Solwers as an investment

Our business 

Solwers designs unique and sustainable living environments.

Solwers is a growth-oriented group of expert companies that designs individual and sustainable living spaces. Solwers acts as a growth platform for the companies it owns, supports their growth and challenges the traditional practices of the built environment consulting industry. We combine the efficiency, entrepreneurial culture and flexibility of our companies with the resources and vision of a larger group.

We offer a wide range of planning and project management services through our 30 companies and employ more than 700 professionals in their fields in Finland and Sweden. Our companies specialize in architecture, technical consulting, electrical, automation and power transmission planning, environmental impact monitoring, project management and monitoring, circular economy, financial management and digital solutions, as well as logistics solutions in Finland and Sweden.

Our client base is extensive and consists of both public organizations and private companies or operators, such as construction and real estate companies in Finland and Sweden.

New acquisitions increase the customer interface of our entire group. We want to be our clients’ preferred partner in visionary and sustainable design and engineering. Our versatile group expertise enables innovative and wide-ranging solutions for our customers.

Strategy and business model

Solwers’ vision is to be the preferred partner in visionary and sustainable design and engineering. The company’s goal is to continue growth and expansion in at least two countries.

Solwers’ growth strategy is based on

• acquisitions
• organic growth
• the group’s attractiveness as a good employer for professionals in various fields and to the continuous development of competence

The company’s goal is to balance its sources of income so that a significant part of the turnover comes from public and infrastructure projects and the rest from other services.

Strategic acquisitions

We are in constant dialogue with potential acquisition targets in the field of architecture, design, project management and digital services. Each acquisition provides us with strategically new expertise, expands our offer, increases our customer base and opens new customers. As a rule, our acquisition targets operate in sectors with low cyclical sensitivity. The purchased companies are well-known and reputable operators with strong expertise in their respective fields. The companies are profitable and their EBIT margin is generally over 10 percent.

Support for organic growth

In terms of organic growth, urbanization as a megatrend increases the above-ground and underground construction of infrastructure. The emphasis on responsibility in our operations, new circular economy projects and the EU’s stricter energy efficiency regulations support the growth of our business. In addition, society’s repair debt opens up new business opportunities, the implementation of which is well suited to our strategy and business model based on cost efficiency.

We are a committed owner and we want to enable our companies to develop into leading experts in their field. By supporting the development of our companies’ operations, we also provide a basis for continuous organic growth.

Our goal is to develop and maintain different cultures that make our employees enjoy their work, promote innovation and creativity, and allow personnel to learn and develop their skills with experts in their field in work communities of a manageable size. We develop expertise through joint digital services and circular economy projects, among other things.

The group’s joint financial management services and systems enable Solwers companies to focus on their core competence and customer work.

Competent personnel are the key of high-quality operations

Our personnel is our strategic asset. Our aim is to employ skilled and passionate experts and let them focus on what they do best. Our goal is to maintain and develop a company culture that attracts different experts to the field and motivates and inspires them. Our employees enjoy their work and we offer them the opportunity to develop their own special skills in work communities of a manageable size. Our underlying corporate structure also offers a path for career development.

Solwers’ business model

In our operating model, our companies continue to operate in our group under their own name, while maintaining their identity. Integration costs remain low, as we do not fully integrate the companies’ business processes into Solwers, but only to the extent deemed necessary in terms of financial management and ICT systems.

We offer our companies support services and synergy benefits, as well as the opportunity to operate quite independently, agilely and efficiently in their own manageable size unit. Our companies retain the freedom to make decisions and operate close to their customers.

On the other hand, our companies are responsible for achieving the goals set together.

Solwers’ strengths

• strong cash flow, stable capital structure, funds from the planned share issue and existing financing arrangements
• each acquisition expands the customer base and opens new channels for the sale of other companies’ services

Key figures

Calculation formulas for key figures 

Revenue per person = Revenue/average total number of employees

Growth = Revenue growth for the most recently concluded reporting period compared to revenue for the corresponding period in the previous year

Invoicing rate = Sum of the Solwers companies’ sales margins / (company1 sales margin/company1 invoicing rate) + (company2 sales margin/company2 invoicing rate) + … + (company sales margin/company invoicing rate)

where n = the number of Solwers companies for which the invoicing rate is an applicable performance indicator

EBITDA = EBIT + depreciation, amortization and impairment of tangible and intangible assets

EBITDA % = (EBIT + depreciation, amortization and impairment of tangible and intangible assets) / revenue x 100

EBITA = EBIT excluding depreciation, amortization and impairment of intangible assets and leased premises = EBIT + amortization of intangible assets and leased premises + impairment

EBITA % = EBIT % (Operating profit + amortization of intangible assets and leased premises depreciation of intangible assets + impairment) / revenue x 100

EBIT =Operating profit

EBIT % = EBIT / revenue x 100

Net profit = Profit/loss for the financial period

Net profit % = (Profit/loss for the financial period) / revenue x 100

EPS =Earnings per share = Share of the net profit for the period attributable to the owners of the parent company / average number of outstanding shares during the period

Adjusted equity = Equity + non-controlling interest + capital loans

Net debt = Interest-bearing liabilities + lease liabilities + other liabilities comparable to interest-bearing liabilities – cash and cash equivalents

Equity ratio = (Equity + non-controlling interest) / balance sheet total

Adjusted equity ratio = (Equity + non-controlling interest + capital loans) / balance sheet total

Mid-term financial targets:

• >20% revenue growth (12 months)
• EBITA >12%
• Equity ratio > 40%

The disclosed financial targets are only targets and not forecasts or estimates of future financial performance, and should not be construed as such.

Dividend policy

Solwers’ dividend policy is to distribute a dividend of 20–40 percent of the profit for the financial year.

Outlook for 2024

Solwers’ outlook for 2024 remains unchanged and in accordance with the Financial Statements Release published on March 11, 2024.

Solwers’ business is supported by the megatrend of urbanization, the green transition in Europe, tightening regulation on biodiversity, self-sufficiency in energy production, and especially in Sweden the increased orders of the defense equipment industry which create new business opportunities.

In the ongoing year 2024 the acquisitions continue to support our existing business. We focus on areas where new production and investments are booming such as energy, automation, and power transmission. Solwers has a good order backlog in the public sector and infrastructure projects and long assignments also in hospital and school design projects. The company has a wide client base and a diverse service portfolio – around 70 per cent are small, under EUR 10 000 projects. In addition, we continue to manage business risk by operating in multiple locations in at least two countries.

Solwers’ business climate is expected to improve towards the end of 2024 with the general market pick-up.