Roni interviewed Enento’s acting CEO Elina Stråhlman regarding the Q3 results. 
Topics:
00:00 Introduction
00:22 Q3 highlights
01:06 Impact of sales mix on gross margin
02:52 Swedish consumer credit information market
04:09 New customer wins in Swedish Consumer Insight
04:44 Impact of Swedish banking license requirements on competitors
07:51 Positive credit register
09:43 Outlook
11:32 Profitability vs. growth
Inderes maintains Add and target price 17.
OP maintains Buy recommendation and target price decreases to 20.00(21.00)
Dnb Carnegie raises target price to 22.30(21.90) and reiterates BUY.
So, Enento’s share price has fallen to its lowest level in over 9 years… It’s starting to be a significant distance from the latest updated target prices. And an opportune time to make that tender offer, as the premium looks better than before…
The CEO is also nowhere to be seen or heard. It will soon be 7 months since Jäger announced his resignation. The new CEO is “under a rock” (hard to find), or perhaps there’s no intention to appoint one in this situation… 
Did you notice, by the way, that the latest interim report did not include the “Head of Investor Relations & Strategy” who was previously included in interim reports? He has changed jobs, and no new person has been appointed to replace him. Investor relations are currently handled “in addition to other duties” by the interim CEO…
It feels a bit like we’re just waiting for the merger of Enento and AlmaMedia to happen now. The CEO’s selection has taken a long time..
Having routinely followed this wilderness trek of Enento’s stock as an owner, one cannot avoid the thought that some player is playing their own, very small game with a difference of a few cents in sales and purchases. The 100 largest owners hold over 92% of the shares, and there weren’t any significant changes again in the latest ownership listing: Osakkeenomistajat ja liputusilmoitukset - Enento
Mandatum’s sales to Otava happened five months ago, if I remember correctly, at a price of 19.50 euros per share. My thought is that the market or the aforementioned player is now, as it were, asking Otava what they intend to do next. No one else really has a need to sell or buy; ownership stakes are at a suitable and comfortably risk-free level, regardless of whether a takeover bid comes or not.
It could, of course, be that more selling pressure will come at the end of the year due to tax-loss selling, as the share price is now 15% lower than at the beginning of the year. The only one that could be suspected of causing selling pressure at the moment is OP Life Insurance; if they were on my payroll, they’d be fired for selling at these levels
It would have to be a criminally bad board if they intentionally left the company “adrift” with the idea that they wouldn’t bother if someone made an offer. Even if some negotiations were taking place, the board should act in a way that maximizes the company’s value regardless of potential corporate arrangements.
Did anyone have more specific information on what a single inquiry always costs the lender? For example, when applying for a €1000 credit card limit through a bank and the information is checked from Asiakastieto’s credit information register or when buying a car, etc. The price was quite small, but the exact amount would be interesting; I recall it was shared here once and was something like €0.33, but I could be wrong.
New CEO starts in January
Enento Group’s Board of Directors has appointed Teppo Paavola as the company’s new CEO. He will start in his position on January 7, 2026.
Paavola succeeds interim CEO Elina Stråhlman, who will continue as the company’s CFO.
Most recently, Paavola worked at Adecco Group as Chief Digital Officer from 2019–2024. From 2014–2018, he served at BBVA as Chief Development Officer and General Manager of the New Digital Businesses unit, responsible for global innovation and digital businesses.
Now it can probably be stated that a merger with Alma is not on the agenda, at least in the near future. Alma’s recently fallen share price would also suggest this. As Enento fell to a lower level than before, the market might have priced in a merger, as the valuation gap clearly widened for Alma. It will be interesting to see how Enento now succeeds in organic growth, as Finland’s chronic weakness is likely to continue, and the situation in Sweden is also difficult.
Roni’s comment on the CEO appointment:
Great that a CEO was found. Hopefully, there is now the will to pursue growth and continue the journey towards becoming a European credit information company.
Paavola seems like a good fit for Enento on paper. Hopefully, the experience he brings is also seasoned with courage and he has the ability to see opportunities in growth sectors and new product categories!
Energy company Fortum’s board member Teppo Paavola has sold company shares for over 189,000 euros.
Will Teppo buy Enento shares with the money from the sale? The price would certainly be right. Otava paid 19.50e per share.
Perhaps we’ll soon get an announcement about the new CEO’s share purchases!
I was right. Teppo bought 17,281 shares.
Or are these some kind of reward shares?
It looks like things turned out exactly as you suspected. Teppo sold his Fortum shares and bought Enento. Both the new Chair of the Board and now the new CEO have purchased Enento shares for a significant amount.
Well, hopefully the mentioned holdings will also inspire them to aim higher in Enento’s business performance and shareholder value creation—2025 was yet another underwhelming year, although perhaps a decent defensive battle in the prevailing business environment.
When is Enento holding the Q4 silent call @Roni_Peuranheimo? I haven’t seen the recording yet.
The pre-silent call was held on Friday. The recording can be found in the investor calendar:
Have you had a chance to listen yet? I’m going to try to catch it this evening. Was there anything interesting? The share price is at least heading in the usual direction.
I don’t think anything surprising came up in the call. The new CEO introduced himself and hinted that they are looking for growth in the future. The CFO provided the business update this time as well, and it contained no surprises. Guidance will be met. The most interesting question came from an OP analyst. In Sweden, the economy has already been growing at 1.5%, and the government is stimulating the economy in many ways, including lowering the VAT on food. The question was whether the recovery of the Swedish economy is visible in Enento’s data yet. The answer was: not yet, at least. We’re waiting for the financial statement and targets for the current year.