Interview: Lambertsson expects recovery next year

The company and its sister companies, including Byggelement, Smidmek, K-System and Lambertsson Kran, aim to continue boosting its external business while leveraging support from their owner, Sweden-based Peab AB, one of the largest construction and housing companies in the Nordic region.

Carl Rülcker, CEO of Lambertsson, expects to see revenue growth in the third quarter of 2025. (Photo: Peab Byggsystem)

“The housing market in the entire Northern Europe has dropped dramatically this year from the peak years in 2021-2023,” Carl Rülcker, CEO of Lambertsson, told IRN in an interview.

He said 60,000 to 70,000 flats were built annually in the Swedish market in the past, but the number fell to 14,000 to 18,000 this year.

“It was a dramatic drop. But what is going very strong in Sweden today is the civil construction market, including roads, bridges and some big industrial projects, and we have been very successful in transforming our sales and business from the housing market towards the civil construction market.”

He said general construction volumes in Sweden were down by about 10% this year as construction costs surged due to weak Swedish krona and high US interest rates. The Swedish krona has declined by 8% to $0.091 this year.

However, Rülcker - who leads the Peab Byggsystem business unit and became CEO of Lambertsson last April when it was moved internally into Byggsystem - stressed that Lambertsson only recorded a single-digit revenue decrease as it secured new volumes from non-Peab, external business in 2024. The company also improved its bottom line by cutting operational costs and reducing its employee base from 507 to 470.

“Our profits are much stronger this year compared to last year, mainly driven by cutting costs, meeting customers’ expectations and having fewer sub-rentals and unnecessary logistics,” he said. “We have done a massive turnaround within Lambertsson Sweden.”

“We don’t know what will happen next year. We all hope that interest rates will continue to decrease, and the housing market will slowly come back,” he said. “We hope we can see some revenue growth from the third quarter of 2025.”

“We expect our revenue to return to the same level as 2023 organically. Then we may look for acquisitions.”

He said the company’s capital expenditures in 2024 were higher than in 2023, but this was only due to the low base last year.

Peab Byggsystem aims to boost its external customer base. (Photo: Peab Byggsystem)

Throughout 2024, Lambertsson has been investing in new machinery, especially for civil construction projects such as the expansion of the Stockholm metro. It plans to boost capex in 2025 to meet new demands, including those from the solar construction market.

External customers

In April 2023, Lambertsson Sweden and Lambertsson Kran, which had been directly owned by Peab AB since 1992, became part of Peab Byggsystem (Peab Industry). The word “bygg” in Swedish means “build” in English. 

Peab Byggsystem, a wholly-owned unit of Peab AB, has about 1,300 employees and a turnover of SEK4 billion (€350 million). Peab AB has about 15,000 employees and a turnover of SEK63 billion (€5.5 billion). 

Under the umbrella of Byggsystem, Byggelement supplies precast concert elements, while Smidmek provides prefabricated steel, wooden and concrete frames. K-system is a building construction solution provider.   

Lambertsson rents general construction equipment from 39 locations in Sweden, while Lambertsson Kran rents mobile and tower cranes in Sweden, Norway and Finland. Lambertsson has brands such as Bärarelaget, Kranor and Virtanen. It also owns Glacell, a specialist in solar panels and electrical charging infrastructure.

“Byggsystem has a total turnover of about SEK4 billion, slightly more than 50% of which is from the rental business and the rest from the precast business,” said Rülcker, the person-in-charge of Byggsystem. “We’re fully owned by Peab, but Peab only accounts for about 40% of our customer base in general.”

“Byggelment has 80% of its sales outside the Peab group, Smidmek has 50% outside Peab, while Lambertsson Sweden has 30% outside Peab,” he said.

He said Lambertsson’s tower crane operations receive about half of their sales from external customers (sales outside Peab: 50% in Sweden, 80% in Norway, and 90% in Finland).

“In general, Peab should not account for more than 50% of sales within any of these companies,” he said. “It’s not healthy for a company to become too dependent on one customer.”

Peab Byggsystem’s units will continue to increase collaborations. (Photo: Peab Byggsystem)

“We treat Peab as a large and very important customer, but all our customers, whether it’s Peab, Skanska, NCC or any other construction companies, should receive the same customer experience.”

Advantages of having separate brands

Rülcker said it’s good for Byggsystem to have separate brands.

“We are working under independent brands and logos because when we go to a competitor of Peab, we cannot brand ourselves as Peab,” he said.

He said most construction companies in Sweden accept using Lambertsson’s rental services, except Skanska, which has its own rental companies.

“We are an external player working on the external market. As long as we create customer value, we keep the project details within our four walls.”

On the other hand, Peab’s reputation of having a long history and strong financial background provides Byggsystem’s units a foundation to build long-term relations with external customers, Rülcker said.

He emphasized that Byggsystem’s units have isolated customer relationship management (CRM) systems from Peab and do not share any customer details with other customers.

Meanwhile, he said Byggsystem’s units will continue to boost collaboration. For instance, two-thirds of Smidmek’s precast elements are in-sourced from Byggelement, while Lambertsson and Lambertsson Kran always contribute to Byggsystem’s heavy structure construction projects. Lambertsson also sells products via Byggelemnt to external customers.

Energy transition

Lambertsson has adopted a step-by-step approach to energy transition.

Lambertsson listens to the customers in the energy transition. (Photo: Peab Byggsystem)

“We have started with some small machines such as electric circular saws,” said Rülcker. “Now we are transforming into electricity with our vibration plates, everything from 100 kilograms up to 600 kilograms.”

He said excavators and small wheel loaders should also be 100% electric, but the company will test them before ordering large quantities.

“We have changed about 50% of all machinery to electricity, where it works,” he said. “But we need to listen to the customers and what they want.

“If they are on a civil construction project where they don’t have constant electricity, they would prefer to use engine-driven,” he said, adding that it does not make sense to charge an electric vibration plate with a diesel generator.

He said Lambertsson is open to end customers who make specific requests concerning low emission equipment.

Human resources

In 2019, Lambertsson expanded its operations in northern Sweden by opening a new location in Sälen, adding to its existing depots in the Norrland region at Luleå, Umeå and Sundsvall.

Rülcker said staff recruitment in northern Sweden is a bit difficult due to the lack of experienced rental industry personnel, but is easier in other regions.

He said Lambertsson has many very loyal employees and a young workforce, and their average employment time is around eight to ten years.

“I met a group of very loyal employees last year with an average employment time of 13 years,” he said. “I also went to Västerås and met some new employees, both men and women. It was great to see young and hungry people working there with us.”

Supporting Ukraine

In August of this year, Lambertsson partnered with the non-profit organisation Help Ukraine Gothenburg (HUG) to deliver more than 500 products to Ukraine, including sheds, power stations, lighting masts, fire extinguishers, and other machines. Volvo Trucks provided logistic support.

Rülcker said the company wants to do its part to support Ukraine by sending used equipment there, as many employees asked me what we could do.

“We are not selling our old machinery in the market, but instead giving it away to Ukraine,” he said. “We have sent over up to 50 trucks down to Ukraine with accommodation modules, electricity generators and hand tools, which are now used by the army in the front in Ukraine as shelters and hospitals.

“We are now looking at setting up a clinic for traumatized children in Ukraine,” he said, adding that the programme had generated a sense of pride within the company.