Fagerhult Group AB ($FAG)
Earnings Call Transcript · May 5, 2026
Earnings Call Speaker Segments
Operator
OperatorGood morning, everyone. Before we start this webcast, I would like to take a moment to address Q1 directly because I believe it is important that we are transparent with you what happened and where we stand. So the quarter came in weaker than we expected, and we take that very seriously. The period was affected by a combination of factors. Geopolitical uncertainty impacted both directly and undirectly with, for example, extended decision-making time lines in several markets, also the stronger Swedish krona negatively impacted net sales and the sales mix between our business areas weighed on gross margin. What does give us confidence is that our order backlog has increased compared with the same period last year. Underlying demand for our products and solutions remain stable reflecting continued customer need and activity across our key markets. At the same time, we see significant differences between segments and geographies. We have also an ongoing strategic update for the period of '26 to '29, which predated this quarter and was initiated as part of our longer-term work to strengthen profitability and stability. We will communicate the direction of this strategic work no later than in connection with the Q2 report. In the meantime, we are taking action that we want to provide a complete and coherent picture once the process is finalized. We will also, at the end of this section, leave a little bit more time than normally so that you are able to ask any questions that you might have.
Niklas Willstrand
ExecutivesThank you very much, Bodil, and thank you all for joining us today. I'm Nicolas Wilstrand, and I'm Head of Communications here at Fargwood Group, and it's my pleasure to welcome you to our Q1 2026 results presentation. With us today, we have, as you already know, our President and CEO, Budesanesan; and our CFO, Oskar Valten; Bud will begin with a brief overview of the first quarter results, followed by a short highlight focusing on the energy performance of buildings directed EPB. Oscar will then provide a deeper dive into the group's financial performance. To conclude, body will summarize the key takeaways before we open up the floor for questions. We will first take questions from the conference call participants follow-up questions from the webcast. [Operator Instructions] Please note that today's session is being recorded and will be available on our website later today. So with that, I will hand over to you, Bernie.
Bodil Gallon
ExecutivesThank you very much, Nicolas, and welcome again. And so as I mentioned in my introduction, the performance in the first quarter was below our expectations. And results were impacted by a continued weak construction markets that you all about and that we have been reporting consequently on -- and so far, we haven't seen any changes in that. In addition, we had an unfavorable sales mix. We have currency headwinds and a challenging operating environment with the geopolitical situation. In response, the strategic overview has been accelerated with focus on address underlying issues, strengthen disability, tightening cost content further and supporting sales growth. also very importantly. At the same time, new market drivers are emerging Therefore, also, we see the need for a strategic -- a little bit of a change strategic direction. And some of those are including segments like defense, infrastructure, data centers, and I will speak a little bit more about the legal side today being European performance of Building directives. To position the group accordingly, a more unified market strategy is being implemented to reduce complexity and improve efficiency by reducing complexity and sharpening our geographic focus, we can improve efficiency, strengthen profitability and reinforce our position as one of Europe's leading player. So if we then look at the concrete numbers for Q1, order intake in the first quarter totaled SEK 1,969 million. corresponding to an organic decline of 14.6% or 11.6% before adjustments. The decline was mainly related to collection, where last year's figures were boosted by a one-off order linked to the King Salmon project in Saudi Arabia. Premium also had a particularly strong order intake last year, driven by the West Link and Powerton. Net sales in the first quarter was, as I said, already impacted by a less favorable sales mix with lower volumes and higher margin segments, such as collection and premium. Importantly, gross margins within both collection and premium remained stable. However, lower sales volumes in these higher-margin businesses had a negative effect on the group's overall margin. And as a result, net sales declined by 6.1% to SEK 1,821 million or 8.8% adjusted for currency effects and acquisitions. Overall, the group's EBITDA before EACs were -- was SEK 44 million and we had no EACs in the quarter. That's a decrease of 72.9% with an EBITDA margin before AAC of 2.4%. And earnings per share before AIC was a negative 0.16%. Despite lower order intake, the order backlog increased to SEK 1,803 million, mainly driven by higher orders in the business area professional. And once again, we are not satisfied with the outcome and the level of performance delivered and we will come back to you with more information. Oscar will provide that to you as always in the financial section. And as I said, I'll give you a little bit more update on the EPD or the European performance of Building Directives and that I choose to do that today is because this comes into mandates in national legislation from this month. And I think most of you are familiar with EPBD, I think we'll take a moment to reflect upon what it means in practice. So as you know, building accounts for a significant share of Europe's energy consumption and around 40% of its CO2 emissions. Yet for decades, improvements in this area have largely relied on voluntary measures. And the European Commission adopted the EPBD 2 years ago, with national implementation required by May 2026 at the latest. So that's where we're coming to. And EPBD changes the game by introducing binding targets fixed deadlines and legal consequences for noncompliance. And this shift from voluntary to mandatory action is what makes this particularly relevant for us and it is expected to accelerate renovation demand. And I don't know if we've talked about before that we are renovating approximately 1% of the buildings in Europe. And in order to be able to achieve our targets, we need to renovate at least 3%. And for us, the renovation market is very important. So when we look into the deadlines and the structural market expansion, so Europe faces SEK 149 billion annual funding gap to meet these targets. And that gap creates urgent structural demand for high-efficiency technology. And that demand is nondiscretionary. So regulatory frameworks have made energy efficiency a legal necessity for asset survival, not a voluntary upgrade. And that recession is already underway, but many European buildings have yet to complete the shift to LED and the phaseout of fluorescent lighting creates for us a predictable multiyear replacement pipeline across the continent. The deadlines are fixed, and these deadlines are related to energy efficiency, but also more details of what they need to entail. And this is in public buildings by 2028 and private new buildings by 2030. So that gives us more of a long-term visibility. And this is a structural market shift and I think we are very well positioned to benefit from it. So why is this? First, we have wireless solutions. And that makes the installation much easier. So by simplifying the sign and eliminating wiring we can deliver faster installations at lower costs. That means more projects for our installers and less interruption time for the tenants, which suits the retrofit market. Second, lighting is becoming digital infrastructure, sensors and real-time data turn on luminaires into connected data points within the building management system. That opens the door to recurring revenues beyond the hardware sale and support premium positioning. Third is system integration. When we connect to central building system, we shift from being a product supplier to a system partner, and that means higher contract values per project. and stronger, longer-term customer relationship and also a much higher value for the building and lower costs for the tenant. So organic response is where it comes together. Sensors in every luminary, as you know, is our God, automatic compliance reporting an open API for integration with other building systems and customized reporting. The renovation wave creates real and predictable demand across Europe. And what matters is that our portfolio is built exactly for this moment. So wireless installations, connected luminaires, system integrators. And this is not something which is part of our future road map. They are products and capabilities we have today in the market that now require them. So that was my short update on the EPBD, and with that, I will hand over to Oscar for more information on the financial numbers.
Oscar Wallstén
ExecutivesThank you, Model. I would also like to welcome everyone to the call. Good morning. This has indeed been a challenging quarter. The business area collection and premium are the main drivers behind the gross margin decline. In collection, we did not win any large order that could match last year's large high-margin order from VF in South Arabia. At the same time, sales developed slower than expected in business area premium. Premium on Besancon as a large order last year, as Bodumentioned before, and the same type of favorable business opportunity did not appear in the first quarter of this year. For the group as a total, this development had a negative effect on both volume and business mix. We saw an improved margin in Professional, partially thanks to TratoTLV, but this was not enough to compensate for the overall situation. As old mentioned, the organic order intake declined by 14.6% compared to last year. Q1 last year is a tough comparison period. This year, we did not win any large projects like King Salmon Park invest link, and that is clearly visible in the numbers. In the quarter, the order intake is negatively impacted by FX. The stronger Swedish krona is affecting our euro business in a negative way. On the other hand, the order intake is impacted positively by acquisitions. By this time last year, our brand company Trane was not yet acquired. Sales is decreasing organically by 8.8% in the quarter. FX had a negative impact by SEK 110 million, whereas acquisitions improved the numbers by SEK 162 million totaling term effect of positive SEK 52 million. We're not satisfied at all with the first quarter's EBITDA margin, which landed on 2.4%. And dropped by 6% compared to last year. The margin drop is mainly related to lower business volumes in our 2 largest business areas, collection and premium. The decline in sales has a negative impact on our profitability. In the quarter, we experienced a negative operating cash flow by SEK 160 million. The poor cash flow is mainly explained by weak sales and changes in working capital. I will come back to that later in the presentation. The rolling 12-month net sales shows a decrease in the quarter. We have had some stronger quarters behind us, but the weak first quarter is visible also on a 12-month basis. The margin development weakened in the first quarter as a consequence of the business mix and decline in volume. The fourth quarter order intake of SEK 774 million and tail organic decline of 19.5% -- sorry, 19.1% like mentioned earlier, the first quarter of last year is a tough quarter to compare with. Net sales in the quarter totaled SEK 772 million, corresponding to organic decline of 7.3%. The EBITDA before IEC decreased to SEK 26 million and the EBITDA margin is 3.3% compared to 8.8% last year. Collection is 1 of our businesses, but had the most -- that was the most affected by the unstable situation in the Middle East. Looking at premium, order intake for the quarter of SEK 596 million entail an organic decline of 15.2%. Net sales for the quarter totaled SEK 557 million and EBITDA Land SEK 47 million. As you can see in the graph, both numbers represent large declines compared to last year. The EBITDA margin was 8.5%, and that is large decline compared to quarter 1 last year when it was 15.1%. Just like Business Area collection, premium encountered a tough comparison quarter. The lower volume has a negative impact in the business areas PML. Looking forward, business area premium ease potentials related to the retail sector and also related cross-selling and collaboration activities with Food Group that can provide us with larger total shares of projects in the future. And then Business Area Professional. The order intake for the quarter increased to SEK 410 million, mainly thanks to the acquisitions of Toto. Net sales for the quarter totaled SEK 360 million with an organic growth of 15.8%. There has been a positive development in the U.K. market, which is beneficial for white costs. This is indeed 1 of the bright spots in this report. Except for the organic growth in net sales, professional also gets a positive effect of SEK 151 million in net sales from rate -- The operating profit before IAC amounted to SEK 15 million, and that resulted in an EBITDA margin of 4.2%. We Business Area Professional has continued to focus on cross sales and group collaboration, which we consider a success factor going forward. In quarter 1, this has been made concrete through the launch of a data center offering, a collaboration between White craft, Eagle and ecofor the U.K. and Australia markets. Infrastructure order intake for the quarter totaled SEK 178 million, corresponding to an organic decrease of 6.2%. Net sales for the quarter totaled SEK 168 million with an organic decline of 13.8%. The EBITDA margin is down to 0. The P&L of infrastructure is suffering from the group gross profit margin, which is a result of lower sales volume but same amount of fixed cost. And then looking at cash flow. The operating cash flow in the quarter was negative by SEK 160 million the same period last year, the cash flow was positive by SEK 26 million. The main driver behind negative cash flow is the operating result to start with. The working capital has developed in an unfavorable way. Both inventory and customer receivables have grown during the quarter and hence affected cash flow in the wrong direction. Inventory has to some extent being built up to mitigate price increases in certain components and raw material. Quarter 1 is by seasonal cactuation, usually the weakest quarter cash flow-wise. The recent investments in Tata Kaplan has increased our net debt to current levels, which is higher than before. Now in the first quarter, our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio has increased because of the development in profitability. And then finally, earnings per share decreased during the first quarter and it landed on negative SEK 0.16 per share. Thank you for your attention, and now back to Bodo.
Bodil Gallon
ExecutivesOkay. So I will do a short conclusion before we open up to questions. So what we have heard during this call is that the first quarter came in weaker than expected, reflecting a challenging and uncertain market environment. We continue to see subdued construction activities, specifically in new builds. And together with an internal unfavorable sales mix and currency effects, which weighed on net sales and then had a very strong effect on overall performance during the quarter. At the same time, underlying demand for our products and solutions remain solid and which is evidenced by the strengthened order backlog compared to the same period last year. And this supports our view that customer activity and long-term demand drivers are intact albeit with clear differences between segments and geographies. Against this backdrop, as I said, a strategic overview is ongoing and has been accelerated with clear focus on addressing underlying issues through concrete actions. The objective is to strengthen stability, improved performance and position the group well to navigate the current environment, while capturing future opportunities. So thank you for that. And with that, I will hand over to Nicolas -- so we will open up for questions.
Niklas Willstrand
ExecutivesThank you very much, Bodil, and thank you very much, Oscar. I will hand over to Ana to see if we have any questions on the tendon. .
Operator
OperatorThanks, Nicolas. [Operator Instructions] first question is from Laura Matadi from ABG Sundal Collier.
Unknown Analyst
AnalystsFrom ABG. Just a couple of questions from my side. Firstly, is it possible to give some information on which subsidiaries specifically for the largest volume declines? And what's driving the weakness in those companies?
Bodil Gallon
ExecutivesI think what you heard us saying before is that we saw a decline in our bigger business areas, which meaning collection and premium -- and because we have high-margin businesses there, lower sales has an impact. And also, we also said when you look into it, that our -- we haven't seen, if you compare to earlier years, -- we didn't have any of those very big projects, and that makes a difference for us. So then if you look at the overall sales, you know that I've said before that we need to be over SEK 2 billion to have to support the structure we have and we were not. So that's where you see the difference then it falls down negatively on the bottom line. Does that give you a little bit more information? And then you have -- I can also give you a little bit more when you look into different -- as I said, there is difference in geographies and in and in segments. So you heard Oscar saying that U.K. had a better quarter. We saw positive in White gross, but we also have design plan who is very present in markets like prisons, which is also a positive segment with positive growth. So you see those markets. Then of course, we also mentioned when we did -- when we sent out the first report that we also see direct and indirect consequences of what's happening in the Middle East, direct in the business is in collection because we have a local presence there and indirectly because we see longer decision-making -- but I think it's -- when you have uncertainty in geopolitical parts, then I think very often, companies push their CapEx decisions forward. And we see that. We see longer cycles.
Unknown Analyst
AnalystsOkay. I guess, still on the same topic then on geographies. How much of the weakness would you say was specifically Middle East related versus maybe the underlying weakness you mentioned in the report in the Nordic regions?
Bodil Gallon
ExecutivesI think if you look in general, if you look into what we did last year, last year, revenue in the Middle East was SEK 400 million, which is approximately 5% of our of our revenue. Then I mean, the conflict raised in end of February, but we saw some immediate effects. I mean we had we closed down the office we had in the Middle East. And then it's difficult to say when you look into the indirect consequences how much does it really affect the numbers. But I think it's a mixture. As I said, it has effect on the decision-making side of things.
Oscar Wallstén
ExecutivesJust to clarify here, the SEK 400 million is the annual number, and that's the quarter number. .
Unknown Analyst
AnalystsOkay. And well, given that the comp is a bit in Q2, but you mentioned Middle East and new construction is still weak. Do you sort of see Q1 as a trough? I'm just trying to get a sort of sense of the earnings trajectory for the rest of the year. Should we sort of see this as a one-off quarter? Or how should we think going forward?
Bodil Gallon
ExecutivesI mean we don't give any predictions going forward. So I can't comment on that in that sense. But I think you heard me saying that we don't see a fundamental difference in the underlying demand. So which means that -- and also when you look into the order backlog, we haven't seen things worsening as we speak. So I think that's as much as I can give you.
Unknown Analyst
AnalystsOkay. And just a last question. You mentioned the war started in well, ended February. So could you just maybe give us some color on how -- well, January and February were because I'm assuming March is weak, as you close down the Middle East. But how were those months in the beginning of Q1? And also, how has April been so far? .
Bodil Gallon
ExecutivesI also, if you look -- I think what you also need to look at when you follow us is I would also look at the order intake when you go back. So if you look into -- I think we already had some pint when we look into Q4, when we looked into the order intake that, that was weaker. So that is also what you need to see, which had an impact on the start of the year. And then, I mean, when you look into April, as I said just, we don't see any further deterioration. So I would say that the month of April has rather started more positively than what we saw at the beginning of the year.
Operator
OperatorThe next question from Mats Liss from Kepler Chevron. .
Mats Liss
AnalystsWell, coming back to the earnings performance here. I mean there seems to be a short and long-term issue here. I mean, short term, we have weakness in the markets. And longer term, you mentioned the European property building directive? And how do you play this? I mean it seems that currently, you are not sort of to reach higher earnings levels, you need to make some cost measures or efficiency measures. But longer term, it seems that things are looking interesting for you as a supplier of lending solutions and so on. Could you give -- and I guess that's what you are aiming to present in the strategic view. So maybe you better keep that for?
Bodil Gallon
ExecutivesYes. Yes. I think you are spot on their maths -- so as I said, we will do the strategic overview on what we've said is that we will do it not later than in the Q2 report. So I don't want to preempt that process. And we hadn't -- we didn't start that because of the result in Q1. It was something we were already working up. And we have accelerated it when we're seeing that we need to secure both short-term and long-term profitability and stability. And what we're working on there is, of course, on both sides. So we're working on both the cost efficiency side of things, and we're also working on growth opportunities. As you heard me saying, I think -- and I've said it before, is that when you look at markets, I mean, we were very strong on the in the office market. And we haven't really seen the office market coming back. But there are new segments like I said, when you look into -- I mean, all the funding goes into defense and data centers today. So of course, then we also need to make sure we're sharpening our offer in those segments. And that's what we're doing by working stronger together. I also think that the changing world we have around us also makes us focusing more on markets where we see high stability. So there will be a few different measures, and we will come back to you, as I said, as the latest in the Q2. But it's looking into the picture you're describing.
Mats Liss
AnalystsYes. Yes. And things seems to be -- well, you mentioned that demand hasn't sort of become lows. But then again, we see a lot of cost increases can imagine, I mean, not only raw materials, different kinds and you have trades. And well, how do the markets respond to potential price increases from your side to balance the costs?
Bodil Gallon
ExecutivesI think there is a double part of that. I mean there is -- I think we are more aggressive from a volume perspective side of things and pricing when we need to. Then on the other hand, when it comes to direct consequences of, as you mentioned, whether it's material cost or its transportation -- then of course, we will pass that on as price increases. And I think in those cases, I think the market is prepared to. At the other hand, when you look upon it, I mean we don't -- a new inflationary period is not something which is positive for CapEx investments. So -- but we will try to adapt to the world around this as much as we can.
Mats Liss
AnalystsLooking at the backlog there, I mean, there are some projects with -- well, lead times are a bit longer. Do you have the -- well, raw material cross also whatever price clauses in place to balance higher costs? .
Bodil Gallon
ExecutivesYes. And I mean we are very project oriented. And I think we learned a lot from the last inflation period in that sense. And also, as you saw partly impacting our cash flow negatively. We have also made some projections in terms of being able to serve that demand while still having lower prices on the raw material side.
Mats Liss
AnalystsGreat. And yes. And then we have these structural changes that you mentioned well, ahead of the European property building et cetera. And do you have -- do you expect to see more competition in those segments from others? Or are you sort of in place with the usual ones. I mean China, I guess -- I mean to be a bit more clear. I mean China has been our competitor may be more in the low end of the market. And are they sort of upgrading their offering now and starting to become a tougher competitor in the areas where you have been maybe not alone, but you have been market position better?
Bodil Gallon
ExecutivesI think we've never been alone unfortunately. But if you look into the Chinese competitors, they are there. Of course, they are there. And also, you've seen -- we've seen some negative impact also. I think you see the Chinese focusing more in Europe today when they have more tariffs in the U.S. So it's -- of course, it's driving more Chinese competition. I think if you look into the European performance of Buildings Directive what I was trying to the point after that is that we are very well positioned with the combination of our lighting solutions and smart lighting solutions. And I think if you are a property owner so and you want to put smart building, smart into your building. You have many other factors included in that like cybersecurity, and also, you have benefits in terms of that we take care of measuring the data for you. And I think in such a context, it is a big advantage to being a European supplier. Then, when you look into the directive and the consequences you will get, I mean, there will be no catch-up effect on it. But -- and I see also from our side that one of the major challenges is that we need to inform more about it. I think there is still a knowledge gap in this that we need to work on. That's also why I speak to it. But the legislation will help and the legislation is quite clear. And I also -- the other part of renovation, where we see a big advantage is by being local as we are, we can also make renovation solutions much easier than if you buy a standard solution from the other side of the world because we go in and renovate as well and that you can only do if you have local production. So I think there is a few very clear advantages, I would say, from our side.
Mats Liss
AnalystsAnd Yes, very good. And finally, just I mean to address these opportunities, do you need to make any sort of investment or CapEx or are you sort of prepared with the current?
Bodil Gallon
ExecutivesNo. From our side, we have everything what it takes.
Operator
OperatorThe next question is from Linus Alent. Linas. .
Linus Alentun
AnalystsHi, and good morning, Model and Oscar. Just a few quick questions here from me. I was just wondering just to get a better sense of this roughly 6 percentage point margin drop here if you could try to just give some indication of how much here is from volume deleverage and mix?
Oscar Wallstén
ExecutivesYes. Thank you, Lena. So that's a very good question. So I would say that it's actually approximately 50-50 between the volume drop and the mix. So some of the businesses that we had last year was very profitable. And of course, when that volume has gone down, it has a very negative impact on the profitability. But then in general, if we lose volume, it comes, of course, with a lower profitability, bottom line as well. So I would say it's approximately 50-50.
Linus Alentun
AnalystsAll right. And another question here. sort of on the fixed cost base here. I saw that S&A expense has stayed roughly flat. -- while sales fell 6%. I'm just wondering here, what is your cost flexibility here? And I mean, when can we expect a meaningful reduction in the cost base to align with the current market conditions and the revenue levels?
Oscar Wallstén
ExecutivesI think that's also a very good question. And we I mean SG&A is not a variable cost. It's typically mainly payroll-related and that is something you're not adjusting from quarter-to-quarter, but we're basing that investment or the spend on the future volumes to come and to ensure successful in the sales processes going forward. So I think looking backwards, yes, it looks like it has come up in relation to top line. But to your point, it's very much the same amount as last year. So not commenting on the future development on it. But I think it's a good reflection you're doing, and then we will face, of course, investments or spending in sales and other functions on our strategic review and the conclusions we are making in that process.
Linus Alentun
AnalystsAll right. All right. I'm just guessing since, I mean, as you've stated, I mean, demand is still -- or visibility is still very low. You don't see any change. So I mean -- that's why I asked, but thanks for the answer. Another question. I mean you said that the strategic review here is underway and the that the office segment here is pretty slow, weak or divestments here on the table then? .
Bodil Gallon
ExecutivesI think it's good that you're asking questions. I think we need to come back to it again. And we can't say more about what we're doing today. So we will come back to you as soon as we are ready to present.
Operator
OperatorThanks. The next question on Albin Noda from SB1 Markets.
Unknown Analyst
AnalystsYes. I've been here. Just a follow-up. I think curious -- the answer on Lin's question was that gross margin? Was that on gross margin that lower volumes versus sales is what stands or correct.
Bodil Gallon
ExecutivesIt's difficult to hear you. Can you repeat your question?
Unknown Analyst
AnalystsCan you hear me now Peter Yes. So just a follow-up on Lin's question just to verify, was the gross margin decline is the plant volume and sales.
Oscar Wallstén
ExecutivesExactly. So I mean it's...
Unknown Analyst
AnalystsSo that's the first question. And then -- so the next question is -- how is the sales mix in the order backlog is the relationship to Q1 now? Is the same or is it better or worse?
Oscar Wallstén
ExecutivesThat's a very good question. I actually need to get back to you on that. I don't dare to say I haven't made that anyone yet.
Bodil Gallon
ExecutivesCan answer on your first question, Albin the mix that...
Unknown Analyst
AnalystsThen maybe just how I didn't get the last question, but anyway, how much of the order is delivered now in the second quarter?
Bodil Gallon
ExecutivesI mean it's -- we don't count in that way because we continue to fill up order backlog every day. So it's a combination of different parts. So you can't say that in that order backlog we're having parts will be delivered in Q2 and parts might be projects which have longer times. But what is important to remember with our order backlog, which has been holding through all the time to as long as I've been here is that all our order backlog is always related to specific projects. So it's not a generalized backlog, but it's always hard to specific projects. Very stable order or backlog.
Operator
OperatorThere are no more questions from the telcos. So I hand the word back to Nicolas for written questions. .
Niklas Willstrand
ExecutivesThank you very much, Ana, and thank you to all of you who ask questions over the telephone. We have a question here. Cash flow has declined to SEK 160 million with lower sales and therefore, a lower working capital, I would expect a lower cash requirement it really make sense to buy more components, Yes, the ahead of price increases? And there's an additional question, please, one, will you need to negotiate your banking covenants?
Oscar Wallstén
ExecutivesYes. Very good. Thank you for that question. And I think the price increases, as we have said when it comes to certain raw material and components has gone up a little bit more than we expected in Q4 so we made a decision early in Q1 to build up a little bit of inventory to mitigate some of that margin impact going forward, which I think was a very good decision. And One question, if it was the right decision, but we don't expect that inventory to stay on the balance sheet for more than 1.5 quarter. So we will get that money back soon. So I think what has impacted the working capital as well on top of inventory is the fact that we again from an invoicing point of view or a sales point of view, we ended up being quite back-end heavy so instead of getting AR in January that was paid in February and March, we ended up with a little bit higher volume in March. But I don't see any issue with this. I expect it to come back to the same level as previous quarter in the next quarter.
Niklas Willstrand
ExecutivesIf We need to renegotiate our banking covenants. So we did reach our interest coverage covenant in Q1 However, as also stated in the Q1 report, we subsequent to the balance sheet date, we reached an agreement with our external lenders that allows us the financing to continue under the agreed terms. So that's behind us. .
Operator
OperatorThank you very much, Oscar, and here's an additional question. The smart lighting provider played is taking market share in smaller commercial buildings, not luminaries and smart solutions. -- how would you manage that competition? .
Bodil Gallon
ExecutivesI think first, when you look into it, we are -- if you look into the market for the Forteo group, we are not in smaller commercial buildings if we are, it's very, very limited. I mean we are in the high and medium to enterprise markets. That's where we're playing. So we, I would say, it's very, very rare that we meet place. And I actually see a positive with it, and that is that when you look into smart and what I said before about EPBD, I think very often, the ignorance is our biggest competitor. So what Play is also doing is that they're helping to educate the market about the benefits of smart. And I think that is really important and will have a help -- it would be good for the market for Smart in general. Then I think if you compare smart to our system, it's like comparing a system for a private home or a very, very small office, for example, with us who are doing enterprise solutions. So you can't really compare the 2 offerings. It's not the same market or the same solutions that we are doing.
Operator
OperatorThank you very much, Model. And I have to say that concludes today's webcast. And thank you, everyone, who was joining us today, and we wish you all a continued good day. Goodbye.
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