Columbus AS (OCSE:COLUM) (Q3 2026) Earnings Call Highlights: Second Consecutive Quarter of ...

Q: On orchestration, do you feel limited by your partnerships, or are partners like Microsoft big enough to provide whatever you need to orchestrate for customers? A: CEO John Kroknussen said Columbus is not limited by the LLMs of its partners, but noted that a prior constraintstructured connection between AI platforms and traditional data repositoriesis now maturing rapidly as interfaces open up. He added that managing token consumption and AI-related costs is top of mind for customers, and Columbus aims to help them secure fair contractual terms, avoid lock-in effects and manage discount schemes with technology providers.

Q: Which revenue streams do you expect to phase out, and can you give examples of new revenue streams? A: CEO John Kroknussen pointed to the delivery compression chart, saying activities with the most compression will yield less value and lower revenuesuch as basic integration configuration work and comprehensive documentation packages, which are now heavily AI-assisted and reduced roughly tenfold. Growth areas include structured process optimization assisted by agentic capabilities and organizational change management (OCM), as customers still need to agree on operating setups, onboard employees and monitor benefits.

Q: Would Scales, a subsidiary of NNIT that is up for divestment, be of interest to Columbus, and could a sale trigger further market consolidation? A: CEO John Kroknussen declined to comment specifically on interest or probabilities, but noted that Scales operates almost solely in the Danish market, whereas Columbus has a much broader global presence. He acknowledged that Scales operates within one of the same areas as Columbus but said there is no one-to-one comparison between the two companies.

Q: What are the key financial highlights from Q3 2026? A: CEO John Kroknussen reported a 6% increase in revenue, the second consecutive quarter of growth, with the largest business unit, Dynamics, returning to 8% growth driven by strong performance in Norway and the US. Adjusted EBITDA margin reached 10.3%, efficiency improved to 62% from 58% a year earlier, and cash flow from operations rose by DKK 48 million to DKK 55 million, reflecting sound working capital management and tighter customer payment terms.

Q: What is the updated financial outlook for the full year? A: CFO Brian Ewersen said the outlook, adjusted on October 22, narrowed organic growth to 2%3% from 0%5%, with the company back in growth as seen in Q3. The EBITDA margin outlook was revised to approximately 6% from the previous 8%10%, largely due to restructuring costs that impacted the year by more than one percentage point, though management is confident the exercise will improve the company going forward.

Q: What are the targets and key pillars of the new Astra 29 strategy? A: CEO John Kroknussen said Astra 29 aims for DKK 2 billion in revenue, up from DKK 1.6 billion in 2025, and EBITDA of DKK 300 million, up from DKK 113 million in 2025, with recurring revenue targeted at approximately 20%. The strategy rests on three pillars: modernizing and driving efficiency across the existing service portfolio; starting from a business process perspective to identify automation potential across multiple platforms; and expanding into production-proximity systems such as warehouse, transport and manufacturing execution systems, with warehouse management expected to take off first in 2027.

Q: How is the commercial model changing under the new strategy? A: CEO John Kroknussen said Columbus is repricing and changing commercial terms so efficiency gains are shared appropriately between the company and customers, rather than fully passed on under time-and-material models. The shift involves more phases done on fixed price, augmented delivery models and some experimentation with outcome-based delivery models, while monitoring market standards, especially in the US, which tends to indicate where terms and conditions change first.

Q: How did the individual business lines perform in Q3 2026? A: CFO Brian Ewersen said Dynamics grew 8%, M3 was flat but ended the quarter well, Digital Commerce continued to face headwinds in Norway and Denmark, and Data & AI grew 27% with continued heavy investment. The overall contribution margin improved to 21% from 19%, or close to 26% adjusted for restructuring provisions, with Dynamics' bottom-line margin rising from 20% to 27%, while M3 was down roughly 7% but on par with last year when adjusted for redundancies.

Q: How did performance vary by country in Q3 2026? A: CFO Brian Ewersen said Sweden remains down but is improving, with M3 showing strong momentum and some big wins, while Denmark remains challenging and was down 9% quarter-over-quarter. The UK continued its growth pattern at a more modest pace with continued investment in AI and Data & AI, Norway jumped up again on large Dynamics 365 wins, and the US returned to growth with a slight shift from M3 to Dynamics, giving it two strong legs.

Q: What is the rationale behind the Astra 29 name and the strategic direction? A: CEO John Kroknussen said "Astra" refers to a star, symbolizing readiness to explore as the market develops new revenue drivers while some old ones diminish. He described the outgoing New Heights strategy as successful in building the operating model and customer segment focus despite tougher external conditions such as tariffs and interest rates, and said Astra 29 builds on that foundation to position Columbus as an agentic operating partner for customers, going beyond ERP systems.

Q: What is the market opportunity driving the strategy, particularly around AI adoption? A: CEO John Kroknussen noted that IT spend

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript .