Focus on profitability and economies of scale through harmonisation
2024 has been a challenging year in which Coor didn't perform in line with its financial
argets, particularly in the second half of the year. However, Andreas Engdahl, Coor’s CFO, is convinced that the major drive now under way will put the company back on track to
achieving its target margins.
How would you sum up 2024?
2024 has been a year of successes as well as challenges. As a company, we have not performed in line with our financial targets, especially in the second half of the year. For example, there are operational challenges in Sweden and Denmark – challenges that are within our control, and where we have initiated a concerted effort to restore profitability. It is also clear that we have not received the desired pay-off from the harmonisation measures intended to create economies of scale in the company, and this has resulted in increased costs for administrative functions. In response, we decided in early 2025 to complement our ongoing action programme by creating a simpler, uniform organisation that we expect to deliver cost savings of around SEK 120 million.
We still see a good level of activity in the market and have won a number of new deals.
Andreas Engdahl, CFO & IR-Director of Coor
At the same time, we still see a good level of activity in the market, and we have won a number of new deals, with customers such as Sweco, ICA Restaurants and Telenor Towers. We have also extended a number of key contracts, including the PKA, ICA, Aker Solutions, PostNord, Alleima and Borealis contracts.
What was your focus as CFO during the year?
Essentially, my main focus during the year was on profitability, in terms of both operational challenges and how to create economies of scale through increased harmonisation. In the second half of the year, I also saw an increase in working capital, which is an area where we have now taken a number of measures aimed at restoring the level of working capital in 2025.
Is sustainability still high on the agenda?
We always have a strong focus on sustainability, both social and environmental, and it is a source of pride for me that sustainability underpins everything at Coor. During the year, we developed our partnerships with suppliers and set out the way forward to reach net zero.
What is Coor’s attitude to the dividend yield?
Coor continues to see great value in a stable dividend yield. By stable I mean that shareholders can expect that we will distribute 50 per cent of our adjusted net profit as ordinary dividends. Excess liquidity can then be allocated to extra dividends, value-adding acquisitions or share buybacks. We now intend to launch a share buyback programme, which can be viewed as a natural extension of dividends as we intend to cancel the repurchased shares and thus increase future dividends per share.
How do you see the future for Coor?
We are still seeing good underlying growth in a strong market, where Coor is demonstrating its continued competitiveness through successful tenders. Our focus for 2025 will be on delivering a high level of service to our customers while improving our profitability. The challenges we are facing are within our control and we can address them. We have initiated a focused effort to restore profitability and are also working on simplifying the structure of the Group to make things easier for our employees and to cut costs.
We look forward with confidence to 2025, where the actions we are taking will put us in a strong position to reach our long-term target margin of 5.5 per cent for full-year 2026.
