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Earnings Call Transcript

Earnings Call Transcript
2020-Q1

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K
Karen Romer
Senior Vice President of Communications

Good morning, and welcome to Hexagon's Quarterly Presentation for the First Quarter of 2020. I'd like to welcome you, and we are doing this broadcast digitally today. So I will be presenting Jon Erik Engeset, our CEO from our Alesund office; and also here with me, we have David Bandele, our CFO. He'll be taking this stage a little later.I will be controlling the slides from here. So if there's a little delay, it might be because we're sending a signal. At the end of the presentation, I will -- we will be taking questions. There is an e-mail address that you can send your questions to, and I will be moderating them with Jon Erik and David. I -- that address is ir@hexagongroup.com. It's also on the invitation in the press release.And I would like to just walk you quickly through the agenda. We have today -- Jon Erik will walk you through the company update, and then David will take you through a summary of the group highlights and financials, followed by the outlook, and then we'll open up for the Q&A. After the presentation is finished, and the Q&A is finished, we are also open for you to reach out to myself or to David for any one-on-one interviews you would like to have.So without any further ado, I'd like to hand over to Jon Erik.

J
Jon Erik Engeset
President & CEO

Thank you, Karen. Very good morning to all of you. Thank you for joining us this morning.So over the last week, we have had our 3 first cases of COVID-19 in our company. Fortunately, all 3 employees are in good health and are experiencing relatively mild symptoms. The 3 cases are unrelated and we have strong reason to believe that the infection has occurred outside our premises. All procedures have been executed, and we are able to maintain production with minimal disruption. Prior to this, we kept our facility in Kassel, Germany, closed from March 23 to April 20 because of customer shutdowns. But we have now reopened and are running at approximately 50% utilization. All the U.S. plants have been kept open. So several of our customers have essential critical working status, and thus, also we at Hexagon. Going forward, we will reduce capacity significantly in our Mobile Pipeline operations over the next 3 months. So currently, 37 team members are furloughed and will be so for the next couple of months.Fortunately, no major supplier disruptions. We see that several segments will be negatively impacted in Q2, but none of our projects have been canceled. So we see still very high market activity, which points towards recovery from the third quarter.If you will flip to the next page. Thank you. We are very pleased to see that both our customers and our employees, not least, are very dedicated through these difficult times. The customers are not deviating from their sustainability agendas, rather on the contrary, I would say. And our facilities are kept open under strict safety guidelines. And also, we've kept the team's morale up by participating in charity, supporting local schools, among other things.Next slide, please. So one of the effects of the health crisis is that emissions are going down everywhere. So it's too early to say what the longer-term effect of that will be, but a whole new generation is experiencing the pleasure of cleaner air, and the latest estimates point at a 8% reduction in world emissions in 2020. And so far, some rather extreme reductions in places like New York, China, India, EU and the U.K. So as far as we can observe, sustainability remains high on the agenda. In a number of countries, there is -- there are discussions ongoing, whether investments into renewable energy projects and technologies is part of the solution to restore the economy. And we are keen to see if some of the recovery packages can accelerate the shift. In any case, we've seen through the last couple of months that the ESG stocks have proven a more -- or safer haven in this period of market disruption and never has more money being invested into sustainable stocks than in the first quarter of 2020.This slide is a recollection from the second quarter of 2019 when we summarized Hexagon's strategy, and that strategy remains very relevant and valid today. So short to medium term, defined as the next 5 to 10 years, we believe that natural gas, and we include renewable natural gas in that term, represents the energy carrier with the largest potential for a positive environmental impact. So that is one very important driver. We also see clearly that the automotive industry is now shifting towards electric drivetrains. E-drives are more energy efficient. Some will say also more than mechanical drivetrains. And last but not least, we have seen over the last year or 2 that the center of gravity of the hydrogen development has shifted towards East Asia and towards heavier applications, heavier vehicles.And if we go to the next page, please. And that is also the main reason for the decision of Hexagon to take a position in the Chinese market and our announcement last week. So China is, by far, the world's largest automotive market, more than 25 million vehicles was -- we sold in 2019. And there are a number of major Chinese OEMs that we will sure -- for sure hear a lot about in the years to come. The transformation to battery electric vehicles started almost 10 years ago, and we now see a similar process initiated for fuel cell electric vehicles, the numbers are still modest in absolute terms. But still, China represents, by far, the largest market for commercial vehicles. So almost 6,500 vehicles sold in 2019 -- I need to correct that, almost 6,500 vehicles were on the roads last year, of which almost 100% were commercial vehicles and buses, the remainder being light-duty vehicles. And 61 hydrogen refueling stations have been commissioned. The Chinese government, both central government and local governments, are significantly subsidizing zero-emission vehicles. And the main drivers for the Chinese government to prioritize this is to reduce -- or to increase, rather, their energy independence. And of course, to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution.So we see over the next 10 years, really significant growth potential in China. So our own analysis point at 750,000 fuel cell electric vehicles on the roads in China in 2030. The Chinese government's target is actually higher, it's 1 million vehicles. And interestingly, 2/3 of our projection is the medium and heavy-duty vehicle segments. We also see a significant potential in the buildup of the infrastructure. So already in 2022, our estimate is that there will be close to 300 fueling station -- stations, increasing to close to 3,000 by 2030.So in order to play a leading role in this emerging market, we have partnered with CIMC ENRIC. So CIMC ENRIC is a very trusted brand in China. They have -- they are a technology leader in type 1, 2 and 3 pressure vessels. Strong relationships with Chinese customers. It's a public company listed in Hong Kong, approximately $2 billion of revenue and 10,000 employees. And also with a lot of international business so we have established a very good relationship, and we are optimistic that this is the right partner for Hexagon. And we are complementing each other technology-wise. So what CIMC ENRIC is lacking is type 4, so that is definitely the main contribution that we will provide. But also certainly, our know-how in systems for hydrogen vehicles and also the full integration of the vehicles will be a part of that cooperation.So CIMC ENRIC is 2/3 owned by CIMC, which is a global company, the world's leading liquid tank supplier -- container supplier and also active in a number of other segments. So CIMC is a $12 billion company with 50,000 employees worldwide. So we strongly believe that in CIMC ENRIC, we have found the right partner for developing the Chinese market. The cooperation will also cover Southeast Asia. And certainly, we will explore opportunities in other geographies and potentially also in other technology areas as we develop business together.And on that note, I would like to hand over to David. David, please?

D
David Bandele
Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, Jon Erik. I think we should start, of course, with the financial impacts of COVID-19 and Hexagon's response to those. So firstly, most of the real impact was -- started to be felt in the back end of the quarter. So last 3 weeks in March. So there have been limited financial impacts in quarter 1 but certainly, these impacts have carried over into quarter 2, and we're certainly feeling those now. These are, by far, not damaging the ongoing concern of Hexagon. But nonetheless, there are things that we have had to respond to in a fast manner.Whilst it's difficult to assess or predict, with precision, the future broad effects of COVID-19, and the actual impact will depend on many factors beyond certainly Hexagon's control and knowledge. We can, though, expect an overall negative impact to results in 2020. At this juncture, we do not see or expect or actually have had to adjust -- make any material impairments within the balance sheet. We are tracking the COVID-19 impacts around 3 basic risk factors.The first, and this is an order of importance, is obviously demand-side factors. How are these factors going to hit customer spending or consumer spending globally? And this is the area of the largest uncertainty as we stand, obviously, now. So we -- all of us will need to see how these work through all of the value chains. But nonetheless, very important to keep a forward view on that in order to counter those measures, if necessary. Of course, being able to supply to the demand. Border control has been an important area. We're fortunate that we don't have a large proportion of sales, for example, in Asia today. Most of our sales are within the U.S., so at least it's contained within those national borders. Be the slight differences between the approaches to COVID-19 in the States. So Europe has really been the main focus, and we are very happy to say that, that has been a very well-managed process in relation to Hexagon's flow of goods with great cooperation between logistics companies and the various authorities in different countries in Europe.Secondly, Jon Erik mentioned the key supplier interruptions as a major risk. Of course, that is something that we manage constantly. When COVID-19 came in, I think one of the hardest hit countries was Italy, particularly the northern region of Italy. And so suppliers located there were probably among the key areas that we've had to manage actively for different situations.Finally, one area that we can manage best ourselves is obviously our COVID infections or prevention of infection, and the impacts to our own operational activities. Jon Erik has covered that. But we're very pleased to say with the speed of reaction, the containment and our contingency plans by site, these are coordinated globally through our Head of Operations. We have had to make temporary layoffs. The largest impacts or sites impacted were Mobile Pipeline in the U.S., Lincoln, Nebraska and also Kassel in Germany. But we very much view this as short-term disruption. So we have a longer-term view, and we really try to ensure that we can retain all our staff during this period.In terms of the countermeasures taken, we have taken fairly robust measures already. One obvious area is as we exited 2019 at quite an expansions strategy on particularly Hexagon Purus. So we continue to hold to that strategy. However, we will restrict our CapEx and defer some product development during this period. Priority projects are earning, and one of those examples of a good priority project that we are completing is the Agility cylinder expansion also in Lincoln, Nebraska. That is on track and, over the next few months, we should see that completed and beginning to ramp up.It goes without saying, we will optimize our working capital, including rationalizing inventories and the OpEx initiatives that we've taken, we've obviously suspended all nonessential spend. But we will continue to assess the situation, and we will take further OpEx initiatives, if they are required, according to the severity of disruption. So very active plans in place. We've modeled these, both bottom-up from the business areas, top-down from corporate based on 3 levels of severity, more or less a low, medium and high-impact case. But we are confident running those plans that Hexagon can counter these negative impacts to business cash flows in the near to midterm.And some of the reasons of that confidence is our good liquidity and financial flexibility as we operate through this period. Liquidity is good. As we ended quarter 1, we certainly feel we're robust and can withstand the storm for quite a period. We have undrawn committed facilities of NOK 733 million, that includes a NOK 400 million acquisition facility. And on top of that, we had NOK 115 million in cash.Our adjusted net interest-bearing debt is NOK 1.25 billion. I say adjusted, as you'll see one big theme of the quarter is in the balance sheet, and it's the real increase in foreign currency rates. Or you can say, a weakening of the NOK, a strengthening of the dollar and the euro. Between the end of quarter 4 and the start of quarter 1 this year, the rates in dollars increased 20% and the euro, 17%. One of the impacts is we have a NOK 1.1 billion unsecured listed bond, HEX 03 in the market that was raised to finance agility or the Agility acquisition. That bond will be settled ultimately in NOK, but during the back end of last year, we did put a financial swap, swapping it to a U.S. dollar currency. That was in order to hedge the P&L impacts from the bond. But what that does is, accounting terms, then you have to recognize as a U.S. dollar instrument. And that has created a NOK 173 million noncash impact. So inflating the reported level of the interest-bearing debt.So again, after adjustment, it's NOK 1.25 billion. The bond, as I said, it's unsecured. There's no leverage covenant. When I look at debt servicing on that bond in 2019, costs us approximately $6.5 million. Agility's cash flow, if I measure simply EBITDA less CapEx, was around the $20 million mark. So plenty of headroom just from Agility's cash flows alone. And maturity of that bond is in 2023. So that's supplemented by a bilateral multi-currency and acquisition facility with one bank. And that's up to NOK 1 billion. And again, our drawn loans, less the cash at quarter 1, then if we do it that way, is only NOK 152 million.We have very flexible arrangements with our principal financier. We actually had those in place at the back end of '19, again, connected to the fact that we saw our strategy, we would be -- have to be -- continue to be bold in Hexagon Purus. And so we have arrangements in place that allow us to invest heavily in the growth phase of e-mobility, whilst continuing our normal business within gmobility. So that gives us confidence to ride the storm.Also, we have done, and where appropriate, we will do, take part in government stimulus programs, principally then in Norway, Germany and the U.S. One of the most relevant areas of legislation that we benefited from is in terms of tax deferrals or being able to offset current taxes going back in time, something that was currently restricted before new legislation. So those have been very good, positive benefits to liquidity.So let's look at the first quarter 2020 financials. Highlights from quarter 1, solid revenue and EBITDA for Agility Fuel Solutions. This was the expected softer start in 2020. We had a heated, in fact, a record quarter for agility Q4 2019. So this was as expected. In terms of CNG Light-Duty Vehicle Purus, low volumes there. Again, as guided, perhaps slightly more accelerated by the COVID situation and some of the shutdowns of the Volkswagen production sites. But again, the major driver is the fact that our major customer, Volkswagen, is relocating the production of the CNG vehicles. Purus' e-mobility market remains dynamic. We have more than 40 diversified hydrogen projects. And we continue to get market-leading feedback on our battery electric programs, primarily in the medium- and heavy-duty sector. Mobile Pipeline volumes, I'll describe as decent. It's had -- it's been impacted by the lower activity in onshore oil and gas, particularly in North America. But however, continues to grow its RNG, or renewable natural gas, activity.On LPG, solid sales volumes, quite diversified geographically. We had very good sales into Europe, particularly the U.K., also into Middle East and South America to name some continents. So again, just to summarize the financial impacts of COVID-19 as they relate to quarter 1 '20. We did feel some of those, but they were limited. And mostly or primarily contained to transit bus operations in Europe.Looking at our results. Start with revenues on the left. We posted NOK 825 million in revenue versus NOK 822 million the same quarter last year. We did benefit from a year-over-year effect of plus NOK 70 million tailwind on foreign currency. So you can see the underlying revenues were lower. Again, we weren't able to benefit in growth in our CNG Light-Duty Vehicle volumes due to the customer relocation, and also COVID-19 impacts added to lower underlying volumes.When we look at EBITDA in the middle, we posted EBITDA of NOK 37 million. When we look at the same period last year, the dark bar to the left, that was NOK 150 million. That, of course, included a rather large one-off net gain for our transaction when we acquired Agility, that was for NOK 69 million. So when we adjust for that, a more comparable quarter 1 '19 would be the NOK 81 million, still a shortfall of NOK 44 million year-over-year. We do include also the NOK 37 million this quarter this year also included a positive tailwind of foreign currency effects of NOK 10 million.These are very much lower than the revenue side, mainly because most of our revenues are in dollars and euro from U.S.A. and Germany. And of course, those costs are also in dollars and euros. So it's in what they call a natural hedge. So dampened positive effects when it comes to currency in EBITDA for 2020.E-mobility, so the NOK 37 million does also include our investment into ramping up e-mobility. That number was negative NOK 35 million this quarter. Same quarter last year, the effect was minus NOK 22 million. When we go over to the right and see net profit. Here, we catch up quite a bit of that shortfall in EBITDA. We posted NOK 62 million in net profit versus NOK 68 million same quarter last year. Most of the catch-up was really driven by quite a large year-over-year effect then of the foreign currency movements, a plus NOK 154 million effect.So when we look at our -- Hexagon Group's results to the right, it really does shield the fact that we are on 2 separate tracks, and it's important to spend time on that. Firstly, at the bottom, the base, this is our core business, gmobility, low-emission play. And the constituents of gmobility, see the Agility business is there, firmly rooted in the automotive applications. Mobile Pipeline in transport and distribution of natural gas and helium as well. And Ragasco, when it comes to LPG, mainly in the recreational areas, nonindustrial. Those combined then, delivered most of the revenue, NOK 742 million for EBITDA of NOK 82 million, given a solid double-digit EBITDA margin. So that business is very solid and performing, obviously, more mature than the e-mobility business at the top, which is more a zero-emission play and based around e-drive, as you heard from Jon Erik and hydrogen fuel cell electric as well.The businesses combined for a revenue of NOK 90 million, and you can see the EBITDA effect totally, including all of those divisions are minus NOK 37 million. So combined, you see a softer margin in Hexagon Group. But again, this is made up of 2 individual parts. So our balance sheet, this is where there was quite a lot of activity. Again, I mentioned the extreme foreign currency movements between the end of last year and the end of this quarter.If you look at the left-hand side, you look at that asset base. In fixed assets, you have tangible and intangible assets. A big portion of that, the majority of it is the Agility business denominated in U.S. dollars. And the -- also the acquisition of the xperion businesses in Germany denominated in euro. So almost just over NOK 500 million expansionary impact on the assets.When we look at the headline increases in inventory in NOK, Norwegian crowns, it would tell you that we've increased our inventories. I can tell you that, that is actually a wrong view when you strip out the effects of translation. And underlying, we actually have a reduction in inventories.Similar picture for receivables. This is inflated heavily by currency movements. And if we go to the right-hand side, our liabilities and equity, we see some positive impacts to equity from the foreign currency movements. The impact is in blue there, affecting the interest-bearing debt that I mentioned and previously, and you can see similar impacts on the parts of our liabilities.So for those interested in the appendix, we have more of a cash movement picture, which strips out the translation effects and gives more of a real picture of our working capital and cash position generally. Still though, a strong balance sheet to carry us through the next few quarters.I will just take the outlook. Obviously, we won't be able to guide very specifically given COVID-19 and the impacts I mentioned earlier, particularly how the demand side impacts affect the global macro picture. But I think we'll be able to give you at least a directional view.When we start with Agility, we do see continued activity in the heavy- and medium-duty gmobility space, which is good. In terms of those COVID-19 impact specifically in quarter 2 -- we're quite a way through quarter 2 now. Certainly U.S. and particularly the European Transit Bus negatively impacted by some of those customer shutdowns. Those customer shutdowns have been temporary. Most of them are up and running to a certain degree, which is good. But overall, we would expect longer lead times to sales due to these impacts working themselves through the whole value chain.We do, however, expect a busier second half of 2020, particularly in heavy-duty truck. Different reasons, but we saw that both in '18 and '19 as well. And one area we see major logistics suppliers, for example, one of our customers, UPS, they are seeing increasing demand, and they're also designated as having that essential infrastructure status, which allows them to keep operating.On Hexagon Purus, the e-mobility part. Start off with the COVID impacts in quarter 2. There are currently no indications of impacts to these development programs and timeline to potential serial volume opportunities. But of course, delays can arise. Continue to have this positive customer feedback. This is on the BEV, or battery electric drivetrain deliveries to Daimler Trucks North America. And the fleets, Penske and NFI, on the LA Harbor have logged many, many thousand miles with continuous good and positive reviews on the driving experience.Also, in addition, that business unit is working hard on deliveries to 2 additional OEMs, they continue to be on schedule to date. Look at medium- and heavy-duty hydrogen projects. COVID-19 impacts in quarter 2 currently as we speak, no indications of impacts to the development programs. But again, delays can arise. We received our first hydrogen order for capacity [ award order ] designed to withstand extreme conditions. Again, further diversification of the mobility platforms that we're getting into. And an interesting project in Sweden, good collaboration then with Powercell. You'll know Powercell from my collaboration with them on HYON, which has a marine and maritime fuel cell mobility focus. There, we delivered hydrogen storage behind the [ CAB ] systems for zero emissions refuse or garbage trucks.We do expect additional orders for hydrogen on bus programs. There are various bus programs in Europe. So we'll monitor those as they take shape.This gives a snapshot of the more than 40 projects that we have. Still, activity in light-duty vehicles, definitely I would say, very heated and very, very targeted strong activity in medium and heavy-duty OE and also the distribution side. And we continue to have quite good projects then around the ground storage, mobile refueling, maritime, I mentioned HYON and railway opportunities, amongst others.Hexagon Purus also has the CNG Light-Duty Vehicle business unit. We mentioned Volkswagen, the assembly line relocation, as reported in quarter 4, is important, that has had a definite impact in quarter 1. It will continue to have a significant impact in quarter 2. Ramp-up is still, as we speak, expected to start in the third quarter. However, as we see it, the potential that post COVID-19, given the general ramp up rates of OEMs that we're seeing. But potentially, the run rate in the second half of the year may not be at the 2019 level.However, Volkswagen have reassured their continuous marketing of their CNG range of vehicles. We do see, though, that new models beyond 2025 will be contingent on changes to EU regulation. Currently, the EU regulations in force, when you measure your fleet, the CO2 emissions are from the tailpipe, whereas -- and that favors currently BEV, disadvantageous to CNG Light-Duty vehicles, relatively speaking.However, with the constant introduction of RNG, currently at 17% of transport fuel in Europe is RNG, or renewable natural gas, with a more of a well-to-wheel view. There, the benefits to the environment of the RNG are actually at the highest of all the alternative fuels. So the higher you increase the blend of RNG, and if the regulations change to well to wheel, I think that would definitely shift the focus back to gmobility for light-duty vehicles.Mobile Pipeline. Opportunities in 2020 despite project delay challenges. Mobile Pipeline, not only do they need to cope with the impacts of COVID-19, but also the general disturbance in the oil prices, and that situation has definitely -- is more relevant to the Mobile Pipeline sector. So we do see, and will see, in the second quarter significantly reduced activity in onshore oil and gas, not to be -- that's not unexpected. But also we see a general risk of project delays due to capital constraints when there are these macro factors.To the extent that we've had to curtail production due to these lower volumes, and we don't feel that the reductions in all the cost initiatives that we've done already at the back end of '19, we'll probably not be able to cover the shortfall of lower volumes in Q2.However, going forward in the pipeline, very interesting things in the pipeline. We see a somewhat increased activity in the Latin American market. These build-outs openings of certain pipelines -- subsea pipelines connecting Texas into Mexico, for example, and the onward build-out of infrastructure there is definitely beginning to stimulate that market for us again.Industrial gas continuous penetration. As you know, or may not know, our gas portfolio now includes hauling helium with the Mobile Pipelines.Renewable natural gas continues to show significant potential. We actually expect additional orders from existing RNG customers for our workhorse TITAN 4 product and the ultra-large TITAN 53 trailer. And we actually expect new customers for leasing units under our lifetime asset management program, where we try and manage the asset through its lifetime to the benefit of the customer and, obviously, Hexagon.One interesting area, [ will be the wait and see ], is the virtual interconnect. This is really a highly seasonal business area or a highly seasonal business, should I say, Q4 and Q1. This is to do with the winter season, and particularly the northeastern states in the U.S. So we'll be awaiting the weather projections over the next few months. And where the projections are for a cold winter, you will see the normal rush to supply and increased prices there and activity in that sector. So wait and see.And the other thing that we're seeing -- beginning to see interest in the U.S. is for mobile refueling business using our TITAN products or our X-STORE products and potential opportunities lay awaiting there. So some reason to smile for Mobile Pipeline.On Hexagon Ragasco, finally. Post-April COVID-19 impacts, it would be mainly expecting delays in orders for certain countries who are significantly impacted by the pandemic. Otherwise, in the second quarter, you'll see the beautiful green revolution LPG cylinders to the right there. They're on their way to a new customer in Germany, and it marks a significant further expansion into the German market. This is a very important market in Europe, very large market, and a market where we haven't been able to have a lot of penetration to date.Also expect solid sales in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia and Qatar. And we always like to celebrate our new countries or new geographies, and have also included shipments of cylinders to Djibouti in East Africa.So to summarize, we would say the disruptions related to COVID-19 will have a negative impact to earnings for quarter 2, '20. We expect a weak quarter for quarter 2. Barring any unforeseen COVID-19 developments, we expect, however, a stronger market outlook in the second half.Hexagon has strong liquidity and business resilience, certainly, to weather this storm. And as we see from the empirical evidence that we have around the cities and the globe now, following the reduced activities in these cities, we feel that the e-mobility and gmobility drivers are -- they remain intact and actually will strengthen post recovery. Investment into green technologies would also, as we see, stimulate job growth, stimulate these economies and certainly have a transfer of skills into that technological area.And with that, I will pause.

K
Karen Romer
Senior Vice President of Communications

Great. We have some questions from the audience. Again, I'll just remind participants that if they'd like to send a question to -- please address it to ir@hexagongroup.com.

K
Karen Romer
Senior Vice President of Communications

The first question is from Mikkel Nyholtt-Smedseng from Carnegie. And I believe this would be for you, David. Please elaborate on the top line decline and margin level for Ragasco. What shall we expect onwards?

D
David Bandele
Chief Financial Officer

So actually when we look year-over-year, Ragasco increased their EBITDA despite the lower revenue. So we have a better mix in quarter 1 this year, for example, than in quarter 1 last year. So that's positive. You see European demand increasing. But of course, some of that increase in EBITDA was also benefit of our foreign currencies. We see -- when we say decline, as I said, it was a year-over-year growth so...

K
Karen Romer
Senior Vice President of Communications

From Mikkel again. Also for you, David. Inventory buildup appears high in itself and also higher than payable increase. Can you explain the main drivers of the working capital?

D
David Bandele
Chief Financial Officer

Yes. So that's a good question. As I referred to in the presentation, when you look at our balance sheet because of the extreme foreign currency impacts, it actually gives the wrong picture on working capital, particularly on inventories, receivables and payables.What we've done in the appendix to the presentation, we've actually stripped out those fine -- you can say, translational effects. So then you can see really the working capital picture, which is actually positive without foreign currency on an underlying basis.Yes. So I will just say that Mikkel, maybe you could definitely have a look at the appendix, and you'll see a more clearer picture of the company. I agree, the foreign currency makes a disturbed picture this quarter.

K
Karen Romer
Senior Vice President of Communications

Third question from Mikkel, this time directed, I think, to Jon Erik. Please comment on the "VW has reassured continuous marketing of its CNG range of vehicles, depending on EU regulations post 2025".Given public announcements, it sounds very much as if VW is phasing out CNG.

J
Jon Erik Engeset
President & CEO

So there have been some comments by their CEO, Mr. Diess, that have raised some uncertainty. But since we have had very strong reassurances from the executive level at Volkswagen, that there is no intention to phase out CNG marketing for the next 5 years, Volkswagen to continue to prioritize CNG. There needs to be a change in emissions regulations. So that instead of, as today, only measuring the tail pipe emissions, the regulations need to change to well to wheel. So the paradox is that if you measure the real impact, then CNG mixed with RNG is by far the most environmentally friendly solution -- technology available today.But since the regulation is focused on tail pipe only, then that is incentivizing strongly battery electric vehicles. So we are working together with the rest of the industry, including Volkswagen. Volkswagen is a member of NGVA Europe, and we are also a member there, represented on their Board. And we are now stepping up our efforts to influence the regulations in the European Union.

K
Karen Romer
Senior Vice President of Communications

Excellent. That wraps it up from the Q&A that we've received. I'd like to remind people that if they'd like to arrange one-on-ones with David and Jon Erik, to take contact with David, if you're investor analyst, and contact with myself, Karen Romer, if you're media and have an interest in interview. Other than that, I'll leave to you, Jon Erik, to close out the session.

J
Jon Erik Engeset
President & CEO

So yes, thank you, Karen. Thank you, everybody, for spending time with us this morning. I wish you all a very good rest of the day.