Anora Group Oyj (ANORA) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

All right. Good morning, everyone, and a warm welcome to the presentation of Anora's half year results. I am Tua Stenius-Ornhjelm from Anora's Investor Relations. On this call, we have: CEO, Pekka Tennila; and CFO, Sigmund Toth. Pekka will start shortly the presentations with a business update, which is followed by Sigmund's review of the financials. After the presentations, we start the Q&A, and you can already start sending in your questions through the Teams chat. As usually, we kindly ask you to mute your microphones during the presentations. And please note that we are recording the presentation, and the on-demand version will be available later on our website, anora.com. Without further ado, we are ready to start. Pekka, please go ahead.

Thank you, Tua, and welcome, everybody, on my behalf as well. Before I start the presentation, I would like to remind all of you that today is Anora's 1-year birthday as closing of the merger happened 1st of September a year ago. Q2 was an eventful quarter. And before we go to the business, let me talk about the acquisition of Globus Wine. Globus Wine is the leading wine company in Denmark. It was founded in 2006 and has since then been growing with above-market growth rate during the last years. In 2021, Globus Wine reported net sales of DKK 550 million and comparable EBITDA of DKK 66 million. Globus Wine employs some 140 people, with very strong capabilities in brand building and wine sourcing. The company's track record is impressive, and they own the top selling wine brands in the Danish retail like the Il Capolavoro, that you see on this slide. In addition to own brands, Globus wine provides filling services at the production facility close to Copenhagen. Being located in Denmark means that Globus Wine is within optimal reach for wine consumer markets in Scandinavia, the Baltics and Northern Germany. As a continuation to the merger last fall, Globus Wine is a great fit to Anora. The acquisition strengthens our position as the leading one supplier in the Nordics. This means that we have now leading positions in wine and spirits in all 3 monopoly markets, Sweden, Norway and Finland, as well as in Denmark. We're extremely happy about this acquisition and see that it brings many opportunities to further strengthen and grow our wine business in the Nordics. In the beginning of August, we also announced an investment in the Danish company called ISH. ISH is a Danish scale-up company in non-alcoholic beverages. It was founded in 2018 and has since then done groundbreaking innovation work in this category. And alcoholic beverages is a growing category, and strategically very interesting for us. Consumers are more and more looking for high-quality non-alcoholic alternatives with excellent taste. ISH has a broad portfolio of non-alcoholic spirits, wines and ready-to-drink beverages. In addition to the investment, we will also distribute ISH products in Norway, Sweden and Finland. With this, we can move on to discuss the Q2. I am very pleased with the net sales development in Q2. Net sales grew by 3.4% to EUR 166 million, largely driven by strong net sales growth in spirits where we have gained market shares on a declining monopoly market. Strong recovery of travel retail and on-trade also supported growth in spirits. We reported EUR 18.9 million in comparable EBITDA, which equals a margin of 11.4%. Comparable EBITDA was challenged by the high input costs and lower sales in wine. The implemented pricing increases have not fully mitigated the higher input costs. Going forward, efficient revenue management will remain a top priority. Let's next have a look at the market development. On this slide, we show the market growth rates in the monopolies in Sweden, Norway and Finland. In Q2, all COVID restrictions were lifted in all 3 markets. And we can see this in the monopoly volumes, even though there is also a slight positive impact coming from the timing of Easter sales this year in Q2 versus last year Q1. Combined Q2 volumes in spirits declined by 7% and in wine by 10%. The return to pre-pandemic levels, that is the 2019 levels, has been the fastest in Finland where the wine and spirits volumes in Q2 were below pre-COVID level. In Norway, where the volumes during COVID were up by up to 40%, the drop has been very significant, even if volumes are still somewhat above the pre-COVID level. All in all, the key takeaway from here is that market normalization has been fast with consumers returning to on-trade and travel retail recovering very well, too. Then we move to Wine segment. In Q2, net sales in the Wine segment declined by 6% to EUR 70 million from EUR 75 million last year. The decline was driven by the lower monopoly sales overall, partner portfolio changes and other stock situation. The lower monopoly sales were largely related to the normalization of the channel mix, while we saw a strong development in on-trade in all 3 markets. Market share in Norway was stable versus last year, which is a good result. Market shares in Sweden and Finland declined. But in Sweden, we started to see the decline being lower than in Q1. On the profitability side, the lower sales and higher input costs have impacted EBITDA. Comparable EBITDA was at EUR 4.6 million versus EUR 8.8 million last year, and gives a margin of 6.5%. Our important focus area in wine, obviously, is to turn around the development. The acquisition of Globus Wine plays an important role in this. They have a wide portfolio of products that we can take to the monopoly markets as well, and which fit well to the growing categories. We're also working hard with redesigning, relaunching our own other brands, winning more tenders and replacing lost partners, with some of our Q2 launches giving some good examples on the steps already taken. In Sweden, our partner portfolio was strengthened with the new partner, Andre Lurton. Tetras is a growing package type. And in that, we launched 2 organic Italian wines from Leale in Sweden. In Norway, we launched a non-alcoholic wine from Leitz. In our own brands, we have relaunched Chill Out in all markets with European collection, and extended the 3 generations wine brand with a bag-in-box in Sweden. For the Finnish market, we have a tender win for Huono Aiti by [ demand ], Liemikuutio bag-in-box in Finland. Many launches -- these are many launches to be proud of, and I'm convinced that we are on the right path to turn the wine development around to growth again. Let's now move on to Spirits. We saw strong net sales growth in spirits in Q2. Net sales were EUR 60 million, which means a 15% growth from last year. And the growth was driven by international, was mainly related to the shift of consumption from the monopolies to travel retail in particular. We are extremely happy about the market share gains in all 3 monopoly markets, especially as the monopoly volumes declined due to market normalization. On-trade also had a strong quarter in all monopoly markets in international. In addition to growth in travel retail, also Baltics and Denmark performed really well. I would like to mention that Koskenkorva has done extremely well in both monopoly countries and in international markets. Koskenkorva being one of our most important brands, this is something to be proud of. Comparable EBITDA declined from previous year and was EUR 9 million or 15.2% of net sales. The decrease was related to higher input costs, which we have not been fully able to mitigate with price increases. We are lagging behind, but continue to push prices up in the future, and higher marketing spend. We have higher marketing and activation investment versus last year in international and on-trade, as these channels were reopened after COVID-19. Novelties are a key driver for growth, and here are some examples from Q2. Engine Gin and Gibson's Blood Orange Gin were new launches in the growing gin category in Norway. Classic Cocktails, Strawberry Daiquiri, a new flavor for the bag-in box ready-to-serve drinks. Vegan version of the iconic Amarula liqueur in Sweden, and Koskenkorva Margarita and Koskenkorva Margarita, further building the brand success in Finland. So, again, a very strong lineup both from partners and own brands. Next, we move to Industrial. Net sales in Industrial grew by 5% to EUR 67 million from EUR 64 million last year. Net sales growth was driven by higher sales prices in contract manufacturing and industrial products, following the increase in the cost of barley. In contract manufacturing, volumes were at last year's level, and in technical ethanol, above last year's level. As a way to mitigate the higher barley cost, we have temporarily reduced the running speed at Koskenkorva Distillery, which is reflected also in lower starch and feed volumes compared to last year. In Vectura, sales were positively impacted by the normalization of the channel mix with higher volumes to the on-trade and lower volumes to the monopolies. Comparable EBITDA in Q2 declined to EUR 4 million which gives a margin of 5.7%. We have mitigated the high raw material costs by lowering the consumption of barley and with price increases. In addition, inventory revaluation and proceeds from the sale of CO2 emissions rights have supported profitability development. Overall, a solid result considering the significant cost push. With this, I'm ready with the business review and will give word over to Sigmund for the financials.

Thank you very much, Pekka, and a warm welcome also to all the listeners from myself. So, if we go to the first slide. Barley is, of course, a very, very key input component. And as you can see on the graph, the pricing has been at sort of all-time high levels. Now it has come down somewhat. And now, of course, all attention is turned to the new harvest we do. As we say, in the CEO comments, do expect the prices to come down somewhat from their historically high level, but the dynamics in this market are quite complicated. And as Pekka said, on the Industrial segment, we have been taking action to mitigate our use of barley. Yes. Moving on to the next slide. So, in terms of the net sales, a slight increase in pro forma versus last year, also a higher level than '19. It's always a good reference. And then this is driven by Spirits and Industrial, as pointed out, the sales increases, but then, Wine pulling in the other direction. Again, most of this is driven by a normalization then of the channel mix, which is beneficial on spirits with its high component of travel retail and international markets. And then in Wine where our strength is in the monopolies, and in particular, Norway had benefited a lot from the COVID effect. When that is normalizing, then there is a decrease versus the previous year. And then, in addition to the sales increases on spirits, the price increases, of course, that Pekka also mentioned, they supported the sales development for Industrial. If we move on to the next slide. Comparable EBITDA, it decreased during the period from the very high levels that we saw in the last 2 years in the pro forma levels. So I think that it's one important point to not forget, is to compare also a little bit with the Q2 '19. And there, we see that we are at higher levels than what we were in 2019 pre-COVID. But, of course, there is a significant decrease of 20% versus last year. And that, if you look at the waterfall to the right, is driven, as we mentioned by Wine where several factors come together. It's basically both lower sales and lower margin, right? And as Pekka pointed out, lower sales are driven by the significant overall market volumes as the COVID effects dissipate, and then also a decline in Anora's market share within that smaller market that we are working hard to reverse. And then, the margins are also lower, and this is due to the higher input costs. So there are 2 things, both FX is unfavorable, especially in Sweden, and then just simply higher input costs on the wine which have led to a decrease in gross margin. So that's the main explanation. And then on Spirits, the main reason is that we are spending more on marketing due to the new possibilities opened by the normalization of Corona after very low levels of marketing investment going forward. So moving on to the next slide. Here, there is an increase in net debt. I mean, here, we are comparing a bit apples and oranges. So again, last year was Altia only. And then, when we are with the merger adding Arcus to the balance sheet, the significant lease liabilities of Arcus are included on the balance sheet. And then the increase in cash and equivalents and interest-bearing debt, they are related then to the -- in addition to the consolidation of Arcus, also to the funding of Globus Wine transaction closed on July 1st. But obviously, the funds were available both in terms of debt, and then cash available prior to the closing of the transaction. So reported net debt to comparable EBITDA is still below the target at 2.4. Actually, if you are using the pro forma figures, it's 2.2. In terms of the cash flow from operations, it's impacted by the change in working capital due to higher inventory level, and inventories they are then impacted by stocking of barley and ethanol, and also the higher inventory values themselves. Moving then on to the next, guidance. So our guidance remains unchanged at the EUR 75 million to EUR 85 million level. This is largely comparable to the pre-pandemic level, and we see a normalization of the volume. Now that said, obviously, we are working very hard to perform better, and in particular, to have better both market share results, and then correspondingly financial performance in the Wine segment. So with that, I think that was my last slide, and back to Pekka, I guess.

Yes. Thank you, Sigmund. Before the Q&A, I just have a few words on the merger, integration and sustainability. So, our post-merger integration work has progressed as planned, and is on schedule. As a part of Anora's new operational model, Anora's wine businesses reorganized under an entrepreneurial-driven, a multicompany structure. Fully dedicated wine import companies under Vingruppen have been established in Finland, Sweden and Norway, [indiscernible] now former Altia partner portfolios. This will enable us to provide best possible service and maximize opportunities to all our wine partners in the Nordic monopoly markets. In Spirits work, on the Anora's spirits portfolio continuing this plan, and joined on-trade excellence program between wine, spirits and international has been initiated. Following the logistics transfers already completed in Norway and Finland, we have continued with the same in Sweden. The first phase of product transfers to Anora's in-house logistics center in Brunna was completed in Q2, and the transfer of remaining volumes in Vingruppen is expected to be completed in Q3. The run rate of annualized net synergies at the end of Q2 was EUR 3 million. And last, an update on sustainability work. In Q2, we continued to take steps on our sustainability journey. On this slide, you see some of the events that took place in Q2. Anora's sustainability road map and targets will be launched in the coming Capital Markets Day. And ahead of that, we have conducted a materiality analysis within that stakeholder interviews, focusing on customers and the financial community, as well as an open survey with over 200 answers from a wide base of internal and external stakeholders. The results of this analysis showed that climate is still the key area for Anora to concentrate its sustainability actions on, with GHG emission reductions being crucial. Other material topics were climate smart packaging, responsible sourcing, water footprint, regenerative farming and biodiversity. In addition, high product quality and food safety is considered material. You will learn more about this later in the autumn. Koskenkorva Vodka is one of our key brands in international markets, and it is fantastic that our sustainable vodka is recognized also on these markets. In May, Anora was awarded Best Sustainable supplier with Koskenkorva Vodka Climate Action in the consumer-voted 2022 Asia Pacific Travel Retail Awards. This is fantastic news to conclude the presentation, and we are now ready for your questions. Over to you.

All right. Thank you, Pekka and Sigmund. So we have a few -- quite a few questions on chat. So I will read them out and then let Pekka and Sigmund take -- answer them. So the first question is about partners in wine. So what is the reason for losing partners in the wine segment?

Yes, it's a dynamic business, and it is quite usual that once in a while, certain partners decide that they want to take their brand elsewhere. I think from our point of view as the leading player in partner wine as well, we've always been able to mitigate those losses quickly. And that's the case also now with the some of the losses we had. We already have partners covering the sales, and especially the gross margin on that. So I would -- it's not anything dramatic. It's part of the business, and we've been doing this for a long time, and we expect that these changes continue to happen in the future as well. But we definitely believe that with the new Anora setup being across all the Nordic markets and the Baltic markets, we can -- we have a superior offering for our partners in the future as well.

So the next question, I think, it's for Sigmund to comment on. So why are the group items positive in Q2? What should we expect going forward for this line?

Let me start with the second part first. So you should expect something similar to the year-to-date figures. The reason that they are positive is simply that we have reclassified some costs to non-recurring that actually relate to the previous quarter. So nothing -- should be fine on a year-to-date basis, and we expect that line to be according to the year-to-date and actually similar also to what the level was last year.

And maybe Sigmund, you would like to take the follow-on question as well, about the higher input costs in wine?

Yes. So the higher input costs in wine are actually several of the parameters that go into the wine. So the wine itself, in some cases, has increased. I mean, that varies a lot depending on the harvests in different regions. Then, as you know, in many markets, we -- or in most markets, we import wine that is denominated in euros, and there has been a fairly weak Swedish crown in particular, which is impacting our margins. And we take, of course, price increases to compensate for the forex effects. But with the lag, we can only increase prices twice a year, in March and in September. And then, I think everyone knows also that, the situation is very, very difficult in terms of transportation in general, and that there are higher costs and trouble with getting deliveries on time. And so, that means that actually inbound logistics costs also have increased on the wine side. So those are the 3 main factors, I would say.

So the next one, I think, Pekka would be good to answer. So how much is the turnaround in wine expected to cost as rebranding or marketing costs or investments?

Yes, great question. We will invest more in wine, and that work already is ongoing. I think there are couple of areas which are important. So I talked already about the partner gains and losses, and that work is proceeding well, and we have great new partners, and we expect great things from them in -- on wine. We have rebranding new products in our biggest brands like Chill Out and Falling Feather and Ruby Zin, and those investments and launches are already ongoing. And we believe it will help us to turn the brands around, and obviously help us to start gaining in wine. And lastly, I think there's a great opportunity, introducing some of the Globus Wine brands in the monopoly markets. Obviously, Sweden is by far the biggest of them. And if you look at categories like value from money, bag-in-boxes where we're basically almost non-existent, I think we can -- we definitely have the cost competitiveness now with the acquisition of Globus Wine, and we believe that we will be in the future more competitive there. Yes, for sure, investments are needed as well, but that's -- we believe that we can manage that in a way that our profitability development is also as expected.

Then we will continue to Denmark. So a question about the acquisitions of Globus Wine and ISG spirits -- but the ISH spirits, it's an investment in the company. Will Denmark be an important market going forward? Are there plans for more acquisitions of Danish brands/companies? Would you like to take that, Pekka?

Sure. Denmark is a very, very important market. It's basically equal to other Nordic markets now with the acquisition. So what we're doing now in Denmark is merging our spirits businesses when former Altia products were with the distributor. Now they're moving back to our own operations, and that will happen at the beginning of next year. And that's obviously great news. With the acquisition of Globus, we're #1 player in wine. So we have positions #2 in spirits and #1 in wine. So that's obviously very, very significant. In terms of net sales, very similar to Finland and Norway. So, Denmark is definitely a big focus market, and we feel like we have great opportunity to grow also. With combining our spirits and wine offerings we're compatible with the chains -- with the grocery chains. In terms of acquisitions, no plans for further acquisitions. Yes, we feel super excited of both, of Globus, and then ISH, which is a fast-growing non-alcoholic company with great, great products. And we all know that, that market is probably the most interesting and fastest-growing market within wine and spirits currently. So yes, big focus on Denmark and great expectations for it.

So the next question on monopoly volumes. I would like to ask Sigmund to comment on that one. So in Finland and Norway, the volumes are down a lot, as expected. But in Sweden, the decline is quite moderate in wine and spirit. Why so different pattern?

Well, there is a saying, what goes up must come down, right? And I think that, that's a bit what we are seeing in Norway and in Finland, right? The Norwegian volumes increased massively during COVID because the sales shifted from the duty-free channel, which is very big, including arrivals in Oslo, and from the Swedish border trade. So given the differences in alcohol taxes, a lot of Norwegians, they do their wine and spirit shopping in Sweden when that's possible. During COVID, of course, this was not possible. And that meant that Norwegian monopoly volumes increased massively. Correspondingly, by the way, during COVID, it meant that Sweden lost these volumes, right? And now things have normalized. The border is open again, and the border trade is close to being back to normal. So I think that's a big explanation, I mean, especially for why Norwegian volumes are going down, and then also an explanation for why Swedish volumes are not going that much down. simply, they never saw as much of a positive COVID effect as Norway. And then also Finland, it's more a dynamic about the border trade or the ferries with Estonia especially. That is then -- had a positive impact when that route was closed off during COVID, and is having a correspondingly negative impact now. I hope that answers the question.

I'm sure it does. So let's move on then to the 2 following questions. They are about the same thing, so raw material availability. So how has that situation developed during Q2? And then, there is a specifically a question about glass bottles. Brewery industry is complaining about lower availability of glass bottles. Pekka, would you like to comment on this one?

Sure. It's been very tight. Obviously, I think glass bottles has been a big issue for us as well. I think we have managed that really, really well, which is a big thank you for our procurement people who do an excellent job. But not just there, I think, bag-in-boxes as well. I mean, we talked about out-of-stocks in wine. So, it's been super tight. The lead times are very long. So, it's definitely a difficult situation to us. I think, it's been getting slightly better during Q2 maybe versus Q1, but I don't think the crisis is over yet. So, a full focus on availability, like Maria, you point out. Full focus on that, and a lot of work still to be done.

Then a question about Anora's shareholder structure. So who are the main owners at present?

Should I take that?

Yes, please.

Yes. I mean, I think that there are no big changes in the main owner since the previous quarters, the 2 big ones. The biggest one is Canica, which is a family office. and then the next biggest one is Solidium, right? So, essentially, the government of Finland owned investment fund. So those are the 2 biggest owners. And then the rest of the shareholder register, it changes, but we have a few other big owners as well, that have been there as stable owners for a while.

And to continue on that, I mean, the ownership data can be found also on our website. So the shareholder register is updated every month. So there, you can follow on that development. Okay. So let's continue to the next questions, and I think these are also for Sigmund to comment on. So how have you hedged electricity? And is there differences between divisions when considering electricity costs?

Well, we have hedged electricity in Finland, which is most -- where most of the electricity is used, right, at the Koskenkorva refinery, and for that matter, also Rajamaki production. In the -- at the Gjellerasen facility in Norway, the electricity use is much lower because a lot of the energy needs are covered by geothermal energy. So that part of the electricity is actually not hedged, but the electricity is hedged for the largest part where we are consuming the most in Finland, and those are longer-term contracts, I think, for mid -- until mid next year. So I don't know if that answers differences between divisions. I mean, I would say that the one where the electricity cost hits the most directly is the Industrial segment. But then, of course, since the Industrial segment is producing for the beverages indirectly, it also affects -- potentially affects them as an increase in production cost.

And then the next question is for you as well. So how much inventory revaluations impacted Q2 profitability?

I have to admit that I don't have the number at the top of my head. So let me get back to you on that one. I think that it was less than EUR 1 million. That's for sure. But I'll -- let me get back to you on that.

And then a question about the wine partners. I guess, Pekka, you can comment on that. So, Maria is curious to hear, who won the partners that we lost? I thought you should be now stronger, so quite surprised to hear about departures.

Yes, great clarification, Maria. So, we definitely are stronger. And we believe that, in the near future, we'll be on the winning side. I mean, that's clearly our ambition. Our offering is stronger, and there's no doubt about that. On the partner losses, we actually have commented on that every quarter, as they happened. Actually, a significant part of that happened just prior to merger. We also commented -- and we're prepared to some partners leaving because there's certain overlaps, for example, in certain wine from a certain region, and we expected that to maybe cause some changes. I think it has been significantly less than we expected. Since the merger, we have gained some really good new partners, which we have reported as well. So, I do believe, as a group, we are stronger, united than we were as separate. We have a stronger sales force in all our monopoly countries. We have equally strong route to market in all 3 and now 4 markets. So, the offering is really strong, and I believe we can be on the winning side of the partner business changes as well.

And then, there's a follow-up question about price increases in wine. So if you can just elaborate on when those prices were raised in March, and a question mark?

Yes. So, the next window is now in the fall. I think Sweden was 1st of September, which means now. So yes, we are increasing our prices across all categories and segments. Obviously, we look at the competitive situation, and we analyze it by SKU. But in general, yes, we're increasing prices to cover the increased COGS.

Then we go to the question on guidance. So given your guidance midpoint of EUR 80 million adjusted EBITDA, it appears that you're expecting similar adjusted EBITDA year-on-year decline in H2, as seen in H1. Given the easing of barley prices, and price increases did disappear, somewhat cautious, or is there some cost items that are causing additional headwind for H2? Would you like to comment on that. Sigmund?

Well, I mean, I think one big cost item that hasn't improved is the FX, right, the Swedish crown, so which has been quite weak. I mean, admittedly compensated somewhat by the strength of the Norwegian crown. So, that is something -- And then price increases, again, then -- recall that, as Pekka just pointed out, it's 1st of September, right? So you don't have the full impact of that. And then in terms of the easing of the barley prices, there will also be some time until you see the effect of that in our profitability. So yes, there are -- And then, in addition, there are some sort of -- some market risks as well, given the market share evolution that we've seen. So, I mean, all of that, we are working on turning around. But I would again remind everyone that the first 2 quarters are sort of smaller quarters, and a lot of the business and the results are created in the latter half, which we are working very hard on, but it's also a bit difficult to forecast at this point in time. We'll know more towards the end of the year.

And before we take the last question, if anyone would like to add more questions to the chat, please go ahead. There is still time to take those. So, the final -- the last question we currently have is about the geopolitical situation, and what kind of impact that has on our business? So, would you, Pekka, like to comment on that?

I think we are -- it has obviously a significant impact. And I think we already talked quite a bit about it. Obviously, in supply chain, it causes cost increases, delays in transportation, electricity prices we all know about. So those are very, very significant events and changes for us as well. From the commercial point of view, I think, obviously, Russia was a big market to us, and now it's not anymore, and it's not going to be either, like was Ukraine. Luckily, Ukraine is already recovering, which is quite amazing actually. So, I think from the strategic point of view, I think, maybe our focus has shifted maybe more from east towards the west. Maybe that would be one implication of it. So -- but obviously, big changes and -- which has caused us to rethink quite a few things here as well.

Then there is an additional question from Maria. So, what kind of impacts in market channels or overall demand were there for wine and spirits during financial crisis?

I guess...

Economic downturn, okay. Would you, Sigmund, like to comment on that?

I can comment on that. And before I do that, just to correct my answer to [ Joni ] on the inventory valuation. It was between EUR 1 million and EUR 2 million. So it was below EUR 2 million, but more than EUR 1 million. So, to answer that Maria's question, what kind of impacts in market channels overall demand was there? Well, I mean, to us, as a company, if you think about it as a -- on a pro forma basis, obviously, for most of the -- yes, so, let's call it in the -- yes, so -- So I guess the question here is, is it about financial crisis in general? Or is it still about COVID? Maybe we ask Maria to clarify the question. I realized as I was answering that, that it wasn't exactly clear to me what the question was. I mean -- or I can answer then. If the question is around COVID, then the impact was very much that it was an overall boost for us, and maybe more unwind than on spirits due to the channel mix. And -- okay. So, if there is a recession, what happens to volumes? Well, I mean, typically, our business is very resilient. So, it means that, even to some extent, some calculations, it's even countercyclical that you can see some sort of increase in volumes during recessions. I mean obviously, that depends on the type of recession, who is impacted, et cetera, but typically, what happens then is that the volumes are relatively stable, but then there is a downtrading. So people will buy less expressive products. We think that, in general, on average in our portfolio, of course, with variations across the markets, that we are well positioned to meet that demand, because we do have a lot of offering in the value for money segments, as we do in the premium and as we do in the mid-tier. So, it depends a little bit by market, but overall volumes probably will not normally change that much. And then, people will -- most likely, they will spend less out of home, and they will spend more in the monopoly channel. And within the monopoly channel, they will spend less on premium offerings and more on value for money offerings. But again, all of these things, with the COVID effects then adding on top, that's a bit of a tricky game year-on-year. I mean, if you see so far, I think it's fair to say that there have been a lot of price increases, energy costs, et cetera. But at the same time, I think that you also had a very, very strong on-trade so far, simply because there was a lot of pent-up demand after COVID. I think that as we go into the fall and the price increases et cetera start biting more, these dynamics which I described, probably more in-home consumption, more sales then add to monopoly, and some downtrading will become more prominent than what we have seen so far. I don't know, Pekka, if you want to add anything to that?

No, I think, there's one comment, I guess, from Maria, on the channel side, on and off-trade. I guess, traditionally in recession time, it could be less going out and maybe more at-home consumption. But again, I think, like Sigmund said, I mean, after COVID, I think people have been staying at home for 2 years, 2.5 years. So maybe that offsets the recession impact, I think, we just have to wait and see.

So I think that was the last question we had. So then, I will hand over to Pekka for a final summary.

Yes. Thank you for great questions. To summarize our Q2, it was a quarter with good net sales development driven by strong growth in spirits. Our important focus area is obviously to turn around the development in wine business. The acquisition of Globus Wine plays an important role, and we see many opportunities to expand Globus Wine products to the monopoly markets. We will be presenting Anora's growth strategy, financial targets and sustainability roadmap at our first Capital Markets Day on 29th of November this year. And now back to Tua for final remarks.

Great. So, thank you to everyone who have joined us online, and thank you also to the speakers. So as mentioned, the Capital Markets Day will take place on 29th of November, and the invitation and full agenda will be published in due course on our website. But in the meanwhile, feel free to reach out if you have any questions or comments. And from all of us, I would like to wish you everyone a good rest of the week. Bye.