GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Comments and figures in this report refer to SKF Group’s continuing operations unless otherwise stated. The Automotive segment is reported as discontinued operations and as assets/liabilities held for distribution. The income statement and cash flow statement have been updated for comparative periods, whilst the balance sheet has been updated per September only. Related key figures have been adjusted accordingly.

Q3 2026

Net sales: MSEK 17,467 (16,562)Organic growth: 4.3% (3.7%). Driven by both positive demand as well as solid price/mix contribution.Adjusted operating profit: MSEK 2,845 (2,553). Driven by strong commercial execution, especially within Specialized Industrial Solutions (SIS).Adjusted operating margin: 16.3% (15.4%).Net cash flow from operating activities: MSEK 2,076 (1,780). Mainly driven by improved operating result, partly offset by working capital build-up.

1) SKF Group including discontinued operations.
2) Based on the balance sheet by the end of the period and not 12 months’ rolling average.

Rickard Gustafson, President and CEO:

“We delivered 4.3% organic growth and increased adjusted operating margin by 0.9 percentage points to 16.3%, year-over-year, supported by strong commercial execution. We are also bringing forward our BSEK 2 annual savings target by six months, to mid-2027. Shareholder approval of the SKF Vertevo distribution at the EGM marked an important milestone.

Growth in selected markets supports improved margin

Ahead of the planned listing of SKF Vertevo on Nasdaq Stockholm on 1 December 2026, the Automotive business is reported as Discontinued operations from Q3. Looking at our Continuing operations, i.e. our industrial business, organic sales growth was 4.3%, driven by both volume and solid price/mix. We saw higher demand in selected OEM markets, including drives connected to data centers, infrastructure, as well as security and defence.

Bearing Solutions grew by 2.8%, with continued growth in India and Southeast Asia and further improvement in the OEM market in the Americas. Development was broadly unchanged in Europe, Middle East and Africa, as well as in China and Northeast Asia. Specialized Industrial Solutions (SIS) continued its strong performance where organic sales increased by 8.3%, growing across all business units and particularly in Aerospace and Magnetic Solutions. It’s worth noting that in Magnetic Solutions, we continue to strengthen our position by expanding production capacity and increasing automation to capture structural growth.

I’m pleased that the industrial business improved its adjusted operating margin, compared to the same quarter last year, to 16.3%, reflecting continued strong commercial execution, particularly in SIS. Rightsizing savings of approximately MSEK 350, corresponding to an annual pace of about BSEK 1.7, more than offset negative separation-related synergies. The rightsizing program is progressing well, and we now expect to reach the targeted annual run-rate savings of approximately BSEK 2 by mid-2027 compared to end-2027 as previously communicated.

We continue to actively work with our cost and commercial execution to mitigate continued cost inflation in input costs and logistics. Tariff-related costs were again largely compensated. Investments in our transformation initiatives to harmonize and modernize our IT landscape proceeded as planned. Support production to the automotive business in Q3 was non-material. Currency effects provided a minor tailwind in Q3.

Cash flow from operations increased year-over-year to BSEK 2.1, supported by the improved operating result and partly offset by an increase in inventory for components and materials, primarily within SIS to support continued growth.

Preparing for two focused companies

The approval by our shareholders of the distribution of the shares in SKF Vertevo marked an important milestone ahead of the planned listing on 1 December 2026. Another milestone will be SKF Vertevo’s Capital Markets Day (CMD) on 17 November. In Q3, they delivered a solid performance with an improved adjusted operating margin of 4.6% despite challenging market conditions where organic sales declined by –4.0%.

As the separation progresses, we have updated the classification of some items affecting comparability (IAC) between separation and footprint optimization activities. The total expected level of IAC remains unchanged from our CMD 2025 communication, and this has no impact on our path towards achieving our long-term industrial business margin target. Additional production lines transferred to the Automotive business will decrease the need for industrial footprint optimization with BSEK 0.5, while IAC related to the separation will increase by the same amount, totaling approximately BSEK 3.

Out of SKF Vertevo’s total production, a few production lines remain to be transferred into SKF Vertevo plants during 2027. This means that contract manufacturing to SKF Vertevo will start to decrease from Q2 2027. Thereafter, it is expected to decrease significantly over the medium term.

Outlook

We expect organic sales for SKF Group’s continuing operations to strengthen somewhat in Q4, year-over-year. This as we see a similar market environment as we had in Q3. However, market volatility remains high which amplifies overall uncertainty.”

Outlook and guidance

The statements below refer to SKF Group’s continuing operations unless otherwise stated.

Outlook Q4 2026

We expect organic sales for SKF Group’s continuing operations to strengthen somewhat in Q4, year-over-year. This as we see a similar market environment as we had in Q3. However, market volatility remains high which amplifies overall uncertainty.

Guidance Q4 2026

Currency impact on the operating profit: around MSEK 150, year-over-year, based on exchange rates as per 30 September 2026.

Guidance FY 2026

Tax level excluding effects related to divested businesses and separation of the Automotive business: around 27%.Additions to property, plant and equipment: around BSEK 2.5. Compared to previous guidance, this corresponds to a decrease of around BSEK 0.5 as result of optimization of SKF Group’s continuing operations’ planned investments.IAC related to the Automotive separation and footprint optimization for SKF Group including discontinued operations: BSEK –2.5 to –3. This is within the frame communicated at CMD 2025.1)

1) SKF Group including discontinued operations.

A webcast will be held on 21 October 2026 at 08:30 (CEST):
Sweden: +46 (0)8 5051 0031
UK/International: +44 (0)203 059 5863

https://www.skf.com/group/investors

Aktiebolaget SKF
      (publ)

The financial information in this press release contains inside information that AB SKF is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication through the agency of the contact persons set out below on 21 October 2026 at 07:30 CEST.

For further information, please contact:
Press Relations: Carl Bjernstam, +46 31-337 2517; +46 722 201 893; carl.bjernstam@skf.com 
Investor Relations: Sophie Arnius, +46 31-337 8072; +46 705 908 072; sophie.arnius@skf.com 

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LONDON, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — UK construction firms can now be fined for illegal working anywhere in their supply chain, not just among their own employees. Penalties can reach £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach and £60,000 per worker for a repeat breach. That was the warning from experts at a briefing hosted by innDex, the construction site and workforce management platform, at the House of Commons on 29 September.

Contractors heard from Kevin Barker, an immigration compliance specialist and former Home Office official, and a Home Office policy representative. The session was chaired by innDex co-founder George Smithies and Dean Tuhey, founder of right to work specialist PPAC.

What has changed

Until 1 October, a civil penalty for illegal working depended on a direct employer-employee relationship. Liability now extends to self-employed workers, gig workers, subcontractors and labour supply chains.

Where the Home Office cannot identify the direct employer, or prescribed requirements have not been met, it can impose the penalty on another business in the contractual chain.

Businesses now need a statutory excuse built on three requirements:

Contractual terms requiring subcontractors to carry out compliant right to work checks, seek consent before further subcontracting, accept audits and cooperate with the Home Office.Substitution controls, so the person on site is the person who was checked.Identity verification systems, such as access passes, facial verification, biometrics and attendance records.

Kevin Barker said: “The two things I want people to remember are that responsibility is changing, and so is liability.”

Why construction is exposed

Construction supply chains are often several tiers deep, running through subcontractors, agencies and payroll companies. A gap at any tier can come back to the businesses above it.

Contract clauses alone are not enough

The Home Office will judge how well each requirement works in practice, and audits must actually happen and be evidenced. As penalties are a civil matter, decided on the balance of probabilities, what counts as “reasonable and proportionate” will ultimately be decided by a County Court judge.

“New powers tend to be used as soon as they arrive,” said Kevin Barker. “It’s no good just having it written in your terms and conditions. You have to do it, and you must be able to show you’ve done it.”

Dean Tuhey added: “A right to work check is no longer a tick box exercise. It’s a process. Student visa hours, sponsor confirmations and workers in roles their visas don’t cover are all on sites today. There’s only one acceptable number in construction: 100%.”

The role of digital verification

Under the UK Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework, certified digital verification service providers (DVSPs) now play a central role in the new regime.

From 1 October, certified providers can check British passports that expired up to six months ago, and the in-person element of a check can be carried out digitally. Employers must still confirm each check matches the person they engage.

PPAC passed its certified DVSP audit on 21 September. With innDex, it links a worker’s right to work check to their site induction, a face check on arrival and daily biometric clock-in. If a visa expires, site access updates in real time.

George Smithies, co-founder of innDex, said: “We kept hearing confusion from our clients about what was changing, who’s responsible and what they need to do. Our message is simple: the law has moved from the employer to the whole chain, and the industry needs a process that can prove who is on site, every day.”

About innDex:

innDex delivers end-to-end workforce management solutions purposefully designed for the construction industry. Built by civil engineers, the platform simplifies project delivery through digital tools that enhance safety and compliance on site. Today, innDex supports more than 26,400 companies across 27 countries and five continents.

About PPAC:

Founded in 2016, PPAC provides right to work and identity verification built specifically for construction, making onboarding faster, verification more accurate and compliance simpler on site.

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Series E raise is led by Scaleup Europe Fund managed by EQT, with participation from existing investors, WIL (World Innovation Lab), and a planned investment from NVIDIA

New capital accelerates Pigment’s move toward autonomous planning, powered by its proprietary Graphite engine

PARIS, Oct. 21, 2026 /CNW/ — Pigment, the AI business planning and performance management platform, today announced a $250 million Series E funding round at a $2.3 billion valuation. The round was led by Scaleup Europe Fund, managed by EQT, with participation from WIL (World Innovation Lab), existing investors including Greenoaks, ICONIQ, IVP, and Meritech, and a planned investment from NVIDIA.  This capital will accelerate Pigment’s mission to move fast toward autonomous planning for global enterprises.

The investment comes on the heels of a milestone year for Pigment, which surpassed $100 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) earlier this year, once again doubling year-over-year. Adoption of Pigment’s AI is also accelerating: today, 85% of new metrics in Pigment are created by an Agent. The fundraise puts Pigment in a position to build on this momentum and expand its presence and growth in new regions.

Pigment has rapidly cemented itself as the enterprise-ready platform of choice for large enterprises like Danone, DirecTV, Siemens, Snowflake, ServiceNow, and Unilever displacing legacy incumbents. And, instead of building internal solutions, the world’s most AI-savvy and engineering-dense organizations, including Anthropic, ElevenLabs, and Uber, trust Pigment to serve as the reasoning runtime for their enterprise data.

A commitment to technical superiority and continuous innovation is why some of the largest organizations trust Pigment to replace their legacy systems. It also ensures that Pigment has the capacity to seamlessly support massive global deployments, such as its recent selection by L’Oréal, who is replacing its salary planning tool for their 95,000+ employees globally by deploying Pigment.

On the raise, Pigment Co-Founders Eléonore Crespo and Romain Niccoli said, “Enterprise planning will change more in the next few years than it has in the last thirty. Legacy tools are being left behind, and the world’s most advanced AI companies now run their planning on Pigment. With the backing of our investors, we are moving fast to make autonomous planning a reality for every enterprise. With AI agents running planning workflows end to end and turning decisions into action, companies can respond to change as fast as it happens.”

Enterprise-Ready Scale and Engineering

This $250 million injection will significantly accelerate Pigment’s R&D and fuel the expansion of Pigment’s engineering team, focused on its proprietary, patent-pending compute engine, Graphite, and the AI agents that run on it.

AI agents are only as good as the engine underneath them. Graphite already lets thousands of AI agents and people work on the same governed model at once, scaling to hundreds of billions of data points with deterministic, fully traceable results. That is what makes autonomous planning possible: agents can only be trusted to run planning workflows and act on the results when every number they produce is accurate and every action can be traced. With this funding, Pigment will keep advancing Graphite to handle even larger and more complex workloads, while extending its agents from building models and analyzing data to running planning workflows end to end.

“In most companies, the richest picture of how a business actually runs sits in its plans. Pigment has built that foundation with a single platform connecting finance, sales and workforce planning – and put AI agents to work on it, helping teams model, analyse and act in hours rather than months. Eléonore and Romain have built a global category leader from Paris, and that is exactly the kind of company the Scaleup Europe Fund was created to back,” said Shannee Braun, Managing Director, EQT and Scaleup Europe Fund.

Try Pigment for free at pigment.com

About Pigment

Pigment is an AI business planning and performance management platform. Built for the complexity of modern enterprises, Pigment combines dynamic modeling with autonomous AI agents and an intuitive UX, to help teams make intelligent decisions with speed and clarity. Across finance, sales, supply chain, and other business functions, teams at companies like Unilever, Snowflake, and Anthropic use Pigment every day to anticipate change, plan ahead, and act with confidence. Try Pigment for free for 14 days at Pigment.com. 

About the Scaleup Europe Fund, managed by EQT

The Scaleup Europe Fund, managed by EQT, is a commercially driven alternative investment fund backing ambitious European technology companies with the potential to become global leaders. Targeting €5 billion, the Fund brings together public and private capital and invests across DeepTech, AI Apps and Life Sciences.
http://scaleupeuropefund.eu/

About EQT

EQT is a global investment organization with a Nordic heritage and more than three decades of experience developing companies. With €341 billion in total assets under management, EQT invests across the full lifecycle of companies, from start-up to maturity.
https://eqtgroup.com/

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SOURCE Pigment