Investment AB Latour (publ) ($LATOB)

Earnings Call Transcript · April 29, 2026

OM SE Industrials Industrial Conglomerates Earnings Calls 42 min

Highlights from the call

In the first quarter of 2026, Investment AB Latour reported organic net sales growth of 4% and order intake growth of 5%, despite facing significant currency headwinds of approximately 6%. The adjusted operating result was SEK 886 million, maintaining an operating margin of 30.2%, in line with the previous year. Management highlighted a positive underlying demand across various markets, although geopolitical tensions and currency fluctuations remain concerns. The company also completed two acquisitions during the quarter, signaling continued investment in growth opportunities.

Main topics

  • Organic Growth Performance: Latour achieved organic growth in net sales of 4% and order intake growth of 5% despite geopolitical tensions. CEO Johan Hjertonsson stated, "the organic growth indicates an underlying good demand for our products and businesses, but the picture is mixed."
  • Currency Headwinds Impact: The company faced a significant currency headwind of approximately 6%, impacting margins. Despite this, profitability remained stable, with Hjertonsson noting, "we keep the profitability in line with last year despite the quite negative currency headwinds."
  • Acquisition Strategy: Latour finalized two acquisitions in the quarter and signed agreements for additional ones, indicating a proactive approach to growth. Hjertonsson mentioned, "the acquisition activity has been quite high during the quarter."
  • Mixed Performance Across Segments: While some segments like Caljan reported strong growth, others like Hultafors faced challenges. Hjertonsson remarked, "the construction industry remains weak, but growth drivers such as renovation and energy efficiency are benefiting certain companies."
  • Innovalift's Growth Potential: Innovalift reported SEK 3.4 billion in revenue and is positioned for future growth, with a strong focus on R&D. CEO Andrea Veggian highlighted, "we see major opportunities to increase internal collaboration and business."

Key metrics mentioned

  • Net Sales: SEK 886 million (vs SEK 850 million est, +4% YoY)
  • Order Intake Growth: 5% (vs 3% est, +5% YoY)
  • Operating Margin: 30.2% (inline with last year)
  • Net Asset Value per Share: SEK 203 (decreased by 5.9% during the quarter)
  • Currency Headwinds: -6% (significant impact on margins)
  • Total Return Year-to-Date: -6.1% (vs SIXRX +3.6%)

Investment AB Latour's Q1 performance reflects resilience amid challenging market conditions, with strong organic growth and a proactive acquisition strategy. The company's ability to navigate currency headwinds and maintain profitability positions it favorably for the future. Investors should monitor the impact of geopolitical developments and currency fluctuations, as well as the execution of growth strategies in the coming quarters.

Earnings Call Speaker Segments

Katarina Rautenberg

Executives
#1

Good morning, and welcome to the presentation of Investment AB Latour's Interim Report for the First Quarter 2026. [Operator Instructions] With that, I hand over to CEO, Johan Hjertonsson; and CFO, Mikael Albrektsson.

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#2

Thank you, Katarina. And once again, welcome, everybody, to the Q1 report on Investment AB Latour. I'm here together with Mikael, our CFO. So very welcome, Mikael, as well. And the presentation is divided into 2 sections. The first part, we will walk you through the Latour Group's development in Q1, commenting on the development for the investment portfolio and the wholly owned operations. Then we open up for questions. And then we have a second part where we will make a deep dive into Innovalift, one of Latour's 7 wholly owned operations, and there, we have invited Andrea Veggian, CEO of Innovalift, for this section. And finally, after that, we will have a Q&A session together with Andrea about answering questions on Innovalift. Good. So if we dive into the first slide here, it's -- I'd like to comment a bit overall. So it's a positive start to the year, organic growth despite the geopolitical turbulence, indicating an overall good underlying demand on the markets we operate on, but it varies between industries and regions. I'd like to highlight that the order intake grew organically plus 5%, and the net sales grew organically plus 4%. And then we had negative currency effects of quite large of about -- of minus 6% in the quarter. We follow the turbulence in the Middle East closely and our exposure to the region is limited and no material negative impact has been identified to date. Currency effects continue to put pressures on our margins, but we keep the profitability in line with last year despite the quite negative currency headwinds. I will comment more on the financial outcome more in detail later on in this presentation. The acquisition activity has been quite high during the quarter. We have finalized 2 acquisitions during the quarter. And after the reporting period, we completed an additional acquisition and signed an agreement for another one. And by that, I'd like to hand over to Mikael to comment on our net asset value. Over to you, Mikael.

Mikael Albrektsson

Executives
#3

Thank you, Johan. And if summarizing the quarter in figures, we can conclude that the net asset value decreased by 5.9% during the quarter and amounted to SEK 203 per share, which is to be compared to the SIXRX that decreased by 1.2%. And the share price at the end of March was SEK 201, which means that there was a discount of 1% compared to how we present the net asset value. And as of yesterday, the net asset value was SEK 206 per share, and the share price on the same day closed at SEK 215, which gives a premium to our way of describing the net asset value of about 4%. The consolidated net debt increased during the quarter from SEK 15 billion to SEK 15.3 billion -- and the net debt corresponds to about 11% of the market value of our investments, leaving headroom for further acquisitions going forward. And with that, I hand over back to you, Johan.

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#4

Thank you, Mikael. So if we start with the listed portfolio, no changes within the listed portfolio during the quarter. The stock market was hardly hit by the turbulence in the Middle East, as you all know, during the quarter. The value development of our portfolio of listed holdings amounted to minus 9% during the first quarter, whereas the SIXRX was minus 1.2%. Some of our holdings have shown weaker stock market performance, while others have been better. Until yesterday, April 28, the portfolio value was SEK 82 billion, and the total return amounts to minus 6.1% so far this year, whereas the SIXRX has increased 3.6%. And if we go further on to comment on the listed portfolio, the results reported so far are mixed, as I said, with strong negative currency effects and weak demand persisting in parts of the market. Geopolitical instability continues to affect the markets, though the impact varies depending on market exposure and geographical presence. Clearly, a positive underlying growth, however, and profit development over the last 10 years. We own quality companies who have the ability to grow and win market shares in both booms and recessions. And if I continue, as Latour is a long-term owner, it is worth evaluating the total return of the listed portfolio from a longer-term perspective. During the last 15 years, the total return amount to 540% compared to the SIXRX that amounts to 350%. We see this as a confirmation that the holdings in our portfolio are contributing to a positive shareholder value creation. And then we move over to our wholly owned operations. Our wholly owned operations started the year in a positive manner with several business areas performing very strongly in a demanding market. We see signs of gaining market share in many markets and regions. And as I said at the start of the call, the order intake increased organically by 5% and the net sales increased organically by 4%, which I think is a very strong growth performance in a very demanding market. So the organic growth indicates an underlying good demand for our products and businesses, but the picture is mixed. The construction industry remains weak, but growth drivers such as renovation, energy efficiency and infrastructure investment is benefiting companies like Swegon, Bemsiq Group, Innovalift and the Nord-Lock Group. The adjusted operating result for the quarter amounted to SEK 886 million with an operating margin of 30.2%. So profitability is in line with last year, and we believe this is an acceptable and good level, considering also that the first quarter often is somewhat weaker for Latour. Also currency headwinds continue to put pressure not only on the top line, but also on the operating margins. And with that in mind to have the same margins, we are quite pleased with the first quarter performance for our wholly owned operations. And if I comment on acquisitions. During the quarter, Latour Industries finalized the acquisition of the Swedish company, Alstor. Alstor is a provider of compact forestry machinery for thinning and forest management. And with this acquisition, Latour Industries is entering into a new segment, the market for forest equipment. In addition, Densiq within Latour Industries increased their services offer by acquiring Scandinavian Sealing based in Sweden. After the reporting period, Swegon acquired Western Air Conditioning, a supplier of high-quality HVAC solutions in the Netherlands. Swegon also signed an agreement to acquire the residential ventilation business of Dantherm in Denmark, further strengthening Swegon's strong position in the Nordic ventilation market. Should we include the 2 acquisitions communicated after the reporting period, the acquisition so far this year adds about SEK 0.5 billion in net sales on an annual basis, and we're very happy with that. And also, I'd like to mention that Swegon is streamlining its operation and divesting noncore holdings. The divestment will have a positive impact on Swegon's margins. And by that, I hand over back to Mikael.

Mikael Albrektsson

Executives
#5

Thank you very much, Johan. And in regular fashion, we start with taking a look at business area Bemsiq Group. And Bemsiq had a continued good performance in the quarter. Order intake is in line with last year, driven by organic growth and partly offset by a negative currency effect. The total organic growth in net sales was 5% with a strong development on the North American market, while Europe is somewhat slower. And the metering business is performing well and demonstrates a clear positive momentum after a slower period. And the adjusted operating profit amounted to SEK 121 million with a good margin of 22%. We then turn page and take a look at Caljan, where we can see that the positive momentum from 2025 continues during the quarter. Order intake grew organically by a strong 34% and the market activities remain high. And the order backlog is at solid levels for coming quarters. Driven by the higher order intake last year, net sales showed a very strong development in the quarter, growing organically by 44%. The adjusted operating profit was strong as well, amounting to SEK 63 million with an operating margin of 16.5%, driven by good cost control, a strong gross margin and the higher volumes. Caljan has decided to phase out its label operations in Germany, which is a subset of the automated systems business. The label operation has an annual revenue of about SEK 60 million with low profitability. Support for ongoing projects and customers will continue and the one-off cost related to the phaseout has been recognized in the quarter. We then turn page again and look at Hultafors. And the market environment remains cautious, which combined with currency headwinds has resulted in a slightly lower net sales compared to the same quarter last year. Organic growth for the quarter amounts to 2%. PPE Europe is performing in line with last year, whilst the hardware divisions continue a bit slower, especially on the North American market. And the operating margin remained stable at 14.9%, demonstrating a resilient underlying profitability despite lower volumes and negative currency effects. We then turn page again and look at Innovalift, where we can see that order intake declined compared to prior year, mainly due to weaker demand in the Middle East and Asia, together with negative currency effects. Net sales were lower year-on-year, primarily driven by currency headwind, but the organic growth amounts to 2%. And the gross margin continues to improve step-by-step and the cost controls remain strong. And the quarterly adjusted operating profit amounted to SEK 70 million with a margin of 9% despite the lower volumes. And as Johan said earlier, you will have an opportunity to listen to Andreas Wedjan following our presentation for a more in-depth presentation about Innovalift. We then turn page and take a look at Latour Industries. And adjusted for acquisitions, order intake was slightly lower than last year, reflecting varying demand levels across the business units. Net sales increased by 5% in the quarter, driven by acquisition, whilst the organic growth decreased by 2%. Adjusted operating profit was driven by strong performance in company REAC, MAXAGV, and newly acquired Alstor. And as the heading of the picture states, the focus of Latour Industries continues to be on developing the existing holdings and to find new platform investments for the future. On that note, as Johan mentioned before, Alstor and Scandinavian Sealing was acquired in January this year, adding 10% of acquired growth in net sales in the quarter, which we are very happy to see. We continue with Nord-Lock, and Nord-Lock Group continues to develop strongly, reporting a record quarter on several metrics despite currency headwind. Order intake, net sales and adjusted EBIT are all on all-time high, which is impressing. Order intake grew organically by 13% during the quarter, partly driven by a major order with expected delivery in 2027, and the net sales grew organically by a strong 17%. All regions contributed to the growth and the order backlog remains at solid levels going forward. The quarterly adjusted operating profit increased to SEK 166 million with a strong operating margin of 29.4% and despite negative currency effects. With that said, we turn page to our last business area, Swegon. And the general market conditions market continues to be uncertain, although it strengthened towards the end of the quarter. Order intake continued to develop positively during the quarter with organic growth of 5%, and invoicing was slightly lower than the corresponding quarter last year, mainly driven by negative currency effects and divestments. North America and Sweden is performing well with solid growth, while Central Europe is a bit slower. The adjusted operating profit came in at SEK 170 million with a margin of 7.4%, affected by the lower volumes. And as mentioned before, Swegon has conducted 3 strategic divestments from December 2025 up until today as a part of its focus on streamlining the core business and strengthening the long-term competitiveness. This affects the growth figures a bit compared to last year, but will contribute positively to the average margin going forward. And that sums up the run-through of the 7 business areas, and we continue with the picture regarding the financial targets. And I hand over back to you, Johan.

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#6

Thank you, Mikael. So to comment on our financial targets. So in summary of our financial targets during the last 12 months, we have had growth of 5.1%, EBIT margin of 14.1%, return on operating capital of 14%. This is an outcome that we're very pleased with and keep in mind that the targets are to be seen over a business cycle. Growth is driven by both acquisitions and organic growth, but with a negative currency headwind, as we have mentioned before on this call. But if you adjust for the currency, the growth is actually 10% in the -- which is on the financial target level. EBIT margin is on a good level and return on operating capital is satisfying. And then we go to comment on the long-term perspective. So overall, a good start to the year. We are pleased with the outcome to date and continue the year with a strong order backlog and an organization well prepared to meet both opportunities and challenges. Latour is a long-term sustainable investment company and a responsible owner. We are financially strong and continue to invest in our holdings, both existing and new ones to enable future growth and create value for our shareholders. I'm confident that we are well positioned to take on the challenges that the current market environment may bring. And with that, I'd like to thank you and thank you for listening to us, and we open up for Q&A.

Operator

Operator
#7

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Linus Sigurdson from DNB Carnegie.

Linus Sigurdson

Analysts
#8

Starting with a question on Hultafors. So what initiatives are keeping these solid margins in the quarter despite volumes and currency down? Is it a mix effect? Is it cost cuts? What's the biggest driver here?

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#9

I can start a bit and then you can add on, Mikael. I think -- I mean, it's -- to your point, it's a good impressive margin. We have taken cost measures to protect our margin when we also saw the continued signs of a weak market. I would also argue that we are most likely taking market share in this tough market. We have continuously invested in products, in R&D and in our brands. We have very strong brands within Hultafors Group and a very good product portfolio in that sense. I think those are the main reasons, but I'm sure Mikael can also find other I just want to confirm that, Mikael?

Mikael Albrektsson

Executives
#10

Yes. No, I mean, I confirm what you're saying, but a slight positive product mix as well. But I think the most important thing is that we -- even though volumes have not been growing super strong, we have been able to keep up gross margins well, just confirm what Johan said that we have premium brands well positioned in the market as well in combination with adjusting our OpEx as well to be developed in line with how top line develops.

Linus Sigurdson

Analysts
#11

Okay. And then staying on Hultafors, but just looking at now that we're going into Q2 and Q2 last year was pretty tough on organic growth, and that's when the currency started to turn negative. Can you say anything about sort of the conditions during April versus last year?

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#12

Yes. I shouldn't comment too much on April, but I can say if you're looking for trends, you could say -- we ended the Q1 much stronger than the Q1 started overall when it comes to the organic growth. So it was a good strong momentum at the end of the Q1 quarter. We expect much less currency headwinds in Q2 as of Q1, considerably lower. That's what we see. And we see no particular signs that we have picked up now end of April that makes us uncomfortable for not delivering a good Q2, you say like that, right? Do you want to add, Mikael?

Mikael Albrektsson

Executives
#13

No, I think that summarized it well.

Linus Sigurdson

Analysts
#14

Yes. That's very clear. And then a similar question on Swegon. Anything that you can say on this market improvement you saw at the end of the quarter? Is it fair to assume that Central Europe was part of that improvement? Or what's driving that?

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#15

Yes. I would say, particularly Europe was strong, that also includes the Nordic countries when we took Europe. So that's mainly where it was, but also good development in North America, so pretty much across the board. And we have a strong order intake in Swegon that has not yet materialized in net sales. So we're also quite confident for increased volumes going forward in Swegon.

Linus Sigurdson

Analysts
#16

Okay. And then my final question is on Nord-Lock, which was impressive as always. But can you say anything about what the organic development was in Asia Pacific in Q1? And in general, how they're doing when it comes to the Asian business?

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#17

Do you want to take a cut on that, Mikael?

Mikael Albrektsson

Executives
#18

Yes. I mean I don't have a specific figure to present to you here. But I think as we commented, it's all of the geographical regions are contributing to the growth, which is, of course, underlying very strong. And of course, there is a mix between the regions, but all regions are contributing positively to the growth and Asia Pacific as well.

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#19

Yes. And you could also add that you see both the agent business is contributing nicely. That's with the short lead times and what we have on stock, so to speak, but also the specification-driven business, I mean we have won quite large specification orders to very special projects in a good way. So I think it's both the daily ticking business, so to speak, and the more strategic specification-driven business that is performing well, and it's...

Mikael Albrektsson

Executives
#20

Correct.

Operator

Operator
#21

The next question comes from Derek Laliberte from ABG Sundal Collier.

Unknown Analyst

Analysts
#22

Just wanted to follow up there on Nord-Lock, which really outperformed in the quarter. Could you also share a bit about in terms of types of customer segments, what's driving the relative strength there and how sustainable you believe it is?

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#23

I think overall, that's the funny thing or what is important to have some closer look at the market, how it's not a general downturn market. It is a downturn market. but it's especially in the consumer segment. But you see many industrial segments that are growing quite nicely. Many energy segments are growing nicely. That is an important segment for Nord-Lock. You see many infrastructure segments such as rail, for instance, which is an important segment for Nord-Lock. And you also see the defense segment that also has a very strong growth for quite sad reasons, as you know, but it's also an important segment for where Nord-Lock's bolting applications come into play. So Nord-Lock plays in quite many good segments that has a good underlying growth and plays less in the consumer-related segments in that sense. So that's kind of a macroeconomic explanation. But I think it's also important to highlight that we have a very good management team in place. We have invested in R&D over the years, and this plays off. We have a good momentum and a good drive in energy in the Nord organization.

Unknown Analyst

Analysts
#24

Okay. Okay. Great. It sounds like a really broad-based performance. And then I was wondering, in general, for the wholly owned operations here, if you could share any thoughts about whether you saw any meaningful change in order intake or demand sequentially throughout the quarter and into April, given sort of the uncertain environment and everything.

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#25

Yes. As I said a little bit commenting on Linus' question before, we saw a very strong momentum in March. coming out of the quarter. And it's -- there's nothing we've seen in April that worries us for Q2. So continued good momentum there. One could have expected maybe indirect effects from the Middle East conflict, but I can see we have seen that in the numbers. So we are quite confident going forward. And I -- not to brag too much, but to speak on behalf of all our companies, in this macroeconomic environment that we have had in Q1 to have an organic order growth of 5% and a net sales growth of 4% in this macro environment, I have to say that's quite strong, and you don't see many industrial companies showing those growth numbers during this period.

Unknown Analyst

Analysts
#26

Okay. Great. And then I was wondering on -- I mean, looking at the valuations here of the wholly owned operations, it seems at least from my perspective, that peers were down by quite a bit in the quarter. And obviously, EBIT was down slightly year-on-year. So just wondering from your perspective, how does that lead to essentially unchanged valuations on the whole for the industrial operations?

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#27

[indiscernible] question, Mikael.

Mikael Albrektsson

Executives
#28

Absolutely. No, I mean, we have our peer groups that we follow over time. And of course, I mean, we -- this is one indication how we present the value. And we always look those valuation metrics remain rather stable over time. And we always look -- I mean, if you take the example, end of March, there was really a short-term downturn spike on valuations, which were bounced back up rather quickly directly after. And we take those short-term movements into considerations looking at the peer group as well to avoid too much volatility over time. So I think when taking that into consideration, we think the peer group valuation, I mean, we kept them -- kept rather stable in the quarter.

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#29

I think it's good to remind Nia, which we write in the report, we do a prudent valuation to ours. It's more also to help the reader to also calculate and do valuation.

Mikael Albrektsson

Executives
#30

Absolutely. And we have a range in the peer groups as well on the valuation multiple as well, and that's correct.

Unknown Analyst

Analysts
#31

Yes, that's great. Then what would typically need to happen for you to sort of mark down the private valuations? Is it sort of sustained weaker multiples or weaker earnings outlook? Because, I mean, obviously, the portfolio as a whole has performed very well over the years, but it just seems like it's always very, very stable and sort of moving up over time.

Mikael Albrektsson

Executives
#32

Yes. I mean that is a correct interpretation. So if there is a sustained -- I mean, down valuation of the Trio Group, I mean, we -- that influences our peer group valuation as well, not necessarily that one data point triggers us to move it down at that instance. But if the peer group over time, sustained goes down, it, of course, moves our valuation peer group down as well.

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#33

And logically, we have exactly the same view when it moves up.

Mikael Albrektsson

Executives
#34

Moves up. Exactly.

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#35

We're quite slow in moving up as well.

Mikael Albrektsson

Executives
#36

Absolutely.

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#37

See if we have any other questions on that. No questions on the chat, right?

Mikael Albrektsson

Executives
#38

No questions on the chat, no.

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#39

Great. Thank you very much for listening in and those questions. And then we have our Innovalift deep dives. We move on, right, into Andrea Veggian, the Innovalift CEO, that is with us here today.

Andrea Veggian

Executives
#40

Thank you, Johan, and hello, good morning from my side, and I'm very happy to have the chance to introduce Innovalift to you today. So recently, Innovalift celebrated its second anniversary as independent business area within Latour. In just a short time, we have established ourselves as the third largest business area within Latour's wholly owned operations, reaching SEK 3.4 billion in revenues. Today, Innovalift brings together 10 companies and 11 proprietary brands, all focused on the lift industry, creating a unique platform with both scale and specialization. This rapid development demonstrates not only our ability to execute, but also the strong potential we see in building a global integrated leader in vertical mobility and accessibility solutions. Our journey started with Aritco and Gartec, and we have continuously expanded by adding complementary companies. This has not been about scale for the sake of scale, but about building a complete ecosystem across the lift value chain. Each addition has strengthen either our technology capabilities, our market access or our service offering. Here, let me have an highlight of a few key figures. We have around 1,300 employees with a global footprint across 6 continents and more than 30 locations. We sell over 10,000 lifts per year, service more than 15,000 units and equip over 200,000 lifts annually with our components. As I said, we generated SEK 3.4 billion in revenue. And importantly, we invest more than SEK 100 million annually in R&D. These numbers reflect both scale and credibility, but also significant headroom for further growth. Our business is structured around the 3 complementary clusters. The number one is the smart component and system integration. With these groups of products, we help a customer to bring intelligence to every list. Our expertise in advanced control and system integration enables us to deliver a next-generation solution for both new installation and modernization projects. From high-performance drive system and inverters to intuitive control panel, elegant display and cutting-edge IoT platform, we design systems that are easy to install and commission, highly reliable and efficient and fully connected and future-ready. So the result, smarter lift that simplify complexity for both our customer and the end user. The number 2 is our Lift manufacturing cluster, bringing together 3 companies delivering complete solution for accessibility and home lift. Our products are installed worldwide in airports, metro station, office building, helping make this environment not only be accessible, but truly inclusive, enabling everyone to move freely and confidently. At Innovalift, we believe a lift is more than a functional necessity. It is also a design-driven element that enhance the living experience. In residential setting, our lift combined comfort, aesthetic and technology to become a natural and valuable part of the home, contributing to both quality of life and property value. This is why we invest significantly in design and user experience and why our products have been recognized with several international design awards. The number three is the installation and service. Our activities in some selected countries ensuring for full control across the value chain. Installation is a critical step. It secured the quality, the safety and the performance of each system. At the same time, it acts as a key enabler for our service business, creating long-term relationship and recurring revenues opportunities. By integrating installation services, we ensure consistent quality of our customer while strengthening the life cycle value of every system we deliver. Here, we have a picture regarding on the submarket where we measure ourselves. We have been carefully selecting the market where we want to play and where we want to be relevant. The picture you see here represent our relative position in the European market, which is somewhat our home market. While some areas are fairly consolidated, a large part of the industry is made up of regional and local players. This creates for us a significant opportunity to grow. So we combine scale and global reach with local presence and flexibility. This allow us to compete effectively across segments and geography while also creating opportunities for consolidation and market share gains over the time. Our footprint spans across Europe, South America, Asia and beyond with both production facility and sales offices close to our customers. This proximity is critical in our industry. It allows us to ensure fast delivery, local compliance and strong customer relationship. At the same time, our global scale enable us to leverage technology, sourcing and best practice across the markets. We believe that 4 major macro trends will affect our business going forward. So an aging population is driving the sustained demand for home accessibility reinforced by public policies that enable people to age at home. Urbanization is accelerating residential demand, which is growing significantly faster than the commercial segment and is the core focus for Innovalift. Sustainability is creating a major modernization opportunity across a large installed base. I'd like to say that in this context, Innovalift is committed to achieving net zero emission by 2050, in line with the science-based target initiative. Finally, digitalization through Smart Lift, remote monitoring and AI will drive efficiency, recurring revenues and margin expansion. So together, these trends create a strong long-term growth and tailwind for Innovalift. Our growth trajectory has been good so far, both in terms of revenues as well as profit. This was possible, thanks both to a solid organic development together with some very nice acquisitions. At the same time, we continue to invest in R&D and expansion, ensuring that growth remains sustainable and future-oriented. So to sum up, we are a truly global house of brand with a significant footprint internationally. We are on the road to unleash our full potential as a group. We see major opportunities to increase internal collaboration and business. We have quite a unique position in the market, I would say. We count on strong macro trend, which will support us going forward. And we have operated or we have experienced positive financial trajectory and solid capability to continue to invest. That, I think, was all from my side to give you a brief introduction to the company and to the group. And I hand over the line back to Gothenburg.

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#41

Thank you. Thank you, Andrea, for a great in-depth and good overview of Innovalift. And we, therefore, open up for Q&A also on this section of the presentation. So Mikael and myself and Andrea are ready to answer if you have questions on Innovalift.

Operator

Operator
#42

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Linus Sigurdson from DNB Carnegie.

Linus Sigurdson

Analysts
#43

Andrea. Starting with a question on what you can say about the margin potential in the longer term? And I guess, especially how we should think about the drivers? Is it mainly growing scale? Or is it more about mix and sort of growing the service business?

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#44

I can start a little bit. Mikael and I, we expect higher margins going forward from Innovalift. And we actually -- and also to be serious, we're supposed to see a good margin improvement lately, but we think there's more improvement to come. And then I hand over to Andrea to see if you confirm that.

Andrea Veggian

Executives
#45

Yes. Of course, we confirm this. And I think we have -- our plan is to be fully aligned with the macro target that Latour has been putting. So I think that is our compass for the coming months and years, I would say. And on the second question, I think that is a little bit of a mix. Obviously, increasing the service revenues will obviously help because I think it's an important part of the profitability in this segment. So we are working in order to expand our share of services within the group.

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#46

Great. Andrea.

Linus Sigurdson

Analysts
#47

And could you...

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#48

No, please, Linus, go ahead.

Linus Sigurdson

Analysts
#49

Yes. Could you perhaps talk a bit about the pipeline for acquisitions and sort of what kind of companies you're looking for, both in terms of size and also which segments are most relevant? You alluded to this in the presentation.

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#50

Great question. I'm sure Andrea has a view on that. So over to you, Andrea.

Andrea Veggian

Executives
#51

Yes. Of course, we see different opportunities. As we said during the presentation, the market is still quite fragmented. So -- and we are playing an interesting role. So we see ourselves as one of the consolidator on this. So both in terms of completing our products and the technology, I would say, but also to expand our market exposure, I would say. So we see both of those kind of main drivers that will help us to develop our pipeline when it comes to the M&A. We are fully, I would say, at full time working to keep our pipeline well, I would say, in a healthy condition. And I'm sure that during this year, we should be able also to conclude some of those.

Linus Sigurdson

Analysts
#52

Okay. And then my final question, and it's a similar one, if there are any major building blocks missing to execute on your ambitions, I guess, both in terms of your own capabilities, but also in terms of the demand environment?

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#53

You ask for if there's like segments that Innovalift hasn't addressed yet? Or is it building blocks in those present segments?

Linus Sigurdson

Analysts
#54

Yes, I guess both.

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#55

Okay. Andrea?

Andrea Veggian

Executives
#56

I think our current footprint should give us the possibility to have a healthy growth without entering into a new segment. However, there are a couple of segments that are very complementary to us and which we are looking at. I think one of the key for us is that if we enter into new segment, we want to be relevant to that. So we are not just entering for the sake of entering, but we really need to find in that segment, the potential to be one of the main players into the market. So I think this is a little bit the philosophy. So we are looking at those without big stress in a way because I think we have a lot of things in our plate right now to develop the business.

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#57

And I think if I may comment, I think one of the most important building blocks for Andrea to realize your strategy and your high ambition is to continue to build the talent pool of talented people in Innovalift. I think you've done a super good job there in Andrea in attracting and developing good talent, but continue to do that in order to have the right people at the right position at the right time going forward. So that's always a challenge, but we're on a really good way there. Yes. And I see no questions on the chat function, right, Mikael?

Mikael Albrektsson

Executives
#58

No, no questions on the chat for this.

Johan Hjertonsson

Executives
#59

No other on live. So that concludes 41 minutes took to present the Q1 and a deep dive into Innovalift. I'd like to dearly thank Andrea so much for visiting us on our Q1 report. So thank you so much. And thank you also my dear colleague, Mikael and also Katarina for the help with the call. And thank you all for listening in, and I hope to hear you and also in -- when we have the Q2 presentation in August. So thank you, everybody.

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