Salvos Oyj plans an initial public offering and listing on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland
CEO Veli-Matti Kurkela:
“Since its founding, Salvos has undergone a significant growth journey to become a pioneer in industrially manufactured leisure buildings. However, our growth story is only just beginning. We see significant opportunities, particularly in leisure living and the accommodation business, and we want to achieve a position as Finland’s leading leisure builder. We will continue our geographical expansion in Finland and invest in our production capacity. The planned listing is an important strategic step that supports us in achieving these goals.”
Key Strengths
Salvos’ management believes that the following factors in particular are the Company’s key strengths and provide it with a competitive advantage:
Cost-effective, industrial-scale prefabricated construction carried out in factory conditions
Pioneer in modular construction
A product and service concept valued by customers
Impressive growth and profitability in a challenging market
Significant growth opportunities
Ecological wood construction
Guidance for 2026
The following guidance contains forward-looking statements, which are not guarantees of the Company’s future financial performance. The Company’s actual results of operations may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to many factors, and the guidance or other forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a promise of the Company’s future development or financial results, which may differ materially from those presented below.
Salvos estimates that its revenue in 2026 will be EUR 34–38 million (EUR 31.3 million in 2025) and its operating profit margin will be 9–11 percent (9.5 percent in 2025).
The Company’s 2026 guidance is based on a strong order book, continuous operational development and efficiency improvements, and increasing market share. However, the guidance involves uncertainties, such as the general economic cycle, development of the market for leisure buildings and outbuildings, changes in material costs, and the development of the tourism market.
Salvos Oyj has announced its plans for an initial public offering (sale and share issue) and listing on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland during the first half of 2026. A press release on the subject has been published at sijoittajat.salvos.fi.
The video was filmed in Helsinki on February 12, 2026.
Earnings performance has clearly improved around the time of going public, and the medium-term targets have been drawn straight up with a ruler, as the goal is an operating margin as high as 13-15%. I find this target highly implausible in such an industry. Salvos has also likely benefited significantly recently from a permit change that now allows the construction of small buildings in yards without a building permit.
Let’s see the price first, of course, but in my opinion, they are entering the market with prospects that are a bit too rosy.
Now we wait with excitement to see how this materializes:
“The planned IPO is expected to consist of a primary offering of new shares in the Company, and in addition, certain existing shareholders of the Company are expected to offer existing shares for purchase.”
It would be really refreshing to see if:
The largest shareholders practically wouldn’t sell anything
The Company actually truly invests in growth and wouldn’t pay dividends
In that case, even an outside investor could genuinely believe that the current owners see an opportunity to get even wealthier in the future through growth financing.
Now is a good time to do some back-of-the-envelope calculations on the valuation so one can then be disappointed by the IPO price
@Verneri_Pulkkinen I hope the company has been told to come to the forum to chat, as it might instill some faith in us skeptical retail investors
Hello. I have served as the Chairman of the Board at Salvos for three years. I am also an owner through an investment company and I am not selling shares.
I will comment and participate as much as I can in this role. We have agreed that Veli-Matti will join the discussions under his own name as soon as his schedule permits.
It is indeed an excellent company and, as a company with genuine competitive advantages, it has been able to grow and deliver good results in a very difficult market situation.
Through my own work, I am very familiar with the construction industry, specifically in the Northern Finland region. Tourism construction in Lapland has been running hot for several years now, and it is estimated that over 50% of the capacity is still missing. For the last two years, Lapland has also been one of the few growth areas amidst the current construction industry slump. What market niche and share Salvos captures from this pie remains for them to work on. Foreign tourists primarily want good services, but also to get away from noise and light pollution. Domestic travelers, who build for themselves and/or for rental purposes, follow the exact same criteria. Salvos can certainly provide an alternative for this. The product is solid, but competition is fierce and EBITDA margins are generally low in the construction sector. Their 9-12% target is generally excellent for the construction industry. A quality company can, however, deliver on it. I will be following this journey with interest.
Great to have you here @Mikko_Tahkola! Could you briefly tell us how you ended up on the board of Salvos? Of course, it’s easy to guess that the circles are probably quite small in Pyhäntä, but could you share a bit more? And have you invested your own money, or is it board fees or something similar?
Hi, on behalf of Sami Miettinen, I am publishing the attached conversation with Veli-Matti Kurkela. This is a commercial collaboration that was filmed before the ITF announcement.
Setting up a cabin painlessly | Veli-Matti Kurkela | 369 Neuvottelija (Negotiator). Transformation of the construction industry and effortless leisure construction. How is industrial modular construction changing leisure living? Veli-Matti Kurkela from Salvos explains why traditional construction is in trouble and how turnkey solutions make realizing cabin dreams easier. The discussion covers accommodation needs in Lapland tourism as well as Finns’ changing requirements regarding quality and equipment. Commercial collaboration with Salvos Oy.
00:00 General distress in the construction industry is not the whole truth
02:54 Cabin trips as a counterpoint to urbanization
05:48 Lapland tourism and development of accommodation solutions
08:42 The meaning of the name Salvos and industrial manufacturing
11:36 Logistics, challenges, and industrial manufacturing of modular construction
14:30 Move-in ready concept and the ease of construction
17:24 Experiences with plot zoning and construction
20:18 Cabin Barometer and cabin trends among retirees
23:12 Level of equipment and the impact of remote work on cabin life
26:06 Energy efficiency and winter-habitable solutions
29:00 Financing models and budgeting for a leisure home
31:54 Improved attitude of municipalities and smoothness of building permits
34:48 Ecological nature of wood construction and sustainable development
37:42 Efficient use of small square footage
40:36 Outdoor saunas and outbuildings in the yard area
43:30 Salvos factory production process and quality assurance
46:24 Development of AI in material management and minimizing waste energy
49:18 Future of the construction industry and technological innovations
52:12 Importance of customer experience and the service package
55:06 Closing remarks and tips for future builders
neuvottelija In the Inner Circle (Sisäpiiri), we discuss how Salvos could adopt AI more extensively.
Technical note:
Sami Miettinen is responsible for the content of the message.
Good morning, thanks for the questions. In 2022, some important decisions were made by the owner family at Salvos. Specifically, it was decided to appoint an external CEO and significantly strengthen the role of the board. During those discussions, the idea of asking me to serve as Chairman arose. In addition to my experience at Fodelia, I have nearly 15 years of board experience from the PRT Forest Group (from 1999 onwards: Kontiotuote, Jukkatalo, Piklas, Mellano, Lapplitalo) and, among other things, a five-year stint as the CEO of Jukkatalo from 2014 to 2019. Well, who knows why they asked, but I agreed, and here we are.
Together with the owners, we defined an ownership strategy where the key principle is that the owner exercises their power at the general meeting, while the executive management moves the company forward together with the board. In my view, this classic division of labor has worked excellently. The company has made significant decisions, such as focusing solely on ready-to-use buildings instead of kit house deliveries. The company’s very strong industrial expertise is reflected in the fact that approximately 75% of the units are delivered to the site fully finished, such that the truck driver can lift the building into place alone and screw the chimney extension on. Then the customer can light the fire and carry their furniture inside. Furthermore, I have always admired the company founder’s immortal phrase: “If something cannot be done properly, then it shouldn’t be done at all.” This is still part of the company’s DNA and its public mission. Salvos and Lapelland products are truly made as if they were for oneself. To the customer, this is reflected in excellent quality.
Through my investment company, I have invested a six-figure sum in Salvos, making us the company’s 7th largest owner with just under a 5% stake. I am not selling my shares in connection with a potential listing.
A bit of a side story has emerged alongside the stock exchange listing.
"Egoa from Liminka claims that Lapelland from Pyhäntä is squeezing it out of the market by agreeing on exclusive rights to trailer chassis with major European manufacturers.
Egoa has filed an action request with the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (KKV), asking it to investigate whether Lapelland is violating competition law."
Egoa’s CEO Määttä intends to take the matter to court if the KKV does not investigate it.
Salvos’s CEO Kurkela denies the accusations.
“According to Määttä, the procedures involve what is known as ‘naked restriction of competition.’ This means a procedure that has no other business justification than the conscious exclusion of competitors from the market.”
Egoa’s CEO also states in the article that he would have received an order for 70 trailers from Saudi Arabia, but cannot deliver due to a lack of trailers. The current procurement rate from Ostrobothnia (Pohjanmaa) is one trailer every three weeks.
According to the article, Määttä originally sold the Luxus-Saunat business to Salvos and then returned to compete after the non-compete clause expired.
