported order intake or backlog until a call-offs are made.

The sales on our largest frame agreements have increased more than 200% since 2022, and it doubled from 2024 to 2025, and we expect the level of 2025 to continue into 2026. In relative terms, this represents at least a 1 billion NOK to be added to the reported order backlog.

The portfolio on large project remains stable and maintain good activity through 2026. We have a 4.5% growth in number of employees.

As a company, we have strong beliefs of employee share ownership as a motivating factor, and in this quarter, we have issued 6,600 shares to new employees, and a further strengthening of employee ownership program was approved by the general meeting with the introduction of a profit-sharing model. On organization, it's worth mentioning the certification of ISO 27001, which is information security and in line with what we see as a very high focus area and requirements from our clients.

It is always great to see how projects we participate in win awards, and also the significance that our projects have in our society. Here, represented by the unveiled foundation stone ceremony by our Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

With that, Ove, I hand it over to you.

Thank you, Grethe, and good morning. Then we have a closer look at the numbers for Q1 2026.

EBITA for the quarter ends at 160.5 million, that is a margin of 10%, and the EBITA adjusted is 160.9 million, and that is including the effects of Sotra Link. The bridge down right illustrates the change from Q1 2025, and started to the left on that bridge, we saw that the reported EBITA was 190.4 million.

Then we had legal costs and writedowns on Sotra Link on 9 million, and the EBITA adjusted last year was 199.4. Going then further to the right on this, the net operating revenues increased by 5.5%, and that is explained by the increased capacity, growth in permanent employees on 4.5% or to 4,222.

The corresponding growth in FTEs is even stronger, 5.6%. We also had improved billing rates, that is part of other revenue effects, and also a negative calendar effect, 43.1 million, that is due to two fewer calendar days compared to last year.

Also had a small negative effect on billing ratio, 0.3 percentage points, but as Grethe mentioned, reducing the gap compared to the gap in the previous two quarters. The organic growth, 4.4%, and M&A activity on top of that, a growth of 4%, and that is adding up to the underlying growth of 8.4%.

The operating expenses, we can see has an increase, 7 million or 4.5%, and also the employee benefits increased by 106 million, a 9.6% cost increase, but increase is 4% of FTEs, which means that the underlying cost increase is in line with ordinary salary adjustments. This brings us back to the EBITA on the 160.5 in the quarter.

We have got quite a lot of questions on the Sotra Link project. All information is provided in our stock exchange announcements giving in the market the last few weeks.

We also confirm that the net project writedowns landed well below 1% of net operating revenue, also for this quarter in line with last year. Then showing the results per quarter, Q and columns is in the dark blue color, and the results in the quarters is characterized by the numbers of available working days.

Growth in net operating revenue from Q1 last year to Q1 this year, 5.5%, we see that top left, and also the rolling 12 months is positive by 3.6%. The change in billing ratio from Q1 last year to Q1 this year, -0.3 percentage point, it's on top right, and as commented, the gap compared to the gap last quarters has been reduced.

Then the growth in permanent fixed employees, 4.5%, is shown in the graph down right, and in combination with other revenue effects, change in employee benefit, and other operating expenses, that gives us the EBITA margin of 10%. In this graph down right, we also have illustrated the one-time effect per quarter in 2025 for writedowns and legal costs on Sotra Link.

We also see the one-time settlement from a client in Q3 '24 and the reinforced share ownership program in Q4 2023. Then for the first time, we have provided information per segment in this presentation, and starting with segment Norway, and this contains the previous segments Region Oslo and Region Norway, including Multiconsult Norge, the four VIA NOVA companies, Sightpartner, Lifetec, and Multiconsult UK.

In this segment, we see improved performance compared to the same quarter last year. Net operating revenue has increased by 9.1%, the billing rates are improved, and the capacity, the number of FTEs, has increased, caused by the inclusion of VIA NOVA and organic growth.

The positive effects are somewhat offset by the negative calendar effect, that is 38.7 million in this segment. Also the Q1 numbers last year included the legal cost of the Sotra Link project, 9 million, as commented on the first slide.

Then moving on to Architecture, the three LINK companies and A-lab, and the performance in this segment is mixed. Although we see signs of improvement in the Scandinavian architecture market, there has been a challenging start of the year in many of our geographies in this segment, whereas other parts are performing better.

In Q1, we have been in the process of adapting the organization to the market, causing a reduction in number of FTEs compared to Q4 '25, and there are 12.5 FTEs as temporary layoffs at the end of Q1. Primarily driven by a lower billing ratio, the EBITA ended at 9 million, a reduction of 5.4 percentage points compared to last year, and the calendar effect in this segment is negative by 3.8 million.

Then International, also as Grethe mentioned, this represents Multiconsult Polska and Iterio, our Swedish engineering business. Net operating revenue is in line with Q1 last year.

There are signs of improvement in the Swedish engineering market, whereas the Polish market still sees competitive pressure affecting pricing. Increased employee benefit cost and other cost weakens the EBITA margin by 1.7 percentage points compared to last year, and the calendar effect in this segment slightly negative at 0.5 million.

Then as always, the slide you are waiting for, the financial position. Starting to the left, we had a positive cash at 37 million at start of the year, and then we have a cash flow from operation positive by 136 million.

Then we also see the IFRS 16 effect. The change in working capital negative by 11 million, but that is bear in mind that the numbers last year was -224.

Also on investment activities, negative on 15 million, that is investment in software and computer equipment. Also then cash flow from financing negative by 15 million, and that is interest on loan.

Then also including the IFRS 16 effects, we have a positive cash at the end of quarter by 126 million. Also to the right, our net interest-bearing debt, 697 million, a gearing ratio 1.87, still well within our financial targets.

Then the last page from me, and this is the cash flow slide, and the definition of free cash flow here is cash flow from operating activities minus cash flow used in investments, but excluding acquisitions. In the dark blue bar, we can see cash flow from operating activities positive by 180 million, and cash used in investment activity is -16, shown in the green line, giving us a net positive cash flow of 164.

The last 12 months free cash flow on 371, and that is the light blue line, and the change from Q1 last year is mainly related to the change in working capital. Then, Grethe, I handing back to you.

Thank you, Ove. Looking at the market structure, the gross revenue in the four business areas follows the same trend as we've seen in the last quarters, and a development in line with the market situation.

High activity in energy and industry, stable in the other three business areas, and the distribution between the business area remains fairly stable. In recent presentations, we have often highlighted examples of projects that we have won that support our strategic ambition.

This time, I want to dive a bit more detailed into the strategic ambition of urban transformation. Urban transformation is complex and represents an area where our multidisciplinary excellence really proves its value.

With Multiconsult Norway, LINK, and A-lab working together, we develop new services. One great example of how synergies between engineering and architecture disciplines create new services and market opportunities is the work A-lab and Multiconsult is doing to develop a solution for Bane NOR to assist them in designing rail services on users' terms.

Bjørvika in Oslo is a good example on how shared digital models can play a major role in area development. For more than 20 years, Oslo City Council and VIA NOVA have used a common 3D model to bring together map data, planning information, property details, technical infrastructure, and building models in one platform, enabling new developments to be assessed against what is already in place, enabling up-to-date view of reality, which again reduces errors, improves efficiency, and support better decision-making.

The solution is now being applied on other urban project and including Lilleakerbyen in Oslo. The first quarter in brief: good start of the year; we remain focused on profitability measurements; there's a good sales in a highly competitive market; we maintain a solid market position and order backlog; and the leading position in defense-related engineering and architecture services was strengthened.

Then if we go to the outlook: the overall market remains unchanged, with several new opportunities in the pipeline; there is continued uncertainty regarding the timing and investment decisions; defense, energy, industry, and infrastructure remain the key drivers; and building and property market is expected to remain challenging. Leaving the first quarter, we maintain a strong market position, a solid order backlog entering the remainder of 2026.

As this is my last quarterly presentation as CEO of Multiconsult, I want to take the opportunity to express my gratitude for the trust given to me and a big thank you to all the people who have supported me on the way. Few leaders are given the opportunity to be part of the improvement journey that we have had since 2019 and that I have had the privilege to lead.

It's been a team effort, and the strength and the courage of the executive team has played a major role, in the same way as the support from our previous chair, Bård Mikkelsen, and our current chair, Rikard Appelgren, and the rest of the board. I have enjoyed the perspective and dialogue with investors, which have contributed to the development of Multiconsult.

We must never forget that Multiconsult is above all built by people: people driven by professional curiosity, strong sense of responsibility, and the will to succeed together. On this foundation, the group is well prepared for the next phase, and I'm confident that Kirsten Værdal has the qualities needed to lead the organization and deliver the group's targets and ambitions.

From me, a big thank you, good luck to Kirsten, and some of you then we will see again in August. That completes the presentation, and we open up for questions.

What we have communicated is that our target is to remain stable in 2026, and also then make the adjustments that we need to make sure that we are fit when we leave 2026 to continue into '27 with the profitability targets that we have set. I don't know if you want

to— As you mentioned during the presentation, we are working of adapting the organization to the market to have a more efficient support organization and also look at costs in general. We have already communicated some changes on that.

I think the last communication was today on changing the setup in Multiconsult Norway and somewhat. This is continuing and in line with plan.

I'll start with the last one, and the answer is no. I did indicate, given if you go back with the volume we have, you could add a billion, so that's in that area actually.

When it comes to what was the first question? That was, Ove, you remember?

Yes. Yes.

We are working on that in all of our business. We mentioned Architecture, where adaptation that was done there.

We have 10 less FTEs during this quarter and it's continuing. The same goes for the rest of organization.

As I said, it's already communicated some changes in that. We are working in line with what we have said on that now for the last three quarters.

I think we've communicated on in all the quarterly reports now that there are pockets of the market where competition is high. I think that's one of the areas we've seen is within building and property.

The advantage we have is that we do not necessarily have to compete in the most margin-pressured areas. We are also seeing that there are maybe less competition in smaller projects, so that we are now trying to address different market segments to avoid the head-on competition.

Do you want to do that one? At least in Norway, we are seeing that salaries have increased higher maybe than the situation on competition should really allow for.

We need to see how we adjust the mix of the employees that we have. We are also a part of the society that we live in, and that's why this has been challenging for a while.

When then you get cost increase higher than that, I think we are just really following the development, and we're looking at how we can adjust our organization in line with the projects that are available.

Yes. This quarter we have framework agreements that has regulations starting of the year, and as we have communicated before, the normal adjustments are 1st of July in line with the salary increase the last year.

Those mechanisms are still in place, but the pricing always depends on the market.

I might see it a bit different. The billing ratio two quarters ago had a difference compared to the last year of 1.1, Q4 0.8, and this quarter 0.3 percentage points.

Basically, we are getting closer and closer to the previous year, and that is also showing that improvement measures continuing are giving us some level on this, and that is also the plan going forward.

Questions, any questions in the room? No.

Then we say thank you all for coming here, for those who are sitting in the room with us, and thank you to all of you who are listening in. Have a nice day.

Thank you.