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New CFO in the middle of exceptional financial period

The financial period reviewed in this annual report was exceptional in many ways.

 

Extended financial period

 

Firstly, the financial period was particularly long. It lasted 18 months, instead of the usual 12 months.

 

“The reason for the extension of the financial period was the uncertainty around one specific project. The project was already large scoped in the beginning but grew from the original scope by more than 40 per cent during the delivery. The commercial negotiations related to the additional work of the project were scheduled for late February 2024, which would have forced us to close the financial period at the end of 2023 with insufficient information and extremely conservative assumptions,” explains Outi Mäntylä, CFO of VEO. 

  

Mäntylä started in her new role as VEO’s chief financial officer in the middle of this exceptional situation but says that extending the financial period has turned out to be a wise decision.

 

“The commercial closing of the project in question was held at the beginning of 2024 and we were able to recognise the full project with additional revenue during this 18-month financial period,” Mäntylä says.

 

Record breaking results

 

Although the figures of this extraordinary financial period are not directly proportional to VEO’s previous years, one thing is certain: the results are excellent.

 

“Even though one of our subsidiaries struggled with profitability mainly due to the project described earlier, we can be pleased with the positive results achieved, especially in our Nordic operations. We broke many records during the financial period: record–high turnover and profit, record-high margin for orders received as well as the highest cash peaks in the company’s history. These are results we can all be proud of.”

 

VEO quote Outi

Profitable organisational change

 

One of the major factors behind the results is an organisational change made at the turn of 2022 and 2023, combining three separate business units into one united profit responsible VEO. 

 

“By working as one VEO, we are more efficient, have clearer leadership structures, are able to focus on profitable projects and serve our customers better. Through these development efforts, the profitability at the core of our strategy has improved significantly.” 

  

Even though the direction is right, it still takes continuous work to get the organisational change fully implemented.

 

“We are now analysing profitability in customer segment and market area level, which enables us to make corrective actions in much more agile ways than before. In my opinion, the outstanding performance we saw in this financial period is an indication that VEO has a very positive outlook for the future and all the opportunities for strong growth as well. However, in the near future, our goal is to systematically improve our bottom line year–over–year.”

Get to know

Outi Mäntylä

 

 

Who are you?

I am the new CFO of VEO. I was born in Jyväskylä, grew up in Forssa, and now living near Tampere, in Lempäälä, Finland.

I am interested in always improving my leadership skills and enjoy related literature and podcasts. I am also a life-long basketball enthusiast and always ready to shoot some hoops.

Outside of work, I prefer to spend time with my family and children, exercising, and doing housework, where I can immediately see my progress, for example cutting the grass or removal of snow. These also serve as stress release methods.

 

Your career path to VEO?

I have an MBA degree, and I have worked 17 years for international listed companies in various financial administration positions both in Finland and abroad. During my career, I have lived abroad for six years in four different countries, mainly in the Americas, and gained priceless work experience in challenging environments.

At VEO, I was attracted by a meaningful mission. Who wouldn’t want to work at the heart of the green transition? From my previous career, I was already familiar with the know-how and professionalism of VEO’s experts. I was also interested in VEO’s agile and flexible way of working, and the fact that I can contribute to the success of the company here.

 

What kind of tasks do you enjoy?

I am a team player by heart, and I especially enjoy large-scale development work and working together for a common goal with a committed team. I always try to look at things more broadly than just from the financial point of view and bring these different views to the management work.

 

You have now worked one year at VEO. How do you feel?

As always, the first year in a new job is mostly learning and familiarisation, but now I’m picking up steam. For example, we have started regular get-togethers and information splashes aimed at increasing the financial understanding and the commercial mindset of our personnel. I believe that when everyone knows VEO’s financial situation, understands the value of the work they are doing, and how they can influence our common result through their own actions, positive development is achieved. This trend can already be seen at VEO, also in the company’s results.

 

Your core values?

Family, health, peace, nature, honesty and of course persistence, or as we Finns call it ‘sisu’. At work, I appreciate meaningfulness, development, empathy, positivity and enabling shared success.

  

“At VEO, I was attracted by a meaningful mission. Who wouldn’t want to work at the heart of the green transition?”