Bufab AB (publ)

STO:BUFAB

Earnings Call Analysis

Bufab reports improved gross margins despite cautious market conditions.

In the recent earnings call, Bufab reported a net sales decline of 9.2% year-over-year, affected by a divestment and weaker organic growth of -2.6%. However, gross margins hit a record high of 30.6%, up 1.6 points, indicating effective cost management and enhanced service offerings. Adjusted EBITA margin improved to 12.7%, reflecting appetite for high-value logistics solutions amid cautious market demand. Strong cash flow totaled SEK 322 million, with a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio decreasing to 2.4. Looking ahead, the company anticipates potential demand improvements in 2025, focusing on continued margin growth and acquisitions.

A Challenging Quarter

Bufab reported its Q3 results with a cautious tone reflecting a challenging market environment. The company experienced a 9.2% decline in net sales year-over-year, amounting to SEK 1,880 million. This decline included negative organic growth of 2.6% and a significant currency impact of 3.1%. The drop in sales was further exacerbated by the divestment of Bufab Lann and Hallborn, which negatively affected overall performance. However, when adjusting for the divestment, the order intake was reportedly in line with net sales for the group, indicating some resilience under adverse conditions.

Gross Margin Achievements

Despite the revenue challenges, Bufab achieved an all-time high gross margin of 30.6%, which is up 1.6 percentage points from the previous year. This improvement was attributed to a strategic focus on enhancing customer and product mixes, as well as purchasing efficiencies. The company's EBITA margin also improved, now at 12.7%, benefiting from this higher gross margin and continued cost management efforts.

Cost Management and Cash Flow

Operating expenses were reduced, showing an encouraging trend with a particular focus on cost-saving initiatives implemented over the past four quarters. This resulted in operating expenses as a percentage of sales increasing slightly to 17.3% from 16.5%, but the absolute cost levels decreased overall. Bufab also reported strong cash flow performance, with cash flow from operating activities at SEK 322 million, reflecting a robust cash conversion rate of 121%.

Debt Reduction and Acquisition Readiness

The company successfully lowered net debt by SEK 380 million during the quarter, also aided by cash proceeds from the divestment of Bufab Lann and Hallborn. The leverage ratio improved to 2.4 from 2.7 a year prior and 2.8 in the last quarter, highlighting an enhanced financial position which paves the way for potential acquisitions.

Regional Performance Insights

Geographically, Europe, North and East exhibited an overall growth of -12% mainly due to the divestment, with organic growth at -0.9%. However, notable performance variations were observed, including improved demand from HT Bendix and strong levels from Bumax. The Americas faced a tough quarter with total growth down 16% and organic growth at -8.9%. In contrast, the Asia Pacific region reported a positive growth of 10.4% and stellar organic growth of 13.2%, especially driven by strong demand in China.

Looking Ahead

For the future, Bufab expects indications of improved customer demand in the first half of 2025, contingent upon recent trends. The strategy will continue to focus on enhancing service offerings, including their logistics solutions which are becoming increasingly integral to customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. Investments in these solutions are expected to bolster growth and retention rates, signaling a positive trajectory going forward.

Earnings Call Transcript 2024-Q3

[Par Ihrskog, executive]

Good morning, and good afternoon, everyone, and a warm welcome to Bufab's Q3 report. My name is Erik Lunden, and I'm President and CEO of Bufab Group. And together with me here today, I have Par Ihrskog, my CFO. This presentation will be recorded and by attending to this meeting, you agree to the recording.

I will start this presentation to go through the highlights of the quarter, and then I will leave the word over to Par for some financial details before I sum up the performance in each region. And then at the end, we will have time for Q&A.

But before we start, I would like to share some insights about the background pictures you will see on today's presentation. At our last report in Q2, we showed pictures from our offering and services. And today, you will see background pictures from our end customer products.

As you all know, we create peace of mind in all kinds of industries and applications. And today's presentation, you'll get a flavor of the broad diversification we have by serving customers in more than 30 different industrial segments. And on this specific picture you can see here on the screen is from our customer, Respo, in the Baltics.

If we then go to the Q3 highlights, to sum up the quarter, I would like to start to say that I'm overall pleased with our performance in the quarter given the market situation. The demand in the quarter remained cautious, but we continue to see a large variation between different industries and regions.

Our organic growth amounted to minus 2.6%, which is an improvement if you compare to Q2 in all regions. We can see a decline in order intake, and this is explained by the divestment we did in July of Bufab Lann and Hallborn. And if we adjust for this divestment, the order intake is in line with net sales for the group.

I'm very pleased with our gross margin, ended up on an all-time high level, up by 1.6 points, reaching 30.6% and this is in line with our strategy launched last year to gradually improve our customer and product mix, develop our value creation for our customers. And in this quarter, we also saw some purchasing savings. We delivered a strong cash flow in the quarter, and we also improved our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio, which is now on a level at 2.4. And we have a balance sheet that is ready for acquisitions.

And what we do is also that we continue to invest in our customer offering, and we have done so also in this quarter. And at the end of this presentation, I will share one example on how we create value to our customers through our logistics solutions.

I will now leave the word over to Par for some financial highlights. Please, Par.

[Par Ihrskog, executive]

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Some more details then on the financials. We start with net sales. We ended up at SEK 1,880 million in the quarter, which is in total, 9.2% lower than quarter 3 last year, whereof 2.6% is from organic -- negative organic growth, which is an improvement compared to organic growth in previous quarters. We also have a negative currency impact of 3.1% and also then the effect of divestment of Bufab Lann and Hallborn.

Then next slide, please. Then have a closer look at the gross margin. As Erik explained, we have an improvement of 1.6 points versus quarter 3 last year and also a gradual improvement in the last 3 quarters. And then if we look at the adjusted EBITA and adjusted EBITA margin, we can also see a gradual improvement in the last 4 quarters, now ending up at 12.7%, which is a result of focused work on our product mix and customer mix and also incoming sourcing savings.

If we -- in the 12.7% quarter 3 number Bufab Lann and Hallborn is not any longer in the consolidated number. That have an effect of 0.2% improvement because of the divestment of Bufab Lann and Hallborn.

Next slide, please. Then if we look at the operating expenses, they are gradually being reduced. This is an effect of our focused cost reduction activities that we've been working on the last 4 quarters, but we also have some onetime effects. We have a positive effect in quarter 3 this year from a remeasure of purchase consideration and also a negative impact in the comparison period last year of minus SEK 40 million. So if we exclude these remeasures, the OpEx in percent of sales was 17.3% in the quarter versus 16.5%.

Yes. Next slide. Then going to cash flow. We had a stable cash flow coming from a solid operating profit, but also that we continue to see a net working capital reduction in the month. So all-in-all, our cash flow from operating activities ended up at SEK 322 million in the quarter, which represents a cash conversion of 121%. Year-to-date, our operating -- cash flow from operating activities was SEK 974 million, a cash conversion of 119%.

And then in the investing activities in the cash flow statement, we also have the positive net effect from the divestment of Bufab Lann and Hallborn, which was SEK 110 million.

Yes. Move to the next slide, please. So looking at our net debt, it has been reduced by SEK 380 million in the quarter, which is a result of our solid cash flow, but also then from the cash effect from Bufab Lann and Hallborn. Our leverage ended up at 2.4, an improvement versus last year of 2.7, but also versus last quarter, 2.8.

Yes. Thank you.

[Par Ihrskog, executive]

Thanks, Par. I will then go into each of the regions, and I would like to start with Europe, North and East. The total growth amounted to minus 12% for the region, driven then by the divestment of Bufab Lann and Hallborn, and organic growth was minus 0.9%. Order intake was affected by the divestment of Bufab Lann and Hallborn. If we adjust for that, the order intake was slightly higher than net sales for the region.

We continue to see weak demand in Bufab Poland and Bufab Finland, while improvement in demand for HT Bendix. And also, we see good levels from Bumax, mainly driven by new distribution agreements. We had a strong gross margin in the region, improved by 2.6 points, reaching 29.4%. Mainly -- Bufab Sweden and due to our focus on developing the added value we deliver to our customers and in addition to purchasing savings also in the region.

We had a lower share of OpEx at 14.1%. Cost was impacted by a positive remeasured additional purchase considerations of SEK 8 million. Adjusted for this, the share of OpEx was 15.3%. And looking at operating margin, adjusted level was really good for the region, ended up on 14.2% compared to 11.5% in Q3 last year.

If we continue then to region Europe and West. The total growth amounted to minus 6.8% with an organic growth of minus 2%. Defense and Energy segment have continued to develop very well in the region, and we've also seen some high activity from the automotive industry in the quarter. Weak demand for Bufab Germany, Jenny I Waltle in Austria and Bufab Flos, but really strong performance and demand for Bufab Czech and France.

Also here, we can see a gross margin improvement, 1.0 percentage points up, reaching 25.6% in the quarter due to sourcing savings, price adjustments and improved customer and product mix. We saw also lower OpEx in absolute numbers, thanks to our cost reduction efforts in the region and as a share of sales, marginally higher at 12.0. The adjusted operating margin improved to 13.7% for the region.

If we then continue with Americas, tough demand for Americas. Total growth amounted to minus 16% with organic growth of minus 8.9%. What we see here in the region is continued weak demand in the RV and trailer segment, but also in the automotive, especially then for our sister company, CSG.

Also here, gross margin improvement, 1 point, reaching 35.2%, mainly due to improved customer product mix. Lower OpEx in absolute numbers due to focus on cost reduction activities. But in relation to sales, OpEx was 2 points higher, reaching 22.7%. And adjusted operating margin declined in the region to 12.5%.

If we then go to region U.K. and Ireland, total growth amounted to 7.2% negative and organic growth was negative 5.9%. The decline was due to market prices, mainly for Apex and TIMCO, while Bufab Ireland and Bufab U.K. noted good demand in the quarter.

Gross margin, marginally higher than last year, reaching 33.1%. And looking at the OpEx, with a lower share at 20.6 due to revaluation of additional purchase considerations last year of SEK 40 million. Adjusted for this OpEx was in absolute numbers in line with last year. And here, we end up on an operating margin adjusted of 12.5%.

If we then finally go through the performance for Asia Pacific. Here, we saw a positive growth amounted to 10.4% and really strong organic growth of 13.2%. In the region, we see strong demand in all sister companies, but especially China performed very well in the quarter. Bufab India have had a challenging year before the election that took place in the fall now in India, but the markets are now stabilized after the election. And also, Kian Soon in Singapore noted good demand and is showing growth numbers.

Gross margin was lower than last year at 30.6% due to customer product mix. And looking at OpEx, it was a higher share of 21.6%, mainly due to inflationary effects and investments in our customer offering, but also negative currency impact. Our adjusted operating margin declined to 9% for the region.

So before we go and sum up the quarter, I would like to share some insights from the group. And this time, I will talk about our logistics solutions. As I mentioned in my intro, we continue to invest in our offering to be able to create more value to our customers. And one way we're doing this is through our logistics solutions that we tailor-made for our customers.

And our logistics solutions, we create peace of mind by helping them with their replenishment and keeping the right stock levels for our customers. And what we do is that we help them with sourcing, purchasing, and deliver each component to match our customers' consumption, ensure that they have -- don't need to do any manual ordering and they don't need to do any inventory counts. They can enjoy a careful replenishment and they can focus on their core business while we take care of their C-parts completely.

And it's very clear for us that our customers really appreciate our tailor-made logistics solutions. When we have those in place with our customers, we grow twice as fast. And it's also very clear that it strengthen our cooperation with our customers and increase our stickiness when we have those in place.

And so far, 2024 has been a record year when it comes to installment of logistics solutions. We have never installed as many logistics solutions as we've done year-to-date 2024. And of course, this is something we'll continue to invest in also going forward.

And to give you an idea of what we can offer, you can see on this slide. And starting up to the left, we have our EasyTrack, that is our cloud service that we provide to our customers, and that you can say is the heart of our solutions. With our solutions, we can easily find a cost-effective solution that fits each customer's situation. We also have our EasyScan that the customers scan the empty bin and that order is sent to Bufab.

We have our EasyScale solutions that automatically order solutions by weight. And then we have RFID Solutions, that is the bin. So the customer stack the bin on rubber mat and then -- or in an EasyDrop and the order is placed to Bufab, and we take care of the rest. And also, we have EasyLabel, automatically update the labels, enables orders to be sent directly from the label with a simple key stroke.

And the beauty here is that we tailor-made our solutions. So in the right corner here, you can see a local solution made by, in this case, by ABS in U.S. to ensure that each customer gets what they need. And of course, those solutions is one way of adding more value to our customers and have helped us to also improving our gross margin during 2024.

If we then sum up the quarter, look ahead and also our priorities. Once again, I'm really pleased with our performance this quarter, considering the cautious in the market. We delivered a strong gross margin, an all-time high level, but also a stable operating margin. We had a strong cash flow in the quarter, and we improved our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio, reaching 2.4.

If we look at the demand in the market, there's still a lot of uncertainty in the market. However, we still see indications of improved demand from general industry, but most likely, this will happen the first half of 2025.

Looking ahead, we will continue to execute on our strategy. So far, I'm pleased with the way we are executing our strategy during 2024 so far. And we will ensure that we continue taking market share now when it's a tough time for our customers, and they often need to lower the total cost base and do consolidation of C-part suppliers.

Continue to improve our margin, focus, of course, to strengthen our gross margin by continuing serving our customers and really add value to them, but also to ensure that we continue working on our cost saves initiatives where it makes sense. And then, of course, continue working on networking capital tool and secure a strong cash flow.

That was it for today. I will now leave the floor open for Q&A.

[Operator]

Yes. So welcome to this Q&A session. [Operator Instructions] We start with the first question from Henric Hintze at ABG.

[Henric Hintze, analyst]

So you say that you're seeing signs of improving demand, but it likely won't come until H1. At the same time, over the past 2 quarters, we've seen the rate of organic decline slow quite substantially. So based on this, how should we be thinking about Q4?

[Par Ihrskog, executive]

Yes. No, you're absolutely right. We have seen negative organic growth, but we have also seen a gradual improvement if you look at the last quarters. And as you also know, we are early in the stage for our customers. And when we look at our forecast for our customers and also, of course, listen to them and talking to them, we see indications of improvement with higher volumes that will take place next year. So that is the reason why we believe in that. And also, if you look at the trend that we have seen in the last quarters, I think that also indication that this is going in that direction.

[Henric Hintze, analyst]

One more from me, if that's okay. So given that you still are seeing an organic sales decline, I found the fact that you managed to increase the adjusted EBITA margin year-on-year, a bit surprising. Could you just explain in a bit more detail what enabled this? And if you could also specify what adjustments you made to EBITA?

[Par Ihrskog, executive]

Sure. I can start then. First of all, what we're working a lot with is to improve our gross margin. As we communicated at our Capital Markets Day last year, one of the main opportunities that we see is to further developing our services and offering to our customers to give them, as we call it, peace of mind and add more value to them. And one example was explained here today, for example, with the logistics solutions that we can provide them as one example.

And as simple as that, the more services and more value we provide, the more margin we can get from a gross profit point of view. And so we've been able to deliver that gradually now during 2024, and that is the biggest impact on our improved EBITDA.

On top of that, we have also, since Q4 last year, continue with the cost activities, savings activities. So in sister where we think it makes sense, in sister companies where we think it makes sense, we have adjusted our cost base and lowered the cost base. And of course, in others where we still see big chances for grabbing market share in the short term here, we have also invested. But in many sisters, we have done adjustments on our cost base. And that is helping us now in the -- in this quarter, improving our EBITA.

[Par Ihrskog, executive]

And when it comes to the adjustments to EBITA, there are 2 areas. One is the remeasurement of additional purchase consideration. And in Q3, we had a positive adjustment. And also, we have adjusted for the profit from the divestment of Hallborn and Lann. We had -- it was not a huge effect. There was no material effect on the earnings, but it was still a positive impact.

[Operator]

Karl Noren from SEB.

[Karl Norén, analyst]

A couple of questions here. First one on the cost base. I noticed that you have seem to have lowered the number of personnel quite dramatically here in Q3 versus Q2. Can you just tell us a little bit more about in which areas you have reduced headcount?

[Par Ihrskog, executive]

It's Par. Yes, the big effect is, of course, from Hallborn, Lann, where we -- they are not any longer in the numbers. But then we have also an impact of FTE reduction in our organization. At the same time, as we have communicated, we also invest in FTE in the sales force, but the net effect on reduction and addition is negative. So -- but the major part is coming from Hallborn and Lann.

[Karl Norén, analyst]

Yes. But excluding for that, how many employees have you reduced, you think, sequentially from Q2 to Q3?

[Par Ihrskog, executive]

I don't have that number on top of my head. I would have to look that up.

[Karl Norén, analyst]

It's okay. And then just a question here also on the order intake. You mentioned that it was in line with net sales adjusting for the divestment. Can you just explain a little bit how that works? Because I would have assumed that if you divest it, you take it out of both sales -- the sales numbers and order intake numbers or…

[Par Ihrskog, executive]

Yes, you could -- yes, yes. You could argue that, that's one way of doing it. The way we did it was that we took out the order book or it was booked at zero order book as we don't have Hallborn and Lann any longer. I guess you can do it both ways. The way -- this was the way we did it and we try to explain it. But when we take that out from the equation on the group level, it's in line with net sales, the order book -- order intake. And in the region, North and East, it's -- order intake is slightly higher than net sales.

[Karl Norén, analyst]

And then a question on pricing here in the quarter. I listened into [ Fasteners' ] conference call, and they mentioned that they see some increased price pressure on the Fastener segment. Are you seeing the same? And how are you handling it? I mean gross margin is very impressive. So it would be interesting to hear what you're doing there.

[Par Ihrskog, executive]

Yes, we see some cost pressure as well from some customers and some segments. But I think we handled that well overall. First of all, I think that we can also take advantage of the purchasing that we get from Asia with a lower level. So that is helping and helping us to balance this. And secondly, I think that we have overall strengthened our offering quite well to many customers adding more value. So in this discussion, I think we quite easily can explain why we have a certain price level, and we need to keep that price level because of the value we provide. And that has been working quite well when we explained the way we can lower the total cost, so to say. So yes, we see the same thing, but I think we managed that very well.

[Karl Norén, analyst]

But would you say that pricing is still a little negative here in the quarter of price impact maybe year-over-year?

[Par Ihrskog, executive]

Now, it's very close to zero.

[Karl Norén, analyst]

Okay. And just the last question on the acquisition side. I noticed one of your European competitors has made some quite sizable acquisitions here in the recent months. My question is, have you looked at the same ones? And if -- in addition to that, what would you say is -- how is the M&A pipeline looking?

[Par Ihrskog, executive]

Yes, it is a small world, so to say. So of course, we know which companies out there. And this specific case you talk referring to is a quite big company. So we know them, of course. Talking about the pipeline, I think we have a good pipeline. And as we have communicated already this year, a lot of activity when it comes to M&A right now in the market. So that is part of our plan still to do acquisitions. And as you can see in our numbers now, I think we have a balance sheet that is more than ready for acquisitions. So time will tell.

[Operator]

Robert Redin from Carnegie.

[Robert Redin, analyst]

No, I guess, my questions have been answered. It was about this order intake. So any order intake in Bufab in Lann and Hallborn, was deducted. And sales, I guess, was up until the consolidation. When were those divestments effective?

[Par Ihrskog, executive]

Yes, it was 3rd of July. So we have 3 days of sales from Hallborn and Lann in the numbers for the quarter.

[Par Ihrskog, executive]

Okay. If no further questions, thanks a lot for joining our call. I wish you all a good day ahead. Thank you.