Essity AB (publ) (ETTYF) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Sandra Åberg
VP & Head of Investor Relations

Good morning, and welcome to Essity’s presentation of the Q1 2026 results. Here to take us through the highlights of the quarter, we have our CEO, Ulrika Kolsrud, and our CFO, Fredrik Rystedt. After their presentation, you have the opportunity to engage directly with us. [Operator Instructions]

Now enough of me, let’s get started. Ulrika, please take us through the quarter.

Ulrika Kolsrud
President & CEO

Thank you, Sandra. And also from my side, welcome to this webcast. We started the year with organic sales growth coming from volume growth, and we continued to win the relative game, strengthening market shares in our branded business in retail. We furthermore strengthened our profit margins and delivered a strong cash flow. Then besides these solid results, we had 3 major events in the quarter, the decision to launch a new share buyback program of SEK 3 billion well in line with our ambition to have share buybacks as a reoccurring part of our capital allocation. We also completed our Feminine Care acquisition in North America, now more than doubling our Personal Care sales in the U.S. And we have the organizational change, meaning that we now report in our 4 new business units, Health & Medical, Personal Care, Consumer Tissue and Professional Hygiene.

And