Repe Harmanen, CEO, in the Business review 1 January–3o September 2025:
“The year has continued to be challenging, as expected. In the third quarter, revenue decreased by EUR 2.2 million and amounted to EUR 7.5 million. Our comparable EBITA margin was 1.7% (14.5%). Revenue for January–September came to EUR 28.9 (32.5) million, and the comparable EBITA margin was 6.2% (11.4%). We revised our guidance for the financial year on 18 August 2025 and keep the guidance for the remainder of the year unchanged.
To improve the efficiency of operations and simplify our structure, we initiated a reorganisation of administrative and support functions in Q3. The objective of the change is to build One Netum – a cohesive organisation in which the subsidiary structure is streamlined and overlapping activities are eliminated.
The change negotiations completed on 20 October 2025 will lead to estimated annual cost savings of EUR 0.8 million. Combined with the adaptation measures decided on in June, the measures will reduce annual costs by approximately EUR 2.7 million. The cost-saving measures did not have a significant effect on financial performance in the third quarter.
The negotiations were hard on a human level but they were essential for safeguarding the company's long-term profitability. We can now look forward and focus on building trust.
The weak market situation and slow investments among customers had a negative impact on our profitability. Delays in new projects affected profit performance in spite of the fact that we also won new customer accounts. The Buutti business fell short of its targets by a clear margin, and we do not expect to see a significant recovery in demand during the remainder of the year. In terms of our targets, we are setting our sights on 2026. The Studyo business progressed according to plan, and the successful launches of new solutions create growth potential for next year.
In Netum Ltd, add-on sales and new projects were not sufficient to fully offset the impact of projects coming to an end. We are focusing on success in tenders in order to balance our revenue and profitability. Successful deployments demonstrate our strong expertise – we now need to win more new projects.
Our people have demonstrated commitment and flexibility in the midst of change. I would like to thank everyone at Netum for their high-quality work and express my regret for the concern caused by the dismissals. Competence development and the wellbeing of our personnel will continue to be the foundation of our long-term success.
Our customers value our expertise and the transparency of our solutions. We have had in-depth discussions with several customers on long-term development projects in which the role of AI is emphasised. Our strategically important AI project is progressing as planned. There is growing demand for solutions that enable the renewal of processes and, in line with our Wise Changemaker mindset, we help customers to leverage AI in both existing systems and new digital capabilities.
In connection with our restructuring measures, we created a new CTO & AI Office that brings together Netum's expertise in technology and AI. The results of its development efforts include our own AI platform, which we expect to create new business opportunities in early 2026.
Our sustainability programme and the preparation of the CSRD project are progressing on schedule. For us, sustainability is about concrete actions and transparent communication, through which we support the sustainable development of our customers and other stakeholders. We maintain our commitment to long-term sustainability, even when it means going against the tide. We will continue to purposefully build a future-proof company on the foundation of ethical and sustainable business.
We estimate that the demand for IT services will continue at the current level, but the fierce price competition will continue to put pressure on profit margins. The market environment requires close monitoring and flexibility, and we are prepared to take the necessary measures if the conditions change. We will continue our determined work to strengthen profitability and growth in Finland and in accordance with our strategy in the Nordic countries.
I would like to express my warmest thanks to our customers, employees and other stakeholders.”