Christian Berner Tech Trade

The year started at a high level, with good development in the Energy & Environment business area. The Group’s efforts to focus on decentralization have reduced central costs, increased local focus, which supports the earnings trend, and greatly improved cash flow.

First quarter 2024
• Order intake totaled SEK 222.3 (237.8) million, down 6,5%.
• Net sales for the first quarter were SEK 243.2 (238.3) million, i.e. 2.0% growth, with 2.8 percentage points organic
growth whereras 0.8 percentage points negative impact from foreign currency subsidiaries.
• EBITA totaled SEK 14.5 (14.3) million, an increase of 1,4%.
• The EBITA margin was 5.9% (6.0).
• Earnings per share before and after dilution were SEK 0.47 (0.47).
• The cash flow from operating activities was SEK 53.6 (14.7) million. Total cash flow for the period was SEK 26.4 (6.1) million, including voluntary amortization of SEK 17 million.
• The debt/equity ratio was further reduced during the quarter and amounted to 0.5 (interest-bearing liabilities/EBITDA for the last 12 months) at the end of the period.
• The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting a total dividend of SEK 0.90 (0.60) per share.

Significant events during the reporting period
• The financing agreement with the Group’s main bank was extended under the option in force during the quarter.

Significant events after the end of the reporting period
• There were no significant events after the end of the reporting period.

MESSAGE FROM THE CEO
Solid Start to the New Year
The first quarter of 2024 started in a similar way as the same quarter last year. We continue to see the strength of our diversified business, both in terms of resilience in tougher times, as well as increasingly strong cash flow.
With a strong balance sheet behind us, we are ready to take on the new year.

As commented in the previous report, 2023 ended with somewhat cautious order intake, especially in Technology &
Distribution, driven by uncertainty about interest rates and the direction of the economy. As the quarter progressed, we
saw gradual improvements in several places, even though, for example, our Finnish customers in Technology & Distribution
were affected by strikes in the first quarter. During the quarter we also completed the outsourcing of our IT functions, which
affected most of the companies in Technology & Distribution and one of the companies in Energy & Environment. The aim
has been to create more robust and efficient management of our internal support.
Energy & Environment continued its strong performance, increasing its sales in the quarter by 13%, driven by full
momentum in most units. Bullerbekämparen kept a somewhat slower pace during the quarter as they implemented a new
business system, renovated and optimized their production facilities, and launched a new website. The conditions are now
in place for continued growth in the future.

Business development in the light of sustainability efforts
As more and more people recognize our vision of solving society’s technology challenges, we are constantly thinking
about the challenges we face, whether it's access to energy, responsible management of natural resources, or our own
impact on the world. It was therefore exciting to start work on the double materiality analysis under the new regulatory
framework during the quarter. The work so far has given us many exciting discussions about our activities and future
priorities. It’s great to be able to delve into societal challenges together with our highly skilled employees, with the breadth of
knowledge and experience they possess.

Strong cash flow provides opportunities going forward
In addition to organic business opportunities, we work tirelessly to court potential acquisitions. In general, we find that the acquisition markets have loosened up more and more in recent quarters and that there are more opportunities out there. At the same time, our efforts to increase cash flow have continued to strengthen the balance sheet. Our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio is now at a low 0.5 before IFRS effects, giving us ample room for acquisitions.

Caroline Reuterskiöld
President and CEO, Christian Berner Tech Trade AB