YIT Oyj (YIT.HE) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Okay. I think we can start. So hi, everyone, and welcome to YIT's analyst call preceding the silent period of our financial statements 2025 bulletin. My name is Essi Nikitin, and I'm heading the Investor Relations at YIT. Together with me today here, I have our Interim CFO, Markus Pietikainen; and our CEO, Heikki Vuorenmaa, on the line. We will start with a recap, the recent developments in the company presented by Markus. And after that, the participants will have an opportunity to ask questions from Markus and Heikki. As a reminder, this call will be recorded, and the recording will be published on our website after the call. At this point, I will hand over to Markus. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Essi. Good morning, everyone. So let's start with an update on our business and markets, and let's start with the Residential CEE business. The strategic decision to increase resilience, diversify our geographical exposure and strengthening our residential platform in the Baltic and CEE has yielded clear benefits and is a key driver of our growth. These regions have become the main market for our residential development and construction. We expect this to strengthen even further. As we discussed in the Q3 results release, the production volumes for the owner-occupied homes in Residential CEE segment are currently at the same level as the historical peak year of our Finnish residential business. By the end of the third quarter, we have had launched new projects valued at nearly EUR 450 million with healthy margins, which are scheduled for completion in 2026. These projects are expected to contribute positively to our revenue and profits from 2026 onwards, supporting our growth. Our growth plan is further supported by our strong plot portfolio, enabling construction of approximately 14,000 homes, corresponding to over EUR 3 billion of sales value. In October, we announced that YIT has signed an agreement with the Czech housing cooperative Ranta Barrandov for the sale and construction of 3 residential buildings in Prague. The value of the agreement is approximately EUR 25 million. The Barrandov project is an excellent example of how we are implementing our growth strategy in the Residential CEE segment. Through the housing cooperative model, we reached a new type of customer base, generating capital-efficient growth and offer modern living in a sought-after area. Then moving to residential Finland. The recovery of the overall Finnish residential market has progressed gradually in line with our expectations, and we have continued to launch new self-developed residential projects in Finland. Customer expectations have changed, and the primary apartment market in Finland is currently consumer-driven. Our new product launches reflect the market change over the past 3 years as the share of studios in the newly launched projects has significantly declined and average apartment sizes have increased. In addition, lead-time reductions and new designs enable us to price new production in a competitive market with a lower price level than before. We have continued the new self-developed project starts in the fourth quarter in locations where the demand support starts. Due to our strong plot portfolio, we have no need for significant new plot investments, which supports capital-efficient volume growth. In October, we announced the start of self-development apartments -- apartment projects in Espoo, Tampere and Vaasa. In November, we announced the start of a self-developed apartment project in Tuusula and last week in Raisio. The projects are expected to be completed by the end of 2026. According to the Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries' autumn economic review 2025, zero economic growth and weak consumer confidence are still hindering the recovery in the primary market in Finland. The primary apartment market is not expected to significantly recover in 2026, and production volumes are likely to remain lower than average. While macroeconomic developments are beyond our control, we are strongly committed to operating with a level of productivity that enables us to achieve our strategic targets even in a lower volume market. We continue to initiate new projects in locations where demand exists and remain focused on increasing our market share. Let's then move to our contracting segments, Infrastructure and Building Construction. The infrastructure market in Finland is active in both the public and private sectors, driven by increased defense sector investments and positive developments in the industrial construction and the renewable energy market. Consequently, in accordance with the Q3 results release, we upgraded our view of the infrastructure market from normal to good. We announced our third data center project in October as we were selected as the main contractor of a data center building, office premises and associated external technical areas and site works for Hyperco in Kouvola, Finland. We are happy to launch this significant data center project in close collaboration with the project company behind Hyperco's Kouvola initiative. Our wins in the data center field leverage our extensive experience and proven expertise in executing large-scale industrial projects, further strengthening YIT's position as the leading builder of data centers in Finland. In November, we also announced that YIT had been selected to carry out the excavation contract for Vantaa Energy's heat storage facility in Vantaa, Finland. The project is valued at approximately EUR 100 million for YIT. The exceptional project combines scale, technical complexity and overall significance. YIT has strong expertise in rock construction, and we are very proud to be part of delivering this unique project. All in all, the order book for the Infrastructure segment is strong, and the segment is well positioned to pursue growth and further enhance operational efficiencies. The Building Construction segment continued to improve its profitability in the third quarter. Despite the highly competitive market, we have continued to win both public and private sector projects supported by our competencies and expertise. Consequently, we announced a number of new projects for the segment during the fourth quarter. In November, we announced that YIT is selected as the main contractor for the 3 school and daycare center properties to be built in Espoo, Finland, and as producer of life cycle services for them. The value of the project to YIT is approximately EUR 90 million. In November, we also announced that the City of Helsinki had chosen YIT as the development phase partner for the Jätkäsaari Swimming and Sports Center in Helsinki, Finland. The project will begin with the development phase and will be carried out as a collaborative project management contract. The estimated total value of the construction contract for YIT is approximately EUR 87 million. We are proud to apply our technical capabilities and sustainable construction principles to the project. In close collaboration with the City of Helsinki, we will prioritize energy efficiency, circular economy practices and the diverse needs of the center's users. Last but not least, in December, we announced that YIT and City of Turku had signed the implementation phase contracts for the Kupittaa Core partnership project to kick off the construction phase of Taito campus and the infrastructure project in Turku, Finland. The value of the project entity for YIT is approximately EUR 150 million. The Kupittaa Core partnership project is one of the most important urban development projects in the City of Turku and an excellent example of how YIT's urban development expertise, sustainable construction and long-term cooperation are realized. As we have communicated before, YIT is building a new facility for the City of Helsinki's Kamppi Health and Wellbeing Centre. In December, we had the pleasure of announcing that the project will be completed more than a year ahead of schedule. The building can be handed over to the City of Helsinki already at the end of September 2026, which means that the city may receive the new premises more than 400 days earlier than planned. This is a great example of successfully managing the different aspects of the project and the implementation schedule. All in all, the segment is moving in the right direction. A few words then about our capital position. Realizing capital from the balance sheet and improving capital efficiency in business operations are top priorities in our strategy. At the group level, the capital employed has decreased significantly during the year. The latest news regarding the capital release was 2 weeks ago when we announced that YIT received an amount of EUR 51 million from Tripla Mall as return of capital and profit distributions. These proceeds, together with the previously received returns of capital and profit distributions from Tripla Mall totaling altogether approximately EUR 57 million were used for partial prepayment of the secured bank facility of YIT and our secured revolving credit facility. We are determined to continue the execution of capital release actions according to our strategy and consequently improve the return on capital employed of the company. The released capital will be reallocated to fund residential segment's profitable growth and to reduce indebtedness of the company, which will lower the financing costs and support net profit generation. As a conclusion, the market outlook for our businesses looks favorable on many fronts. The investment plans within our operating countries in the industrial construction, data centers and energy and defense sectors are substantial and are likely to create opportunities for both our contracting segments. The residential demand is favorable in the Residential CEE segment, and the recovery of the Finnish residential market has progressed gradually. Our plot portfolio continues to be strong, which enables us to start new residential projects and support profitable, capital-efficient growth.

Thank you, Markus. We are now ready for questions. [Operator Instructions] And the first question comes from Atte.

Atte Jortikka from Inderes. Firstly, on residential overall, did you encounter any slippage of completions in residential segments in Q4 to next year?

Thank you, Atte, for your question on that. And as we have been -- part of our outlook communicated in third quarter. So the timing of those projects may deviate from the original estimates, and it might then lead to the profit or revenue recognition shifting from one quarter to another.

Okay. Then continuing on residential, going to CEE, what are the expected completions volumes on the consumer apartment side in CEE next year? And what kind of seasonality we should expect in completions next year?

Thank you, Atte, for that question. We will need to come back to that in the future reports.

Okay. Then to residential Finland, has the number of consumer apartment launches launched in Finland this year been in line with your expectations going into the year?

So overall, what we can say is that we see that the market development like we communicated in the third quarter, broadly speaking, during this year has progressed according to our estimations and so have been the kind of the actions as well.

Okay. Then you started roughly a bit north of 200 consumer apartments in Finland in Q3. And if I calculate it correctly from your releases, you have started another 200 during Q4. Is this the rate we should also expect going forward to next year?

Of course, when we are deciding on the market launches, so we need to -- all of those are based on the market conditions on that specific city, in that micro location and the time. And -- so that is heavily then dependent on the market conditions at that point in time. And as you can see from the communicated launches, so we have done the launches on predominantly outside of the capital area this year.

Yes. Then continuing on that, I think if I understood correctly, all of the apartment projects started in Finland in Q4 have quite low reservation rates. How do you see the reservation rates needed to start projects in Finland in this market going forward at the moment?

So the reservation rate at the point of decision-making requirement hasn't changed. So we expect -- as communicated on our previous releases, so we expect to reach approximately 50% of the reservation rates. It's good to note that it will -- converting the pre-reservations into the kind of sales transactions will not happen on the first day of the starting of the project. So that typically takes some amount of time before the readiness of sales for the project is also achieved. So that's another element there.

Okay. Then last question from my side regarding the contracting segments. You communicated on reserving a plot in Kuopio to develop a data center. Is this sort of a stand-alone project? Or do you see more opportunities in proprietary data center property development going forward?

Yes, it's a great question. Thank you. And we have not communicated one project. Generally, overall, what we have communicated already in the third quarter is that we see that this market is highly active in Finland at the moment. But so far, we have communicated this one.

Are there any more questions? Yes, Jerker?

Just maybe a general question about -- you mentioned the Kamppi location that you completed ahead of time. So -- and you've been talking about lead times quite a lot. So just maybe coming back to the positive profit impact from those. Could you maybe elaborate how this could improve your profitability or if it does?

Yes. Thank you, Jerker, for the question. And we are indeed very pleased with that project. We also have earlier communicated other project completions also ahead of schedule, I think it was on the Infra segment. And that being said, so we do not kind of comment on individual project profitability there as such. I think what -- the largest benefit, obviously, is for end users and the whole City of Helsinki, as it will be opened so much ahead of schedule, which will then help also all the traffic arrangement as well as opening the facilities earlier than planned. And what you -- what we have been communicating throughout the year already like in the third quarter as well, so the project deviations on both of the contracting segments have developed favorably over the past quarters.

Maybe a question about roughly looking into next year and kind of the order backlog and comparing to the situation were in Q4 last year. So can you shed some light on your kind of expectations for activity development in -- overall in the segments for next year?

So we have -- like Markus pointed out there, so we have been communicating new projects throughout this quarter as well, and we will come back to that on -- as we close the year and on the Q4 report.

Any other questions? Yes, Markku?

Perhaps one regarding the Tripla Mall. I mean, has there been any progress regarding the divestment of the Tripla Mall?

Thank you, Markku. First, it has to be said that we are very pleased with the progress of that asset, and the successful refinancing is one of strong proof points how well the overall asset has been developed. And that's what we can communicate about that topic.

Okay. And regarding the other capital releases, should we expect any for next year, what you currently have on the balance sheet that you could still release from the balance sheet side?

Yes. Thank you. We have -- as a part of our strategy, we have communicated that we have an opportunity to release the capital, which we are not needing in any of the segments to perform the strategy that we have selected, and we will continue to release the capital from those assets throughout our strategy.

More questions? Okay. It seems that there are no further questions. So I thank you all for the discussion, and we will publish our financial statements bulletin on 6th of February. But before that, we wish you all happy holidays and all the best for the New Year. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you all. Bye-bye.