Borregaard ASA

OSE:BRG

Earnings Call Transcript 2022-Q1

[Per A Sorlie, executive]

Good morning, and welcome to this First Quarter 2022 Presentation for Borregaard. My name is Per Sorlie, and I'm the President and CEO of the company, and I will be joined this morning by our Chief Financial Officer, Per Bjarne Lyngstad, and we will take you through this agenda. First, I will start out with the highlights for the quarter. Then we will talk about the market situation for the different business segments, and then the outlook for the remainder of the year, and Per Bjarne will then take over and go more into detail on the financial performance of the company.

First, the highlights for the first quarter. We delivered an EBITDA of NOK 400 million in the quarter, which is quite a strong result, and this was compared to NOK 302 million in the same quarter last year. We are delighted to say that, all business areas improved their results. More specifically, we had increased sales and a strong product mix in BioSolutions. We had higher sales prices in BioMaterials and increased deliveries and sales prices in Fine Chemicals.

On the cost side, we saw higher costs, both in energy, freight and raw materials. On the cash flow side, this cash flow was negatively affected by a significant increase in working -- net working capital, but this was driven solely by price increases and cost increases.

Then on to the market side; in BioSolutions, we had an average price increase in sales currency of 23% versus the same quarter last year. And this was primarily driven by price increases, but also to some extent, a strong product mix. We had good contribution from across the whole specter of applications. But in particular, we had strong contribution from agriculture, construction and oilfield chemicals in this particular quarter.

The tight market for synthetic vanillin and ethyl vanillin continued to have a positive impact on the biovanillin market as well in this quarter. The sales volume came in 10% below the same quarter last year, and this was due to reduced raw material supply in the quarter. I would say that the raw material supply from our different raw material sources were below the expected average in the quarter, due to a number of factors like, for instance, extended maintenance stops.

So this was slightly below the original expectation in the guidance that we gave after Q4. But anyway, the business area delivered a strong result. And hopefully, this will come back to a more normal range going forward for the remainder of the year. And also, the way this was managed in the marketplace, was that we reduced sales into low-value markets.

Then on to BioMaterials; the average price in sales currency came in 19% above the same quarter last year, and this was in line with expectations. The market is tight and there's generally strong demand across all market segments. We had lower deliveries of specialty cellulose compared to the same quarter last year. Anyway then, I should remind you that the first 3 quarters in 2021 was all above manufacturing rate. So we have to align now the deliveries with the production rate, and indeed, the deliveries in the first quarter were slightly above the normal production rate as well, even though it was well below the same quarter last year.

Then on to Fine Chemicals; we can see that the first quarter in 2021 was a fairly low sales revenues quarter, and whereas the first quarter this year was slightly above the average rate or in line with the average rate. So high deliveries and also increased sales prices, both in Fine Chemical, Intermediates and bioethanol.

Then on to the outlook for the remainder of the year, unless we specifically say that it is for the second quarter. The total sales volume for the full year is now expected to be slightly below the 2021 volume, and this is with reference to the slightly lower raw material deliveries that we saw in the first quarter. The positive market development is unchanged from the last guiding we gave after Q4. So for the full year, we expect a positive market development across several biopolymer applications, and this will improve both the product mix and the average sales price.

The biovanillin market as well is expected to remain strong, and the new capacity is gradually phased into the market. However, like we said last time, for the full year, we do expect cost increases to largely offset the effect of a positive market development. Having said that, the market development that we saw in the first quarter was stronger than expected in the previous outlook.

Then on to BioMaterials. The average price in sales currency is expected to be approximately 20% above the 2021 level, which is also what was reflected in the first quarter. The total sales volume is expected to be lower than in 2021, as we sold from inventories last year. And this year, it will -- the sales will be aligned with the production volume. The volume of highly specialized grades, however, is expected to be in line with what we sold last year. The positive impact from price increases and the product mix will be partly offset by the escalating costs in energy, raw material and freight. The sales growth in Cellulose Fibrils is also expected to continue.

Fine Chemicals, favorable product and market conditions in biofuel, across EU, will result in increased prices. The bioethanol sales will be mainly into these markets in 2022 and we also expect to see an improved product mix in Fine Chemicals, but this will not fully compensate for the escalating costs in this particular segment of Fine Chemicals.

Then specifically for the second quarter, we expect that the energy and raw material costs will be higher than what we saw in the first quarter. There are some delays in cost increases in both energy and raw materials, and when it comes to uncertainty, the uncertainty still remains that a portion of our energy cost is exposed to the energy spot market, and that remains the largest uncertainty for the rest of the year.

Regarding the war in Ukraine, Borregaard has very limited sales exposure to, and sourcing from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, prior to the war. And needless to say, this is now discontinued. On the other hand, we can be exposed to indirect consequences, that may occur as a result of potential impact on the global economy. And for the -- in the short to medium term, it's most likely to be on the energy side.

So that completes the outlook, and I will hand over to Per Bjarne Lyngstad for the financial performance.

[Per Bjarne Lyngstad, executive]

Thank you, Per, and good morning, everyone. Borregaard's operating revenues increased by 14% compared with the first quarter of 2021, mainly due to increased sales prices and improved product mix. EBITDA increased to NOK 400 million, NOK 98 million above the same quarter last year, and all business areas improved their results. Energy, raw material and freight costs increased significantly in the quarter, but were more than offset by increased sales prices. The net currency impact was positive by NOK 30 million. The EBITDA margin was close to 25%, 3.5 percentage points higher than last year. And earnings per share ended at NOK 2.18, a close to 50% improvement.

In BioSolutions, increased sales prices and a strong product mix, partly offset by 10% lower sales volume, led to a 17% increase in operating revenues compared with the first quarter of 2021. EBITDA increased by NOK 56 million to NOK 261 million. The higher sales prices and the strong product mix more than compensated for a substantial cost increase, primarily for energy and freight. Net currency effects were also positive in the quarter. The EBITDA margin increased by 2.3 percentage points to 27.5%.

The operating revenues in BioMaterials increased by 2% compared with the first quarter last year. Higher sales prices for Specialty Cellulose, more than compensated for lower deliveries. The sales volume in the first quarter was more in line with the normal production volume, while the high sales volume in the first quarter last year, was due to a significant inventory reduction.

EBITDA reached NOK 97 million, NOK 33 million above the first quarter last year. The improved EBITDA was mainly due to increased prices, partly offset by increased energy spot prices, higher raw material costs and lower deliveries.

The net currency impact was positive for BioMaterials. The EBITDA margin was 18.2%, 6 percentage points above the first quarter last year.

Higher deliveries and increased sales prices resulted in close to 60% increase in operating revenues for Fine Chemicals compared with the first quarter of 2021. EBITDA was NOK 42 million, NOK 9 million higher compared with the first quarter last year. The result improvement was due to higher deliveries and increased sales prices, especially for bioethanol. The cost of the main raw material for Fine Chemical Intermediates increased substantially, driven by energy prices. The net currency impact was positive also in this business area. The EBITDA margin was 29.4%, about 7 percentage points below the first quarter of 2021.

The net currency impact on EBITDA was positive by NOK 30 million compared with the first quarter of 2021, mainly due to an improved result from hedging. In the first quarter, hedging gains were NOK 10 million compared with a loss of NOK 15 million in the first quarter last year.

Using currency rates as of yesterday, the net currency impact in the second quarter is estimated to be about NOK 60 million compared with the second quarter of 2021. The corresponding impact for the full year of 2022 is estimated to be about NOK 175 million, compared with 2021.

Borregaard had cash flow from operating activities of minus NOK 72 million in the first quarter. The cash flow was negatively affected by a significant increase in net working capital, mainly due to increased sales prices, which affected the accounts receivable and higher inventory values from increased energy and raw material costs. However, compared with operating revenues, the net working capital is still well below our 20% target.

The cash effect from an improved EBITDA was partly offset by higher tax payments compared with the first quarter of 2021. Investments were slightly below the level of the first quarter of 2021, with only NOK 16 million being spent on expansion projects. Net interest-bearing debt increased by NOK 118 million in the quarter. At the end of the first quarter, Borregaard was well capitalized, with an equity ratio of 62% and a leverage ratio, which is net interest-bearing debt over EBITDA of 1.04.

And that concludes today's presentation. If you have questions, please contact Borregaard's Investor Relations. You will find contact information on Borregaard's home page. Thank you for your attention.