Elvalhalcor Hellenic Copper and Aluminium Industry S.A. (ELHA.AT) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome. Thank you for joining the live webcast of Elvalhalcor for the 9 months of 2025 trading update. Mr. Angelos Giazitzoglou, Deputy Chief Financial Officer of Elvalhalcor Group and I, Dimitris Theodorakatos, Consolidation and IR Manager of the Group, are going to provide you with insights into our performance. After the end of the presentation, we will conduct a Q&A session where you are welcome to ask any questions regarding our group and its financial performance. Now let me walk you through the presentation and the highlights of the period. The group delivered a solid 9-month performance despite the challenging and volatile economic environment following the position of 50% tariffs on aluminum and copper product imports in the U.S. This performance was supported by a 3% year-on-year increase in sales volume, reaching 458,000 tonnes, driven by strong demand for products related to the packaging sector of the aluminum segment. The group's operational profitability marked a 5.1% year-on-year increase, starting at EUR 189 million compared to EUR [ 118 ] million, positively affected by higher conversion prices and increased sales volume. Robust operational profitability and positive free cash flows enabled a reduction in the debt to EUR 643 million, down by EUR 49 million from September 30, 2024, despite higher average LME prices. The reduction in debt levels, combined with lower interest rates resulted in reduced financial costs, together with strong profitability and gains from accounting results supported earnings after taxes, which stood at EUR 98 million. Last but not least, net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio improved to 2.6 from 3 last year, allowing us to pay dividends of EUR 34 million. I will now turn the floor over to Mr. Giazitzoglou, who will share his comments provide further insights into our performance. Angelos?

Thank you, Dimitris. Before I walk you through the results of the third quarter, let's review some macroeconomic factors. Metal prices remained slightly above compared to the same period in '24 with no significant fluctuation between the second and third quarter of the year. Meanwhile, energy prices showed a small decrease in the third quarter compared to the first half of the year, yet they remained higher than '24 levels. The inflation indicated a mild easing, moving approximately from 2.2% in the first half of the year to 2.1% in the third quarter. As a result, interest rates continue to decrease steadily throughout '25. On next slide, we have our cost breakdown excluding metal costs. The analysis of our production costs indicates that the primary cost drivers are energy and labor. High energy prices continue to weigh on production costs. However, the company actively implementing measures to minimize exposure to price volatility. Another critical cost driver for us is the labor cost, which is affected mostly by inflation. Unlike energy, which is higher compared to other countries where our competitors operate in, labor cost remains at lower levels. All other categories are affected by the inflationary environment. Next slide presents our volumes by quarter. Sales volume in the third quarter increased compared to the same period in '24 by 3%. Aluminum segment delivered a 3.6% increase, while copper posted 1.7% rise compared to the 9-month period of '24. Although markets from the first half of the year remained generally unchanged, both segments delivered positive performance. The steady upward trend in sales volume amid challenging conditions has significantly supported profitability, offsetting price pressures and rising production costs. In the aluminum segment, the packaging market drove growth for yet another quarter. Copper segment, despite performing at lower levels than the previous 2 quarters, managed to close above Q3 of '24. This positive performance sets the stage for a closer look at profitability on an operational basis. As anticipated, the third quarter was notably affected by tariffs and the subsequent disruptions within the metal markets, especially regarding scrap materials. A notable shift in volumes to the U.S. market drove scrap prices higher, increasing production costs compared to previous quarters. At the same time, premium prices declined, affecting profitability. Inevitably, both segments experienced pressure on earnings. Fortunately, we see markets to take another direction with premium prices rising and raw materials prices stabilizing. It's too early to call this a trend, but conditions are clearly more stable than a few months ago. In addition, headwind in the copper segment was the less favorable mix during third quarter. Moving to the adjusted [ EBITDA ] per tonne. The conditions mentioned earlier are reflected in the organic profitability per tonne. In the aluminum segment, despite early market pressures from tariffs, organic profitability remains above the same period in '24 at EUR 357. In the copper segment, tariffs announced in August and subdued market activity create profitability challenges. Nevertheless, adjusted EBITDA per tonne remained at healthy levels at EUR 551. The next slide highlights group strength and diversified market portfolio. Markets continue to move slowly in Q3, guided by global developments and geopolitical uncertainty. For aluminum, packaging remains the dominant market, representing 65% of total volumes. Building and construction, along with transportation, follow with significant share of 12% each. Copper market distribution remained balanced for another quarter with energy and power networks and building and construction increasing by 9.2% and 4.7%, respectively, compared to '24. Now moving to geographical distribution. Elvalhalcor's presence in over 19 countries worldwide provide a significant advantage in mitigating market volatility. Of course, Europe continues to be the core market for both segments, so any development in this region is of significant interest to us. On the other hand, our broad geographic footprint enhances the company's resilience. Now let's see how all of the above formed our results. As we said, sales volume maintained momentum, resulting in an increase of 3% compared to Q3 of '24, up to 458,000 tonnes. Organic profitability reached the amount of EUR 189 million, a 5.1% year-on-year increase despite strong market instability in both aluminum and copper. The growth in sales, together with sustained high price levels, effectively mitigated the impact of rising costs. Revenue totaled at EUR 2.7 billion, up by 5.8% versus '24. Metal accounting results remained positive at EUR 7 million. EBITDA reached the amount of EUR 191 million, marking a strong 10.3% increase compared to '24. Moving to some more financial figures. Despite the challenging conditions, profitability indicators confirm the company's resilience. The adjusted [ EBT ] increased by 5.9% compared to the corresponding period of '24, amounting to EUR 137 million. EBIT increased to EUR 139 million, a 13.4% growth compared to '24. Following the successful reduction of financial costs to EUR 27 million, EBITDA reached the amount of EUR 116 million, a robust 27.7% increase compared to the same period of the previous year. Moving to the next slide to bridge the two periods in terms of EBITDA result. Let's have a deep dive at how we achieved a strong profitability of EUR 116 million. As mentioned before, increased volumes contributed to EBT with EUR 13 million. Increased prices offset pressures in costs, adding another EUR 3 million. SG&A due to inflationary pressures, were at the negative side of EUR 6 million. We continue to decrease our financial costs, adding another EUR 8 million to our profits. Plus EUR 4 million from other accounting entries and EUR 3 million from [ better ] result, and the EBITDA reached the amount of EUR 116 million. Profit on paper and cash in the back end [ are two ] very different things. So let's move to our next slide for our cash story. The free cash flows for the period amounted to EUR 48 million, supported by a strong profitability of EUR 191 million. Maintaining debt at low levels, combined with the reduction in interest rates resulted in financial costs to be contained at EUR 24 million. The working capital, though higher than at the start of the year, decreased versus first semester. CapEx remained low at EUR 58 million, in line with our plans. We had repayments of loans totaling EUR 43 million. And last but not least, we paid dividend of EUR 36 million. Now upon completion of all this, our cash balance at the end of third quarter stood at a solid amount of EUR 43 million. Now let's move to working capital and net debt. The working capital, even though it was lower than the first semester, remains slightly elevated. The LME prices were the driver to this increase. In addition to that, the distortion we experienced in the scrap market from the imposition of tariffs led to higher levels of working capital. Fortunately, during third quarter, the shortage in scrap softened, and now the flows are closer to normal levels. The ratio of working capital to sales remained at sustainably lower levels than corresponding period of '24 at 16% amid these challenges. Leveraging the robust free cash flow, we managed to keep our net debt at EUR 49 million, lower than the corresponding period of '24. Now as far as the gross debt is concerned, the reduction from the same period of '24 was even more notable, amounting to EUR 102 million. Now let's see our CapEx. As we already announced in our previous webcast of '25 includes -- '25 includes no major investment, and we remain at '24 levels. Given current market condition and ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainty, disciplined caution is essential when planning next steps. We remain committed to maintaining a healthy and strong balance sheet, enabling us to capitalize on any future opportunities. Now to summarize before we address any questions, the results of the third quarter clearly demonstrate one thing for Elvalhalcor, resilience, higher sales volumes while the markets keep moving slowly, robust profitability despite challenges from increased cost pressures, reduction of debt facilitated by robust free cash flow. Our primary objective is to preserve financial strength and flexibility, ensuring that we are well positioned to capitalize on future opportunities as they emerge. Thank you for your attention. And now Dimitris, we can proceed to the Q&A session.

[Operator Instructions]

First question, what are the main pain points you expect you'll be dealing with until the end of Q4? I think that what we experienced in the first 9 months of the year, we will have to deal with them -- with these issues till the end of the year. The imposition of tariffs created the trade war, impacted not only our exports in U.S. but also raw materials, especially scrap prices, a lot of quantities from Europe went to U.S. prices of scrap increased. We experienced a shortage of raw materials in Europe, and that affected negatively our profitability in third quarter, especially for aluminum, but in copper also. Another big issue is the geopolitical tensions that we still have in Europe and affects the economy. So if we still see no signs of some of these issues to ease to get a different direction, we believe that the same problems that we faced during the first 9 months are going to be here for the next -- for the end of the year. Thank you for your presentation. Can you please provide an update on demand trends during Q4? Thanks. I have to reiterate that till now, nothing has changed significantly during third quarter compared to the first semester. And we don't expect to see something different to happen in Q4. Unfortunately, all markets, with some exceptions, for instance, packaging; they are moving very slowly. But we believe that for Elvalhalcor, the strategic seal that we have is the diversification of our portfolio and the markets that we are operating. We have the ability to move from market to market. And having no dependency in a single market makes us agile and resilient in any volatility of the markets. Let's wait for any other question. For the time being, I don't see any -- okay. I have another one. Can you provide the guidance for CapEx this and next year? As we said, since we completed our final -- our last big investment plan in '24 in the aluminum segment and in '25, some small investments in Sofia Med just to secure our capacity, we have no other big plans for '25 or the next year. As I said, we're monitoring closely the situations. We remain focused on the drivers, geopolitical tension, tariffs and all these things. And we believe that when markets start to move in a different direction, when we see the growth that we expect to see in the future, we will be ready to capitalize any opportunities. Elvalhalcor is a company that never stopped investing. But for the time being, no big investment plans, are decided to press the button for at -- least for the time being. In geographical breakdown, it seems as if sales to the Americas actually increased. Where this increased sales directed? Our sales to U.S. remained stable. We experienced a lot of pressure in U.S. market from domestic producers. When the tariffs were in 25%, we knew that we have the ability to overcome this roadblock. But since tariffs doubled to 50% in aluminum and in copper at 50% from August and onwards, we knew that we're going to face a lot of pressure in this area. As I mentioned before, the diversification that we have, not only products, but also in geographical areas; give us the opportunity to navigate this difficult and challenging environment. Of course, we expect to see some redirection to Europe from other countries that they also had sales to U.S., and now they are looking for new markets. But the long-term relations that we have with our customers, the quality of our products and our lead times makes us to be very well positioned for this new environment that we are operating in. Let's wait for another question. Maybe we have a delay, but -- let's give some time to attendees. Question. Thank you very much. Could you give us a guidance for this year and 2026? I think that it's a little bit early to speak about '26. For us, despite all the uncertainty and the challenges, as a company, we remain optimistic. As I said, we remain focused on the drivers and closely monitoring the developments with all the disruption that we have in markets. We still believe that we are very well positioned not only to effectively navigate challenges but also capitalize from global mega trends. We did that successfully for the first 9 months of the year. Our diversified product portfolio and strong international footprint, I said before that and I will reiterate this, is our strategic set and enable us to be resilient and agile to mitigate any risks from current or future volatility. We don't expect to see until the end of the year something significant to happen. So before I thank you for the second time, let's wait till a bit more for -- maybe we'll have another question. Okay. So I have to thank you very much for being with us today, and thank you also for your questions. For Elvalhalcor, it was a very challenging quarter, with most of the markets performing less well. But we achieved sales growth for another consecutive quarter, we delivered strong profitability and further improved our net debt position. Looking forward to see you again on our next webcast for the fiscal year of '25. Good afternoon to everyone. Thank you.