The market remains challenging
As in recent quarters, Ework's Q2 was affected by a weak market, with ongoing macroeconomic turmoil weighing on sales volumes. Sales declined by 13% y-o-y, of which 5pp stemmed from the recent portfolio rebalancing (vs. -8pp y-o-y in Q1) and 2pp from fewer working days. Although this was in line with our forecast, EBIT was +32% vs. ABGSCe due to lower costs (adj. EBIT -14% y-o-y). We expect costs to remain low over the coming quarters and see room for more cost measures if sales volumes do not pick up; however, we continue to anticipate a gradual recovery in demand in 2026, although visibility remains limited. The main uncertainty lies in the automotive end market, which has only recently begun to deteriorate, with layoffs occurring at Volvo Cars, for example (link). Most other end markets have now been soft for an extended period. Nevertheless, one small positive is that Ework achieved a slight q-o-q increase in sales, while most other peers, including Knowit, B3, Avensia as well as AFRY and Sweco, have reported negative sequential growth.
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