BTS Group AB (publ)

BTS said Q2 currency-adjusted revenue rose 9% and profit rose 13%, while EBITA margin improved from 11.7% to 12.3%. North America’s profitability was back to 37.5%, and Europe grew revenue 25% with profit up 38% and EBITDA margin at 16.2%. AI-related revenue was SEK 76 million, up 221% year over year, and represented 10% of total revenue. Management also said it had realized SEK 74 million in productivity gains related to AI innovation and change implementation. For North America, two unprofitable businesses were shut or reduced in the quarter, including about $400,000 of severance and a little over USD 1 million in annual run-rate cost savings, and the company said removing those items would have lifted the margin by 4 more percentage points. BTS raised its outlook, saying it expects the second half to be stronger and that full-year performance should be significantly better than 2025.

Jessica Parisi framed the quarter as evidence that BTS is back to its “sustained profitable growth” pattern, with particular strength in North America and Europe. Her tone was confident and constructive, emphasizing that AI is not reducing BTS’s opportunity set but expanding demand because clients need help with adoption, workflow redesign, change management, and leadership alignment. She also stressed that BTS remains capital light, has only about 1% global market share, and is positioned well for the AI era.

Parisi highlighted the margin improvement to 12.3%, the 9% revenue increase, and the 13% profit increase as proof of operating leverage. She explained that North America’s margin was temporarily weighed down by severance, the shutdown/reduction of two unprofitable businesses, and the Sounding Board acquisition; excluding those, the North America margin would have been 4 percentage points higher. On cash and capital allocation, she said BTS maintains a strong net cash position, had an 84% cash conversion rate over the last 12 months, continues to pay dividends historically at 40% to 65% of profit after tax, and still expects to do acquisitions, mainly for geographic expansion. She also quantified AI tooling costs, saying Anthropic token costs could rise from about $400,000 this year to roughly USD 1.2 million to USD 1.6 million next year, but expected platform savings to offset that over time.

Analysts focused on the sustainability of the North America turnaround, the underlying margin ex one-offs, AI token costs, employee reductions, and whether fast AI work could change pricing or the sales mix. Management said North America momentum should continue in the second half, with the margin boost from shutting down weak businesses showing through in coming quarters. On AI pricing and mix, BTS said it still uses price-for-value and that faster AI-enabled delivery has also helped it win shorter-turnaround projects, but the mix is not expected to shift dramatically in the short term. On workforce trends, management said billable consultants are still being added while back-office staff continues to decline, and it expects another four quarters of this balancing act before total headcount stabilizes absent acquisitions.