Nolato AB
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STO:NOLA B
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Earnings Call Transcript

Earnings Call Transcript
2021-Q2

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Operator

Hello, and welcome to the Nolato Audiocast with Teleconference Q2 2021. [Operator Instructions] Today, I'm pleased to present Christer Wahlquist, CEO; and Per-Ola Holmstrom, CFO. Please go ahead with your meeting.

C
Christer Wahlquist
President & CEO

Thank you, and welcome, everyone, to the presentation of Nolato's second quarter of 2021. I'm starting on Page 2 in the handout. And I can -- we had a new record quarter within Nolato Group, with sales close to SEK 2.8 billion, giving an organic growth of 11% during the quarter. The GW Plastics acquisition, which we acquired first of September showed a strong performance quarter-on-quarter. We had an operating profit of SEK 336 million, giving a SEK 25 million increase of operating profit if we compare to second quarter last year. And we reached SEK 336 million raising a margin of 12.1% during the quarter. The cash flow after investments amounted to SEK 346 million during the quarter. Turning to Page 3. On this page, we can see the balanced group with 3 strong business areas. All 3 business areas have a good global reach and each with operations on 3 important continents. Turning to Page 4, focusing on the Medical Solutions. With the Medical Solutions, we are on a global expansion journey, where we are seeing a continuous growth over the 20 years, we show here on this page. And our growth is continuing, and we are building our footprint on the important places around the globe. If we turn to Page 5, showing some of our focused product areas. But we have 6 more important therapeutical areas that we focus on. We start with IVD, In Vitro Diagnostics. It's a future interesting area with good potential for growth, however, at the moment, there is some shortages of capacity in the total market. The next one is Cardiology, mostly consisting of long-term implants or different type of pacemakers or heart supporting devices. Then we have Pharma that consists of liquid and solid drug containers. Continence Care, which is a very large area with very high volumes. Then we have our general surgical area, which of course, during the pandemic now has been affected with postponed surgical across the globe. And then the last of the 6 focus product areas is the Drug Delivery, which is an interesting area. We delivery devices, mostly focused on large molecule drugs, the sort of bio-based drugs. If we then turn to Page 6, focusing on the numbers for the quarter for Medical Solutions. During this quarter, we saw a 2% increase of our sales if we adjust for currency and acquisitions. Overall, we saw a general good demand, but available capacity a limiting factor within the diagnostic area. We saw a quarter-on-quarter increase in the surgical area, but the pandemic is still having an effect. We saw strong performance by the acquired business of GW Plastics. So during the quarter, we had sales just above SEK 1 billion and an operating profit of SEK 124 million, creating a margin of 12.1%. The margin is, of course, dilutive -- seeing some dilutive effect from the acquired U.S. business. If we have in comparison to last year before the acquisition. Our expansion of production capacity is according to plan. So we are currently expanding in Switzerland, Hungary, Poland, United States and Sweden. If we turn to Page 7, focusing on Integrated Solutions. Within our Integrated Solutions business area, we are in an expansion into new markets. So we are expanding ourselves in different market areas, and we started to initiate that expansion some 5 years ago, creating good growth for us. We turn to Page 8. If we look a little bit deeper into the Integrated Solutions business area, we have 2 parts to the business area. We have what we call Consumer Electronics, consisting of vaporizing heating products. different electronic devices. It could be connected WiFi system and wearables and those kind of things. That part is the largest part of the business area. Then the second and smaller area would be the EMC/Thermal. This area, we have built up within the talent communication, and now we are expanding this to the other segments of the market, such as the automotive and other industries. Turning to Page 9, looking at the numbers and the details of the second quarter. During the -- this quarter, we had a strong growth with 12% currency adjusted growth during the quarter. We saw a strong growth in the VHP with increased volumes. We had solid EMC volumes during the quarter. We had high comparative numbers for the quarter within the EMC, but we see some very good initiatives in the Automotive rollout, and good quarter for that business area. If we look a little bit ahead into the next quarter, we see good sales growth, expect that for third quarter both within the VHP and the EMC part of the business. The margin during the quarter ended up at 13%. And if you're into comparison number for second quarter 2020, we had some positive impact by a contribution from Chinese authorities. So the quarter ended up just shy of SEK 1.2 billion in sales and a profit of SEK 154 million. Turning to Page 10, focusing on Industrial Solutions. Within the Industrial Solutions business area, we are on a technology and geographical expansion journey. So the last year, we have expanded our operations. So we're now present on 3 important continents with this business area. On Page 11, we see the split up of the business area in 2 different segments. We have the General Industry, focusing on different industrial customers doing a lot of different things. So it could be white goods, forest equipment, furniture, all kinds of different things. And then the other part is the Automotive part, where we are focusing on the sort of high-end technology advanced things for Automotive, both light vehicles and heavy vehicles. If we turn to Page 12, we saw a strong increase in sales, a 22% growth for the industrial, but you should remember that the comparison quarter last year was very weak due to the pandemic and the close down of some automotive manufacturing sites. We saw a slightly negative impact of component shortages mostly within the Automotive sector. But we ended up with SEK 580 million in sales and the operating profit of SEK 62 million, creating a strong margin of 10.7% for the business area.

P
Per-Ola Holmstrom

Good afternoon, Per-Ola Holmstrom to comment Group financial highlights on Page 13. The net sales increased 11%, adjusted for currency and acquisitions to almost SEK 2.8 billion. And the operating profit EBITDA, if we do exclude the nonrecurring item of SEK 50 million, was SEK 336 million. In these numbers, you can see the nonrecurring item included. The EBITA margin, excluding the nonrecurring item is 12.1 percentage. And to give a short summary of that nonrecurring item, that is prior to the acquisition of GW Plastics which has been consolidated from September 1, they applied for a loan that could be received from U.S. authorities to provide support during the pandemic. Under certain conditions, the loan may be remitted as announced by the authorities during this second quarter. And the effect of this is recognized in the income statement as other income at group level, and the amount does not affect the earnings of the business areas. It has no cash flow effect for Nolato and it is also tax-free. So from these 2 aspects, it's quite easy to exclude it. It's reported according to IFRS rules. The profit after tax was SEK 291 million compared to SEK 207 million. And the effective tax rate was 20% for the first 6 months compared to 19.7% for the same period last year. The cash flow after reimbursement ended up with SEK 417 million compared to SEK 612 million. Last year, we did have a sharp temporary reduction in tied-up working set during the first half year. And as we have estimated earlier, CapEx will increase for 2020 and the first half year increased from SEK 133 million to SEK 332 million. We expect now CapEx to be around SEK 700 million for the full year 2020. The net financial liabilities, was, if we exclude pension and lease liability amounts, SEK 194 million, and has decreased further from SEK 298 million year-end. And we have during the Q2 paid out SEK 428 million in dividends to the shareholders. We do have a strong financial position. Turning to Page 14, focusing on the current situation or business area, starting with Medical Solutions. We are maintaining our growth strategy, a lot of focus on innovation based on strong customer relationship. We have seen and still see some impact in the pandemic. And we are achieving synergies across the markets. Within the Integrated Solutions business area, we have established a strong position within new product areas based on our flexible production structure. And we see the 5G rollout and new initiatives in the automotive sector that are positive for our EMC/Thermal part of the business area. Within Industrial Solutions, we have advanced our market positions. We see efficiency improvements. We have, of course, the impact of the pandemic and a lot of emphasis on sustainable solutions within this business area. We will now open up to questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question is from Carl Ragnerstam of Nordea.

C
Carl Ragnerstam
Analyst

It's Carl here from Nordea. A couple of questions from my side. Firstly, on Medical Solutions. You mentioned that you see sequential improvement in the surgical segment but capacity constraints for testing equipment. So first, on the surgical side possible to give some flavor on the magnitude of your recovery and whether you have seen a gradual recovery during the quarter given increased vaccination levels? And then also, sorry, when it comes to the sort of testing side, if you -- if it's you experiencing capacity constraints? Or is it your suppliers? Or is it difficult to find materials? Just if you can clarify that as well.

C
Christer Wahlquist
President & CEO

Okay. Thank you, Carl. If I start with the surgical recovery, we have seen a gradual recovery during the quarter. I still consider the volumes to be lower than normal as an overall perspective, but gradual improvements on the IVD and diagnostics sector, the constraint is a total -- if you look on the total market, there is a lack of capacity in converting and producing these products. So it's not lack of raw material or anything like that. It's a lack of total installed capacity.

C
Carl Ragnerstam
Analyst

Okay. So it's not from your side then, I guess?

C
Christer Wahlquist
President & CEO

It is -- in our factories, we are running as much as we can in the installed capacity.

C
Carl Ragnerstam
Analyst

Okay. So it might be a problem for the coming 2 quarters as well, I guess, then?

C
Christer Wahlquist
President & CEO

I think it's a problem for the whole area as such and the total installed capacity in the world is not enough for the demand at the moment.

P
Per-Ola Holmstrom

I think you could add as well for our sake that as we do say in this report, and we said that before as well, we are installing, of course, more capacity. So that is something that we bring on gradually.

C
Carl Ragnerstam
Analyst

And when will you have new capacity? Is it short-term add or is it more of a midterm?

P
Per-Ola Holmstrom

That is something that is coming gradually. So we have some additions, which will affect quite quickly. Then of course, there are some in the plans going forward. So it's an ongoing thing, gradually improved.

C
Carl Ragnerstam
Analyst

And I guess it's -- what is your best guess when it comes to the surgical segment returning to growth? Is it -- yes, what's your best guess there? Is it the coming quarter or 6 months? Or do you have any view on that?

C
Christer Wahlquist
President & CEO

My best guess will be gradually during the rest of the year.

C
Carl Ragnerstam
Analyst

So returning to growth in H2 then?

C
Christer Wahlquist
President & CEO

Yes. But there is 2 factors affecting this. First, of course, the surgical procedures needs to come up to normal stage. And then there is a lot of components and equipment in pipeline. So it's 2 things. So it's difficult to say how it will play out.

C
Carl Ragnerstam
Analyst

Okay. Perfect. Also on the heated tobacco guidance or Integrated Solutions guidance, more specifically, you guided for good growth sequentially, I mean, given that your growth has been 40%, 50% the past few quarters, is it fair to assume that the your definition of good growth is at least double digits? And then also, do you expect EMC to grow at the same or faster pace than the heated tobacco in your guidance?

C
Christer Wahlquist
President & CEO

We have been a bit more, let's say, specific for a number of quarters back. And the reason for that has been, of course, that it has been a bit more volatile in that segment. We did feel that the Q2 numbers we did see would be a good, let's say, base. And now we didn't beat that specific that we have been -- and that is, of course, the view that we have of the second quarter as a base. You mentioned double-digit growth and we would agree to that double digit in the low part of double digits. And about EMC, we do see the same kind of growth in that area. So it's a good growth situation.

Operator

Our next question is from Mikael Laséen of Carnegie.

M
Mikael Laséen

Yes, I got a couple of questions. The supply chain on the component shortage it seems that you have in the Industrial segment, can you talk about this maybe more in detail and say something about the revenue and EBIT impact?

C
Christer Wahlquist
President & CEO

Yes. We have seen some lack of components for the automotive industry during the quarter. It had a slight impact, I would say, during the quarter for Industrial. So that's still some.

M
Mikael Laséen

Okay. Do you know how much it affected the top line?

C
Christer Wahlquist
President & CEO

It's hard to say in exact numbers because we don't have really something to compare with. But you have seen that some of the automotive factories have closed down for a shorter time periods. Some of that has been then increasing orders the next week and so on. But our estimation is still that there is a slight effect on the negative side during the quarter.

M
Mikael Laséen

And what do you expect going forward? Is the outlook better, more stable? Or will this continue? What would you expect?

C
Christer Wahlquist
President & CEO

I think you could say that there will be some effects going forward as well. You can read about it in some of the reports, and you can read about it in the papers from time to time. I think we have had a customer we have as customers affected less than many of them. And also, the delivery addresses we have had has been maybe not the worst one. So a favorable situation compared to many others. And then, of course, we could say that in the end, there is a good demand. And some of the customers, they plan for producing the need and the demand at a later stage, which could be then on the positive side. But probably there will be some smaller effects also going forward.

M
Mikael Laséen

Okay. And just my final question on the Industrial side. I have one more, if it's okay. And the basic question about the split between automotive and the other segments, the other customer types? And of the Automotive segment, how much do you have the trucks and cars?

C
Christer Wahlquist
President & CEO

The Automotive sector is about 35%, 40% of the business area and has been quite stable. And our thought is mainly to the light vehicles or cars that is the largest part for us.

M
Mikael Laséen

Okay. I was just curious because the picture you showed yesterday, it was 50-50. So I was a bit surprised. And just a follow-up there. How much of the light side is battery electric or everything in the Automotive side?

C
Christer Wahlquist
President & CEO

I would say if you talk about in 2 hybrids within this, then I would say the majority would be hybrid today.

M
Mikael Laséen

Okay. And pure battery electric?

C
Christer Wahlquist
President & CEO

I don't have the numbers for the split between fully electric and hybrid. Sorry about that.

M
Mikael Laséen

Okay. That's fine. All right. And my final question is on GW Plastics. Great to know that it's starting to grow again. And what type of growth rates are you seeing there? And if you also can tell us how much revenue contribution that you got from GW this quarter?

P
Per-Ola Holmstrom

Yes. The growth rate was double digit for GW if you compare it to the first quarter of this year sequentially. And the sales number was about SEK 390 million for GW Plastics.

M
Mikael Laséen

Okay. Got it. Is it okay if I ask one more?

C
Christer Wahlquist
President & CEO

Yes.

M
Mikael Laséen

Okay. Great. It's about this comment that you made about Integrated, especially with VHP and EMC. You also said something there about component shortage -- is that -- is the growth double digit, excluding this? Or how should we think about the component shortage side?

C
Christer Wahlquist
President & CEO

I think we've seen some tendency to some disturbances in the delivery of components for Integrated during this quarter. And the comments for the future should be more in a general view that there is a shortage total in the market, but we expect to be able to deliver this low double-digit growth.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] There are no further questions, so I'll hand back over to our speakers.

C
Christer Wahlquist
President & CEO

Thank you for interest -- your interest in Nolato's presentation of second quarter, and I wish you all a very nice summer. Thank you.