Kreate Q1'26 flash comment: Growth engine rolls on regardless of seasonality

Translation: Original published in Finnish on 4/27/2026 at 9:21 am EEST.

Source: Inderes

Kreate reported a very strong Q1 result across the board, with both revenue and earnings clearly exceeding our estimates. Earnings and growth were driven in particular by an order book that reached a record high and by the new volume generated by acquisitions, which enabled the company to break its quarterly revenue record during the seasonally slowest period. In our view, the rather high order book and strong start to the year provide excellent foundation for the company to achieve the guidance raised at the end of the quarter.

Record-high order book boosted revenue to remarkable growth

Kreate's Q1 revenue grew by as much as 86% from the comparison period and settled at 97.6 MEUR, significantly exceeding our 78.0 MEUR estimate. The strongest drivers of growth were the acquisition of SRV Infra (now Kreate Rock) at the end of 2025, a record-high order book, and strong project execution across a broad range of projects. In addition, demand driven by the private sector, such as the seven data centers the company is currently constructing, has significantly boosted volumes, according to our estimates. Kreate's Swedish revenue also clearly exceeded our estimate (15.5 MEUR, estimate 10.5 MEUR). The company's order book grew by an impressive 205% from the comparison period, reaching a record level of 689.0 MEUR. This was roughly in line with our expectations, as we anticipated the order book would exceed 600 MEUR due to strong order flow.

Strong volume development also led to clear earnings beat

The strong revenue growth was reflected directly in the bottom line, with Kreate’s EBITA coming in at 1.5 MEUR and clearly exceeding our forecast of 0.6 MEUR. At the margin level, the EBITA-% rose to 1.6%, whereas we had estimated 0.8%. The absolute improvement in earnings was largely due to volumes that exceeded our expectations. While volume growth supported earnings, the company’s relative profitability was still weighed down somewhat by front-loaded investments in personnel made in anticipation of strong growth this year. Despite this, the margin was also significantly higher than we had expected. Financing costs rose in line with our forecasts due to an increase in net debt from the comparison period, although net financing costs were slightly below our forecast (-0.6 MEUR, forecast -0.8 MEUR). Due to profitability that was clearly better than our forecasts and lower financing costs, earnings per share were EUR 0.09 (forecast EUR -0.03).

We believe the guidance raised in March is on a solid footing

Consistent with our predictions, Kreate reaffirmed its full-year earnings guidance, which was increased at the end of March. The company still estimates that its revenue in 2026 will increase and be in the range of 510–550 MEUR (2025: MEUR) and its EBITA will increase and be in the range of 18–22 MEUR (2025: 10.2 MEUR). Our own estimates for the full-year revenue have been 532 MEUR and for EBITA 19.3 MEUR. According to the company, the guidance is based on not only a strong start to the year and a record-high order book but also a change to the shareholder agreement of the joint venture, KFS Finland. As a result, the unit will be reported as a subsidiary starting in April. Management estimates that this change will increase reported revenue for the full year by approximately 30 MEUR. The company’s growth outlook is exceptionally solid, as the current order book and projects likely to be recognized during the year are estimated to generate over 480 MEUR in revenue for the current year. Given the excellent Q1 performance and strengthening demand outlook in the private sector, we see room for conservative upside in our full-year forecasts.