Jorma Rauhala

President and CEO, Kesko

Search every verified Jorma Rauhala interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Jorma Rauhala, President and CEO of Kesko, commented on the company's second-quarter results in an interview published on July 22, 2026. He described the quarter as "strong," noting that the improvement in quarterly profit was the largest in over four years, driven primarily by the technical trade segment. Rauhala stated that Kesko gained market share significantly and highlighted a 20 million euro profit improvement in the building and building services technical wholesale business. Rauhala also discussed the integration of recent acquisitions, including the Dahl and Scoban businesses. He said the focus for these larger acquisitions is on separating them from their previous environments and ensuring IT systems and shared services function properly, rather than on cost synergies. Regarding outlook, Rauhala expressed a belief that the technical trade segment will continue to strengthen, though he noted that new housing sales in Finland have not yet picked up and are unlikely to impact the current year's results significantly. He added that international operations have been strong and that the company expects steady improvement across its segments.