Q3 interim report 2026 - CEO quote
Konecranes delivered a strong third quarter, with robust deliveries and profitability at a high level. In September, we published our updated strategy and raised our financial targets, reflecting our sharpened focus and higher ambitions for growth.
Following a strong start to the year, order intake was affected by characteristic volatility in Port Solutions in the third quarter. Consequently, order intake decreased by 12.7% in comparable currencies year-on-year and amounted to EUR 1.01 billion. Of the regions, order intake increased in EMEA but decreased in the Americas and APAC. At the end of the quarter, our order book was EUR 3.3 billion, 6.9% higher than a year ago in comparable currencies. The order book was higher year-on-year in Industrial Service and Industrial Equipment, and at approximately the same level in Port Solutions.
Delivery performance was solid in the third quarter, particularly in Port Solutions, and net sales increased by 10.3% in comparable currencies to EUR 1.10 billion. Our comparable EBITA margin was on a high level at 15.6%, despite decreasing from last year’s 16.7%, which was an all-time high quarterly profitability. The third quarter was impacted positively by US tariff refunds in the amount of roughly EUR 8 million, but the overall impact of one-offs was smaller than the impact of positive one-offs in the comparison period.
In Business Area Industrial Service, order intake increased by 1.2% in comparable currencies to EUR 400 million, despite lower level of modernizations. Net sales increased by 2.4% in comparable currencies to EUR 398 million. The comparable EBITA margin for the third quarter was excellent at 23.7%. The improvement in comparable EBITA margin was driven by good execution and positive pricing. The agreement base also continued to grow, increasing by 3.0% in comparable currencies. We continued to leverage our unparalleled service data assets and launched an AI assistant for Konecranes Portal. The assistant helps our Industrial Service customers and our sales organization to efficiently identify the most relevant equipment and service needs.
In Business Area Industrial Equipment, external order intake increased by 3.0% in comparable currencies to EUR 338 million. We saw good activity particularly in general manufacturing, power and mining customer segments. External sales decreased by 1.6% in comparable currencies and amounted to EUR 302 million. Comparable EBITA margin decreased to 10.9%. The decrease was mainly driven by lower volumes and high impact of positive one-offs in the comparison period.
In Business Area Port Solutions, order intake decreased by 36.7% in comparable currencies to EUR 288 million. Customer funnel activity remains very active across different product lines, but timing of orders was unfavorable in the quarter. Port Solutions’ deliveries were strong in the third quarter and net sales increased by 28.3% in comparable currencies to EUR 420 million. Comparable EBITA margin improved to 12.0% and the improvement was mainly driven by higher volumes.
Our updated strategy, published on September 24, is centered on accelerating profitable growth, and our upgraded financial targets reflect this higher level of ambition.
We target market share growth by expanding our offering and geographic reach as well as strengthening our presence across customer segments within our existing Business Areas. We continue to invest in our proprietary technology and extend the use of AI to leverage our unparalleled asset- and operational data. To reach our profitability target, we expect operating leverage to be the main driver of improvement, supported by our continuous focus on efficiency and operational excellence. Furthermore, our new equipment and service products will increase customer value while improving our cost efficiency.
Our updated capital allocation framework supports our accelerated growth ambitions and long-term shareholder value creation. We will continue to invest in our operations and technology, return capital according to the updated dividend policy, pursue targeted acquisitions, and consider share buybacks when excess cash is available. In connection with the publication of our updated strategy and capital allocation framework release, Konecranes also launched a share buyback program to optimize the company’s capital.
Our high ambition also extends to climate action. In September we set a new long-term ambition to reduce the absolute Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2050 from base year 2019. Sustainability is embedded throughout our strategy and central to how we create long-term value.
At our Capital Markets Day today, we will discuss our updated strategy, upgraded financial targets and our focus areas. I’m proud of the work we have done so far and of the ambition we have set. I have great confidence in our team's ability to deliver on this promise.
Demand outlook and financial guidance
Going forward, we expect our demand environment to remain on a healthy level within industrial customer segments. For our port customers, container throughput continues to be on a high level, and the long-term prospects for container handling remain good. However, uncertainty related to geopolitics and trade policy tensions remains high.
We reiterate our financial guidance for year 2026. We expect our net sales to remain approximately on the same level or to increase in 2026 compared to 2025, and our comparable EBITA margin to remain approximately on the same level in 2026 compared to 2025.