Business Review January-March 2026
President & CEO Mika Mahlberg’s comments
Our comparable recurring EBITDA increased significantly from the comparison period.
The first quarter of 2026 continued in the same vein as the positive fourth quarter of 2025. The market continued to recover partially at the beginning of the year, and the situation in the Middle East did not have a significant impact on demand. The availability of components was also normal. Our net sales grew 23 per cent year on year to EUR 101.5 (82.3) million.
Our comparable recurring EBITDA increased significantly from the comparison period and was EUR 5.7 (1.2) million, or 5.6 (1.4) percent of net sales. Excluding non-recurring items and excluding ramp-up costs for the Business Site Gliwice in Poland, EBITDA for the first quarter was EUR 7.7 (2.8) million. The ramp-up of Business Site Gliwice is still ongoing, and we expect it to burden our result throughout 2026.
At the end of March, our comparable order book was EUR 71.5 (73.3) million, which was approximately 3 per cent less than a year earlier, but during the first quarter, our order intake increased by 9 percent year on year.
New robotic welding lines at our factories in France and Austria
During the first quarter, we commissioned a new flexible robotic welding line for production at our factory in Sablé, France. The multi-purpose welding line, representing an investment of approximately one million euros, enable a manufacturing of various cabin structures and increase our welding capacity. In addition, during the quarter, we commissioned a second welding robot line at Business Site Breitenau in Austria. Both investments support productivity and quality improvements.
Customers are likely to redirect their supply chains more towards Europe instead of China and other parts of Asia.
Impacts of the Middle East conflict
Due to the conflict in the Middle East, instability continues in the market, and visibility into our customers’ purchasing behavior is poor. As the conflict continues, rising energy and logistics costs may increase our production and material costs, but in the medium term, customers are likely to redirect their supply chains more towards Europe instead of China and other parts of Asia. We are also closely monitoring possible indirect impacts on our customers’ end markets through diesel and fertilizer prices, as well as the development of the situation.
Supporting customers in the green transition
In the first quarter of 2026, we continued to implement our sustainability program by supporting our customers in their green transition while ensuring compliance with evolving ESG regulations. In our climate program, we focused on the economic impact of reducing carbon emissions, the availability of environmental data, and answering questions related to our customers’ carbon footprint and value chain emissions.
Our profitability improvement program continues
This year, we will focus on delivery reliability and high quality, as well as the implementation of the Fortaco 26 profitability improvement program. The implementation of the program proceeded as planned in the first quarter, and we will continue to work systematically at all our factories throughout the year.
I would like to warmly thank all Fortaco employees for their strong dedication, our partners for good cooperation, and our customers and the main owner for trust during the past year and a half, during which I have had the opportunity to serve as the company’s President & CEO.
Jure Mikolčić will start as Fortaco’s President & CEO on 1 August at the latest. I am confident that under his leadership, the company will move steadily towards its next phase of development.
