Olas Group’s second quarter the strongest in company history

Olas Group Oy, a builder of wooden geothermal homes in the Helsinki metropolitan area, is swimming against the current in a challenging market, continuing profitable and controlled growth. The company forecasts this year’s revenue to reach at least 17 million € with an operating margin of around 10%. Revenue for January–July was 9.55 million €, which is 22% higher than in the same period last year.

CEO Markus Alitalo highlights three factors that have kept the company on a growth path while many players in the sector are struggling with unsold apartments and dwindling cash reserves:

“First: when the housing market was still booming, we stuck firmly to our controlled growth plan and ensured that our cash position remained healthy, even if sales slowed down. Second: when the housing market started to decline last year, we decided to invest heavily in marketing and sales. Third: this work is carried out by a top-class team—honest, professional, and motivated staff who never run out of ideas.”

So far this year, about 300 construction companies in Finland have gone bankrupt. Alitalo therefore encourages homebuyers to carefully examine a construction company’s financials before making a purchase decision:

“We are happy to provide customers with our latest financial statements and also present more recent financial figures to support their decision-making. We are ready to show, for example, the levels of profitability and cash reserves. In this way, we build trust that the construction project will be completed as planned—and that we will take responsibility also after the construction phase.”

At present, Olas has over 1 million € in cash, which—together with cash flow from already signed deals—would be enough to carry projects through and continue operations for up to a year, even without a single new apartment sale. However, sales have remained strong: April–June was the strongest quarter in the company’s history in terms of sales, with nineteen apartments sold.

Before starting any new construction project, Olas ensures that it has sufficient cash flow to complete the project. One example of this is the joint purchase events organized for the first homebuyers, where a sufficient number of buyers is confirmed before construction begins.

Further information:
Markus Alitalo, CEO
Olas Group Oy
markus.alitalo@olas.fi
tel. +358 40 545 9373