Borregaard ASA

OSE:BRG

Earnings Call Transcript 2021-Q1

[Per Arthur Sørlie, President & CEO]

Good morning, and welcome to this first quarter 2021 presentation for Borregaard. My name is Per Sørlie. I'm the CEO of the company. And I'll be joined this morning by our Chief Financial Officer, Per Bjarne Lyngstad, and we will take you through the following agenda. I'll give you some highlights from the second -- first quarter, then I will take you through the market situation for the different business segments and then complete my presentation with the outlook for the remainder of the year. Then Per Bjarne Lyngstad will take over and go into more specifics about the financial performance.First, the highlights for the first quarter. EBITDA came in at NOK 302 million, an increase from NOK 242 million in the same quarter last year. We saw improved results and improved product mix across all business areas. More specifically, we had increased sales prices for biopolymers and high deliveries of Specialty Cellulose in the quarter. But we also saw a negative net currency impact of approximately NOK 25 million.Then first, look at the BioSolutions market. The average price in sales currency came up 22% compared to the same quarter last year. We have seen now for several quarters that when we reduce our sales volume, we have a positive effect on the price -- in average price of biopolymers in sales currency because we reduced the sales of the least of -- the lowest priced part of the volume. This accounts for approximately 10% of the adjustment. So the remaining 12% is coming from price increases and also mix improvements, but primarily in this quarter from price increases across certain biopolymer applications and then particularly in construction and low-value industrial segments in the market.The sales volume came down 22% compared to the same quarter last year. Let me remind you that in the first quarter last year, we had full production in our business units, our production units, also in South Africa and more or less also in the Spanish operation in biopolymers. These businesses started to -- we've started to feel the impact from loss of production from the second quarter onwards. Also, in the first quarter last year, of course, there was no impact from the COVID-19 pandemic.So the reduction in sales is primarily driven by the reduced raw material supply coming particularly from South Africa and Spain. And this has been partly offset by increased volume from our Florida operation.Another smaller source in the United States, Park Falls also delivered below expectations in the first quarter. These reductions in raw material supply and the following reductions in sales volume is particularly affecting concrete admixtures and low-value industrial applications. Of course, also in this area, since this is primarily international sales, we saw a negative FX impact.On to BioMaterials in the first quarter. As you can see in the upper right-hand corner, we had very high deliveries of Specialty Cellulose in the quarter, 47,500 tonnes. And this also led to a significant inventory reduction. Let me remind you that our annual production rate is in the range of 150,000 to 160,000 tonnes. So sales of 47,500 normally would imply a reduction in inventories.We also saw a favorable product mix in the quarter, which compensated for the previously announced price reductions. So fairly flat pricing in the quarter. The average sales price -- the average price in sales currency came down 1% compared to the same quarter last year. In this area, since this is an export business out of Norway, we also saw a negative impact from currency in the quarter.Fine Chemicals. Generally, very low sales in the quarter. We had lower deliveries, but a strong product mix in Fine Chemical intermediates, primarily into the x-ray contrast media market. But we also had unusually low deliveries of bioethanol in the quarter. These deliveries were mainly to the biofuel segment. So all in all, a slow quarter in terms of sales, but production operations went normal, and this doesn't really imply anything for the future sales from this business segment.Then I'll move on and talk about the outlook for the next 3 quarters. In BioSolutions, the sales volume for the full year is forecast to decrease by 10% to 15%, and this will mainly depend on the raw material supply. As I mentioned, we had lower deliveries than expected from Park Falls in the first quarter. This may or may not continue for the remainder of the year, but it's included in this range of 10% to 15% decrease overall. Again, this reduction in sales volume will have a positive effect, both on the product mix and the average price in sales currency since we are trying to reduce sales into the lower-priced segments.Biovanillin is also a part of BioSolutions, and it's a specialty in -- specialty product in this business area. The market conditions for biovanillin expect to be unchanged. And again, let me remind you that the planned capacity expansion, the ongoing capacity expansion will be completed as expected mid-2021, which will be a 20% to 30% capacity increase for this particular product range.BioMaterials. The average price in sales currency is still expected to be 2% to 3% below the 2020 level, as we also guided after the fourth quarter last year. The full year sales volume is expected to increase from 2020 and with high deliveries in the first half. Just to elaborate a bit on that, the annual sales -- the annual production volume, as I mentioned, is in the range of 150,000 to 160,000. Last year, we were sold slightly less than we produced. This year, we expect to sell what we produce or even maybe slightly above what we produce. So that's the reasoning behind the increase from 2020. However, over time, we usually sell what we produce. And also, this year, we expect to have high deliveries in the first 2 quarters. So there are usually -- there can be delivery patterns that are agreed with customers. So we had high deliveries in the first quarter. And as you can see, we also expect the high deliveries to continue through the first half.The share of highly specialized grades will be higher than last year. But this also implies higher manufacturing costs because it's more costly to produce a specialty grade. Obviously, I mean, it has a better contribution margin, but the higher price also comes with higher manufacturing costs. Lower wood costs are expected to continue also into the second quarter. But again, it will be leveled out by increased energy costs and freight rates, more or less like we observed in the first quarter this year.In Cellulose Fibrils, sales growth is expected to continue. However, the COVID-19 pandemic is still slowing down new business development and the potential to run large-scale customer trials. So we will -- we are still waiting for the market to open a bit more up, and the possibility for our service people to travel to customers and potential customers.Finally, in Fine Chemicals, no major changes are expected in market conditions for Fine Chemicals, i.e., the contrast -- x-ray contrast media markets. In bioethanol, the sales will mainly go into the biofuel segment in 2021. And just let me take the opportunity to remind you that the second quarter in 2020 was significantly affected by bioethanol sales to disinfectants. And we don't expect that to repeat itself. So for the remainder of the year, as for the first quarter, it will be the biofuel segment. That will primarily be the taker of our bioethanol.Finally, just a reminder that the COVID-19 pandemic is still affecting our markets in different ways, and we continue to monitor and the consequences of what could happen in that area.Then that completes my presentation. So I will hand over to Per Bjarne Lyngstad to take you through the financial figures. Thank you.

[Per Bjarne Lyngstad, Chief Financial Officer]

Thank you, Per, and good morning, everyone. Borregaard's operating revenues increased by 3% compared with the first quarter of 2020, mainly due to high deliveries of Specialty Cellulose.EBITDA increased to NOK 302 million, NOK 60 million above the same level, the same quarter last year. All business areas improved our results, and the improvement was particularly strong in BioSolutions. The net currency impact was negative by NOK 25 million compared with the first quarter 2020, mainly as a result of an 8% stronger Norwegian kroner using Borregaard's currency basket.The EBITDA margin was close to 4 percentage points higher than last year. And earnings per share ended at NOK 1.47, a 43% improvement compared with the first quarter last year.In BioSolutions, operating revenues increased by 2% compared with the same quarter last year. Discontinued raw material supply in South Africa and Spain resulted in 22% lower sales volume. However, the discontinued sales from the South African joint venture only had a limited impact on the top line because we applied the equity method for accounting of the joint venture in 2020.EBITDA in BioSolutions increased by NOK 35 million to NOK 205 million. Price increases for certain biopolymer applications and reduced costs were only partly offset by negative net currency effects. Cost reductions came from the upgrade of the biopolymers operation in Norway. Some adjustments of sales and marketing costs because of the reduced volume and reduced spending during the pandemic, for instance, lower travel costs. The EBITDA margin increased by 4 percentage points to 25.2%.High deliveries of Specialty Cellulose was the main reason for the 15% increase in BioMaterials revenues in the first quarter. EBITDA reached NOK 64 million, NOK 18 million above the first quarter 2020. The improved EBITDA was mainly due to the high deliveries of Specialty Cellulose and a favorable product mix, which more than compensated for a 1% lower average price in sales currency and a negative net currency impact. Specialty Cellulose inventory was significantly reduced in the quarter.The effect of lower wood cost was largely offset by higher energy costs and increased freight rates. The EBITDA margin was 12.2%, about 2 percentage points above last year.Low deliveries resulted in a 30% decrease in revenues for Fine Chemicals in the first quarter compared with last year. However, EBITDA increased by NOK 7 million to NOK 33 million. Low deliveries in the quarter were more than offset by a favorable product mix for Fine Chemical intermediates and high production volume with improved yield and lower cost for bioethanol. The net currency impact in Fine Chemicals was insignificant. And the EBITDA margin was 37%, significantly above last year.The net currency impact on EBITDA was, as I said, negative by NOK 25 million in the first -- compared with the first quarter of 2020. The negative impact came from a stronger Norwegian kroner, which strengthened by approximately 8% compared with the first quarter 2020 using Borregaard's currency basket.Hedging losses were reduced from NOK 62 million last year to NOK 15 million this year, partly offsetting the negative impact from a stronger Norwegian kroner. Using currency rates as of yesterday, the net currency effect in the second quarter is estimated to be minus NOK 25 million compared with the second quarter 2020. The corresponding impact for the full year of 2021 is estimated to be minus NOK 45 million compared with 2020.Cash flow from operating activities was NOK 239 million in the first quarter, a significant improvement from the weak cash flow in the first quarter of 2020. The improved cash flow was due to a more favorable development in net working capital and the cash effect from an increased EBITDA.Investments were higher than the low level in the first quarter of 2020. The 2 projects contributing the most to investment spending in the quarter was the upgrade of the chloralkali plant. And the capacity expansion for biovanillin, both projects at the site in Sarpsborg.Net interest-bearing debt decreased by NOK 119 million in the first quarter. At the end of the first quarter, Borregaard was well capitalized with an equity ratio of 57%, and our leverage ratio, which is net interest-bearing debt over EBITDA of 1.41.And that concludes today's presentation. If you have questions, please contact Borregaard's Investor Relations by phone or email. Thank you for your attention.