Solwers gained more time for a turnaround by easing its covenants
Summary
- Solwers has amended its financing agreement with its main bank, easing the net debt-to-EBITDA covenant until June 2027, providing the company more time to address profitability issues.
- The agreement includes a gradual tightening of the covenant threshold and introduces a minimum cash requirement, while maintaining the minimum equity ratio at 35%.
- During the restriction period, any acquisitions require the bank's prior consent, potentially slowing Solwers' inorganic growth strategy.
- The company's net debt-to-EBITDA ratio is estimated to be 3.7x by the end of next year, exceeding the 3.5x covenant level reinstated on June 30, 2027.
This content is generated by AI. You can give feedback on it in the Inderes forum.
Translation: Original published in Finnish on 8/25/2026 at 7:50 am EEST.
Solwers announced on Monday that it had agreed with its main bank to amend the terms of its financing agreement, temporarily easing the maximum threshold for the covenant concerning the ratio of net debt to EBITDA until the end of June 2027. The agreement was an expected next step after the company received a temporary waiver in June, and it gives the company valuable extra time to address its poor profitability. According to the financing agreement terms, company acquisitions currently require the bank's prior consent, which will likely slow the company's inorganic growth during the restriction period. However, this news does not affect our estimates because we do not include unannounced acquisitions in our figures.
The solution buys more time for a turnaround
Under the agreement between Solwers and its main bank, the maximum threshold for the net debt-to-EBITDA ratio will ease as of September 30, 2026. The threshold will gradually tighten until June 30, 2027, when the original 3.5x covenant level will be reinstated. In addition, a minimum cash requirement has been added to the agreement, while the minimum equity ratio requirement remains unchanged at 35%. Solwers warned of covenant breaches in connection with its June profit warning, at which point it received a temporary waiver from the bank for the end-of-June review date. The longer-term solution negotiated now removes the acute financing risk and gives management about a year to improve operational performance so that the original covenant terms are met again. According to the company's management's assessment, Solwers will meet the amended conditions at all testing dates.
Acquisitions currently require the bank's consent
In our view, the most significant restriction in the agreement is that any acquisitions made during the restriction period require the bank’s prior consent. Solwers' strategy has relied heavily on inorganic growth, but given the elevated leverage ratio, we find it logical that the bank would want to limit the outflow of capital from the balance sheet. Although we believe that an acute financing crisis has now been avoided and that loan maturities will remain unchanged, we still consider the company's balance sheet position to be challenging. We have repeatedly emphasized that the company's leverage requires earnings growth to decrease. According to our current estimates, the company's net debt-to-EBITDA ratio will be approximately 3.7x at the end of next year, which exceeds the 3.5x covenant level that will take effect again on June 30, 2027.