Industry analysis: Construction 2026

Industry overview

Construction on the OMXH spans a broad set of activities, from general building and renovation to infrastructure, technical building services, project development, and timber-based housing solutions. The sector is structurally fragmented, but the seven covered companies show that it is also highly specialized: Consti Oyj focuses on renovation and building services, Etteplan Oyj on industrial engineering and technical services, Kreate Group Oyj on infrastructure construction, Sitowise Group Oyj on consulting and digital solutions for the built environment, SRV Yhtiöt Oyj and YIT Oyj on larger-scale construction and development, and Honkarakenne Oyj on log homes and related timber construction. According to Consti Oyj’s financial statements, Etteplan Oyj’s interim report, Kreate Group Oyj’s interim report, Sitowise Group Oyj’s interim report, SRV Yhtiöt Oyj’s interim report, YIT Oyj’s financial statements, and Honkarakenne Oyj’s financial statements, the market is not a single homogeneous cycle but a collection of subsegments with different demand drivers, margin profiles, and balance-sheet sensitivities.

The industry matters in Finland because it touches housing supply, public infrastructure, industrial productivity, and the energy transition. The listed peer group reflects that breadth: SRV and YIT are exposed to residential and commercial development cycles, Kreate depends on infrastructure investment, Consti benefits from maintenance and renovation demand, Etteplan links construction-adjacent engineering to industrial customers, Sitowise serves planning and design needs, and Honkarakenne ties demand to consumer housing and export markets. According to the companies’ financial statements and CEO reviews, the sector’s significance comes less from one dominant player and more from its role as a service backbone for the built environment, with order intake, backlog, and project timing often more important than simple annual revenue growth.

The market structure is competitive and project-based. According to SRV Yhtiöt Oyj’s interim report and YIT Oyj’s financial statements, large developers must balance long project lead times, financing needs, and market timing, while Kreate Group Oyj’s interim report shows how infrastructure work depends on public and private project pipelines. According to Consti Oyj’s financial statements and CEO review, renovation and technical services provide a more recurring base than new-build development, while Honkarakenne Oyj’s financial statements highlight a smaller, more niche model exposed to raw-material and customer-demand swings. This mix makes the OMXH construction universe a useful cross-section of Finnish real-economy activity, but also a sector where peer comparisons require caution because business models differ materially.

Latest period review

Revenue momentum in 2026 is uneven across the peer group, with the clearest strength in companies that entered the year with visible project flow or a more stable service base. According to YIT Oyj’s financial statements, revenue reached 557.0 M€ and management described the year-end quarter as strong, supported by apartment completions in the CEE housing segment. According to SRV Yhtiöt Oyj’s interim report, the company continued to negotiate several interesting projects and saw residential order backlog improve, which points to a more constructive pipeline even though the latest reported revenue figure in the provided data was 705.6 M€. According to Consti Oyj’s financial statements, revenue was 65.6 M€ and management said first-quarter revenue matched the prior year, with growth in public-sector and building-services activities offset by declines in housing-company and corporate segments. According to Etteplan Oyj’s interim report, the company guided 2025 revenue of 365–385 M€ and reported 92.9 M€ in the latest period data provided, indicating a mid-sized industrial services platform with a more measured growth profile. According to Honkarakenne Oyj’s financial statements, revenue was 20.4 M€ and the business remained much smaller than the other peers, reflecting its niche timber-housing exposure. Kreate Group Oyj and Sitowise Group Oyj did not provide revenue figures in the supplied financial table, but their filings still point to active project markets and operational repositioning.

Order backlog trends remain one of the most important differentiators in the group. According to SRV Yhtiöt Oyj’s CEO review, the order backlog for residential construction grew as the company increased the share of development and developer-contracted projects in its portfolio, which suggests improving visibility in a still-selective market. According to Kreate Group Oyj’s interim report, the company highlighted an “all-time high” third-quarter revenue and better profitability than the comparison period, which usually implies a healthier project mix and a stronger near-term delivery base even though the backlog figure itself was not included in the supplied data. According to Sitowise Group Oyj’s CEO review, the first quarter’s good operational development was weakened by write-downs from old projects, showing that backlog quality matters as much as volume. According to Consti Oyj’s CEO review, the company’s revenue was stable year on year, but the mix shifted toward public-sector and building-services work, which is consistent with a more resilient order base in maintenance and technical services. According to YIT Oyj’s financial statements, the company’s 2026 guidance for adjusted operating profit implies management expects the current project portfolio and completions to support earnings, while the commentary on housing market development in the Baltics and Eastern Central Europe indicates that backlog conversion will remain uneven by geography and segment.

Across the filings, three common themes stand out. First, project timing still drives reported performance: according to SRV Yhtiöt Oyj’s interim report and YIT Oyj’s financial statements, residential completions and project negotiations materially affect the revenue and earnings path. Second, mix matters more than top-line size alone: according to Consti Oyj’s CEO review, growth in public-sector and building-services work offset weakness elsewhere, while according to Sitowise Group Oyj’s CEO review, legacy-project write-downs distorted otherwise better operating development. Third, management teams remain focused on selective growth rather than broad expansion: according to Etteplan Oyj’s interim report, the company continued its growth strategy through the acquisition of Eltech Automation AB, while according to Honkarakenne Oyj’s strategy commentary, the company has been refining its strategic priorities to better fit the changed operating environment. The latest period therefore shows a sector that is still recovering unevenly, with visible divergence between companies that have backlog support and those still dealing with project-quality or market-demand issues.

Financial comparison

The strongest earnings profile in the peer set belongs to YIT Oyj, which generated the highest EBIT in the supplied data at 25.0 M€ on revenue of 557.0 M€. That combination suggests the best absolute operating scale and the clearest profitability among the companies with both revenue and EBIT disclosed. Etteplan Oyj also stands out positively, with 5.3 M€ of EBIT on 92.9 M€ of revenue, indicating solid operating leverage for a services-led model. By contrast, Honkarakenne Oyj posted the weakest operating result among the companies with revenue disclosed, at -1.2 M€ on 20.4 M€ of revenue, while Sitowise Group Oyj also reported a negative EBIT of -0.0 M€ in the supplied data, showing that project write-downs and execution issues can quickly erode profitability in consulting-heavy models. SRV Yhtiöt Oyj’s -0.3 M€ EBIT on 705.6 M€ of revenue shows that scale alone has not yet translated into positive operating earnings in the latest data set. According to the companies’ financial statements, the best and worst performers therefore differ less by industry label than by project mix, execution quality, and the ability to convert revenue into margin.

Using the figures provided, the average revenue across the companies with revenue disclosed is about 288.1 M€, while the median revenue is 557.0 M€. That median is pulled up by YIT Oyj and SRV Yhtiöt Oyj, which sit well above the rest of the group, while the average is dragged down by smaller peers such as Honkarakenne Oyj and Consti Oyj. The average EBIT across all seven companies in the table is about 4.9 M€, but that figure masks a wide dispersion: YIT Oyj and Etteplan Oyj contribute most of the positive earnings, while SRV Yhtiöt Oyj, Sitowise Group Oyj, and Honkarakenne Oyj offset part of that strength with negative results. The median EBIT is 0.2 M€, which is much closer to breakeven and better reflects the sector’s mixed profitability profile. According to the financial statements and interim reports of the peer companies, the industry’s central tendency is not robustly profitable; rather, it sits near break-even unless a company has a favorable project mix or a stronger service component.

The key differences between companies are structural. YIT Oyj and SRV Yhtiöt Oyj operate at a much larger revenue scale than Consti Oyj, Honkarakenne Oyj, or Etteplan Oyj, but their earnings quality differs sharply: YIT Oyj converted scale into a strong EBIT result, while SRV Yhtiöt Oyj did not. Etteplan Oyj demonstrates that a smaller revenue base can still produce a healthy margin if the service model and acquisition strategy support it. Consti Oyj’s near-breakeven EBIT on a mid-sized revenue base reflects a more defensive renovation and technical-services profile. Kreate Group Oyj’s positive EBIT, despite no revenue figure in the supplied table, suggests better operational momentum than the negative-EBIT peers, but the absence of revenue data limits direct comparison. According to the companies’ financial statements, the sector is therefore split between a few scale players with volatile development exposure and several smaller, more specialized businesses whose earnings depend heavily on execution and project quality.

Risks

The sector faces a classic construction-cycle risk, and the peer filings show how quickly demand can shift by segment. According to YIT Oyj’s financial statements, management explicitly tied 2026 prospects to housing-market development in the Baltics and Eastern Central Europe, which underscores the sensitivity of residential activity to macro conditions. According to SRV Yhtiöt Oyj’s interim report, the company’s focus on negotiating several projects and growing residential backlog shows that timing remains critical; if project starts slip, revenue recognition can weaken quickly. According to Consti Oyj’s CEO review, revenue grew in public-sector and building-services activities but fell in housing-company and corporate segments, illustrating how cyclical weakness in one end market can offset stability in another.

Regulation and public procurement also shape the industry, especially for infrastructure and technical services. According to Kreate Group Oyj’s interim report, the company’s business is tied to infrastructure project flow, which often depends on public investment decisions, permitting, and tendering rules. According to Sitowise Group Oyj’s CEO review, the market environment remained “two-sided,” with growth in data-center, green-transition, and security-related projects, showing that regulation and policy priorities can create pockets of demand while leaving other areas softer. According to Consti Oyj’s financial statements, the company’s public-sector and building-services growth helped offset weakness elsewhere, which suggests that regulated or publicly funded demand can provide a stabilizing effect.

Raw-material and input-cost risk is especially visible in timber construction and project execution. According to Honkarakenne Oyj’s risk disclosures, the company faces rising costs and availability issues for raw materials and components, as well as supply-chain functionality risk. That is a concrete example of how input inflation and logistics can directly pressure margins in a smaller manufacturer. According to Sitowise Group Oyj’s CEO review, old-project write-downs hurt first-quarter performance, which shows that cost overruns and legacy-project issues can be just as damaging in consulting and design as in physical construction. According to YIT Oyj’s financial statements, the company’s guidance depends on continued operational improvement, which leaves it exposed if cost inflation or project delays erode margin conversion.

Geopolitics and competition remain material across the peer group. According to YIT Oyj’s risk disclosures, geopolitical conditions and the functioning of financial markets affect the business, which is particularly relevant for a company with exposure to multiple operating countries and housing markets. According to Etteplan Oyj’s interim report, the acquisition of Eltech Automation AB shows that competition is not only about pricing but also about strategic consolidation and capability building. According to SRV Yhtiöt Oyj’s interim report, the company’s emphasis on development and developer-contracted projects implies competition for capital, land, and project opportunities. Across the sector, competition is intense because many players chase the same project pipeline, and the filings show that differentiation comes from backlog quality, execution discipline, and specialization rather than from simple scale alone.

Outlook

The outlook for 2026 is constructive but uneven, with guidance and commentary pointing to selective improvement rather than a broad-based boom. According to YIT Oyj’s financial statements, the company expects adjusted operating profit from continuing operations to be 70–100 M€ in 2026, which is the clearest formal guidance in the group and signals confidence in earnings recovery. According to the same filing, management expects housing-market development in the Baltics and Eastern Central Europe to remain an important driver, so the outlook depends on regional demand and completion timing. According to Etteplan Oyj’s interim report, revenue is estimated at 365–385 M€ in 2025 and EBIT at 19–24 M€, which implies a stable-to-improving base heading into 2026 if industrial demand and the Eltech Automation AB acquisition continue to support growth. According to Consti Oyj’s financial statements and CEO review, the company’s stable revenue and improved operating result suggest a resilient renovation and building-services market, although segment divergence remains a constraint.

Backlog and project pipeline visibility should support the better-positioned companies. According to SRV Yhtiöt Oyj’s interim report, the residential order backlog grew and the company was negotiating several interesting projects, which points to a healthier forward book if conversion remains on schedule. According to Kreate Group Oyj’s interim report, the record-high third-quarter revenue and better profitability than the comparison period indicate that the company entered the next period with strong operational momentum, even though the supplied data do not include a formal 2026 guidance figure. According to Sitowise Group Oyj’s CEO review, the market is benefiting from data-center, green-transition, and security-related projects, but legacy-project write-downs show that backlog quality and project governance will remain essential. According to Honkarakenne Oyj’s strategy commentary and risk disclosures, the company is still adapting its strategy to a changed operating environment, so its outlook depends on whether it can stabilize demand and manage input-cost pressure.

Capex and strategic investment appear targeted rather than aggressive. According to Etteplan Oyj’s interim report, the acquisition of Eltech Automation AB is part of a growth strategy, suggesting that capital deployment will focus on capability expansion rather than heavy balance-sheet investment. According to YIT Oyj’s financial statements, management’s guidance implies continued operational discipline rather than a major expansionary capex cycle. According to SRV Yhtiöt Oyj’s interim report, the emphasis on development projects and residential backlog suggests that capital will continue to flow toward project opportunities with acceptable returns. Overall, the 2026 outlook across the OMXH construction universe is one of cautious improvement: companies with backlog support, stronger service content, or clearer strategic positioning should outperform, while those exposed to weak demand, project write-downs, or input-cost pressure will likely remain under margin pressure.

CEO review digest

Consti Oyj’s CEO review reads as steady and mildly positive. According to Consti Oyj’s financial statements, revenue was essentially flat year on year, but the company improved its operating result to 0.2 M€ from a small loss in the comparison period. The CEO’s comments emphasize a balanced but uneven market, with growth in public-sector and building-services activities offset by declines in housing-company and corporate segments. The tone is pragmatic rather than exuberant: management appears to value stability, mix improvement, and execution discipline more than rapid expansion. The key theme is resilience in renovation and technical services, which supports a constructive but cautious outlook.

Etteplan Oyj’s CEO commentary is growth-oriented and strategic. According to Etteplan Oyj’s interim report, management continued to implement its growth strategy and completed the acquisition of Eltech Automation AB in Sweden, which signals confidence in inorganic expansion and capability building. The published guidance for revenue and EBIT suggests a stable-to-improving earnings path, and the tone of the review points to a company that sees opportunity in industrial automation and technical services. The main themes are strategic growth, portfolio expansion, and disciplined execution in a market that still rewards specialized expertise.

Kreate Group Oyj’s CEO message is clearly upbeat. According to Kreate Group Oyj’s interim report, the company highlighted record-high third-quarter revenue and better profitability than the comparison period, which indicates strong operational momentum. The tone suggests that management sees the business benefiting from a favorable project mix and solid execution in infrastructure construction. The central themes are profitability improvement, strong revenue delivery, and confidence in the project pipeline, even though the supplied data do not include a formal earnings guide.

Sitowise Group Oyj’s CEO review is mixed: operational progress is visible, but legacy issues still weigh on results. According to Sitowise Group Oyj’s CEO review, the market environment remained two-sided, with attractive demand in data centers, green transition, and security-related projects, while old-project write-downs weakened first-quarter performance. The tone is constructive on end-market demand but cautious on execution quality. The key theme is that growth opportunities exist, but the company must keep tightening project governance and address legacy issues to convert demand into earnings.

SRV Yhtiöt Oyj’s CEO review is cautiously optimistic and pipeline-focused. According to SRV Yhtiöt Oyj’s interim report, management was negotiating several interesting projects and had increased the share of development and developer-contracted projects in residential construction, while the order backlog for residential construction grew. The tone suggests improving visibility and a more favorable portfolio mix, but not yet a fully normalized earnings environment. The main themes are backlog growth, portfolio reshaping, and selective project development.

YIT Oyj’s CEO commentary is the most confident in the group. According to YIT Oyj’s financial statements, management said the final quarter of 2025 was strong, with revenue and profit improving versus the comparison period thanks to apartment completions in the CEE housing segment. The company also issued explicit 2026 guidance for adjusted operating profit of 70–100 M€, which signals management confidence in continued earnings recovery. The tone is positive but grounded in execution, with the main themes being housing-market recovery, completion-driven earnings, and operational improvement across continuing businesses.

Honkarakenne Oyj’s CEO and strategy commentary is defensive and adaptive. According to Honkarakenne Oyj’s financial statements and strategy materials, the company has refined its strategic priorities to better match a changed operating environment, while risk disclosures emphasize raw-material costs, supply-chain functionality, and customer-environment weakness. The tone is cautious, reflecting a smaller business that must manage external volatility carefully. The key themes are strategic adjustment, cost control, and resilience in a niche timber-housing market.

Industry-specific characteristics

Construction on the OMXH is cyclical, fragmented, and highly execution-driven, but the listed peers show that the cycle is not uniform across subsegments. According to YIT Oyj’s financial statements and SRV Yhtiöt Oyj’s interim report, residential development can swing quickly with market conditions and completion timing, while according to Consti Oyj’s financial statements, renovation and building services provide a more stable base. According to Kreate Group Oyj’s interim report, infrastructure demand can remain strong even when housing is soft, and according to Sitowise Group Oyj’s CEO review, data-center and green-transition projects can create pockets of growth even in a mixed market. The industry’s defining characteristic is therefore not just cyclicality, but cyclicality by end market.

Regulation and public-sector involvement shape competitive behavior and demand visibility. According to Consti Oyj’s financial statements, public-sector work supported revenue growth, while according to Kreate Group Oyj’s interim report, infrastructure activity depends on project flow that is often linked to public investment and procurement. According to YIT Oyj’s risk disclosures, political and financial-market conditions matter materially, and according to SRV Yhtiöt Oyj’s interim report, development projects require careful portfolio management and financing discipline. This makes the sector more policy-sensitive than many other OMXH industries, especially where housing, infrastructure, and urban development intersect.

The competitive structure is also unusually diverse. According to Etteplan Oyj’s interim report, growth can come from capability expansion and acquisition, while according to Honkarakenne Oyj’s strategy and risk disclosures, niche manufacturing requires control over raw materials, supply chains, and customer demand. According to Sitowise Group Oyj’s CEO review, project quality and legacy write-downs can determine whether a company converts demand into profit. The industry rewards specialization, backlog quality, and disciplined project selection more than simple size. Large players like YIT and SRV can leverage scale, but smaller or more specialized peers can still outperform if they manage execution well.

Mega-trends are reshaping the sector rather than replacing its core economics. According to Sitowise Group Oyj’s CEO review, data centers, the green transition, and security-related projects are creating new demand pockets. According to Etteplan Oyj’s interim report, industrial automation and strategic acquisitions support capability-led growth. According to Consti Oyj’s mission statement, climate mitigation and building value are part of the company’s long-term positioning, while according to Honkarakenne Oyj’s strategy materials, the company is adapting to a changed operating environment. The final assessment is that OMXH construction remains a cyclical, low-to-mid-margin industry, but the peers show a clear split between companies with resilient service or backlog support and those still exposed to weak demand, legacy project issues, or input-cost pressure.

How this analysis was built

This appendix explains how the analysis was built: which companies were selected for the peer group, where the financial figures came from, which filings were read, and what metrics were used to assess management communication and the industry. The information is collected automatically as the analysis runs — it is not written by AI.

Peer group

Industry criteria: Engineering & Construction, Construction & Engineering, Residential Construction, Bygg och anläggning, Bygg
Markets: Helsinki Stock Exchange
Sample: 8 companies analysed (8 identified)

*Companies are selected via the company database's industry classification.*

Financial figures

Sources: Nordic figures from ESEF financial statements and key-metric tables (26 values).
Reference year: 2026. If a company's most recent filing is unavailable, the report falls back up to 4 years.
Coverage: Financial figures retrieved for 7/8 companies.
Reporting years: Most companies report for 2026 (4). Earlier reporters: 2025 (3).
Excluded companies: 1 companies were excluded from the analysis because no published financial figures were available: Solwers Oyj.

*Figures are extracted directly from structured source data — no AI estimates. Click any cell in the comparison table to see its source. Companies whose financials are not yet in the structured source database are excluded from the analysis so the comparison table doesn't carry empty rows.*

Qualitative material

Source material: Published filings from Nordic exchanges.
Document types: CEO reviews, financial statements, annual reports, interim reports, quarterly reports, half-year reports.
Topics examined: toimitusjohtajan katsaus, riskit, näkymät, liikevaihdon kehitys, tilauskanta, asiakaskysyntä, taloudelliset tulokset.
Filings used: The most recent interim report and the most recent annual report per company.
Coverage: Qualitative material gathered for 7/8 companies.

*Headings and table fragments are filtered out automatically so the extracted quotes carry only substantive content.*

Scoring

Theme heatmap

Themes: revenue trajectory, risks, outlook, order backlog, customer demand, ceo sentiment.
Scale: 1–10, where above 6 is a positive signal, 5–6 is neutral, and below 5 is negative. If a company does not address the topic, the cell is left blank.
Quality control: Every quote is automatically verified against its source. Quotes that don't match verbatim are dropped and only the score is kept.
Coverage: 0/8 companies scored.