Studsvik AB

STO:SVIK

Earnings Call Transcript 2024-Q2

[Operator]

Welcome to Studsvik's Q2 Report for 2024. [Operator Instructions]

Now, I will hand the conference to CEO, Camilla Hoflund. Please go ahead.

[Camilla Hoflund, executive]

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Studsvik's Interim Report for the Second Quarter and Half Year 2024. My name is Camilla Hoflund, the CEO of Studsvik. And today, I'm very happy to introduce our new CFO, Peter Teske, that is with me on the call. We will present the results and focus areas for the Studsvik Group, and as the operator mentioned, you are welcome to ask questions at the end of the session. Please note that you can either call in or use the chat function. Studsvik are providing technology services on the international markets for the nuclear industry. We support our -- with our expertise, experience and valuable offerings throughout the whole reactor life cycle from new build to operation, decommissioning and final storage. We offer specific specialized solutions based on our knowledge for decades. The nuclear power is on the global agenda. There are strong drivers for nuclear energy, such as the climate change, geopolitical situation and future increased capacity needs for energy. It has never been so obvious that nuclear is needed to enable the transition to a sustainable future. Many countries plan to expand or build the first of a kind nuclear power plant. Time is of essence and the supply chain capacity will be a critical factor.

Also in Sweden and recently in Almedalen, it was a high focus on the nuclear industry collaborations and the consensus of the need to clarify nuclear power industry's economic conditions for investments.

Some of my CEO comments. Studsvik hosted a visit of Ebba Busch, the Sweden's Minister of Energy, Business and Industry. The government's roadmap for new nuclear power in Sweden was on the agenda and how Studsvik can contribute. The visit of Ebba Busch strengthens our feeling that the government wants to actively drive the development towards new nuclear power and that Studsvik will once again be important for national program to expand nuclear power.

In Almedalen, a meeting place for political dialogue, many players from the nuclear power industry were represented and many debates focused on expanding nuclear power to achieve a future fossil-free and stable energy mix. There is a consensus, both politically and within the industry, that decisions need to be taken to achieve the government's goal of increasing nuclear power capacity.

One main question is how the nuclear power industry's economic conditions for investment will be handled. A government investigation is underway to find a model for financing and risk-sharing.

In addition, there are other parallel efforts like exploring how the permit and licensing process can be streamlined. The progress of nuclear power in Sweden is progressing, but the time is critical. When I was attending the panel discussion, nuclear communications on the global stage, scope and beyond at the 2024 American Nuclear Society Annual Conference in U.S., the same question was addressed. How can the pace of nuclear power be increased in order to succeed in the green transition? In summary, the participation in these kind of forums is a strategy to support the positions of Studsvik and our offerings for new nuclear initiatives. And now, I will hand over to Peter.

[Peter Teske, executive]

Thank you, Camilla. As you can see, our sales, operating profit and margins are slightly higher than in 2023, both when you compare to the second quarter and the half year. The property sale from 2023 recorded in the first quarter contributed with SEK 2.3 million to our half year results. The operating profit, profit margin, excluding the property sale, was 5.3%. Studsvik has signed an agreement to acquire Extrem Borr och Sågteknik effective from first of July 2024. The company has an annual turnover of approximately SEK 30 million, and 8 employees at the time of the acquisition. One of our biggest investments during the half year is the inDRUM demonstration facility and that's one of the reasons why we have been able to sign a partnership agreement with Uniper. Camilla will come back and talk about this acquisition and agreement later on.

If we look further on the next slide, we can see how our cash flow has developed during the quarter and half year. Our free cash flow for the half year is negative at SEK 40.9 million. The main reason behind the negative cash flow are our higher investment levels with the inDRUM projects, which is approximately -- is around 25% of our total investments. There are also higher replacement investments compared to last year in the business area of fuels and material technology.

Another reason for the negative cash flow is the higher capital tied up in customer projects and combined with increased complexity of the trade in China. This has affected our cash flow in the short term. Due to this, we have to continue focus on the cash management within the group. Yes.

[Camilla Hoflund, executive]

Well, I will guide you through decommissioning and radiation protection services, the business area that provides expertise and experience, mainly for the German, Swiss, Belgium and the Netherlands market. Within the business area, revisions and maintenance work in Switzerland and the Benelux countries contributed positively to the results, although we are not quite reaching the same level as the same quarter last year. As mentioned earlier by Peter, the acquisition of Extrem Borr och Sågteknik supplements the business area very well, specialized in various types of segmentation, mainly within the nuclear power industry, like cutting, sowing, drilling, et cetera.

The company has, as Peter mentioned, 8 employees that act as project managers and problem solvers in various types of dismantling projects, mainly for nuclear facilities. The acquisition is expected to have a positive impact on the earnings already into 2024. If we then move on to what is in the focus right now, the EBS is a well-established high-tech segmentation company in the Swedish nuclear power industry, and as mentioned, complements to fit very well. And we expect to see synergies benefit, both in the short and midterm. Together, we can offer customers a complete service in decommissioning both in and outside Sweden. As there is a lack of resources on the German markets, specific need to onboard new personnel, to keep up and support growth within the decommissioning area in Germany, Switzerland and other countries. And also the partnership approach is progressing and we are performing some bids together with partners to offer a more complete and competitive service to our customers.

So now, I will move on to the fuel and materials technology, a business area with the position of the international laboratory supporting the global industry with world-leading testing and analysis. The production output improved compared to last year. However, last year, we had destructions at the site and delayed regulatory permits for transport. Work is underway to speed up the delayed regulatory permits for fuel transport in Europe. It is a little bit too early to speculate when the permits might be in place.

Studsvik Nuclear AB has received an injunction from the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority regarding the retrieval of radioactive waste from Forsmark. The injunction has been appealed to the administrative board.

And if we look into some focus areas for the business, we are continuing to improve the production in the facilities and are adjusting the organization accordingly. It has so far shown good results. Another key area for us is material transport and to secure the deliveries to the site. And as mentioned, we start to see some progress in the approval process.

The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency's project, which is run by OECD Nuclear Energy Agency's project, which is run by Halden Reactor Project and Studsvik, has been highlighted during the spring for its international collaboration, in the development of reactor technology and safety. The Studsvik Cladding Integrity Project, SCIP, recently celebrated 20 years and a new 5-year program has started that covers both reactor operations and back-end fuel handling, including storage.

The project has today members represented in 15 countries and by 40 organizations. Another OECD project is SMILE, the Studsvik Material Lifetime Extension project that is based on PWRs and BWR materials from decommissioned nuclear power plants. The interest in lifetime extension increases and France has recently joined as a member and is widely represented by government, fuel manufacturers and nuclear power producers. Today, the project has members from 10 countries and 19 organizations.

And now, I will move on to Scandpower, the software business that is where leading in fuel optimization from the sign of fuel course to operation and disposal. Specific software is installed in about 50% of the wide light water reactors that are in operation today. In 2023, we had more sales from license business in the beginning of the year compared to this year.

We expect to have a positive impact of license sales later this year. The license agreement signed at the beginning of the year with 1 of the leading energy companies in the U.S. will have a positive impact when we are reaching the milestones for the installations of the GARDEL core monitoring system.

Focus areas, there is an interesting sign on the U.S. market where there has been reconsideration regarding earlier decided close downs of reactors. As example, Holtec has taken steps towards restarting 1 U.S. nuclear power plant. We are following this closely, and it opens new opportunities for Scan power software for the U.S. market. Scandpower will host a User Group Meeting in U.S. end of July, and we expect global customer presence. This is a several days broad marketing for our software and knowledge sharing among the customers of best practice and experience of using our software. One of the key events will be the early launch of our new developed code, a commercial Monte Carlo tool to support advanced modular reactors, Medical Shielding, Criticality and Fusion. The code applies civil electronics modeling and simulation, and the first version is expected at the end of this year.

Now I will move on to waste management technology in the business area that support efficient and safe handling of radioactive waste with our technology, technical solutions and advisory support. We are still having some customer delays connected to our license agreements that also postpones our engineering services.

The business area is in the process of establishing the Studsvik's patented inDRUM demonstration facility at our plant outside [indiscernible]. After commissioning in September, we plan to start with customer projects to test nonradioactive materials during the rest of this year. These projects are worth a few million SEK. As Peter mentioned, Studsvik has signed a partnership agreement with Uniper covering waste consulting and inDRUM technology, by combining our respective strengths, we can provide a complete value chain for the decommissioning of nuclear facilities with a focus on safety, efficiency and quality.

And then on focus areas, inDRUM is comparable with a typical start-up initiative. We have cost-efficient solutions for customer radioactive waste problems and everything takes more effort and time than expected. Our customers show a great interest to the conceptual design and university tests that have been performed, but they have asked for a reference facility to be able to test larger volumes during real operational conditions, and this is the reason why we have the demonstration facility at Studsvik and it is a strategic investment to support the market and sales efforts for inDRUM license business.

Now we are waiting for the last critical component to be delivered to the demonstration installation before we can perform a complete site acceptance test, and that is scheduled for September. Several potential customers are booked in for visits during the year to see the facility in operation. The business area will also continue to explore strategic partnerships to offer a more complete solution to our customers. And to be able to enter new markets on a broader scale.

So if we look into the new initiatives. The initiatives to explore new nuclear power at specific sites, including small modular reactors, SMRs and conventional large reactors, research reactors are progressing. The studies and modeling analysis takes some time and efforts and example of things that has and is assessed is safety from Hydro Safe mix geological perspective as well as construction and operation when it comes to cooling and transmissions.

As mentioned in the beginning of the call, a key condition will always be the financing and the political position to support financing of new nuclear power. The specific site is a plastic Swedish nuclear territory, and the site has the infrastructure and holds the license to operate nuclear facilities. This has initiated early interest also in other areas than nuclear power, such as waste conditioning and services, an area where Studsvik has expertise and nuclear knowledge.

So in summary, as part of Studsvik's strategy, we need to be present in different forms to strengthen our position and role both nationally and internationally for new nuclear initiatives, these efforts will support our business opportunities. I guess, also a trend on the nuclear market to engage in partnerships, and this is something we also look into. We are looking for the partners that are complementary to our strength to be able to offer more value to the customers by having competitive offerings to the market.

The collaboration platform suits our organization well, especially with our experience to lead worldwide programs with highly specialized experts. Specific research hub and center of excellence are supporting our customers with pragmatic solutions to their complex problems, and in addition, this is the perfect hub for creating network and meet other professionals in the industry.

So now, we will handle over to Q&A session.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] There are no more phone questions at this time. So I hand the conference back to the speakers for any written questions and closing comments.

[Camilla Hoflund, executive]

Thank you so much, operator, and we want to thank -- say thank you to all of you that has been listening. And on behalf of Peter, me and the whole Studsvik Group, we wish you a very nice summer and hope to speak to you soon again. Thank you.