Garo Aktiebolag (publ) (GARO) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to today's GARO Year-End Report for 2025. My name is Seb, and I'll be the operator for your call today. [Operator Instructions] I will now hand you over to Helena Claesson, CFO, to begin. Please go ahead.

Thank you very much. Welcome, everyone, to GARO's presentation for the fourth quarter and full year 2025. My name is Helena Claesson. I am the CFO of GARO. And I will talk you through the financials for the quarter, but also touch base on some operational highlights. With me today, I also have our Chairman, Axel Widmark , for some outlook and perhaps help you with the most difficult questions. I appreciate you taking the time to join. Next slide, please. And firstly, let's start with some operational highlights for the quarter. Electrification continues to perform steadily and remains the financial backbone for GARO. Despite the weak construction market, we have strengthened our position in Sweden through several important contracts such as deliveries to Stockholm, a project called Förbifart. Going forward, we will continue to strengthen our core business through product development and more launches. Collaboration with installers will be deepened through close dialogues, which will also directly affect product development. When it comes to GARO E-mobility, the market for plug-in vehicles in Sweden has been stable during 2025 and also showed growth in some European markets. While sadly to say, GARO sales in the business area did not meet our expectations. However, we did deliver a large number of 43-kilowatt chargers to the transportation sector in France, and we are seeing a growing interest in the Nordic region and Europe for robust AC charging even for heavy vehicles. At the same time, new standards such as ISO 115118 are now shaping the next step in the industry. It enables plug and charge where vehicles and chargers automatically recognize each other and laid the foundation for smart charging. For us, this means both new requirements, but also great opportunities. Looking at our strategy. During the quarter, we intensified our commercial efforts with a focus on standardized sales processes. The entire organization has undergone comprehensive sales training to strengthen the team skills and create a more standardized sales method. We have also established a more integrated offering between our 2 business areas where electrification and e-mobility benefits from one another, both commercially and operationally. As announced in December, GARO has appointed Tobias Byfeldt as new President and CEO. Until he assumes his position, Joe Ree is acting as Deputy CEO. To summarize, we continue our efforts to improve profitability and reduce capital tied up within E-mobility. Next slide, please. And now looking into the financials, where we start with a summary of the fourth quarter. Net sales amounted to SEK 261 million, a decrease of 8% compared with the same quarter last year. GARO Electrification showed a decrease of 4% and GARO E-mobility unfortunately developed weakly with a 21% decrease in sales. Gross margins have been at similar levels to previous quarters, where stronger margins within GARO Electrification have been offset by lower gross margins within GARO E-mobility. Adjusted operating profit at the same time being our EBIT for the quarter amounted to negative SEK 5 million compared with SEK 3 million in the same quarter last year. EBIT for the full year 2025 amounted to negative SEK 8 million, where the result was charged with SEK 7 million in termination costs for departing personnel. We have a significant imbalance between the 2 business areas, GARO Electrification and GARO E-mobility, where the latter weighed on the group's overall results. And we have now initiated a more in-depth analysis of GARO E-mobility and the need for measures to achieve profitability. This analysis is expected to be complete at the start of the second quarter. Next slide, please. And now looking into the 2 business areas separately, starting with GARO Electrification. Net sales amounted to SEK 212 million in the quarter, about SEK 10 million less compared with the same quarter last year. Sales in Sweden, however, showed a growth of 4%, where GARO has strengthened its market position by winning strategically important procurements. Highlights include deliveries to Stockholm's Förbifart, as I mentioned. This is one of Sweden's most extensive infrastructure projects. We have also made deliveries of equipment for the new prison in Mariestad. Adjusted operating profit at the same time being our EBIT amounted to SEK 17 million compared with SEK 26 million in the same quarter last year. The result in the quarter is explained by the lower sales, together with higher sales activities and administrative costs. In the quarter, we have had costs related to internal work to strengthen and clarify processes, organizational structure and leadership. Together with our ongoing ERP project, this adds up to costs of approximately SEK 6 million in the quarter, not adjusted for in our adjusted operating profit. Without these costs, our EBIT margins for the quarter would have been close to our target of 10%. The implementation of our ERP project is entering into its final phase, and we will go live on May 4. The project has resulted in costs of almost SEK 2 million in the quarter and almost SEK 7 million for the full year and is crucial for our long-term efficiency. Already now, we can see clear improvements in data quality. Next slide, please. And now we move over to a focus on GARO E-mobility business area. Net sales amounted to SEK 49 million in the quarter, giving us a negative growth of 21% or SEK 30 million when comparing with last year. While the market for plug-in vehicles has been stable and performed well during 2025, our sales development has not met our expectations. In order to become more market and customer-oriented, we have focused on improving our user experience, customization, support and service. And as I said earlier, in the quarter, we have delivered a large number of 43 kilowatt chargers to France. This is a project that meets the transport sector's increased need for reliable charging infrastructure, while at the same time, addressing difficulties relating to high electricity tariffs and limited access to power in a sustainable manner. The adjusted operating profit for the quarter, at the same time being the EBIT amounted to negative SEK 21 million and is fully explained by the low sales. And as I mentioned earlier, we have initiated a more in-depth analysis of GARO E-mobility and the need for measures to achieve profitability. Next slide, please. And now we look a little bit into our cash flow and the balance sheet. Cash flow from operating activities after changes in working capital has strengthened during the year and amounted to SEK 37 million in the fourth quarter. Tied up capital from inventories decreased net with SEK 4 million in the quarter and around SEK 50 million for the full year. We have a deposit with a supplier for materials ordered but not yet called off. The deposit being in euros has remained unchanged and amounted to the equivalent of SEK 43 million by the end of the year. Our net debt position amounted to SEK 240 million compared with SEK 285 million in the year earlier quarter. We have an equity asset ratio of 52.7% and available liquidity, including overdraft facilities of SEK 75 million. And now I will hand over to Axel for some last words and the outlook. Next slide, please.

Thank you, Helena. And also good morning, welcome, and thank you for taking your time also from my side. So building a stronger and more predictable GARO. The work initiated by our former CEO continues, where Joe, as our Deputy CEO, build and execute on what has already been decided. One focus area is on creating a clear and predictable framework for how GARO operates. In Sweden, this means, amongst other things, that the work on increased customer focus and presence continues with close follow-up. We have strengthened our sales organization both in Sweden and internationally. And during the quarter, we have also carried out extensive sales training for the entire organization. The purpose has been to strengthen the team's skills, create a more uniform sales methodology and ensure that we fully take advantages of the business opportunities available in the market. Next slide, please. So coming to outlook. The fourth quarter concludes a year that has been both challenging and evolving. The market has been somewhat weak in 2025, but the long-term drivers of electrification and energy transition remains. We do see early signs that several of our core markets likely will strengthen in 2026. The demand in the public sector, commercial and industrial markets has remained strong, driven by ongoing renovation needs and the increasing focus on energy efficiency. Overall, while there are still some short-term challenges, we expect gradual market improvements across both electrification and also e-mobility, and the outlook for '26 is definitely more positive. So with that said, next slide, please, and we are open for questions. Thank you very much.

[Operator Instructions] We have a question on the line from Sofia Sörling with DNB Carnegie.

Yes. Sofia here from DNB Carnegie. Can you hear me?

Yes.

We do.

Yes. Great. So I will start focus on the Electrification segment. Yes. So the margin profile in Electrification, it has quite a significant drop in Q4 compared to Q3 and also Q4 last year. But could you give some more context and color on this weaker margin in electrification in terms of do you see price pressure? Is it a geographical mix, product mix, et cetera?

You referred to the profitability.

Yes, the profitability.

Yes. Well, the weaker sales within Electrification in the fourth quarter, I would say, is mainly within the Nordic countries. We have still had quite good sales in both Ireland and U.K. So from a sales point of view, I would say it's mainly Sweden actually that has been weaker than expected and a little bit as we write in the report where the wholesalers have, so to say, had a focus on lowering their stocks over the year-end. And then from a profitability point of view, we've had unusually, so to say, high costs or we have had more costs in this quarter compared to previous quarter this year, but also last year, where we've had done a lot of investments in the structure, in the organizational way of working and in leadership this fourth quarter that sort of say burdens the result, I would say, within Electrification.

Okay. But this extra cost that it seems like you -- yes, it seems like you say that these are not -- that they are nonrecurring costs, but you have not adjusted for it in the Electrification segment. Yes. So it's correct that you will not have this type of costs going forward then?

I would say that a lot of those costs will not be in the next quarter, correct. And the parts relating to the ERP project, they will also be less since we are now going live in May, as I said. So we are in an intensive phase. But after that, those will also be much lower going forward.

Okay. Okay. Yes. And Sweden, but in your report, you mentioned that Sweden actually reported a growth of 4% compared to Q4 last year. And actually the rest of Europe reported decline in sales of 19%. Like what was the main driver for Sweden actually performing better than last year? And what also was the negative driver for rest of Europe that you saw this quite significant decline of 19% in Electrification?

We had a big -- we had a couple of really big projects last year in the fourth quarter that were, so to say, more project driven. That's the decline when you compare the 2 quarters separately.

Okay. Okay. Okay. And then if we focus on E-Mobility. So clearly, during Q4, sales are not really picking up or perhaps not even stabilizing compared to Q3. But it seems like you are a little bit confident that the e-mobility or the EVSE market will improve into 2026. But how confident are you that you will actually increase sales now going into 2026 within E-Mobility? And also perhaps this analysis that you're expected will be completed in Q2. Is there a risk that you actually will perhaps divest this segment? Or how do you view the near-term outlook for E-Mobility?

I can take that question actually -- or I can start and you continue, Helena. So first and foremost, in the overall answer, I don't want to precede the analysis ongoing. But what is clear, we need to stop losing money within E-Mobility. And therefore, we have this in-depth analysis. What the outcome of that one is, I would not like to speculate at this time. But what we are doing in parallel to gain volumes is that, like Helena mentioned, we see that the market for E-Mobility remains quite stable. So there is a market to win. And if we look at our product, quality-wise, we have a great product hardware. And we have adjusted the cost profile and also the sales number into the market, which means that, that will increase volumes. Then we do continuous upgrades and development of the product. If we go to firmware and software, like Helena already mentioned, we are continuously working to meet ISO standards to make the product relevant and also upfront. And then finally, some feedback from the market has been on the user experience. And there, we have a continuous ongoing development of our application to increase the user experience. And those activities together leads us to expect sales during this period of the analysis ongoing, and then we will come back in Q2 with the outcome of the analysis. Helena, something to add from your side.

No.

[Operator Instructions] We have no further questions on the call at this time. So Axel and Helena, handing the call back over to you.

Yes. Thank you then, everyone, for taking the time and listening into this call. And yes, thank you for listening.

Thank you very much. Have a great day.

Thank you. Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

This concludes the call today. Thank you all very much for joining, and you may now disconnect.