Luotea shares rise 8.88% premarket as adjusted operating profit increases in third quarter
Key Facts
Luotea shares rose 8.88% to $1.89 in premarket trading on October 28, 2026, after the company reported higher adjusted operating profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the third quarter. Investing.com said the shares had climbed from their previous close of $1.73. The company’s official interim report for January to September showed sales of €84.2 million from July to September, up 0.4% year on year. The adjusted figure rose to €5.7 million, compared with €4.9 million in the same period a year earlier. Earnings per share also improved to €0.09 from €0.07. This reflects profitability improving faster than sales growth, while the documented share price move was limited to premarket trading.
The adjusted operating profit margin rose to 6.8% in the third quarter, from 5.8% a year earlier. Luotea attributed the improvement mainly to savings in information technology and personnel costs, alongside better performance in its Swedish operations. The company said, "The increase in adjusted operating profit was driven mainly by savings in information technology and personnel costs, as well as improved performance in Swedish operations." Swedish sales rose 6% during the quarter, while sales of cleaning and support services in Finland fell 6% year on year. The company linked weakness in the Finnish market to competition and customers' cost-cutting measures. The divergence shows Swedish operations growing while the company's Finnish services faced weaker demand and pricing pressure.
For the first nine months of 2026, sales increased 0.4% to €258.4 million, from €257.3 million in the corresponding period. Adjusted operating profit rose to €8.6 million from €7.2 million. But net cash flow from operating activities after investments was negative €0.1 million during the period. In the second quarter, sales had risen 1.5% to €88.1 million, while the adjusted figure was €2.5 million, compared with €1.9 million a year earlier. Third-quarter sales growth was slower than in the previous quarter, despite improved quarterly profitability and nine-month figures. Working capital changes were also negative €9.7 million in the first nine months, and management said it expects them to improve in the fourth quarter, partly due to seasonality.
Luotea expects adjusted operating profit to increase in 2026 compared with €7.0 million in 2025. The company had cut its guidance on September 11, dropping its forecast for improvement to be "better or significantly better" and saying only that it would be "better." It attributed the guidance cut to continued weakness in cleaning and support services in Finland. Under cost-cutting measures announced in September, the company said services for about 70 employees had been terminated or termination procedures were pending, and about 100 others would be temporarily laid off for periods of up to 30 days during the second half of the year. The annual outlook leaves improvement dependent on the company's ability to offset weakness in some Finnish services, at a time when quarterly sales growth was only 0.4%.
The company plans to expand its use of data-driven cleaning services and develop new services, including data-driven property maintenance. It said improving operational efficiency would be a key focus under the leadership of its new CEO for Swedish operations, Rikard Nehrén, who joins in November. Luotea added that the profitability of its facility services operations in Sweden had improved for seven consecutive quarters, with room for further improvement. Management said, "The next webcast will be held in February 2027," to review fourth-quarter and full-year results. This is expected to provide a later overview of the year's performance, after the company raised its forecast for adjusted operating profit growth compared with 2025, while keeping the guidance cut in September.