Revenue — no API Ninjas consensus estimate for this event
Highlights & what matters
No consensus comparison is available for this event. On the call, sales were almost SEK 41 billion, up 7% with 4% organic growth, 2% from acquisitions and 1% from currency; EBIT topped SEK 7 billion, up 11%, and EPS rose 14%.
The margin story is the quarter: EBIT margin reached a record 17.4%, up 60 basis points, and EBITA margin 18.7%, up 80 basis points, on flow-through of 47% with organic price of 2% and true price versus cost of +60 basis points.
Americas carried the growth: 6% organic with a 19.6% EBIT margin, up 110 basis points, while APAC declined 1% organic at a 9.8% margin with Greater China still down double digits.
No formal guidance was given. Management flagged roughly 5% positive currency in Q4, a positive but likely smaller price-versus-cost tailwind in Q4, and a new MFP 11 restructuring program, a little bigger than MFP 10, with charges deferred to the next call.
The one thing that matters: margin is now expanding on modest volume, 2% price and 2% volume, so operating leverage rather than demand is doing the work; with raw material, electronics and energy costs rising, holding price versus cost into Q4 is the test.
Guidance & KPIs
Item
New guidance
Prior guidance
Q4 currency impact on sales
positive impact from currency in Q4 of about 5%
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Q4 price versus cost
tailwind; positive, let's see if it reaches the 60 basis points
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Manufacturing footprint program MFP 11
launch in Q4; most probably a little bit bigger than MFP 10; charges and savings to be given next call
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Gunnebo Entrance Control acquisition
confident to close in Q4
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Management commentary
Demand was stable through the three months of Q3, and October shows a similar pattern; specification business grew high single digits.
NIS2 cybersecurity regulation adds around 0.5% to EMEIA organic growth and is seen as a multi-year driver, still concentrated in DACH and the Nordics.
North America residential new build is not expected to recover soon with rates rising again, though R&R is believed to have bottomed and grown slightly.
Q4 price versus cost should stay positive; the CFO said "let's see if it reaches the 60 basis points" of Q3.
The PKI business sold out of HID, around $50 million-$60 million of sales, had little synergy with the group; any capital gain will be addressed in Q4.
Quality of earnings
Cash backs the earnings. Cash conversion was 117% in the quarter and 109% on a 12-month basis; operating cash flow rose 6%, or 13% excluding the purchase of two Entrance North America buildings.
A small one-off helps EBIT, but not by much. Of EBIT growth of 11% to above SEK 7 billion, a mid-single-digit million dollar tariff-related amount was released into the result in Global Tech and Entrance; nothing sits in the Americas result, whose 19.6% margin is clean.
Growth is mostly organic. Of the 7% sales growth, 4% was organic and 2% acquired, and M&A was margin-dilutive, by 70 basis points in Entrance Systems, so the margin gain did not come from acquisitions.
Gotchas & watch items
Global Tech growth is understated: InVue project delays at two large retail customers cost around 1% of Global Tech organic growth, with sales pushed into Q4 and Q1, yet Global Tech still printed a 20% EBIT margin.
More tariff money may come: management said a high double-digit million dollar amount has been received, of which only a mid-single-digit million dollar amount hit Q3 results, and how much more reaches the bottom line is not yet clear.
Restructuring charges are coming: MFP 11 launches in Q4 and is expected to be a little bigger than MFP 10, with no charge or savings figures given yet.
Balance sheet is getting stronger: net debt to EBITA is 2.0x and gearing 54%, with debt lowered by roughly SEK 2.5 billion over a year, leaving room for the pending Gunnebo Entrance Control deal.
Last quarter's watch items: what happened
No watch items on file from a prior quarter - this is the first tracked quarter for this company.
Next quarter: the 2-3 things that matter
Price versus cost accretion holds as input costs rise Baseline: True price versus cost +60 basis points in Q3 2026 Confirms: Positive price versus cost reported for Q4 Breaks: Price versus cost flat or negative in Q4 Check in: Q4 2026. Source: CFO remarks on direct material and Q4 tailwind on the Q3 call
MFP 11 size, charges and payback Baseline: Program to launch in Q4, described as a little bigger than MFP 10, no figures given Confirms: Charges and savings disclosed with a payback in line with prior programs Breaks: Charges materially larger than MFP 10 or payback lengthening Check in: Q4 2026. Source: CEO answers on MFP 11 in Q3 call Q&A
Global Tech recovers deferred InVue sales Baseline: InVue delays cost around 1% of Global Tech organic growth in Q3; Global Tech organic growth 4% Confirms: Global Tech organic growth above 4% in Q4 with InVue cited as recovering Breaks: Further InVue slippage cited or Global Tech organic growth below 4% Check in: Q4 2026. Source: CEO answer on InVue slippage in Q3 call Q&A