The business operations of Granlund Group, a specialist in building services design, consulting and software, have developed as planned during the first three quarters of 2018. Net sales have increased by 13.5 per cent year-on-year, while the number of personnel has grown by 10.3 per cent, or 82 employees. Operating profit has increased at a moderate rate of 3.2 per cent and the operating profit margin was 11.2 per cent.
Granlund Group 1–9/2018 and 1–9/2017
| EUR million | 1 Jan.–30 Sep. 2018 | 1 Jan.–30 Sep. 2017 | Change | |
| Net sales | 58.2 | 51.3 | 13.5% | |
| Operating profit | 6.5 | 6.3 | 3.2% | |
| Number of personnel | 875 | 793 | 10.3% |
The growth of net sales has been driven by strong demand for design projects, the favourable development of renovation services and the rapid growth of consulting. Megaprojects, such as YIT’s Tripla, the West Metro and the Helsinki Airport development programme are generating a substantial amount of business. Activity is also high in the hospital sector, with the Group being involved in the Hospital Nova project in Jyväskylä, the HUS Bridge Hospital, the Vaasa Hospital District’s Botnia High 5 project, the KYS Uusi Sydän hospital, the extension of Lapland Central Hospital and the OYS renewal programme. “There are also new major projects on the horizon, with project planning already underway for the Helsinki Garden, for example. There are also other sports-related projects in the works, and highrise buildings are being planned for Helsinki as well as Espoo,” says Pekka Metsi, CEO of Granlund Oy.
The consulting business is buoyed by energy management and the continued high volume of property transactions this year. The international financing sector is seeking sustainability-oriented projects, which has led to increased demand particularly for assignments related to energy investments and environmental systems. Lean construction is popular in major construction projects and the first projects to adopt Target Value Design concepts have already begun.
The software business in Finland is progressing well and Granlund Manager has held on to its position as the market leader in the maintenance software segment. One of the largest current projects is the deployment of the software by the S Group. The local government sector has also become stronger and the new Virtual Property product has attracted a great deal of interest.
The main focus on the international stage is on the software business in Asia and the Middle East, where the development of energy efficiency is a subject of widespread attention. In Asia, the capacity for proactive and systematic maintenance is not yet at a high level. The volume of international business is lagging slightly below targets, but faster growth is being pursued through active solution sales and the partner network. In data centre design, the Group has made headway in the international markets in the Nordic region and, with Granlund’s partner Royal Haskoning, also in Central Europe.
Activity in the construction and property sector is very high, which presents challenges to the parties involved.
“If the growth of the order book is in the double digits, there is a risk of a shortage of competencies due to difficulties in recruiting experts and managers at a corresponding rate. We are not immune to these challenges but, fortunately, our young talents have risen to the occasion as we have given them more responsibility and used our older experts in mentoring roles in the background,” says CEO Pekka Metsi.
In innovation activities, the application of new technologies, the flow of data and the related use of machine learning are significant themes at present. Granlund engages in cooperation with startups and research institutes. The Group has been involved in several projects funded by BusinessFinland, along with two significant EU-funded projects: NewTREND and eTEACHER.
“We have found maintenance applications for artificial intelligence in relation to energy and indoor air quality, among other things, and strong progress is also being made in automated design. Digital Real Estate Services is likely to be the first area of operations where businesses based on these technologies will be developed. Data flows are facilitated by information modelling, cloud services and IoT, among other things, and we are clearly on the threshold of some kind of technological transformation,” says Tuomas Laine, Director, Innovation and Development at Granlund.
Further information:
Pekka Metsi, CEO, Tel. +358 40 529 6509, firstname.lastname@granlund.fi
Image and material enquiries: Riikka Linna, Communications Manager, Tel. +358 50 345 2328, firstname.lastname@granlund.fi
