Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining STILLE’s first quarterly conference call. My name is Ulrik Berthelsen, and I am the Group CEO of STILLE. I am joined today by our Group CFO, Niklas Tyrén, who will take you through the financial overview shortly.

I will start with the key highlights for the quarter and provide an update on the development of the business. Overall, we are pleased with the start of the year. In the first quarter, we delivered strong top-line development, with revenue growing to SEK 179 million, corresponding to 39 percent growth and organic growth of 19 percent. This reflects strong underlying demand as well as improved execution across the business.

We also saw positive development in profitability, with an increase in EBIT margin compared to last year, achieving 16.7 percent. This is encouraging and reflects both operational progress and good contribution across the portfolio.

If we look at the business more broadly across our two different business areas, we saw good performance across both Surgical Instruments and Surgical Tables. In Surgical Instruments, we continued to see solid momentum and demand across our core markets. At the same time, Surgical Tables also delivered solid numbers in the quarter, continuing the positive trend that we saw in Q4. This reflects good demand, especially for EMATIC 3, and a continued focus on commercial execution.

This gives us a nice and balanced performance across the group, which is important both from a growth and profitability perspective. Surgical Holdings also contributed well to the growth during the quarter, and it is really encouraging to see the momentum at this early stage. It also supports the strategic rationale for the acquisition that we made late last summer.

Finally, and importantly, we are seeing clear signs of progress in our operational performance. As you know, 2025 was characterized by challenges within the supply chain and delivery performance for Surgical Instruments. In Q1, we have seen clear positive momentum. Delivery performance is improving, and we are making steady progress in strengthening our operational processes.

In conclusion, we have had a strong start to the year, with good performance across the business and continued progress on our key priorities. Let me briefly build on the operational progress behind the development in the quarter.

We have strengthened the group structure and capabilities substantially by bringing in a new CEO, CFO and COO at the beginning of this year, as well as other key resources to improve the scalability of the business. I am pleased with the continued professionalization of the group that we are seeing.

As we have talked about, 2025 was characterized by some challenges, particularly within the supply chain as well as our delivery performance. This is really a key priority for us to resolve, to better be able to support our customers on time. In Q1, we are seeing clear signs of improvement. Delivery performance is improving, and we are making steady progress in strengthening our operational processes. That includes planning coordination with suppliers as well as the overall efficiency of the organization.

The results reflect the strong underlying demand and improved delivery performance, while backorder levels remain elevated and continue to be an area of focus. While we are not where we ultimately want to be, the direction is clear, and we are seeing the benefits of the actions that we have taken previously.

We have also scaled the production of surgical tables to meet future growth and make sure that we can respond swiftly to market demand. In summary, we are encouraged by the progress we are making across both operations and the commercial side of the business. With that, I will hand over to Niklas, who will take you through the financials in more detail.

Thank you, Ulrik. I will briefly comment on the financial development for the quarter. If we start with the top line, we saw strong revenue development in the quarter, with total revenue of SEK 179 million, corresponding to growth of 39 percent compared to the same period last year. This development was supported by strong organic growth of 19 percent, as well as the contribution from Surgical Holdings.

At the same time, this reported growth should be seen in the light of a weaker SEK compared to the same period last year. While the SEK strengthened somewhat during the quarter, it was still 14 percent weaker against the US dollar than last year and 5 percent weaker against the euro. In constant currencies, this growth corresponds to 47 percent for the total and organic growth of 27 percent.

If we move on to profitability, we can start by looking at gross profit, where the gross margin was slightly down in the quarter at 49.1 percent, compared to 51.1 percent in the same period last year. The lower gross margin in Q1 partly reflects the integration of Surgical Holdings, but also currency headwinds, as previously mentioned. This was partly offset by operational improvements and positive segment mix.

EBITDA increased by 53 percent and EBIT by 68 percent, with margin expansion on both levels. EBIT margin improved by 2.9 percentage points and by 3.6 percentage points organically. This reflects a combination of improved operational efficiency, a favorable mix and continued focus on execution across the business.

We also continue to maintain a disciplined approach to cost, while at the same time supporting the development of the business. As mentioned, we saw some impact from external factors, including currency headwinds and US tariffs, and this partly offset the underlying improvement.

Moving on to how it looks in the business segments, both segments delivered strong sales growth and margin expansion despite currency headwinds. Instruments had total sales growth of 41 percent and a year-on-year EBIT margin improvement of 1.4 percentage points. Organically, sales growth was 15 percent and the year-on-year EBIT margin improvement was 2.7 percentage points.

The other segment, Tables, had sales growth of 30 percent and a year-on-year margin improvement of 7.4 percentage points. We are happy to see strength in profitability for the Surgical Tables business.

Finally, moving on to the financial position, we continue to maintain a healthy financial position, which gives us financial flexibility to further evolve the group and pursue selective acquisitions as opportunities arise. Cash flow from operating activities in the quarter was SEK 28 million, compared to SEK 14 million in Q1 2025. The year-on-year improvement is primarily driven by the profit uplift, with marginal changes in working capital. This cash flow led us to a net debt to EBITDA ratio at the end of the quarter of minus 0.1.

Overall, we are pleased with the strong financial development in the quarter, and with that I hand back to you, Ulrik.

Thank you, Niklas. To conclude, we are pleased with the good start to the year and the progress that we are seeing across the business. We are seeing encouraging development both commercially and operationally, including improved performance compared to the challenges we faced in 2025 on the delivery and supply chain side.

The acquisition of Surgical Holdings last summer is contributing well to accelerating sales in the UK, and we see further potential to strengthen our position in the UK market with the direct sales setup we have. We are implementing a series of operational improvements that we expect to take effect during 2026, helping us further solidify the momentum we have.

With a clear focus on execution, we believe we can continue to drive organic growth for both Surgical Instruments and Surgical Tables. M&A remains an important part of our strategy to complement organic growth and further evolve the group. As we have talked about previously, we have strengthened the group lately, and with a strong financial position, we are ready to further evolve the group also through M&A.

With that, we are happy to take your questions.

If you wish to ask a question, please dial *5 on your telephone keypad to enter the queue. If you wish to withdraw your question, please dial *5 again on your telephone keypad. The next question comes from Philip Einarsson from Redeye. Please go ahead.

Hello, everybody. To start things off, congratulations on a solid quarter. My first question relates to sales, and more specifically to the Surgical Instruments side. It grew 15 percent organically with improvement in the supply chain. Maybe you could elaborate a little bit on how much of that reflects backlog unwinding versus underlying demand, and also maybe comment on when you expect the backlog to be fully normalized.

Absolutely. Thank you for your question, Philip. In terms of the sales growth that we are seeing in Surgical Instruments, it first and foremost reflects meeting the demand that we are seeing from our customers. Last year, during the same period, we had a hard time keeping up. This year, we are meeting the demand with improved delivery performance. That is the primary thing. When we talk about the backorder, we are seeing some improvements, but the primary reflection of our sales performance is meeting the demand that we are seeing during the quarter. As I mentioned previously, we remain with elevated backorder levels that we expect to gradually reduce during 2026.

Right. And a short follow-up to that then: Q1 was quite a step up compared to Q1 last year. Would you say this current revenue run rate should be considered the new baseline?

Thanks. Just on that note, clearly when we look at Q1, we had a very high growth rate. The 39 percent growth rate we mentioned reflects a relatively soft quarter last year, combined also with the acquisition of Surgical Holdings. If we look at it more on an absolute level, we think this is a strong start to the year. We also put it in our press release: we believe that we can continue to deliver on a strong level when all stars align. We also had a strong contribution from the Surgical Tables business this quarter, which, given the nature of it, tends to be a little bit more volatile.

Right. I am also trying to grasp the supply chain disruption situation, just looking back at it. Maybe you could elaborate a little bit on whether this was concentrated around a few specific suppliers or more broad in nature.

The supply chain situation that we had was, I think, a reflection of our internal planning and forecasting ability and the partnership we have both with our suppliers as well as our internal production setup. When you look at it going forward, it is across many of the brands, and therefore that is also why it has taken us a bit of time to resolve. That also means that this will be a gradual reduction, as we have talked about, where we will see a full normalization of delivery times during the first half of 2026, and then a gradual decline of the backorder as well.

Right. Got it. My next question relates to the gross margin profile of Q1. With the non-strategic product phase-out now being largely complete, one could have expected that the gross margins would be higher than they actually were. Maybe you could provide some color on the margin profile trajectory moving forward.

There are obviously a lot of moving pieces impacting gross margin. Looking at the levels we have in Q1 of this year, it is reflective of our current portfolio and the fact that exchange rates look the way they do now. So I think that is a level that we can expect. Then, obviously, moving forward and in the long term, we will see opportunities to grow the gross margin as the business scales and we find more pockets of efficiency across the different business lines.

Right. I have two more, if that is okay.

Sure.

Given your efforts to increase the aftermarket business of your offering, maybe you could help us understand a little bit the profitability levels of the aftermarket service compared to instrument sales.

The aftermarket service would basically be repair and refurbishment of instruments. That is an important part of the business, yet a relatively small part of it. The way we see the business is that this is first and foremost an enabler and a customer service. When you sell a high-quality premium instrument, we want to make sure that the product is well catered for and serviced optimally for the customer. In terms of the overall gross margin for that business, it is not material in terms of the impact on the business as a whole. What this reflects, again, is what Niklas was saying: basically the business mix as it looks today in terms of what we sell of our own products, what we distribute for some, as well as the mix between the business areas and the current FX landscape.

Okay. That is helpful. My last question: you maintain a net cash position and also in the report flag readiness for selective M&A. I understand you do not want to be too transparent here, but maybe you could provide some context on the target profile you are looking at. Could it be direct sales channels in new geographies, complementary product portfolios, or are you looking at both?

Sure, and of course you are right here, Philip. There is a limit to how precise we can be in answering this. We are first and foremost looking at businesses that are complementary, where we can see some synergies with the business we have today, whether commercially or more from an operational standpoint. We like building on what made us successful so far. That means businesses that operate with high-quality premium products in niche segments and surgical specialties.

In terms of the direct channel and catering more directly to customers, this is something we have spoken about in the past as well. We do see an increase in direct sales over time for the STILLE Group. I think we are really learning a lot from having Surgical Holdings as part of the group, and that brings a number of benefits for us. So direct sales is definitely something we see as being an attractive part.

Okay, that is clear. Maybe just a very short follow-up then. I hope you can answer it, but maybe not. I am sure many of us are wondering if we should expect something along these lines to happen during 2026. What would be your answer to that question?

Unfortunately, I cannot go into too many details on timing. That depends on many things. I think you can be sure about the direction that we are taking, and again, that M&A activity is a fundamental part of our strategy.

Okay. That was all for me. Thanks a lot. I will get back into the queue.

Super. Thanks, Philip.

The next question comes from Christian Lee from Pareto Securities. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Ulrik and Niklas. Congrats on a solid quarter. I have a couple of questions, please. Your order backlog is still above normal levels. Does this apply to both Instruments and Tables?

The order backlog that we are referring to, and also commented extensively on during 2025, is for Surgical Instruments. There we have seen challenges in meeting demand. In Surgical Tables, we are in a solid position. We saw strong sales in Q4 and strong sales here in the first quarter of 2026, and we are satisfied with the position we are in terms of being ready to meet customer demand. We do not experience extended delivery times or backorders for Tables at the moment.

Okay, great. How sustainable is the current demand for EMATIC 3? Are you gaining share or seeing a broader market uplift?

The Tables business behaves slightly differently than the Instruments business. Because it is capital equipment, it is more volatile and more affected by macroeconomic trends. What we are seeing is solid demand in both North America and the rest of the world. That really reflects, I think, a good and strong product portfolio led by MAGIQ 3, but we are also seeing good demand for Medstone, as well as strong commercial execution. Based on Q4 and Q1, we are seeing positive momentum that we expect to continue. Again, given the nature of the business, it may display slightly higher volatility, but we are encouraged by the positive momentum we have seen.

Okay, great. Thank you. You seem upbeat about the direct sales approach in the UK and the opportunities it opens up. Do you see any potential to replicate this model in other regions?

Up until now, we have mainly been selling direct in Sweden, and then having different hybrid models with agents and partnerships in some countries and distributors in others. The direct sales model definitely has its advantages for us. One thing is a larger share of the value pool, but equally important is the ability to really drive demand and interact more directly with our customers. That is something we see potential for also in other markets. Again, I think we are learning a lot from what we are seeing in the UK. Based on that, we will also be evaluating how we over time can go direct in more markets. But this will be a selective approach, market by market, based on the opportunities that we see.

Okay, great. Thank you. That is all for me.

Thanks, Christian.

Okay, then we move over to some text questions that we received. The first one is: can you elaborate on the EBIT margin for Instruments? Pre-Surgical Holdings, Instruments did 22 to 25 percent EBITDA with stability. Do you see yourselves coming back to those levels?

On that, I think we have already talked quite extensively about the factors impacting our gross margin, with FX and the acquisition impact that we have seen since the acquisition of Surgical Holdings. The future will obviously depend on similar factors, with where FX is moving and our continued M&A journey, which we just talked about. Having said that, we do see opportunities to improve as the business scales further. Also, as we just talked about, if we move towards more direct sales, there should be opportunities to improve the margin.

We also have a question regarding the Tables EBIT margin. The question is basically: Tables had a good quarter in terms of growth, but the EBIT margin is only reaching 10 percent. Will the Tables business ever be able to reach the same level as Instruments?

Here, I think the short answer is that it is unlikely that we will reach the same EBIT margin as for Surgical Instruments, simply because of the nature of the business. When we look at Surgical Tables, it is a capital equipment business, and that behaves slightly differently than Surgical Instruments. With that said, we do believe there is opportunity to further improve this with scale, and also depending on what happens with FX development. We have a considerable part of our business in North America that has been impacted by recent FX development.

There was also a further question, which we have touched on a little bit, regarding how much of the organic growth in Q1 comes from delivering old orders on top of the underlying demand. Here, I will go back to what I said previously: the primary growth driver has been delivering on the underlying demand. Again, we were up against a relatively weak quarter last year, where we were not able to meet demand and therefore accumulated backorders. This year, we are meeting demand, and then we are seeing a slight reduction in backorder levels. But it is primarily about meeting demand.

On the same note, we had a comment that the organic momentum seems impressive. The question was if we can elaborate on how much order intake grew in the quarter, and if it is fair to assume that Q1 order intake grew in line with the organic target of 10 percent.

Again, I would go back to what I just said: we are delivering on the underlying demand and we are seeing solid development of incoming orders. We do not disclose exact numbers for how much that is, but again, there is strong development in underlying demand, and we are positive about that momentum. That also means that, as we spoke earlier about regarding the backorder or order book, yes, it is still elevated, and we have a number of backorders in Surgical Instruments that we are looking to deliver on.

We have a question on gross margin. Gross margin took a step down in the quarter, both year-on-year and compared to the Q4 level. What is driving that? Are there any temporary effects impacting this quarter?

As I mentioned before, the main driver versus last year is the FX impact that we have. The first quarter of 2025 saw top levels for the US dollar, and that is what we are up against in this quarter. That is a contributing factor. We also mentioned the impact from the acquisition.

Then we had a question regarding the operational improvements we mentioned implementing, and whether these will incur any non-recurring costs in the coming quarters. The short answer is no, we do not expect that at this point in time.

There was also a question regarding Surgical Holdings, how that has developed, and the short comment is basically just very positive. It has definitely been a strong acquisition for us, and we are excited about how that looks for the future.

All right, I think those are the key questions that we have covered now.

There are no more questions at this time, so I hand the conference back to the speakers for any closing comments.

I would just like to say thank you, everybody, for participating. Thanks for some good questions.