Nolato AB
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Earnings Call Transcript

Earnings Call Transcript
2023-Q2

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Operator

Welcome to Nolato Q2 Report 2023. [Operator Instructions] Now I will hand the conference over to CEO, Christer Wahlquist; and CFO, Per-Ola Holmstrom. Please go ahead.

C
Christer Wahlquist
executive

Hello, and welcome to the presentation of Nolato's second quarter 2023. If we start on Page 2 in the presentation deck, there is a summary of the second quarter for the group. We had sales just shy of SEK 2.5 billion during the quarter, and that was -- we saw decreased volumes within our VHP business, but good performance or positive performance within Industrial and Medical.

The operating profit EBITA ended up at SEK 198 million in comparison to SEK 264 million. The EBITA margin was affected by the lower volumes within the VHP sector. We saw good cash flow during the quarter, and it rose to SEK 224 million if we exclude acquisitions, and we have sustained our strong financial position. If we then turn to Page 3 in the presentation deck and look at the different overall picture of the different business areas, starting with the medical. We had sales just shy of SEK 1.4 billion during the quarter and an EBITA of SEK 138 million.

And that is, of course, then more than half of our sales within Medical and 2/3 of the group EBITA result coming from the Medical division.

On the Integrated Solutions side, we saw the heavy decrease due to the changed purchase and different volumes for the VHP. So it ended up at SEK 392 million and then EBITA of SEK 16 million during the quarter. On the industrial side, we saw a good performance and sales ended up at SEK 724 million and then EBITA of SEK 56 million during the quarter.

If we then turn to Page 4, starting with the Medical Solutions business area. We are continuing our profitable growth journey, and you see on the graph the development of the sales of the business area over the last 20 years. So it continues good development of the business area.

On Page 5, we see a split up of the focused product areas within our Medical Solutions business area. So most of the areas were performing good and the exception was the In Vitro Diagnostic, where we still see some lower volumes due to the supply chain adjustments after COVID in that business area.

We then go to Page 6, focusing on the Medical Solutions first. Second quarter, we saw a 6% increase of sales if we adjust for currency. We saw, as I mentioned, good growth in most of the market areas, but the IVD is on an unchanged level and we see still inventory adjustments in the total value chain. The margin ended up at 10.1 percentage, giving them the overall development of the Medical business for Nolato.

On Page 7, focusing on the integrated solutions. Here, we have seen a dramatic growth over the years within the VHP. We are now in the situation that the VHP has been decreased due to the new sourcing situation and also the lower total volumes in that business, and it enabled us to grow in other market areas and market segments, which we are focusing on.

If we turn to Page 8, you will see those areas that I mentioned. So the VHP is now decreasing as a total share of the total, and we are focusing very heavily on growing the smart home and home security part of the business, the wearable, the well-being devices, the earphones, speakers and the complex modules on our side that is the Consumer Electronics side.

On the right-hand side of the page, we see the EMC part of the business. And that is then, of course, sort of a little bit of a different business model in that. If we turn to Page 9, summarizing the Integrated Solutions business area.

During the quarter, we saw a 63% decline if we adjust for currency. And of course, it's low volumes and the change of sourcing strategy at the previously significant customers within the VHP area, and that the VHP within Nolato is now approximately 5% of the group sales.

The EMC sales increased to SEK 174 million. And we saw the automotive area increase significantly while we saw the telecom area at lower volumes as a total. The margin ended up at 4.1%, and we are working with cost cutting, but maintaining our strength in order to build new businesses within the other segments of the Consumer Electronic area.

So sales ended up at EUR 392 million, as mentioned, and the operating profit SEK 16 million during the quarter. If we turn to Page 10, focusing on Industrial Solutions. Here, we are on a technology and geographical expansion journey. And if we look on Page 11, we see the split down of the different product areas that we are focusing on. So these are the different segments within the industrial sector.

If we look on Page 12, summarizing up the Industrial Solutions business area. We saw during the quarter a 1% increase in our sales if we adjust for currency. We saw volumes in the automotive risen. And also, we saw less disruption in the supply chain compared to previous quarters. We saw also that demand for products in consumer discretionary sector slightly lower due to a weaker economy. So the margin ended up at 7.7 percentage points due to the less disruption in supply chain meant, of course, more efficient production for us.

P
Per-Ola Holmström
executive

Good afternoon. This is Per-Ola Holmstrom presenting group financial highlights on Page 13. Net sales was almost SEK 2.5 billion in the quarter, a 20% decrease adjusted for currency compared to SEK 2.9 billion. Operating profit was SEK 198 million with an EBITA margin of 8.0%.

Cash flow was strong in the quarter. After investments, excluding acquisitions, it rose to SEK 224 million compared to SEK 71 million by more favorable working capital and less CapEx. Earnings per share was SEK 0.58 compared to SEK 0.71. Dividend was paid out with SEK 512 million in Q2 and net financial liabilities increased to almost SEK 1.2 billion.

Turning to Page 14 and focusing on the situation per business area starting with the Medical [indiscernible] focused on innovation built together with strong customer relationships.

On the Integrated Solutions side, we have established positions in new product areas. We have a very flexible production structure in the base, and we have good success within the automotive area that is positive for the EMC, but generally speaking, lower volumes within the telecom area.

Overall, there are some geopolitical concerns that affect the supply -- global supply chains. On the Industrial Solutions, we have advanced our market positions, a lot of emphasis on sustainable solutions and overall, a general weaker economy.

We will now open up for questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Adrian Gilani from ABG Sundal Collier.

A
Adrian Gilani Göransson
analyst

Hello. It's Adrian here at ABG. First question on Medical. We're still seeing these inventory adjustments on IVD that you've been talking about for over a year now. And I guess a 2-part question on that. First of all, are there any signs of improvement on Q3 current trading there? And the second question is if we do return to a more normalized inventory situation among your customers, can you just help to quantify the margin impact that, that could have on Medical?

C
Christer Wahlquist
executive

We have not seen any improvements during the third quarter so far.

P
Per-Ola Holmström
executive

And margin-wise, the situation we had during COVID with very high utilization of that part was, of course, positive to margins. When that picks up in volume, it won't be like that, of course. And then it's a more similar margin that we have in the overall Medical business area.

A
Adrian Gilani Göransson
analyst

Okay. And then on EMC products, you've previously said that these could grow around 15% per annum. But now you are saying you're seeing slower demand from telecom. And just for the current year, can you give us some estimation on where the full year growth might end up in EMC given that for the first half growth has been in the single digits?

P
Per-Ola Holmström
executive

Yes. I don't think that we should expect much higher growth numbers from that business. It is slow on the telecom side. We have a good situation in other areas, which is supporting us. But of course, as telecom is not that strong, the overall situation is not very much more positive. Then, of course, it's hard to judge when telecom will be stronger. But for the time being, we don't see that change coming year.

A
Adrian Gilani Göransson
analyst

Okay. And am I correct that telecom is roughly 80% of EMC? Or am I misremembering that?

P
Per-Ola Holmström
executive

Yes. The telecom part has decreased compared to that as the total telecom has decreased and we have had a good growth in the other areas. So it's a bit less compared to that right now.

A
Adrian Gilani Göransson
analyst

Okay. And then, I guess, on the VHP sales. If we take away the current EMC sales, it seems like VHP is down sequentially as well. Is this an effect of BAT's total volumes coming down? Or have you sort of lost further shares on the steel-sourcing contract?

P
Per-Ola Holmström
executive

That is the effect of volumes. And you are correct. Sequentially, it is a smaller downturn. That's the way it is, yes.

A
Adrian Gilani Göransson
analyst

But is it your customers selling for less volumes in total? Or have you had a smaller share and the other dual sourcing partner has a larger share of the volumes. Which of those is it?

P
Per-Ola Holmström
executive

I think the situation is similar when it comes to splitting volumes, but it is low volumes totally. And yes. So not a very big change, but we did see some downturn in our volumes during this quarter.

A
Adrian Gilani Göransson
analyst

And a final question on also on VHP. Given that we've had really 3 quarters now with VHP not being profitable and if I remember correctly at the sort of peak sales level, you said fixed costs were around SEK 300 million in that segment. How much can you decrease the fixed cost base in VHP?

C
Christer Wahlquist
executive

We should see the cost base as Consumer Electronics. And what we are doing is that we want to grow the business within Consumer Electronics in those areas that I explained before. And in order to do that, we would -- we want to maintain our capacity and our strength in order to address other businesses. So we are not maximizing our cost out because we want to continue to grow that business long term.

Operator

The next question comes from Karl Noren from SEB.

K
Karl Norén
analyst

A couple of questions from my side. If we start on Medical, our margin was relatively flat there year-over-year in the second quarter here. So I was wondering a bit on the outlook on the margin in Medical. Given that you are facing a bit easier comps now in the second half, do you think you can improve margins a little bit more than what you did in Q2 in the second half of this year would be my first question.

P
Per-Ola Holmström
executive

It's correct that we have a margin situation in previous years, which decreased from these levels. I do think that this business should be seen more in a sequential development from the levels we have right now.

However, there is a smaller effect coming from Q3 as we have a vacation period during that quarter. So that might affect volumes by a little. But except for that, I see it more sequentially than comparing to...

K
Karl Norén
analyst

Yes. So margins should look better year-over-year than in Q3 and Q4, I guess? .

P
Per-Ola Holmström
executive

Yes. It's more in line with, yes.

K
Karl Norén
analyst

Yes. Good. And then a question also on the IVD sales. Is it possible maybe to quantify what -- was it at let development? Or was it -- how much was it down year-over-year? Is it possible to consider that?

P
Per-Ola Holmström
executive

The IVD volumes, you mean?

K
Karl Norén
analyst

Exactly. How much did it decrease year-over-year in Medical?

P
Per-Ola Holmström
executive

The volumes for IVD were similar to the same period last year.

K
Karl Norén
analyst

Okay. That's great. And then a question on Industrial. Nice to see the good margin development there. Just wondering a bit on the outlook for the cycle, basically. What are you seeing in terms of demand from your customers? And how did it develop during the quarter? Was it stronger in April or stronger in June? Or any form of guidance there would be very helpful.

C
Christer Wahlquist
executive

If we look on the second quarter, I would say it was fairly stable during the quarter and we didn't see a strong start or a strong end. It was fairly stable during the quarter.

K
Karl Norén
analyst

Okay. That's great. And then just 1 question on price increases. I mean now we are seeing that production costs are not -- that more material cost, electricity cost, et cetera, are coming down. Is it possible maybe to quantify how much price helped you in? I guess it's mostly predominantly in Industrial and maybe in Medical, but is it possible to say anything on how price helped you or what the impact from price was year-over-year?

P
Per-Ola Holmström
executive

There was a slight support from BAT, but not very much. The margin improvement came mostly from more efficient production, and that is mainly within automotive. And we didn't see much of the fluctuations in production planning that we have seen previously. So that was the most affecting a positive reason for improving the margin additionally.

K
Karl Norén
analyst

Yes. And the Medical is the 6% organic growth. Is that mainly volume driven, you would say?

P
Per-Ola Holmström
executive

That is mainly volume-driven, yes.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Mikael Laseen from Carnegie.

M
Mikael Laséen
analyst

Okay. Just a housekeeping question here when it comes to the administrative expenses. It was SEK 122 million in Q2, I think, and stepped up compared to Q1 and quite a lot higher than last year. Can you explain what it is? Is it FX driving this? Or what's behind this?

P
Per-Ola Holmström
executive

That's correct. It was higher. And I think last year should be seen as a low number to start with. Then in comparison to Q1, I would say that this quarter is a bit on the high side. Different explanations to that. But one area would be that we had noticed costs for some management levels, more MD levels during this quarter, which affected with some millions on top of Q1.

M
Mikael Laséen
analyst

Is this part of the Integrated Solutions segment or is it included in the Intragroup line?

P
Per-Ola Holmström
executive

It's not part of the business area levels. It's on the group level when we have that kind of cost for MDs. And above that level, we normally treat that as group level costs outside the business areas and the same this quarter.

M
Mikael Laséen
analyst

Okay. Can you maybe specify what you have done and how much it was?

P
Per-Ola Holmström
executive

There are not many, but some of these positions that have been replaced. And it's in different business areas, and it's around SEK 5 million plus in this quarter.

M
Mikael Laséen
analyst

Okay. It sounds a bit nonrecurring.

P
Per-Ola Holmström
executive

That's correct. I would call it more -- I mean, it happens from time to time. So it's not a very unusual thing, of course. But it's not every quarter, and it was on the high side this quarter, of course. So it's a bit nonrecurring. I agree.

M
Mikael Laséen
analyst

Okay. And also just a quick question on CapEx, if you have any changes to the CapEx plan for this year?

P
Per-Ola Holmström
executive

No, I would say it's the same picture as it has been for some time. Looking at this year, we do see SEK 600 million to SEK 650 million in CapEx. And then it's including paying for 1 production unit real estate in Sweden, which is SEK 150 million included in that number. We don't know exactly when that will happen. We expect it will be this year. So yes, the same situation as last quarter.

M
Mikael Laséen
analyst

Okay. Got it. Can I just follow up with a question on IVD. Approximately how much of the Medical product category is and approximately the profit level that, that area is generating right now, if it's possible.

P
Per-Ola Holmström
executive

That is around 15% of the business area. And the profit level is slightly below the average of the business area because capacity utilization is lower than what it should be.

M
Mikael Laséen
analyst

Okay. And when it comes to GW Plastics or the North American business, is the entire North American business at roughly 7%, 7.5%? I'm thinking about Medical now.

C
Christer Wahlquist
executive

If we look on the different regions, we have lower margins in the North American market. Yes, that is correct.

M
Mikael Laséen
analyst

Okay. Did you have any improvement sequentially? Or is it still at sort of stable levels?

C
Christer Wahlquist
executive

It's still on a low level.

M
Mikael Laséen
analyst

Okay. So that means that the other product areas, excluding North America are maybe at your historical average margin levels of 12% or 13%. Is that a fair assumption?

C
Christer Wahlquist
executive

Yes, it's a fair assumption.

Operator

The next question comes from Johan Skoglund from DNB Markets.

J
Johan Skoglund
analyst

So just a quick question on VHP. Did you say how much this was of group revenues? And could you say if the segment contributed with profits? Or was it negative in the quarter?

P
Per-Ola Holmström
executive

VHP is around 5% of group sales in this quarter. And coming back to the nonprofit situation, we do have still a situation where this part is not positive in result for us. It's a slightly negative situation for that part. .

Operator

There are no more questions at this time. So I hand the conference back to the speakers for any closing comments.

C
Christer Wahlquist
executive

Thank you very much for your interest in Nolato's second quarter, and I hope you all get a really great summer. Thank you.