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mttssn research · Nordic Deep Dive
Sweco A (SWEC-A.ST)
Industri · Teknikkonsult (Sweco, A-aktie) · LTM Q2 2026
Analysis date: 2026-07-22
Price at analysis: SEK 133.00
Method: mttssn_streamlined_v1
Conviction: MEDIUM
HOLD
Conviction: MEDIUM
Same underlying compounder as the B-share, seen a quarter later: LTM Q2 2026 adjusted ROIC 14.9% and +SEK 1,132m economic profit — a capital-light, serial-acquirer engineering consultancy creating genuine value. But quality this visible is fully valued; at SEK 133 the price already embeds a defensible ~5% perpetual growth. Own the quality; HOLD.
Adj. ROIC
14.9%
WACC 8% → spread +6.9pp
Economic Profit
+SEK 1,132M
+SEK 1,132m at 8% WACC; capital-light, goodwill-heavy IC
FCF Yield
n/a
LTM SEK 3,475m; high conversion, funds dividend + M&A
Price / Target
SEK 133 → SEK 135
+2% base; HOLD
Revenue (LTM)
SEK 32.6B
LTM Q2 2026 SEK 32,587m; +9% Q2, organic +3% cal-adj
EBIT Margin
10.0%
EBIT 10.0%; EBITA 10.1% (9.6 py), people-based
EV / IC
n/a
Enterprise value / invested capital
Net Debt
n/a
Net debt SEK 5,597m; ND/EBITDA 0.8x, conservative
Thesis

Sweco is Europe's leading architecture and engineering consultancy — 23,000 experts, capital-light, people-based, with strong positions in the structural-growth themes of energy transition, water, urbanisation, infrastructure and security/defence. A disciplined serial-acquirer model compounds value via accretive bolt-ons. LTM Q2 2026 adjusted ROIC of 14.9% and +SEK 1,132m economic profit at 8% WACC confirm real value creation — stronger than the B-share note's FY-anchored 13.6% read as the M&A engine and margins have firmed (Q2 EBITA margin 10.1% vs 9.6%).

The A-share carries identical group consolidated financials to SWEC-B.ST — only the listing and price differ (SEK 133 A vs the B-line). Sweco A carries 10 votes vs B's 1 and is the thinner, founder/insider-held line; the two typically trade near parity. Quality this visible is rarely cheap: at SEK 133 the equity prices ~5% perpetual growth, defensible for a pricing-power consultancy with an accretive acquisition machine, so it is fully valued rather than offering a margin of safety.

IC is ~72% cumulative acquisition goodwill (SEK 11,672m), which caps headline ROIC below where a tangible-light business could otherwise sit and makes the thesis dependent on continued M&A discipline. The market is mixed — infrastructure, water, environment, energy and security/defence strong; residential and commercial real estate and parts of industry weak — but breadth across geographies and end-markets dampens single-market cyclicality.

Valuation · reverse-DCF & scenarios

With adjusted ROIC (14.9%) well above WACC (8%), the reverse-DCF perpetuity read is a value-destruction artefact; the useful lens is implied growth. At SEK 133 the market prices roughly ~5% perpetual growth — reasonable given mid-single-digit organic growth plus the accretive acquisition machine — so the equity is fairly-to-fully valued with no margin of safety. Base near the price, consistent with the B-share.

Base SEK 135 (~flat); bull SEK 165 (sustained margin expansion + accretive M&A in energy-transition, water and defence); bear SEK 105 (European construction / public-budget slowdown compresses billings, utilisation and margins). We would upgrade toward SEK 105-110, where the quality and acquisition optionality come at a more reasonable implied growth.

Market-implied growth
≥14.2%
model ceiling — EV implies more than constant-ROIC sustains
No-growth value / share
SEK 83
62% of price; rest = priced-in growth
ROIC − WACC
+6.9 pp
ROIC 14.9% vs WACC 8.0% — positive = value creation
CAP (priced-in)
9.2 yrs
years of excess returns the price implies (fades to WACC)

At today’s enterprise value the constant-ROIC reverse-DCF maxes out: even at its sustainable-growth ceiling (~14.2%, limited by ROIC 15% ≈ WACC 8%) it cannot reach the current EV. No-growth value is SEK 83/share (62% of price); the market prices in growth and/or a higher ROIC than booked — richly valued on this lens. Read the sensitivity grid.

Scenario24m targetImpl. gUpsideProb.Driver
BullSEK 165≥14%+24%30%Margin expansion + accretive M&A in energy-transition/water/defence
BaseSEK 135≥14%+2%45%Fair: price embeds ~5% perpetual growth
BearSEK 105+8%-21%25%European construction / public-budget slowdown compresses billings
Prob-weightedSEK 136+3%100%Scenario-weighted expected value

Sensitivity — fair value / share at WACC × growth

WACC \ g0%3%5%8%10%15%
6.50%118131140156166196
7.25%98108115126134156
8.00% (base)839196105111128
8.75%7278828994106
9.50%636871768090

Green = fair value above the current price of SEK 133.00. The reverse-DCF conclusion is dominated by WACC and growth — see the whole surface, not a single fair value.

Method & data. NOPAT SEK 2,439, invested capital and ROIC 14.9% are observed (adjustments.json); WACC 8.0% and terminal g 2.5% are assumptions. EV→equity uses net debt SEK 5,597. The model holds ROIC constant (no fade) over the explicit horizon; the CAP figure instead fades excess returns to WACC.

⤓ Download the full model (.xlsx) — formula-driven sheets; flex the blue input cells and the model cascades in Excel.

Key drivers

1. Structural demand themes

Energy transition, water, climate adaptation, infrastructure and security/defence underpin multi-year billable demand.

2. Serial-acquirer compounding

Disciplined bolt-on M&A (5 deals YTD + Sitowise Sverige, STEIN) adds value at accretive multiples — the core compounding engine.

3. Capital-light economics

People-based model with minimal tangible capital converts earnings to cash (FCF SEK 3,475m LTM) and supports a 14.9% ROIC.

4. Pricing power & utilisation

Billing ratio improved to 75.9%; specialist expertise and scale support real fee increases above wage inflation.

5. Diversified European footprint

8 business areas / ~15 markets dampen single-market cyclicality as parts of the market soften.

Key risks
Conclusion

Sweco is a high-quality, capital-light compounder — 14.9% adjusted ROIC, +SEK 1,132m economic profit — at a full price. The A-share carries identical group economics to SWEC-B.ST and trades near parity (SEK 133), so the call is the same: HOLD, medium conviction; base target SEK 135 (~flat). A name to accumulate on weakness rather than chase.

We would upgrade toward SEK 105-110, where the quality and acquisition optionality would come at a more reasonable implied growth. The thesis is durable; the entry point is the only open question.

Footnote evidence & sources

Every adjustment traces to the cited note/page in the source filing — click to open it there. Annual report / 10-K: 📄 open  ·  Latest interim: 📄 open

Adjustment / figureValueSourceWhy mttssn treats it this way
FY2025 annual reportNoneSweco Annual Report 2025 📄 openFY2025 anchor for the LTM build.
Q2/H1 2026 interim reportNoneSweco Interim Report Q2 2026 📄 openQ2 2026 interim providing the rolling-12 column and 2026-06-30 balance sheet.
LTM net sales 32,58732,587Condensed income statement, Jul 2025-Jun 2026 column / p.22 📄 p.21Interim discloses a rolling-12 column directly; LTM = FY2025 31,586 + H1'26 16,902 - H1'25 15,901.
LTM EBIT 3,2723,272Condensed income statement, Operating profit (EBIT), R12 col / p.22 📄 p.22Reported EBIT already after PPA amortisation and ROU depreciation; used as-is as adjusted EBIT.
LTM EBITA 3,414 (company APM)3,414Reconciliation of EBIT and EBITA/EBITDA, R12 col / p.30 📄 p.30Company APM adds back acquisition-related items; used only for APM bridge (4.3% divergence). mttssn keeps those costs in opex.
LTM PPA amortisation 197 (rejected add-back)197Acquisition-related items — Amortisation of acquisition-related intangible assets, R12 / p.30 📄 p.30Recurring economic cost of a serial-acquirer people business; kept in opex, not added back to NOPAT.
LTM income tax 778 on PBT 3,056778Condensed income statement, R12 col / p.22 📄 p.22Effective tax rate 25.5% applied to adjusted EBIT for NOPAT.
Total equity 12,659 @ 2026-06-3012,659Condensed balance sheet / p.24 📄 p.24IC base; NCI SEK 5m immaterial, included in IC per methodology.
Interest-bearing debt 3,555 @ 2026-06-303,555Balance sheet: non-current 1,949 + current 1,606 IB liabilities / p.24 📄 p.24Added to IC; matches KPI net-debt bridge (p.30).
Goodwill 11,672 @ 2026-06-3011,672Condensed balance sheet, Goodwill / p.24 📄 p.24IC is ~72% goodwill — capital-light people business grows by acquiring consultancies; no impairment flagged.
Cash 663 @ 2026-06-30663Condensed balance sheet, Cash and cash equivalents / p.24 📄 p.242%-of-revenue operational-cash floor (652) exceeds balance -> only SEK 11m excess cash removed from IC.
Lease liabilities 3,600 @ 2026-06-30 (excluded from IC)3,600Balance sheet: non-current 2,672 + current 928 lease liabilities / p.24 📄 p.24Office leases are peripheral, not the primary operating asset; excluded from IC. IFRS 16 interest already below EBIT.
Quality · Buffett tenets12 / 15
Understandable business
Europe's #1 architecture & engineering consultancy: 23,000 experts across 8 business areas / ~15 markets, revenue = billable hours x fee/hour x utilisation. LTM net sales SEK 32,587m, EBIT margin 10.0%. Transparent, decades-long people-business track record.
Durable moat
[immateriella+kostnads-skalfördel · stabil] billing ratio 75.9% (75.2 py) and adjusted ROIC 14.9% vs 8% WACC (EP +SEK 1,132m) show a positive spread, but goodwill-heavy IC and commodity-consultancy pricing cap it below the ROIC-≥20%-spread-≥8y bar; falsifierare: utilisation slips below ~73% or fee/hour fails to clear consultant wage inflation in a downturn.
Management & capital allocation
Disciplined serial acquirer: 5 bolt-ons YTD + Sitowise Sverige (~250 experts) and STEIN signed, SEK 222m consideration H1, accretive to a 14.9% ROIC that still clears WACC — the compounding engine works. Candid reporting (no forecasts, clean EBITA reconciliation, 4.3% APM divergence). Röd flagga: IC is ~72% cumulative acquisition goodwill (SEK 11,672m), so returns lean on continued disciplined M&A, not tangible reinvestment.
Financial strength & returns
Exceptional for a consultancy: adjusted ROIC 14.9% (NOPAT 2,439 / IC 16,337) runs at nearly 2x an 8% WACC, EP +SEK 1,132m, net debt/EBITDA a conservative 0.8x LTM, and SEK 3,475m FCF covers dividend (SEK 3.70/sh) + the full M&A programme with room to spare — a self-funding compounder. The 14.9% headline is arguably understated: on tangible capital ex-goodwill the return is far higher, since IC is ~72% cumulative acquisition goodwill.
Valuation margin of safety
At SEK 133 the equity is fully valued: EV SEK 53,565m capitalises the compounding into a ~5% implied perpetual growth already defensible on fundamentals, leaving no margin of safety. Own the quality, don't chase; falsifierare: pullback toward SEK 105-110 restores a cushion.