Borregaard ASA

OSE:BRG

Earnings Call Transcript 2021-Q4

[Per Arthur Sørlie, President & CEO]

Good morning, and welcome to this fourth quarter 2021 presentation for Borregaard. My name is Per Sorlie. I'm the CEO of the company, and I'll be joined this morning by our CFO, Per Bjarne Lyngstad, and we will take you through this agenda. First, I'll talk about the highlights for the quarter and for the full year, then we will look at the proposed dividend that was discussed by the Board yesterday. Then we will go through the business segments, both quarterly and annually. And finally, I will conclude with an outlook for 2022. Then Per Bjarne will take over and give you some more details on the financial performance of the company. First, the highlights for the fourth quarter. EBITDA came in at NOK 263 million, which was exactly the same amount as we delivered last year in the same quarter. BioSolutions continued its improvement, and this was primarily driven by favorable product mix in the quarter. We had lower deliveries in BioMaterials and Fine Chemicals, in line with our guidance after Q3. High energy spot prices also had an impact in the quarter. And as we also guided for in the fourth quarter, we had below-normal production levels at the Sarpsborg site. Finally, we also had a very strong cash flow, both in the quarter and for the full year. If we look at full year 2021, we delivered an all-time high EBITDA of NOK 1.372 billion, beating the previous full-time all-time high, which was from the previous year of NOK 1.132 billion. The big improvement was in BioSolutions, and it was driven by price increases and a favorable product mix. In BioMaterials, we experienced very high deliveries and improved product mix, but at the same time, this was also lower sales prices in the area. In Fine Chemicals, a weaker product mix and increased raw material costs burdened the result somewhat. High energy spot prices partly offset lower wood costs for the full year. FX was negative on a full year basis. And as we already mentioned, we had a very strong cash flow for the full year. The dividend proposal was discussed by the Board in yesterday's Board meeting. And just to remind you of the dividend policy, we want to pay regular and progressive dividends, reflecting expected long-term earnings and cash flows of the group. And the dividend is targeted to be between 30% and 50% of net profit. The dividend proposal for this year will be -- or for 2021 is the ordinary dividend is proposed at NOK 2.75 per share. This is equivalent to 40% of net earnings for the year, and it's also a 10% increase from the previous year. However, the Board has also discussed whether there's room for an extraordinary dividend on top of the ordinary dividend. And the proposal is to give NOK 2.25 per share as an extraordinary dividend. This is, of course, driven by the increased earnings and the strong cash flows that has resulted in a strong balance sheet with low debt levels. So altogether, the total dividend is then proposed to be NOK 5 per share, which is a dividend yield of 2.25%, reflected -- reflecting the share price at the end of 2021. And the expected payment is just under NOK 500 million, depending on the number of shares owned by the company at the time of payment. Then I will move on to the market situation and first, BioSolutions. The BioSolutions experienced a very strong price increase in the quarter. Price came up 41% in sales currency compared to the same quarter last year. This was driven by a very strong product mix in the improvement in the quarter but also increased sales prices year-on-year and reduced sales volume to low-value applications that technically have an indirect effect on the average price. I said it was driven by product mix improvement, and we saw very high sales of specialties in the quarter, and this included also extraordinarily high deliveries of biovanillin. There's very strong demand for plant-based vanillin and this is also, we expect, partly influenced by downtime among Chinese producers of oil-based vanilla flavor, synthetic vanillin, ethyl vanillin or the products from China. The sales volume came down 13% compared to the same quarter last year. And this is, of course, again because of the reduced raw material supply that we had started back in 2020. And the reduced supply was partly compensated by increased volume from the Florida plant. And the volume reduction, as we already mentioned, primarily to place in low-value applications and then indirectly had a positive effect on the average sales price. If we take a look at the full year market situation for BioSolutions, the average price in sales currency came up 24% versus 2020. The biggest factor when you look at the full year is the price increases in sales currency. But also, here, you see a favorable product mix for the full year and the reduced sales volume into the low-value applications. Generally speaking, we have to say there's been strong demand for lignin-based biopolymers, we. Have optimized and at the same time, had an eye on diversification of the product portfolio. And also the -- more specifically, the new biovanillin capacity is ahead of target when it comes to market introduction because of the solid demand situation that we have seen throughout the second half of 2021. The sales volume is 12% lower versus last year. Reduced raw material supply, again, partly offset by increased volume from the Florida plant and also some inventory reductions in this business area. Also, I should remind you that in the first quarter of 2021, we lost the raw material supply from one of our sources, Park Falls in Wisconsin. And as it looks today, this pulp mill is in liquidation. So we think that this is a permanent loss of raw material. Then we will move on to BioMaterials markets for the fourth quarter. We had lower deliveries of specialty cellulose in the quarter. As we guided for in our outlook after Q3, this is really down to inventory management, following very high deliveries in the first 3 quarters of 2021. So there was a need to -- we had supplied all our key customers with their demands for the year, and we had to make sure that we did not end up in a situation with too low deliveries entering 2022. So this was not related to the market demand but rather to our own internal needs for inventory management. At the same time, we also guided for lower production volume in the quarter itself because we had a plan for an extended annual maintenance stop because we needed to install and replace some equipment that had reached the end of its lifetime. Average sales price in currency came in 4% higher than the same quarter last year. And this was due to a favorable product mix with a very high share of specialized products among the deliveries in Q4. Then if we look at the full year, the average sales price in sales currency came in 1% below the previous year, 2020. And this was because we had reduced prices, especially on the ether grades somewhat, and this was offset by an improved product mix. So all in all, it came out roughly very close to the previous year. The sales of highly specialized grades increased from 77% to 79%. But when you look at that number, 79%, you should also take a look at the overall sales volume, which came up from 148,000 tonnes in 2020 to 164,000 tonnes in 2021. So that increase in share of highly specialized came on a much higher volume. So in other words, there was very strong demand, particularly for cellulose ethers to the construction, food and pharma markets. And as you can also see with deliveries of 164,000 tonnes for the full year, this was well above our normal production level. So this means that we had a considerable inventory reduction and, hence, the need for inventory management in Q4. Sales of cellulose fibrils continued to grow substantially in the year, but is still hampered by COVID-19 pandemic. Fine Chemicals, both Q4 and the full year. First, for Q4, for lower deliveries and a slightly weaker product mix for Fine Chemical Intermediates in the quarter, and deliveries of bioethanol was also lower than the same quarter in 2020. If we look at the full year, the sales -- we had stable deliveries of Fine Chemicals, the Fine Chemical Intermediates, but with a weaker product mix. The bioethanol sales revenues were somewhat lower than 2020, but this was really mainly due to the nonrecurring sales to disinfectants that we experienced in the second quarter of 2020. So the underlying good growth really in the bioethanol sales revenues, when you correct for that. Before I move on to the outlook for next year, I'll just take one slide on sustainability, climate change and the environment, targets and ratings. Borregaard had approval -- we reached approval for our science-based targets for CO2 reductions back in 2019. This was based on the well below 2 degrees target. In 2021, we have discussed and we have committed to and applied for more ambitious targets that will be in line with the 1.5-degree centigrade's target, goal for global warming. And the new targeted reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Scope 1 and 2 will be 46% absolute reduction by 2030. And net 0 target for 2050, but with 90% absolute reduction. And we have revised the base here from 2009 to 2020. And needless to say, these targets are in line with the ambitions in The Paris Agreement and the Norwegian climate law. So this will mean that we will revise our activities also accordingly to deliver on these revised targets. Then in 2021, we received and we were rated again by CDP. And we were highlighted as a global leader in corporate climate action by CDP. We reached a score within climate change, an A score, and this was the fourth consecutive year that we had an A rating in climate change. We also, for the first time, had official rating within Forest and this was also an A rating. And we also had a first year score for water security, and there, we received an A- rating. So altogether, Borregaard is among the top 20 companies rated by CDP out of more than 13,000 companies reporting and being rated by CDP. So needless to say, we are quite satisfied with this, but again, these are revised and ambitious goals for CO2 reductions in the years ahead. Then I will turn to the outlook, for the next year, 2022. Overall, as you have seen in the market summary for last year, the markets are strong across all our business areas and all are market segments. If we then look particularly at BioSolutions, we believe that the total sales volume will be largely in line with the 2021 volume. The positive market developments that we have seen across several biopolymer applications is expected to continue, and this will improve both the product mix and the average price in sales currency. And more specifically, biovanillin, the market is expected to remain positive and the new capacity will be gradually phased into the market as the market allows and demand develops. Cost increases will be prevalent also in 2022, and this will be primarily driven by freight and energy costs. And these increases will -- majority of these increases will actually happen in BioSolutions, and the cost increases are expected to largely offset the positive market development. The largest uncertainty on the cost side is related to energy spot pricing. In BioMaterials, the average price in sales currency is expected to be approximately 20% above last year, above 2021. The total sales volume will be lower in 2022. As you saw, we sold well above production levels in 2021, but the volume of highly specialized grades is expected to be in line with 2021. The positive impact that we will see from these price increases and from a stronger product mix will be partly offset by increased freight raw material and energy costs. So there is a less of a cost increase in this business area. Sales growth will continue for cellulose fibrils, but new development customer trials continue to be delayed and impacted by COVID-19 pandemic. For the first quarter, the sales volume is expected to be lower than in the quarter last year. But remember that in the first 3 quarters of 2021, we saw above normal sales volumes. Finally, in Fine Chemicals, favorable market conditions for biofuel in several European Union countries, and the bulk of our bioethanol sales will be going into these markets in 2022. Also, the product mix for Fine Chemicals Intermediates is expected to improve, but it will again be partly offset by increased raw material costs. So that completes my presentation and the outlook. I will then hand over to Per Bjarne Lyngstad for the financial performance details. Thank you.

[Per Bjarne Lyngstad, Chief Financial Officer]

Thank you, Per, and good morning; everyone. With regards to operating revenues increased by 8% compared with the fourth quarter of 2020, mainly as a result of a strong product mix and price increases in BioSolutions. EBITDA was NOK 263 million, which was in line with the fourth quarter of 2020. BioSolutions had a significant EBITDA improvement, while BioMaterials and Fine Chemicals had weaker results. Net currency effects were positive by NOK 5 million. High spot prices for liquefied natural gas and electricity led to increased energy costs in the quarter. In addition, production output from the Sarpsborg site was below normal levels, partly due to an extended annual maintenance stop, which also affected manufacturing costs negatively. The EBITDA margin was 18.2% in the fourth quarter, about 1 -- 1.5 percentage points below the corresponding quarter in 2020. And earnings per share ended at NOK 1.02 compared with NOK 1.22 in the fourth quarter of 2020. For the full year, Borregaard's operating revenues increased by 9% due to price increases and improved product mix in BioSolutions and high sales volume in BioMaterials. EBITDA reached an all-time high of NOK 1.372 billion compared with NOK 1.132 million in 2020. Also, for the full year, Borregaard BioSolutions results increased significantly while BioMaterials and Fine Chemicals had slightly weaker results. The net currency impact was negative by NOK 60 million for the full year. The EBITDA margin ended at 23.6%, and 2.4 percentage points improvement compared with 2020. Return on capital employed improved by close to 5 percentage points to 16.1% and was back above our target level after 3 years where return on capital employed has been affected by significant expansion investments. Earnings per share increased by close to 60% to NOK 6.95. Operating revenues in BioSolutions increased by 27% compared with the fourth quarter of 2020 and by 13% for the full year, mainly due to price increases and an improved product mix, partly offset by reduced sales volume. EBITDA reached NOK 214 million in the fourth quarter compared with NOK 137 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. The strong improvement was mainly due to a favorable product mix and increased sales prices. However, energy costs increased substantially in BioSolutions in the quarter and partly offset the positive product mix and price effects. Net currency effects were slightly negative compared with the fourth quarter of 2020. For the full year, EBITDA reached NOK 942 million, a 50% increase compared with 2020. The significant improvement also for the full year was a result of price increases and a favorable product mix, partly offset by increased energy costs and negative net currency effects. The fourth quarter's EBITDA margin was 22.9% and was 4 percentage points above the margin in the fourth quarter of 2020 but was negatively affected by lower volume and higher energy cost compared with the second and third quarter of 2021. For the full year, the EBITDA margin was 27.2%, close to 7 percentage points above 2020. In BioMaterials, operating revenues decreased by 12% compared with the fourth quarter of 2020, mainly due to lower deliveries. For the full year, operating revenues increased by 8%, mainly due to high deliveries and an improved product mix. EBITDA was NOK 27 million compared with NOK 80 in the fourth quarter of 2020. Lower deliveries, below-normal production volume with higher manufacturing costs and increased energy spot prices were partly offset by an improved product mix, reduced wood costs and a positive net currency impact. For the full year, EBITDA was NOK 284 million, compared with NOK 318 million in 2020. Lower sales prices, higher energy spot prices and a negative net currency impact was largely offset by reduced wood cost and improved product mix and high deliveries of specialty cellulose. The EBITDA margin was down to 6.7% in the quarter, more than 10 percentage points below the fourth quarter of 2020. For the full year, the EBITDA margin ended at 15.3%, about 3 percentage points below 2020. Low deliveries resulted in a 25% decrease in operating revenues for Fine Chemicals in the fourth quarter. For the full year, operating revenues decreased by 10%. EBITDA was NOK 22 million in the fourth quarter compared with NOK 46 million in the fourth quarter of '20. The reduced result in the fourth quarter was due to lower deliveries, weaker product mix and increased raw material costs for Fine Chemical Intermediates. Lower deliveries of bioethanol were offset by the effect of a continued high production volume. Net currency effects were slightly positive in the fourth quarter. For the full year, EBITDA was NOK 146 million compared with NOK 182 million in 2020. Weaker product mix and increased raw material costs were the main reasons for a lower result for Fine Chemical Intermediates in 2021. Bioethanol had lower sales, but production volume increased with improved yield and lower costs. In 2020, the bioethanol result was positively affected by nonrecurring sales to disinfectants. The fourth quarter's EBITDA margin was about 10 percentage points lower than in the corresponding quarter in 2020. For the full year, the EBITDA margin was approximately 4 percentage points lower. The net currency impact on EBITDA was positive by about NOK 5 million compared with the fourth quarter of 2020. The positive impact came from reduced hedging losses partly offset by a stronger Norwegian kroner, which strengthened by about 5% compared with the fourth quarter of 2020, using Borregaard's currency basket. Hedging gains were NOK 6 million compared with a loss of NOK 44 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. For the full year, the net currency impact on EBITDA was negative by minus NOK 60 million. Hedging losses were NOK 29 million compared with NOK 241 million in 2020. Using currency rates as of yesterday, the net currency impact for the full year of 2022 is estimated to be positive by NOK 130 million compared with 2021. The corresponding impact for the first quarter is estimated to be about NOK 25 million compared with the first quarter of 2021. Borregaard had a strong cash flow from operating activities in the fourth quarter due to a significant reduction in net working capital. For the full year, the cash flow from operating activities increased by as much as NOK 550 million due to an improved EBITDA and a significant reduction in net working capital, partly offset by higher tax payments. The net average -- or the average net working capital compared with operating revenues was reduced to 18.6% in 2021, well below our 20% target level. Investments were NOK 262 million in the fourth quarter and NOK 701 million for the full year. Replacement investments ended at NOK 398 million for the full year, in line with our forecast. Expansion investments ended at NOK 303 million in 2021, where the largest expenditure was related to the investments in Alginor ASA and the biovanillin capacity expansion. Net interest-bearing debt decreased by NOK 60 million in the fourth quarter mainly because of the reduction in net working capital. For the full year, the net interest-bearing debt decreased by NOK 377 million. At the end of 2021, Borregaard is well capitalized with an equity ratio of 60% and a leverage ratio, which is net interest-bearing debt over EBITDA of NOK 1.03 billion. We have updated our investment forecast for 2022 and 2023. Investments are expected to increase in both years compared with our previous forecast. Replacement investments are increased somewhat above the targeted level because we plan to reduce emissions to air and effluence to water in the years to come, in line with our own goals and ambitions in the Paris Agreements and all the EU Green deal. Expansion investments are increased, as several smaller and medium-sized projects are ongoing or planned for further specialization in BioSolutions and debottlenecking within BioMaterials and Fine Chemicals. Potential new projects, which so far are a known or have not been communicated, may lead to additional investments. And that concludes today's presentations. If you have questions, please contact Borregaard's Investor Relations by phone or email. Thank you for your attention.