Yes, something has been pumped, and because of that, Q4 might not have as good cash flow as in previous years, but if you scroll through 5 years of Q4 reports, Q4 has always been by far the strongest quarter in terms of cash flow. So, relatively, it might not be as strong as in recent years, but I would be surprised if net debt isn’t also pushed down in the last quarter. And the strong operating profit margin already in Q3 doesn’t hurt in this regard for Q4.
While pondering this, I have now concluded that when negotiating during Q1, the assumption was that Q1 and Q2 would already perform better in terms of operating profit/revenue, and the trend would improve towards the end of the year. Then the market didn’t ease at all, and the expected improvements for 2026 now look challenging from the current level. Could they have expected a return to closer to the €15 million operating profit level in 2026? In any case, I’ve arrived at pretty much the same conclusion as you.
Tässä on Petrin kommentit henkilöstöpalvelualan laskumenosta lokakuussa.
*According to the staffing industry’s revenue survey, the revenue of the 20 largest companies in the sector was approximately EUR 120 million in October, which represents an 8% decrease year-on-year. The development of the overall market is essentially linked to temporary staffing