Algol’s Sustainability Statement 2024: We focused on environmental actions, social responsibility and governance

Our 2024 Sustainability Statement has been prepared for the first time in accordance with the structures and principles of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).  The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is still voluntary for Algol. The development work that has been undertaken for the 2024 Sustainability Statement will provide the basis for Algol’s future sustainability reporting.

The Statement is based on double materiality assessments. In the 2024 Statement, in addition to general information, the following emerged as key topics:

Environmental responsibility
E1 Climate change
E2 Pollution
E5 Resource use and circular economy

Social responsibility
S1 Own workforce
S2 Workers in the value chain
S4 Customers and end users

Governance
G1 Business conduct

“Building a responsible and sustainable business is the task of our entire organisation. Our Sustainability Statement highlights our ongoing work to ensure and develop sustainability. Our values – accountability, collaboration and development – inspire this work even without reporting obligations, as they have done since 1894”, states CEO Alexander Bargum in his greeting. 

Algol Group’s sustainability highlights in 2024:

  • The Statement covers, where applicable, all companies within the Algol Group: Algol Chemicals, Algol Diagnostics, Algol Technics, Algol Trehab, Histolab Products, and Suomen Unipol. 
  • Double materiality assessments were conducted at Algol Chemicals and Algol Technics. In the other business units, this work was initiated at the end of 2024.
  • We published new policies that guide operations, ensure regulatory compliance, and support sustainability. 
  • We advanced our climate work. Scope 1–2 emission calculations were completed at the Group level. Scope 3 calculations were further developed, with Algol Chemicals taking the lead. 
  • Employee wellbeing and job satisfaction are supported through regular review and target setting discussions and feedback from employee surveys. In 2024, 97.2% of employees had participated in these discussions (2023: 94.2%). Our goal is to achieve a 100% participation rate.
  • We are committed to proactive occupational safety. A total of 2262 safety observations were recorded (target: 1460). 

Explore Algol’s Sustainability Statement

Further information:
Tor Edgren, Sustainability Manager, +358 50 525 7625, tor.edgren@algol.fi
Tuulikki Suihkonen, Communications Manager, +358 50 346 7248, tuulikki.suihkonen@algol.fi

Algol in brief

Algol is a family-owned business and multi-branch group with more than 130 years of experience in international trade. Our companies import, market and manufacture products for industry and the healthcare sector. In addition, Algol companies offer services related to their business areas, such as design services, tailored delivery solutions, and installation, maintenance and training services. We are building a successful and sustainable future for our partners. Algol employs nearly 500 experts in ten different countries.

Algol Group achieved its performance target in 2024

The Algol Group’s business continued to develop steadily in 2024. Although the operating result weakened in line with expectations compared to the previous two years, it remained at a good level. The operating profit amounted to EUR 7.8 million, which corresponds to the Group-level performance target set for the year. The results for the Group’s business sectors were also well in line with expectations. The decline in net sales to EUR 194 million was mainly due to declining raw material prices and the weakening of investment demand in the project business.

Outlook for the current year continues to be stable

The current year still looks stable for Algol. The outlook for industrial investments has improved somewhat compared to a year ago. Algol Group companies operate in many different sectors and regions, which provides stability also in times of uncertainty.

According to our forecast, net sales and the result at the Group level will improve in 2025. We continue to aim for moderate growth, continuous long-term improvement in our results and strengthening our balance sheet.

2024 2023 2022
Net sales, MEUR 194 208 233
EBITDA, MEUR 9.3 13.7 14.4
EBIT, MEUR 7.8 12.2 11.7
Result after taxes, MEUR 5.9 8.5 7.8
ROE, % 16 26 27
Solidity, % 49.6 44.7 36.0
Net debt, MEUR Net debt free Net debt free Net debt free
Number of personnel on average 485 465 476

Further information

Alexander Bargum, CEO, Algol Oy, tel. +358 40 732 3232

Algol in brief

Algol is a family-owned business and multi-branch group with more than 130 years of experience in international trade. Our companies import, market and manufacture products for industry and the healthcare sector. In addition, Algol companies offer services related to their business areas, such as design services, tailored delivery solutions, and installation, maintenance and training services. We are building a successful and sustainable future for our partners. Algol employs nearly 500 experts in ten different countries. www.algol.fi

Support continues for the fourth consecutive year: €40,000 to UNICEF and Red Cross

The Algol Group is donating a total of 40,000 euros to UNICEF and the Red Cross to support victims of the war in Ukraine. A donation of 20,000 euros is being made to each organisation.

Over the past four years, Algol has demonstrated its support for Ukraine by donating a total of 160,000 euros to UNICEF’s Ukraine Fund and the Disaster Relief Fund of the Finnish Red Cross.

With this year’s donation, the company wants to demonstrate its continued support for the government and people of Ukraine on the anniversary of the Russian invasion. We continue to stand with the people of Ukraine, and our thoughts remain with them.

Further information:
Alexander Bargum, tel. +358 40 732 3232

Algol in brief

Algol is a family-owned business and multi-branch group with more than 130 years of experience in international trade. Our subsidiaries import, market and manufacture products for industry and the healthcare sector. In addition, Algol Group companies offer services related to their business areas, such as design services, tailored delivery solutions, and installation, maintenance and training services. We are building a successful and sustainable future for our partners. Algol employs nearly 500 experts in ten different countries.

Changes to Algol Group management: Joakim Flinck appointed Group CEO and Alexander Bargum Chairman of the Board

Alexander Bargum and Joakim Flinck

The Board of Directors of Algol Oy has today (30 January 2025) appointed Joakim Flinck, M.Sc. (Econ.), Group CEO. The appointment will take effect on 1 April 2025. Joakim Flinck has served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Algol Group since 2019 and as Group Deputy CEO since 2020. He succeeds Alexander Bargum, LL.M., who became Group CEO in 2012 after serving as a member of the company’s Board of Directors since 2006.

Algol Oy’s largest shareholders have also agreed that Alexander Bargum, one of the principal shareholders, will become the company’s full-time Chairman of the Board of Directors as of 1 April 2025, after the Annual General Meeting. At that time, Joakim Flinck will also be elected as a member of Algol Oy’s Board of Directors.

With these changes, the Board of Directors of Algol Oy, as the parent company, will focus more strongly on the Group’s ownership strategy, financing and steering of shared functions, as well as Group-level financial monitoring and reporting, sustainability reporting and risk management. The boards of Group companies will continue to be responsible for the strategic steering and monitoring of their own business operations.

The parent company’s Board of Directors will be scaled down in such a way that current members who are independent of the company and shareholders, Kaj Hedvall (Member of the Board since 2011, Chairman since 2020), Kenneth Nystén (Member of the Board since 2017) and Kristina Pentti-von Walzel (Member of the Board since 2022) will resign from their positions.

In addition to Alexander Bargum and Joakim Flinck, Algol’s other principal owner, Johannes Bargum, who has been with the company since 2011 and a Member of the Board since 2018, will continue to serve on the parent company’s Board of Directors. All three also sit on the boards of the Group companies, with Alexander Bargum serving as their Chairman. Otherwise, the boards of the largest Group companies, Algol Chemicals Oy, Algol Technics Oy, Algol Trehab Oy and Histolab Products AB, comprise members who are independent of the companies and their owners.

“The independent board work of our Group companies was introduced in 2020, and this management model has proven its effectiveness in terms of business and the Group’s multi-sector strategy. The parent company’s board has developed especially its practices related to the ownership strategy since then. In this way, we have created the conditions for the change that has now been decided, in which the scope of tasks of the different boards will be further clarified. This will bring more efficiency and agility to our board work at different levels,” says Alexander Bargum.

“I would like to thank the outgoing members of the Board of Directors of Algol Oy for their valuable work, which has required a strong commitment to ownership issues, as well as close monitoring and in-depth understanding of business operations. In the company’s history, it has been customary for either the CEO or the Chairman of the Board to come from outside the ownership circle. Now, for the first time in almost 40 years, we are entering a phase where the CEO does not represent the ownership family. As Chairman of the Board of Directors of the parent company and Group companies, I will continue to actively work for the benefit of Algol as a whole. It is a pleasure to share this work with Joakim Flinck. At the same time, I am very pleased that my brother and other principal owner, Johannes Bargum, has also joined the boards of the Group companies, which will contribute to strengthening the development of the family company,” Alexander Bargum continues.

“I am honoured to accept the duties of Group CEO in such a traditional family company. Over the past five years, we have invested in developing processes and management at Algol. During this time, we have strengthened the Group’s balance sheet and grown our net sales and, above all, operating profit, thereby creating significant shareholder value. This would not have been possible without our skilled and committed employees. I feel that we are well positioned to continue Algol’s sustainable development together with our customers and partners,” says Joakim Flinck.

Further information:
Alexander Bargum, tel. +358 40 732 3232  

Media contacts:
Tuulikki Suihkonen, Communication Manager, tel. + 358 50 346 7248

Algol in brief

Algol is a family-owned business and multi-branch group with more than 130 years of experience in international trade. Our Group companies import, market and manufacture products for industry and the healthcare sector. In addition, Algol Group companies offer services related to their business areas, such as design services, tailored delivery solutions, and installation, maintenance and training services. We are building a successful and sustainable future for our partners. Algol employs nearly 500 experts in ten different countries.

Algol Diagnostics at LabQuality Days 2025

Algol Diagnostics will participate as an exhibitor at the LabQuality Days 2025 event.

We warmly invite you to meet us at the Siipi Conference Centre in Helsinki’s Messukeskus on February 6–7, 2025. We will showcase the latest products and solutions for pathology laboratories, including advancements in laboratory automation, genetics, and immunohistochemistry. Our experts will be on-site to answer your questions and discuss how we can collaborate to enhance laboratory processes and improve the accuracy and efficiency of diagnostics.

Discover new opportunities and get inspired by top-level expertise – see you at LabQuality Days!

Algol Group continues tradition: Christmas donations to Finnish and global causes

As in previous years, Algol Group is donating to both Finnish and international organisations instead of sending Christmas cards and gifts. Again, the support extends to both humanitarian and environmental causes.

In 2024, the following organisations are receiving Christmas donations from the Algol Group:

CEO Alexander Bargum notes that the selection of donation recipients aims to balance support between large and small organisations, as well as between Finnish and international activities. He adds that Algol strives to provide long-term support to these organisations in their valuable work.

Additionally, in 2024, Algol has donated €40,000 to UNICEF and the Finnish Red Cross to assist victims of the war in Ukraine, with each organisation receiving €20,000. Throughout the year, the company has also supported other non-profit causes with smaller contributions.

We are attending the IAP’s autumn meeting in Kuopio

We will participate in the autumn meeting of the Finnish Division of the IAP in Kuopio on November 14–15, 2024, at the Scandic Kuopio Hotel. The topics will cover liver, biliary, and pancreatic pathology as well as endocrine pathology.

Welcome to discuss current diagnostic issues with us!

Fimlab enhances diagnostics: New AS-410M auto slide preparation system implemented as the first of its kind in Finland

Fimlab has become the first clinical pathology laboratory in Finland to implement the new AS-410M auto slide preparation system. Installed in September, the device is now fully operational both day and night as part of the laboratory’s routine activities following a brief setup period. The AS-410M is designed to improve workflow in pathology laboratories and ensure high-quality sample preparation through automation.

The robotic microtome, integrated with the patient information system, uses a barcode-based identification system that minimizes tracking errors. Additionally, a CCD camera monitors the uniformity and alignment of sections on slides, ensuring consistent quality. These features significantly reduce the need for manual sample handling, accelerate the process, and enhance quality assurance.

“This investment supports our customer Fimlab’s goal to deliver even more accurate and faster diagnostics while streamlining laboratory workflow to meet high-quality standards,” says Jukka Puomio, Sales Manager at Algol Diagnostics.

The new Idylla™ ThyroidPrint® test is now available

The Idylla™ ThyroidPrint® test, developed by GeneproDX, evaluates the gene expression profile of a fine needle aspiration (FNA) sample, enabling laboratory assessment of the risk classification for indeterminate thyroid nodules (Bethesda III-IV). This test helps avoid unnecessary thyroid surgeries and reduces healthcare costs.

Benefits of the Idylla ThyroidPrint test:

● The test is performed using an FNA sample.
● Can be conducted locally in your own laboratory.
● Thanks to a fully automated protocol, the turnaround time for the test is approximately 3 hours.
● The test measures the expression of 10 genes.
● The test helps identify nodules with a low cancer risk, with an NPV value of 95%.

Thyroidprint leaflet

Read more about the product

Sustainability Report 2023: We promoted sustainability comprehensively

The Algol Group Sustainability Report 2023 has been published. In the report, we present a summary of the actions and results of 2023, as well as our short-term sustainability goals. The Group is reporting on its sustainability for the second time, and the report focuses on companies wholly owned by Algol.

“Compiling the Sustainability Report also helps us to view our operations from partly new perspectives, which in turn helps us to develop. Sustainable operations are often also more efficient, stable and safe. At the same time, sustainability creates opportunities and points the way towards future growth”, says Alexander Bargum, CEO of the Algol Group.

Algol’s sustainability highlights in 2023 :

– Information security attendance rate among employees: 96.5% (2022: 45.8%)
– Double materiality analysis conducted in Algol Chemicals highlighting climate and safety themes
– Supplier Code of Business Conduct signature rate: 77.6% (2022: 72.1%)
– Review and target setting discussions: 94.2% (2022: 92.9%)
– Recycled waste: 55.97% (2022: 49.52)
– Safety observations: 2262 (target: 1460)

Read our Sustainability Report

Further information:

Tor Edgren, Sustainability Manager, +358 50 525 7625, tor.edgren@algol.fi
Tuulikki Suihkonen, Communications Manager, +358 50 346 7248, tuulikki.suihkonen@algol.fi

 

Algol in brief

Algol is a family-owned business and multi-branch group with more than 130 years of experience in international trade. Our subsidiaries import, market and manufacture products for industry and the healthcare sector. In addition, Algol Group companies offer services related to their business areas, such as design services, tailored delivery solutions, and installation, maintenance and training services. We are building a successful and sustainable future for our partners. Algol employs nearly 500 experts in ten different countries.