From the Q2 2024 interim report.
Development creates ripple effects
Positive effects from efficiency efforts meets cautiously recovering markets. The quarter entailed several improvements for the future, not least the launch of the Group’s new name. We are maintaining organic growth in sales, and the order intake, that can vary between quarters, came in at a level above average. The margin was temporarily weaker at 6 percent (7) due to one-off effects in the quarter.
Our work to increase decentralization in the Group is now coming to an end. The decentralization is an important part of our strategy aimed at making the business visible and in focus, giving our subsidiaries and employees degrees of freedom to grow and develop, thereby creating a platform for continued growth and value-creating acquisitions.
In concrete terms, we have first and foremost worked to ensure that decisions are made as close to the business as possible and that each company can stand on its own feet. One of the measures has been to ensure that companies have the staff they need inhouse, rather than relying on central staff. That work is now coming to an end in 2024, and we are starting to see the effects. We are now able to work much more efficiently, and more more easily follow up the businesses, seeing what works well and where we need to put in more effort to achieve our full potential.
We work continuously to unlock the full potential of the Group’s companies. During the second quarter, we have especially spent time working with companies in Technology & Distribution. At the end of the second quarter, a new managing director was appointed for the business area’s largest subsidiary, Christian Berner AB, where Mattias Lysebring will take over on January 1, 2025. Furthermore, an employee of the Danish subsidiary A/S Christian Berner, Jan Dehn, was appointed managing director as of July 1, 2024, and we have also strengthened the boards of both companies. We see exciting opportunities in both companies that we have yet to unlock and look forward to developing them further. We incurred some nonrecurring costs in connection with adjustments.
New name, same content
On May 22, the Group finalized the name change of the Group to Berner Industrier from Christian Berner Tech Trade, as decided by the general meeting. The aim of the change is to more clearly separate subsidiaries from mother company, thus allowing our subsidiaries to act more independently as well as facilitating and clarifying communication with customers, suppliers, stock market and other stakeholders. The Group also has a new website, separate from the subsidiaries’ websites, which should make it easier for the subsidiaries’ business partners and the Group’s investors to find the right information. We are experiencing a growing interest in us as a Group and suspect that our development in recent years has made more people see what we see when we look at the Group – an exciting group in sectors important to our societies and with great potential.
Long-term focused acquisition efforts
During the quarter, we saw significantly greater activity in the acquisition markets, which feels promising for the future. However, we are not so constrained by the general acquisition markets, as our acquisition work is conducted in the same longterm spirit we run our businesses with. We always have several dialogues going on, but it is important to build trust and ensure a common view on future business development of each business. In our experience these processes can sometimes take some time before they produce results.
Caroline Reuterskiöld
President and CEO, Berner Industrier AB