Demant A/S ($DEMANT)

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the Conference Call for Demant's Interim Management Statement for Q1 2026. My name is Peter Pudselykke, and I'm heading up the Investor Relations activities here in Demant. With me here today, I have the usual team. It's our President and CEO, Soren Nielsen; our CFO, Rene Schneider; as well as my good colleague in the IR team, Gustav Hoegh. For the call today, we will follow the normal process. We kick off with the presentation, which will be followed up by a Q&A session. And we expect the total session to last no more than 1 hour. When we get to the Q&A, we kindly remind you to limit yourselves to 2 questions at a time, please, to allow as many as possible to ask a question. Before we dig into the presentation, please do pay notice to the disclaimer on Slide 2. And with that, on to Slide 3, I'll pass the microphone over to you, Soren, to kick off the presentation with the agenda, please.

Thank you very much, Peter, and welcome, everybody, to today's call here. I'll take you through business highlights and key financial takeaways, dive a little more into the different business areas, comment on the outlook for 2026 and then open up the floor for questions. Highlights of first quarter 2026. Well, the overall highlight is a strong start to the year for the group, delivering 6% organic growth, which is obviously in the higher end of our expectation. Growth was additionally supported by 10% growth from acquisitions. Hearing Aids delivered a very strong organic growth of 9% with growth momentum being fueled by Oticon Zeal and our existing product portfolios, and we can only attribute it to the strength of our industry-leading AI hearing aid platform delivering fantastic performance at very low power consumption. The integration of KIND is progressing as planned with KIND as, of course, a significant contributor to growth from acquisitions in the first quarter. Structural changes announced at the full year report in our business to ensure higher growth and improved profitability were announced and have been executed in line with plans for the quarter. And maybe also worth giving a small comment to the market development. We're going to get back to the more details, but we saw an estimated market growth of 4%, which was in the higher end of our expected 2% to 4% growth for the full year. Key financial takeaways from the first quarter. As already stated, organic growth of 6%, which is again on the higher end of our expectations. And then you can, of course, in the table to the right see how it's composed of local currency growth, organic growth, acquired growth and also the negative FX impact. Gross margin increased primarily from 2 elements: higher ASP in Hearing Aids and a positive mix effect, meaning when Hearing Care grow faster than Hearing Aids, then we'll see a natural uplift to the gross margin. OpEx saw organic growth in line with our expectations, and we continue to invest in the business, in particular, of course, in innovation while maintaining a strong focus on cost management, including the already addressed structural changes to, everything else equal, lower the cost growth. Acquisition contributed, of course, to OpEx due to the consolidation of KIND and of course also other acquisitions. EBIT before special items improved compared to first quarter '25, driven by Hearing Aids and the consolidation of KIND and this being despite the negative effects from exchange rates. We continue to see solid cash flows, both from operation and free cash flow was positive, both were positive in the first quarter. And on the outlook, we maintained the outlook of organic growth of 3% to 6% and EBIT from DKK 4.1 billion to DKK 4.5 billion. However, with the comment that due to the strong receipt of Oticon Zeal in the market, this makes results at the lower end of the range less likely. Business areas, we start with the hearing aid market in the first quarter. We estimate that the overall unit growth was around 3%. As always, we have statistics from 2/3. So this is relatively solid. Q1 was relatively broad-based, however, still below the structural unit growth rate of 4% to 6% being 3%, you could say, very much in line with what we saw during last year. The ASP was estimated or is estimated by us to be up by 1%. This is stemming from geography mix, channel mixes and certain price improvements in certain channels. And of course, also, by example, us selling more premium products into the market. This is 1%. So all in all, a 4% estimated growth rate. Growth in Europe was primarily driven by Germany and France. In the U.K., growth was negative. This is back to NHS having a very strong fourth quarter, and therefore, buying less in the first quarter. So not really structural, more timing of ordering. Growth in North America was driven by the private pay channels, but overall growth was significantly impacted from negative growth in Managed Care. VA growth improved, partly supported by easy comparison figures. In Canada, we saw unit growth remain solid. Rest of the World delivered growth driven by Japan and slight growth in China. We estimate that several emerging markets saw solid growth as well. Again, all in all, a market growth of 4%, meaning in the high end of our expectations for the full year of 2% to 4%. Hearing Aids, from our side, significant growth following the launch of Oticon Zeal. With the Oticon Zeal now being rolled out in all major markets here in the first quarter, we can confirm and that's basically, I would say, today's main message that once Zeal is introduced in the market, we see renewed momentum in the business. We both see strong interest around Zeal and sales of Zeal, but also growth in our existing product portfolio, and it speaks to the strength of the entire portfolio. This has, in combination led to an organic growth of 9%, driven by share gain in terms of value, but also in units and both units and ASP supported the growth. We continue to invest in the business, including new products, and we can also confirm we will come with new products in the second half. We have no more comments to what exactly it is, but we will also be bringing new products to the market in the second half of the year, just like we did in addition to Zeal, by the way, in the beginning of this year. Europe growth was fueled by very solid performance in Germany and U.K. France, we saw smaller growth, and this is back to value versus units. There is a negative mix development since last year because more units are in the free-to-client driven by the upgrades. Strong double-digit growth in North America, organic growth in North America, very strong and positive feedback to Zeal. U.S. is the market with the highest or biggest market for premium products. So both Zeal and our existing portfolio experienced a renewed momentum and strong momentum, and this leads to very strong growth in the U.S. commercial market and also growth in VA, more driven by pricing. Flat organic growth in Japan and China slightly negative. Rest of the World, organic growth was strong. To the right, you can see the growth distribution. You can also see, of course, the strong and significant development in internal revenue stemming from the KIND acquisition mostly and also the growing share of wallet there of Demant products. And then I will spend a little more time commenting on Oticon Zeal. We were also ourselves a little bit, of course, unsure until we have seen how things play out in U.S. And therefore, I will comment to conclusions now on the product after being broadly introduced. Just to remind everybody, what is it that makes Zeal unique? It is very unique and unmet or unmatched to combine such a small instrument with the latest and greatest in AI signal processing, full connectivity, rechargeability and the ability to do a same-day feeding. So an unmatched product in the market, and therefore, also a positive feedback from the market. And what we can now confirm and share, you see here kind of 3 sections. The first one is who can actually use Zeal? And if all hearing-impaired users are 100%, then there is around 1/3 where the physics, meaning ear canal, something makes you not having this as the right form factor for you. Then out of the same 100, there is around 20% that don't have a hearing loss bigger than what Zeal can support. And therefore, all in all, you end with 55% of all hearing-impaired people that choose to get a hearing aid being candidates for Zeal. So a big potential. And there's been many discussion whether this is just an in-ear category or not, and CIC-only and on, we can say this has a broad appeal and where the broad appeal is seen most clearly is, of course, first-time users that we know are more skeptical to the cosmetics. And what we have seen so far in the data we have is that around 2/3 of all Zeal users are first-time users. This is more than the normal, which is more like 50-50 or 60-40, a little different from market-to-market. And this means that there is an over-representation of first-time users, but it's not exclusively for first-time users. But this is exactly also the commercial angle, of course, when it's good for first-time users, it's also good to attract traffic to your business and interest. And this, I have no doubt, is part of why Zeal has broad appeal and why many customers would like to be able to offer Zeal. We also had questions and some ourselves, how many will go with a dome? How many would need a custom fitting to make it perform well? We can see that 95% of all fittings we have participated in so far. This is U.S. data, I believe, is 95% dome. So it is a same-day fit concept, and it gives very strong results this way. And then to talk about the momentum, what we have tried to illustrate here is the fundamental of what's happening. It does create a momentum. It does create interest. It open doors to new customers, and both to existing customers and new customers, it pulls in both sales of Zeal, but also a significant uplift to the remaining portfolio. So what the graph to the lower left illustrate is a run rate illustrative before introduction of Zeal and then post Zeal, you could say the distance between the dotted line and the full line is sales of Zeal and the below is the uplift to the existing portfolio. So we see both effects and they are both stronger than anticipated or at least in the highest, most positive scenario, and that's what we see now. This is solid. This is maintained. We can see it both in the markets that introduced all the way back to [ OHA ] so more than 6 months in the market, but also markets where we have been in 2 or 3 months. So we see this as a global effect. And again, why U.S. and North America ends up playing an even bigger role in this and which is now why we can reduce the uncertainty is, of course, that that's the market in the world where most premium products are being sold. And therefore, it was so important for us to see the effect in U.S. before we could, you could say, increase our own comfort and also your comfort in the fact that Zeal is a very successful product concept that drives, again, both traffic in itself and sales also above what we had as a, you could say, middle-of-the-road scenario, but also pull in extra business of the remaining portfolio. Zeal is available in all major markets. It's still only available in a premium price point, also priced above basically all other products in the market. And that, of course, also attributes to the value that it brings to clients and brings to our customers on the wholesale side. We have had a staggered launch to make sure we could supply the markets before opening the next one. We have full supply and operation is running well. We have launched in all major markets unless there is regulatory work outstanding. And we have also May 1 introduced Oticon Zeal in VA and now look very much forward to the uptake in VA. So all in all, a strong launch, strong feedback from customers and end users that are very happy with the product and also a testament to our, I would say, industry-leading AI-based platform, again, which is based on a very low power consumption, still delivering all the benefits, and therefore, able to use a much smaller battery than competitors and also being on all the time, where in most other applications I've seen at least, there is some kind of limit to how much you can actually use the AI system. Moving on to Hearing Care. In first quarter, we saw good performance with the integration of KIND progressing as planned. We saw a remarkable total growth in local currency of 26% coming from 4% organic growth and 23% acquisitive growth. So a very big step-up for that business, but also showing a mature and stable business that continued to deliver strong, solid organic growth rates. So a good start to the year as well for Hearing Care despite of the many things going on. And it was both units and ASP grown, and we have definitely also see markets where our own retail have benefited from the introduction of Oticon Zeal, similar to many other companies. In Europe, solid performance across regions, driven by strong performance in U.K. Performance in Germany was also solid, good organic growth in general in North America with solid growth in Canada and good organic growth, solid organic growth in the U.S. Australia saw good growth, whereas China was slightly negative after several quarters of good performance. Diagnostics had a good start to the year, strong finish, as you will remember. So despite still facing certain headwinds in the U.S. markets from the market still not growing as normal, then a good start, delivering 4% organic growth across many markets. However, Europe being the primary driver of growth, a good example of that, U.K. and Poland, whereas U.S. had a slightly negative growth, again, still attributed to a lack of market growth in U.S. Canada was the primary -- therefore, the primary driver of growth in North America. China continued to be impacted by general market weakness and was a drag in Asia. Most other markets did well for Diagnostics. To outlook and our outlook assumptions. I would only highlight market. We guided when we started the year for 2% to 4% growth in the market, keeping general macroeconomic uncertainty in mind. We still think this is the best take on the full year. We can very quickly see a few percentages up and down. But of course, we have seen a good positive start, and we could see that continue, of course. The rest, special items, et cetera, there are no changes, and therefore, I will not repeat all of them. So financial outlook is maintained. However, we find it less likely now that we will before -- in EBIT before special items and organic growth will be in the lower end, and this is attributed to the reduced uncertainty around Zeal's ability to deliver growth, and of course, also having seen such a strong start to the year. And with that, let's go to Q&A.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Niels Granholm-Leth with DNB Carnegie.

First question would be about the ITC, CIC category. So where would you expect this part of the market to be as a percentage of the overall market as of today? And what would be the prospects of this category growing in size going forward? Then my second question would be if you could just remind us of your exposure to the Managed Care category in the U.S. where you mentioned that you're actually growing despite your modest exposure to this category?

The world market for in-ear CIC, ITC products, I would still say the volume of Zeal compared to the total in-ear having all price categories in mind, all brands and so on, I would say, still not something that significantly changed the assumed 10%. But of course, you can zoom into individual businesses where it is and you would definitely see a higher share. But again, remember, there is many channels and customers in the world to which it's not introduced that also sell in-ear products. And therefore, I think it will still be -- yes, I haven't done the percentages, but not significantly big on the 10%. But for our business, of course, significantly changing. We were under-represented. We're growing that. And with the customers to whom we have introduced it, yes, a significant change to product mix. In the premium segment, of course, we still talk about a premium-only product, which also put some limitations to the total market growth of the category. And Managed Care, yes, we are definitely under-indexed. We actually see good growth in our Managed Care business. So absolute good growth as well. So for us, it is despite of the headwind from the market, a positive addition what we experience right now.

So we shouldn't expect it to grow further into Managed Care from here?

It's one step at a time, but upwards, yes.

Our next question comes from Andjela Bozinovic with BNP Paribas.

First one is on the guidance. Can you please discuss why after a strong Q1 and what seems to be a strong start into Q2, you have reiterated the full range for the guidance? Can you discuss further phasing into the year and what is needed for you to maintain this momentum? And the second one is on markets. So we have seen the positive development, especially in the U.S. in Q1. And I was wondering if the U.S. recovery is mainly driven by easy comps from last year or you expect the market growth to continue to improve throughout the year? And a follow-up to this is we've heard from your peer, Amplifon, that they are expecting the pent-up demand in the market to realize, especially in EMEA region. Can you give us your thoughts on this?

Yes. Thank you very much. First of all, why keep the guidance. We are still within what we guided for. We see a market delivering 4% growth. We guided for 2% to 4%. We could see the market be 3%. We could see the market be 2%. Things go up and down. There's also a little bit of number of working days between quarters, et cetera. So that's definitely still we think the right guidance. Then, of course, our own, we have done well. We have seen a market in the upper end. So therefore, we also land in the 6% for the quarter, and we find it less likely on the full year basis to deliver in the lower part. And I think that's as far as we can take it for now. Of course, if things continue to develop this positive way, both market and us, then we will also further increase the likelihood of being in the positive end of our guidance. And that's the color we try to bring you. And we feel that's the right assessment of what's in front of us and still the uncertainty related to a dynamic market with multiple competitors, et cetera. On market for Q1, is it only comps or what is it? Not in particular. I think this is, again, I mentioned the NHS, then timing of orders and so on. And so there is always a lot of dynamics. The regions you also saw last year, varies, who in the exact quarter delivers the growth. So looking at the full year, we saw 3% in units. Now we have seen 3%. So therefore, we take this as stability, not particularly upwards, but it is true that if there are people not fitted in a certain period, yes, then theoretically, you build for a later uptake. And that's also why it is unusual that you see 2 years in a row with a below the 4% to 6%. We have basically not seen that for many years. So yes, our 2% to 4% guidance for the full year, as we said in the beginning of the year, could be seen as slightly conservative, but we prefer that against being too optimistic.

Our next question comes from Martin Parkhoi with SEB.

Yes. Martin Parkhoi, SEB. Firstly, of course, Zeal with the addressable market of 55%. Are there anything you can see that is possible with the second-generation Zeal? Although that it's maybe too early to talk about that, but are there any possibility of with this size and that production technique you have that you can lift the hearing loss, that it can meet or you could do anything that would fit better into -- anything you can do on that front? And then secondly, just again, I don't just want to talk so much about the guidance. It's obviously somewhat conservative. But can you talk about the momentum in the February and March versus what you saw in January? And if that momentum for February and March is also what you have seen at least in going into the second quarter?

Yes. Thank you very much, Martin. No, I cannot disclose a lot about the future, but we always end up improving Hearing Aids. And I would say, for now, squeezing the size further, we would have to scratch our head a little bit, but I would find it more likely that we over time would be able to increase the fitting range, meaning we could fit slightly higher hearing losses. And another 5 or 10 to be would definitely bring in more as the penetration is higher when you get higher hearing losses. So yes, we, of course, work on how to make Zeal fit even more people over time. And then the sequencing, of course, it matters that we had an introduction in late January, early February in North America. But on the other hand, there is also a certain introduction effect. So if you take the average for the quarter, then things are relatively stable with, of course, continued slight upwards positive. We also look at the comps from last year, and you saw the momentum growing during the year. So what do we see? Well, we see a continued strong momentum in the business and expect that to continue.

Our next question comes from Martin Brenoe with Nordea.

Different Martin, slightly different question on Zeal. Just wanted to understand what the cadence could be in terms of not a new generation of Zeal, but just the same generation Zeal at a lower price point. At what time would it make sense for you guys to introduce a product that would be sort of more affordable? That's the first question. And then the second question would be on the reception of Zeal in France. How has that been doing compared to what you have seen in the U.S.? And should we expect to see more sort of expansion to new markets here in Q2?

Yes. Thank you, Martin, for that. I would say as long as we have a good strong demand for the pricing we have and the price points we have chosen to introduce and match that well with production capacity, I don't see a need to expand it further. So any timing of additional price points or brands for that matter is something we will share once it happens. On France, it's difficult to call out an individual market, but France would also experience that it creates a new momentum in the business. We introduced it relatively long into March, but we have not seen -- or we have seen the same effect in France as we have seen in other places. But keep in mind that the premium sales in France as a share of the total French market after the many free-to-client products coming in is not the same share of the market as it is in U.S. and therefore, slightly different. But same good momentum, definitely bringing attention. Definitely, France has for long been characterized as either as a RIC or it's a CIC type of market. So good positive trend, I'm sure.

Our next question comes from [ Zhang Wen ] with Citi.

This is Zhang From Citi. I'm going to ask about the market. The first question is, can you provide a bit more comment on the Hearing Aids market development in the quarter? Specifically, what was the exit growth rate for wholesale versus the average of 4? And is there any comment you can provide on April and May? And the second question is whether you have seen any signs of disruption or opportunities from the announced deal between Amplifon and GN Hearing in the market?

Yes. Thank you very much. Well, we always have a natural seasonality in the first quarter where January is basically the weakest month in the full year. And of course, you can look at the growth, but it's almost a little bit relevant because of the actual absolute size of the market. So yes, we have seen an improved growth rate during the quarter, ending relatively strong in March, but there's also an effect of one more working day compared to last year. So all in all, a, I would say, modest upwards going trend, but don't overinterpret it. But all in all, 4%. And that's -- yes, it's in the higher end of what we guided. It's in the lower end of the normal. So nothing really seems to change. We don't have market statistics yet for either April or May. So we can only look at our own business, and that is, yes, a continued strong momentum. So nothing there. Sorry, your second question, I hadn't made a good enough note on that. Well, I can't comment on the specific, but it is also always so that when big things happen, just when we -- as when we acquired KIND, then there is a bit of dynamic and disruption to stability of customer relationships and so on. And we, of course, try to benefit as much as we can from that.

And maybe as a reminder, sales to Amplifon from Demant is very limited, less than 1% of sales and even less of profit. So there's no negative for sure impact.

No, no. It's a pure, I would say, opportunity.

And sorry, just to confirm, whether you have already seen the disruption in Q1 that you could perhaps take advantage of or is it more of a forward-looking comment?

Yes, yes, that's always something on the longer run. Yes, discussions are going on and people ask a lot of questions, what do we think and so on. But materializing, not anything meaningful in the first quarter.

Our next question comes from Martinien Rula with Jefferies.

It's Martinien from Jefferies. I would have 2, if that's okay for you. The first one would be a very quick one actually on France, because as you know, we've had one of your peers reporting yesterday as well. They commented a little on France, saying that the French market was up in a solid way in Q1, but given the anniversary of the reform and so on the trend for the remainder of 2026 was somewhat uncertain. So I would love to hear your thoughts on that one. And the second one would be on Zeal. I appreciate the slides that you've provided us with the comments of more than 50% of your addressable market being relevant for Zeal and that 2/3 of your Zeal customers are new users. But I would love to hear your view on the remaining inherent risk of cannibalization and how you intend to balance or mitigate that risk with the new products that you introduced into H2. Will these products be differentiated because you intend to innovate on the design side of things, on the features, battery capacity or is it also just on the pure tech side with stronger noise filtering capabilities and so on?

Thank you very much for your 2 questions. It's difficult to have a very firm and we don't have any different view on France. We said we will see growth in France. Some have been speculating it, whether it for the full year would be negative. We believe in growth full year. And yes, there is definitely this effect that due to the annualization, you could argue that you would see more growth in the first quarter in units than later. I don't think it's coming like that precise than exactly the day when 4 years are gone, then people come in and get a new hearing aid. So many come 4.5 years, 5 years. So I think we will see a continued good inflow of users. Still the main tricky point is the product mix that is realized. And therefore, more units, a little less on the ASP side. On Zeal and risk of cannibalization, I think I would have to repeat what we have seen with Zeal. Any new product that has market relevance brings in momentum and business to the one that brings it. And therefore, I would say, no, I don't see a significant risk of cannibalizing Zeal with new products. Zeal has its relevance in the market. Other new products would have additional, and you would most likely give all products are perceived good and they should be from us, then you will see momentum increase.

Our next question comes from Richard Hombach with Bernstein.

Congrats on the strong quarter. I have 2 questions, please. So first, you noted that both unit growth and ASP contributed to the performance in Q1. Would you be able to quantify the contribution? How much of the ASP lift was driven by product mix versus improved geographic or channel mix? And then secondly, you briefly mentioned the KIND integration. Could you give a bit of color how you are progressing in the conversion to Demant products?

Yes. Thank you very much for your 2 questions. It's right, it's both unit growth and ASP growth. They are not that far from one another, but ASP is the strongest effect, and that comes from the mix arriving. You can always discuss is it product or is it geography? I would say, it's geography and then it becomes product mix, because again, North America, U.S. delivering double-digit growth, then you do get a positive ASP effect because more people in U.S. buy the premium products. But we have market share gains also in units, and then I think you have enough to figure out more or less where we are. On KIND integration, yes, it goes well and follow plans. And part of that plan is to significantly increase the share of Demant fitted products. And as you can see, internal sales have quite strong organic growth, and that's definitely a key contributor. So yes, it goes well with selling more Demant products. We also anticipated that the fitters are very familiar with the Oticon -- or not the Oticon, the Demant product portfolio in KIND's own range. And that's what we see. I cannot comment on how far we are, but it's going very well.

Our next question comes from Philip Omnou with JPMorgan.

Can I just ask, so you stated that Hearing Aids growth was supported by both Zeal and the existing portfolio. Can you help us sort of understand or quantify how much of that Q1 Hearing Aids growth came from Zeal versus the rest of that portfolio? And then my second question, just on the Costco side, can you help us understand where we are with the Starkey trials? And are you assuming anything within your guidance regarding an additional supply being added in that channel?

Yes. Thank you very much. I cannot go into further details on what contributes from what, but they are both meaningful. Absolutely, Zeal is selling more than our plans and doing very well. But also, I would say, what have been the biggest difference in, you could also say, our own guidance and where we are a little bit uncertain is, yes, would it ultimately be cannibalization from your existing portfolio or would it be incremental to selling more of your existing portfolio? And it's a meaningful uplift to the existing portfolio. One example is you have a user in trying Zeal, figure out for whatever reason, it doesn't fit the ear canal. It's not what you want. Well, then the most natural thing if the product is performing well from a sound quality point of view and deliver great benefits, well, you convert the client to another Oticon hearing aid that sound the same fantastic way. And therefore, it also pulls in sales to clients where you might have fitted other RIC products. And that's just an example. So it's meaningful for both. On Costco, I can only comment on our own business. It is sequentially stable and good and strong. We, I'm sure, maintain a #1 position. Is it part of the guidance that some of the suppliers could gain further share? Yes, it is. That's within guidance.

Our next question comes from Aisyah Noor with Morgan Stanley.

First one is maybe a technical question for Rene. I think you mentioned the additional 1 percentage point M&A growth for the full year was for other acquisitions and not from a stronger outlook for KIND performance. Can you maybe disclose what acquisitions are these and where they are? The second question is maybe again to push Soren a little bit on the guidance range of 3% to 6% organic growth for the year. I understand the point around conservatism, and maybe it's just semantics, but you said the lower end of the guidance range is less likely. Is there a chance here where the upper end of the guidance could also be too low given you're already doing 6% in Q1 itself? I guess another way to ask this question is, is 6% still the blue-sky scenario or is it more midpoint of the new range?

Yes. Thank you very much. Do you want to start, Rene?

Yes. So on the revised, say, contribution from acquisitions, it is related to our acquisition of the Amplifon business in the U.K. that we add to the outlook. Everything else is on the plans as we have laid them out in February. So that's the reason.

Yes. And on the guidance, you read the less likely very well. Are there things outside 6% that could happen? Yes, of course, but it's not our take right now. One of them is, of course, the market as an example. If we end up exceeding the 2% to 4% or continuously being the other end, then yes, things could be different. If Zeal continues to build a strong momentum and exceeds our current expectations, yes, we can keep it on. Can we find things that put it the other way? Yes, we could also. So this is our best take on the situation right now, less likely in the lower end and 3% to 6% growth and maintained, but also similar less likely in the lower end on the EBIT side.

[Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from Andjela Bozinovic with BNP Paribas.

I just wanted to touch upon the point that you made during the call that you want to introduce new products in H2. I'm just wondering like what can you share with us at this point? And how do you think about new product introductions between the form factors? So would you continue to innovate and raise behind the ear or you want to focus your innovation on the in-the-ear custom form factor?

Yes. Thank you very much for the question. We will maintain to our traditional strategy of not disclosing details. But yes, it's meaningful products that we will bring out. And yes, we always work to improve our portfolio. Sometimes it's core technology and what we call a new platform, sometimes it's additional form factors. We don't pick just one. It is important that you have a complete strong portfolio, high relevance for all users and all purposes. So I think general logic is, of course, to revisit the portfolio and look for either weaknesses or relevance of moving on. And I think that's as far as we can take it today.

And you wouldn't say that this halo effect from Oticon Zeal has changed your perception into where you need to launch new products?

No, no. This is a launch scheduled for the next 1 to 2 years. It's relatively fixed and on track, similar to the opposite question, whether it was tactical to do platform before Zeal or whatever. These things are relatively fixed. We have worked a lot on Zeal to create something really innovative and spectacular and very unique. It has given us a tremendous attention in the market, which we are very good and happy for. But there are also other things that needs to be done to make sure we can address the entire market and all elements of the market.

Our next question is a follow-up from Richard Hombach with Bernstein.

Just super quickly, could you please elaborate on the decision to separate the Head of Hearing business position out again? And why was now the right time? And are there specific priorities that Mr. Bassel will be asked to focus on in the new role?

Yes. Thank you very much for the question. And maybe just a little bit of context if some have just seen it, we have just today released an investor news, which says that I'm after 9 years of both serving as Group CEO and President of our Hearing Aid business, have chosen to now focus my time fully on the CEO role of the group to make sure we continue to deliver growth on group level and strategically move forward in the right way. The group have in those 9 years almost doubled. So time has come to strengthen the overall leadership of the group further by adding a dedicated leader to the Hearing Aid business, similar to what we have for Hearing Care and Hearing Aids. And our new leader, President, will join us June 1 and come with a solid experience from MedTech, have a good combination of a strong commercial experience, global international and also understanding of core technologies, which fits very well with the profile needed. Is there anything special? Yes, continued growth and deliver great results driven by the recipe we have now followed for some time of delivering innovative new products to the market at, I would say, growing speed and also capturing benefit of new technologies such as AI. So no revolutionary changes. We'll make a good solid transition. I'm also still here to advise and be part of developing the group, including the Hearing Aid business, but the daily leadership now have a fully dedicated business unit leader similar to our other 2 business areas.

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the call back over to management for any closing remarks.

Thank you, operator, and thank you so much to everybody for joining us today. Before we close out the session, we want to give you a very early heads up as we expect to host a Capital Markets Day here in the fall of 2026, more precisely on November 24 in Copenhagen. We will, of course, revert with additional details when we get closer to the date. Beyond this, please do reach out with any questions that you may have after the results here. And as always, we will try to be on the road in the coming weeks, and we look forward to seeing you there. Have a good rest of the day.