CEO's review

The second quarter began on a continued slow note. As in the first quarter, the demand situation was difficult, and very few new projects were started. However, towards the end of the quarter, demand began to show slight signs of a recovery with regard to product development. This was particularly visible in Finland, where the number of temporary layoffs, for example, turned to a decrease during the review period when compared to the previous quarter. Demand in the defence industry continued to be strong, and demand in the energy industry remained moderate. Demand in the mining industry also picked up during the review period, which is an encouraging sign. The demand situation in the automotive industry continued to deteriorate, which affected our business particularly in Sweden and Germany. In China, the demand situation was better than in Europe, and the number of hours sold in the Chinese market increased substantially during the review period.

During the first half of the year, we continued to invest in the development of our service offering. We updated our existing offering with new AI applications and launched new service solutions. Interest in our new solutions is at a good level, and we are confident that they will bring growth to all of our service areas in the future. During the review period, we also signed certain significant agreements with, for example with Patria.

Market uncertainty has remained at a high level for several years now. Various conflicts have weakened the demand situation and made it very difficult to predict the market. Also the changes driven by AI are affecting demand. The recent geopolitical events demonstrate that market risks remain at a very high level, and we slightly lowered the upper end of our financial guidance. Nevertheless, the slight recovery in demand seen at the end of the review period is the first encouraging sign of an emerging turnaround in the market for a long time, and we hope that this development will continue. We will continue to execute our strategy and remain confident that the AI-driven service solutions at the core of our strategy will steer our business back onto a profitable growth path in the second half of the year. 

Juha Näkki
President and CEO

Updated August 5, 2026