Sitowise Group Q1'26 flash comment: Emerging signs of improvement

Translation: Original published in Finnish on 5/6/2026 at 9:35 am EEST.

Source: Inderes

Sitowise's Q1 interim report this morning did not offer any major surprises. The bottom line was slightly below expectations, but this was due to write-downs of long-suspended projects in the Buildings business. Without these write-downs, our estimates would have been slightly exceeded. The review showed budding positive signs of a turnaround (e.g., Sweden turning to growth, data center orders in Finland, and an increase in the billing rate), but the overall picture remains one of anticipation.

Revenue slightly exceeded our expectations despite write-downs

Sitowise’s revenue increased to 49.0 MEUR (Q1’25: 48.1 MEUR), while we forecast a 0.4% growth to 48.3 MEUR. This outperformance relative to our expectations was primarily driven by a robust 6% growth in the most important Infra business, supported by road and rail projects secured last year. The market environment for Digital Solutions remained challenging, and revenue was flat year-on-year, although ARR grew by 5.8%. The segment fell slightly short of our expectations.

Encouragingly, revenue in Sweden rose by 10%, whereas we had forecast zero growth. This brought an end to a downward trend that had lasted 10 quarters in the country. The company also noted that the Swedish construction market has shown gradual signs of recovery in early 2026 but that market development remains subject to considerable uncertainty. Buildings' sales decreased by 7%, but this was explained by write-downs of suspended projects in the segment.

Profitability remained low, but adjustment measures supported earnings

The company's adjusted EBITA settled at 1.9 MEUR (Q1'25:  2.4 MEUR) while our forecast was 2.3 MEUR. However, the company stated that the group's adjusted EBITA margin would have improved year-on-year without the project write-downs. Based on this, with project write-downs adjusted for, the figure would have exceeded 2.5 MEUR. 

As expected, profitability was supported by the company's previously implemented adjustment measures and a reduction in headcount, which led to a better balance between personnel and workload, resulting in an increase in the billing rate to 73.2% (Q1’25: 71.6%). The pricing environment remained tight in structural engineering and building services. Cash flow from operating activities also edged into positive territory at 0.3 MEUR (Q1'25: -1.4 MEUR), continuing the positive trend in working capital optimization.

No surprises in the outlook either

Sitowise still did not provide numerical guidance for 2026 due to uncertainty regarding the timing of the construction market recovery. However, the company reiterated its segment-specific outlook, which contained no surprises.

The company's order book decreased as a whole to 150 MEUR (Q4'25: 152.5 MEUR). However, this was due solely to the clearance of projects in the Buildings business (6.9 MEUR) and, when adjusted for this, development was in line with our expectations. The overall picture by segment remains unchanged: Order books were at a good level in the Infra and Digital Solutions businesses, while in the Buildings and Sweden business areas, order books stayed at low levels. Notably, data centers became one of the key growth drivers during the review period, especially in the Buildings and Infra business areas, and their demand is expected to support revenue development going forward as well.

We currently estimate that full-year 2026 revenue will grow by 1.9% to 192.3 MEUR, with adjusted EBITA rising to 11.8 MEUR (2025: 8.9 MEUR). Based on Q1 results, our initial assessment is that we will not make any major changes to our forecasts.  The balance sheet's recovery and reversal of financial leverage require realization of our estimated earnings turnaround so the company can approach its target net debt/EBITDA ratio of less than 3.0x. Currently, the ratio has decreased to 4.5x (Q1’25: 5.1x).