Feintool International Holding AG (FTON.SW) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Feintool International Holding AG Half-Year Results 2026. The conference will be recorded. [Operator Instructions] Let me now turn the floor over to your host, CEO, Lars Reich.

Yes. Good morning. A warm welcome from my side and thank you for joining our conference call today. Marc Hundsdorf, our CFO, and I are pleased to present the results for the first half of the 2026 financial year and to discuss them with you. Let us begin with a brief look at today's agenda. I will first provide a short review outlining the most important market developments and their impact on our business areas, followed by the operational highlights of the first half of the 2026 financial year. Our CFO will then present the financial figures for the first 6 months, and I will conclude with our outlook, key messages, and the strategy update before we move on to the Q&A session. All supporting materials are available on our website. A replay of this conference call will also be published there following the presentation. Let's get started. As the saying goes, a plan without execution still remains a dream, and I'm pleased to report that we have put our restructuring plans into action, completed them in full, and are now in a position to realize the benefits of these measures. The rightsizing of our E-Stamping Europe business unit completed at the end of 2025 has enabled us to optimize our cost structure, driven by clear local-for-local demand from our customer base. Feintool benefits from its global reach and production plants in all major regions of the world. Industrial applications for data centers fueled growth across all regions and in several application areas. For example, motors for air handling and cooling, pump motors for water cooling, and applications for high-efficiency power generators. The map shows our 18 production locations around the world. Structural shifts towards Asia are continuing and becoming more pronounced. Feintool is strategically well positioned to benefit from this trend, particularly through production capabilities in Asia and our new plant in Pune, India. Geopolitical shifts, new tariffs, and additional trade barriers are making local production capabilities an increasingly decisive factor in our customer sourcing decisions. Let me take you with a few slides through the major regions, starting with our operations in North America, followed by Europe and Asia. North America remained the fastest-growing region within the Feintool Group. Revenue increased by 23.4% in local currencies and by 13.7% after currency effects, resulting in sales of CHF 111.5 million for the first 6 months. Growth was driven by strong demand for 8-, 9-, and 10-speed transmissions as well as hybrid powertrains. As the market leader in forming and Fineblanking in the United States, Feintool benefited from its strong position and from several new programs that are still ramping up. The positive trajectory in Europe was driven primarily by the successful restructuring of our Electrolamination business, which has returned to profitability. At the same time, our forming plants recorded strong demand, particularly for transmission programs designed for plug-in hybrid applications. A third positive development was the strong demand for cooling motors for data centers, together with several recently won industrial programs for our plant in Tokod, Hungary. Revenue in Europe rose by 5.4% in local currency and by 2.1% after currency effects compared with the same period last year, resulting in overall sales of CHF 203.7 million. In Asia, and particularly in China, we have not been immune to the volume declines in the local automotive market. Nevertheless, with new programs coming online, we still achieved growth of 6.9% in local currencies and 0.1% after currency effects, closing the first 6 months with sales of CHF 38.5 million. While the Chinese market remains characterized by intense competition, we see attractive opportunities for Feintool in India. We are, therefore, proud of our new plant in Pune, India, which we officially opened in mid-June 2026 and is also shown on the picture in your presentation. We believe that India's automotive and engineering sectors have reached a level of scale, sophistication, and capability that justifies localizing highly specialized manufacturing technologies in the country. The images provide impressions of our grand opening ceremony in mid-June. Our timing is no coincidence. India is now the world's third largest automotive market and is rapidly emerging as a global manufacturing and export hub. The new facility is, therefore, fully aligned with both Feintool's growth ambitions and India's industrial trajectory. I would like to warmly congratulate our Asia team on securing the first major order for our Pune facility, a seat recliner program scheduled to start production in early 2027. Notably, this order comes from the same customer with whom our journey in China began in 2010, a strong sign of trust and a compelling example of our ability to build long-term partnerships with our global customers. Our core strategy has proven successful. We hold strong positions in our core technologies: Fineblanking, Cold Forming, and E-Lamination, and continue to benefit from solid demand across all drive types and regions. At the same time, we are systematically expanding our activities in electric mobility and industrial solutions. With a global production network of 18 plants, we ensure close proximity to our customers worldwide and consistently pursue a local-for-local strategy. Also, we offer 4 distinctive technologies: Fineblanking, E-Lamination Stamping for electric motors and generation, Cold Forming, and FEINforming, mostly for fuel cell electrolyzer applications. They all share a common DNA. They rely on tool-based net-shape technologies that consolidate multiple manufacturing steps into a single press run. This is our common DNA in all 4 areas Feintool is expanding. The shift in our sales mix is deliberate and it's delivering. Of the CHF 353.3 million in half-year sales, ICE-related internal combustion engine-related business accounts for 58%, non-ICE for 26%, and non-automotive for 16%. In Europe, we have reduced ICE dependence to 46% and in Asia to 49% in both cases, including hybrid applications. North America remains at 82%, which reflects the market conditions and the powertrain mix we expect in that region for years to come. With the launch of our E-Stamping business for motor cores in North America, however, the share of ICE-related revenue there will decline as well. We are steadily reducing our exposure to ICE components and replacing that volume with industrial applications outside automotive. This is not opportunistic order intake, but a targeted expansion into industrial customers where our forming and stamping expertise commands a premium. We will continue to drive this mix forward. A broader industrial base makes our earnings more resilient regardless of the pace of the powertrain transition. Finally, let me talk about our half-year results. The results reflect the effectiveness of the restructuring and efficiency measures implemented across the Group, which has significantly reduced the breakeven level. In a persistently challenging market environment, Feintool delivered a resilient operating performance in the first 6 months of the 2026 financial year. We returned to a growth path with a revenue increase of 5.6%, resulting in Group sales of CHF 353.3 million. Despite the challenges affecting our entire industry, Feintool achieved a positive operating result, EBIT, of CHF 8.8 million and a positive net income of CHF 3.2 million. With an equity ratio of 55.9%, Feintool continues to rest on a robust financial base. At this point, I'm pleased to hand over to our CFO, Marc Hundsdorf, for a detailed review of our financial performance in the first half of 2026. Thank you very much. Marc, please.

Thank you, Lars. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, members of the media, and valued stakeholders, I'm particularly pleased to be speaking with you today as this is my first half-year press conference as Chief Financial Officer of Feintool. Having joined the company a little more than 6 months ago now, I have had the opportunity to immerse myself deeply in the organization, its people, its technologies, and its processes. During this time, I have gained valuable insights into what makes Feintool a unique company. And I also would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues throughout the organization for their openness, support, and commitment during my onboarding. As a result, I have formed clear views on the priorities and measures that will support Feintool's future development and strengthen our competitiveness in the years ahead. I'm therefore now delighted to present our financial results for the first half of 2026 today and to provide you with insights into the developments of our business, the progress achieved, and the priorities the company is pursuing for the remainder of the year. With that, let us now turn to our half-year results for 2026. I'm pleased to report that Feintool achieved solid top-line growth despite a challenging market environment and significant currency headwinds. Net sales increased by 5.6% year-on-year from CHF 334.5 million in the first half of 2025 to CHF 353.3 million in the first half of 2026. What is particularly encouraging is that on a constant currency basis, growth was even stronger. Adjusted for exchange rate effects, Feintool revenues increased by more than 10% compared to the prior half-year, demonstrating the underlying strength of the business and the continued demand for products and technology across our markets. Our revenue and earnings were negatively affected for sure by the depreciation of several key currencies against the Swiss franc and the euro. The most significant impact came from the U.S. dollar, which depreciated by approximately 9% against the Swiss franc compared to the prior year period. This was followed by the Chinese renminbi and the Japanese yen, which weakened, while the euro also experienced a depreciation against the Swiss franc. Having said that, it is also worth noting that exchange rate trends have changed slightly in recent months. And at this stage, it would be premature to make any predictions regarding the potential impact on our full-year sales. Nevertheless, the recent development of the major currencies is encouraging, and we naturally hope that these trends will make a supportive contribution during the second half of the year. I would like to mention, please keep in mind that the outlook we provided in percent sales growth is based on the prior year figures in Swiss francs as reported without any currency adjustments. Let me now provide some additional insights into the regional development of our System Parts business. The most notable performance in the first half of 2026 came from our North American operations. System Parts USA increased sales by about 14% from CHF 98 million to CHF 111 million. This robust growth reflects continued high customer demand and increased call-offs from key customers. At the same time, our team successfully managed significant operational challenges, particularly in material sourcing and supply chain management. These challenges were further intensified by ongoing tariff-related disruptions and uncertainties in international trade. Despite these headwinds, our U.S. organization delivered a strong performance with regard to sales. On a constant currency basis, growth was even stronger, reaching close to 23%, demonstrating the underlying momentum of our business in this very important market. In Europe, System Parts sales increased by 2%, reaching CHF 203.7 million compared to CHF 199.6 million in the prior year period. This development is encouraging, especially considering the difficult macroeconomic environment across the Eurozone and the generally weak demand trends in the automotive industry. Against this backdrop, achieving continued growth highlights the resilience of our customer base, the competitiveness of our products, and the strong execution of our European teams. In Asia, reported sales remained stable at CHF 38.5 million. Looking at the underlying business performance before currency effects, the picture is more positive than the reported figures suggest. Our Japanese operations experienced a slight decline due to delayed customer call-offs and temporary volume shifts. However, this development was largely compensated by continued moderate growth in China. As a result, the Asian region achieved solid single-digit growth of about 7% on a constant currency basis. Overall, the regional development clearly demonstrates the broad strength of Feintool's business. While North America was a primary growth driver, Europe remained resilient despite challenging market conditions, and Asia continued to grow operationally despite significant currency headwinds. This balanced regional performance provides a solid foundation for the continued development of the Group also for the second half of the year. Let me now turn to the development of EBITDA across our regions. Overall, Feintool achieved a strong recovery in profitability during the first half of 2026. Group EBITDA increased from CHF 23 million to CHF 34 million, representing an improvement of 47% compared to the prior year. This improvement is particularly noteworthy given that the prior year period was still affected by restructuring measures, especially within our European operations. I'm therefore pleased with the development in Europe, where EBITDA increased by 75% from CHF 13 million to CHF 23.0 million. This strong improvement clearly demonstrates that the restructuring measures implemented over the past 2 years are delivering the intended results. As Feintool communicated in its annual report, the restructuring program was expected to generate recurring savings of approximately CHF 12 million per year. And these benefits are now increasingly visible in our earnings development. Furthermore, the remaining severance payments made during 2026 were fully covered by provisions established in previous years. As a result, the first half of 2026 was no longer burdened by significant restructuring-related expenses in the P&L. In the United States, EBITDA increased from CHF 12.2 million to CHF 13.3 million, representing growth of 9% year-over-year. While this is a positive development, profitability in the region continues to be affected by challenges in steel supply. The ongoing material shortages have led to substantial additional logistics expenses, including a significant number of premium freight shipments required to secure customer deliveries. Consequently, we have not yet been able to fully translate the strong revenue growth in the U.S. into the level of profitability we would normally expect. We are hopeful that the supply situation will gradually improve. At the same time, management remains strongly focused on operational excellence initiatives across our U.S. plants, which we expect to generate further efficiency gains and profitability improvements going forward. Turning to Asia. Profitability remained stable at CHF 6.0 million compared with the prior year. The earnings development during the first half was subdued and reflects the ongoing transformation of the automotive industry. Demand for products related to traditional internal combustion engine applications declined, while sales volumes for certain electric vehicle components were also below previous expectations. In addition, several new customer programs experienced delays during the ramp-up phase, postponing the associated revenue and earnings contributions. Despite this temporary softness in Asia, we continue to view the underlying market opportunities positively and expect a noticeable improvement in profitability during the second half of the year as new projects progress and production volume increases. Summarized, Feintool's earnings recovery is firmly underway. Europe is demonstrating the success of the restructuring measures implemented over the last 2 years, the U.S. continues to benefit from strong market demand despite supply chain challenges, and Asia is expected to contribute more significantly during the second half of the year. Let me now turn to EBIT development. The EBIT performance in the first half of 2026 followed the same positive trend as EBITDA and reflects the significant operational improvements achieved across the Group. At Group level, EBIT improved from a loss of CHF 1.9 million in the first half of 2025 to a positive CHF 8.8 million in the first half of 2026. This marks a substantial turnaround and confirms the measures implemented over the past years are delivering improvements in profitability. A further point to highlight is that depreciation and amortization remained stable compared to the prior year. Total depreciation and amortization increased only slightly from CHF 25.068 million to CHF 25.3 million, representing a decrease of nearly CHF 0.2 million. Furthermore, no impairment losses or reversals of impairment losses were recognized during the 6-month period ended June 30, 2026. This provides a clear and transparent basis for comparing earnings performance year-over-year and confirms that the improvement in EBIT was driven by operational factors rather than onetime accounting effects. Looking at the regional development, depreciation and amortization in Europe decreased by approximately CHF 0.9 million, supporting the strong improvement in EBIT in the region. As a result, EBIT in Europe improved from a negative CHF 2.4 million in the prior year to a positive CHF 8.4 million in the current reporting period. In the United States, depreciation and amortization increased by approximately CHF 0.8 million year-over-year. This development is linked to our continuing investment activities and capacity expansion programs. Asian depreciation almost stayed stable. Summarized, the significant improvement in EBIT was driven primarily by stronger operational performance and restructuring measures, particularly in Europe, while depreciation and amortization remained broadly stable and no impairment charges impacted the results. This demonstrates that Feintool's earnings recovery is both operationally driven and sustainable. Let me now turn to the Group result and the development of net income. As discussed on the previous slide, Feintool generated an EBIT of CHF 8.8 million in the first half of the year, representing a significant improvement. Moving from EBIT to net income, the main item to consider is the financial result of minus CHF 4.5 million. A significant component of the financial results continues to be interest expenses compared with the prior year. Financing costs increased, primarily reflecting the higher interest rate environment and the corresponding increase in borrowing costs across our financing portfolio. At the same time, it is worth noting that the impact of foreign exchange effects was considerably lower than in previous periods. During recent weeks and months, the Swiss franc has eased against several key currencies, particularly the Chinese and U.S. ones. As a result, the negative currency effects that affected previous reporting periods have become less pronounced. After taxes of approximately CHF 1.1 million, Feintool achieved net income of CHF 3.4 million (sic) [ 3.2 million ] for the first half of 2026. While the absolute level of net income is still modest, I believe the significance of this result should not be underestimated. It marks an important milestone in the recovery journey. For the first time since 2023, Feintool has returned to a positive net result, demonstrating that the operational improvements, restructuring measures, and disciplined execution implemented over recent years are translating into sustainable bottom-line profitability. Summarized, strong operational improvements and reduced currency headwinds enabled Feintool to return to positive net income for the first time since 2023. Let me now turn to the development of our balance sheet. Overall, Feintool continued to maintain a solid and stable financial position. Total assets increased to CHF 785 million compared to CHF 770 million at year-end 2025, while the equity ratio remained at a healthy 55.9%, slightly above the level at the end of last year. Looking at the asset side, one notable development is the increase in cash and cash equivalents, which rose from CHF 82 million to CHF 90 million. It is important to note that this comparatively high cash position at the end of June was intentional. The Group maintained additional liquidity in preparation for the repayment of a EUR 30 million promissory loan, which matured shortly after the reporting date. Consequently, the balance sheet as of June 30 reflects a temporarily elevated cash position that has since been utilized for the scheduled repayment. A second important development concerns trade and other receivables, which increased from CHF 88.8 million to CHF 108.3 million. This increase is largely attributable to the timing of customer payment patterns around the half-year reporting date. As is often the case, many customers intensified their own working capital optimization efforts towards the end of June, resulting in temporarily elevated receivable levels at Feintool. Turning to inventories. I'm pleased to report that the inventory levels remained very stable throughout the first 6 months of the year. Inventories and contract assets stood at CHF 97.6 million, almost unchanged from CHF 98.5 million at year-end 2025. While inventory optimization remains an important management objective, supply reliability continues to be our highest priority, particularly in the area of strategic raw materials. Given the ongoing volatility in global supply chains, maintaining a secure material supply for our customers can be temporarily more important than maximizing short-term inventory reductions. On the liability side, financial liabilities increased from CHF 140.0 million to CHF 158.4 million. This increase is directly linked to the upcoming repayment of the EUR 30 million and the associated financing structure around the reporting date. Together with the elevated cash position, this development should therefore not be interpreted as a deterioration of the Group's financial position. Shareholders' equity increased by CHF 11 million, reaching CHF 439.6 million, supported by the return to profitability and positive currency translation. As a result, our equity ratio remained close to 56%, underlining the resilience and financial strength of the Group. Let me now briefly comment on our capital expenditure development. One of the key priorities in 2026 has been to significantly strengthen capital discipline and ensure that every investment clearly supports value creation and cash generation. Capital expenditures were reduced from CHF 29 million in the first half of 2025 to CHF 12.8 million in the first half of 2026, representing a reduction of almost 57% year-on-year. This reduction reflects a conscious management decision. Following several years of elevated investment levels, particularly related to growth projects and capacity expansions, our focus has shifted towards optimizing the utilization of the existing asset base while maintaining selective investments in strategic growth opportunities. While investment spending has already been reduced significantly, the 2026 CapEx level still includes projects that were approved and contractually committed in previous years. Looking ahead, we intend to maintain a disciplined investment approach. Over the medium term, CapEx should not exceed 5% of net sales on average while still providing sufficient resources to support innovation, customer programs, maintenance, and future growth opportunities. This disciplined capital allocation approach is an important element of our strategy to improve free cash flow. Let me briefly comment on the development of net working capital as some of the underlying drivers have already been discussed during the balance sheet review. I'm pleased to report that we achieved a significant improvement in net working capital compared to the prior year. Net working capital decreased by approximately 23% from CHF 118 million to CHF 91.0 million. What is particularly encouraging is that this improvement was broad-based across all major components. Inventories were stable from CHF 97.5 million to CHF 95.4 million despite our continued focus on maintaining supply security for customers. At the same time, trade receivables remained stable as well despite the higher business volume and intentional delays by customers. Most importantly, trade payables increased significantly, reflecting a conscious working capital management approach throughout the Group. This development clearly demonstrates that the measures implemented to improve cash conversion and capital efficiency are delivering results. While further improvement potential remains, the trend is moving in the right direction. Cash flow development. Let me turn to cash flow, which has become one of the most important management priorities for Feintool. While improving profitability remains a key objective, we are equally focused on strengthening the Group's ability to generate sustainable free cash flow. Ultimately, strong cash generation is a foundation for reducing debt, increasing financial flexibility, and most importantly, creating the conditions for the resumption of dividend payments to our shareholders in the future. For this reason, free cash flow has moved to the center of management attention in 2026. Alongside sales growth and profitability, it's now one of the most important performance indicators within the Group. Starting in 2027, this commitment will be reflected directly in our management incentive systems. A significant portion of management compensation will be linked to free cash flow performance. Across the Group, working capital management and disciplined investment decisions are now regarded as core responsibilities of senior management. Turning to the first half of 2026. Feintool generated CHF 24.2 million of operating cash flow before net working capital changes. It is also important to note that the operating cash flow was burdened by more than CHF 8.0 million of restructuring-related payments related to the restructuring activities in 2025. This demonstrates the underlying strength of our operating performance and confirms that the improvements in profitability are increasingly translating into cash generation. However, seasonal working capital effects had a significant impact during the first half of the year. Net working capital increased by approximately CHF 19.9 million, primarily driven by higher trade receivables at the end of the year. On the investment side, we maintained a highly disciplined approach. Cash flow from investing activities amounted to only CHF 8.7 million, reflecting our strong focus on reducing investment spending compared to the previous year. As a result of these seasonal working capital effects and the continued investment program, free cash flow amounted to minus CHF 4.5 million in the first half of 2026. Let me turn to the development of shareholders' equity. I'm pleased to report that the Group equity increased from CHF 428 million at year-end 2025 to CHF 439 million as of June 2026, representing an increase of CHF 11 million during the first 6 months of the year. The primary driver of this increase was a positive net income of CHF 3.2 million, which we discussed on the previous slide. While the absolute amount remains modest, it represents an important milestone as Feintool has returned to profitability for the first time since 2023. In addition to the positive net result, equity also benefited from favorable movements recognized directly in other comprehensive income and translation reserves. The positive IAS 19 effect of CHF 2.8 million is entirely attributable to the strong performance of pension fund assets during the first half of 2026. Returns generated by the pension assets exceeded the assumptions reflected in the actuarial discount rate, resulting in a positive remeasurement effect recognized directly in equity through other comprehensive income. A further positive contribution came from foreign currency translation effects reflected by the CHF 5.4 million increase shown under FX. These amounts do not relate to operating currency gains or losses but rather represent translation differences arising from the conversion of foreign subsidiaries' balance sheets into Swiss francs for consolidation purposes. Taken together, these effects further strengthened our equity base and helped offset the volatility that foreign exchange movements have created in recent years. As a result, Feintool closed the first half of 2026 with an equity ratio of 55.9%. Before concluding, I would like to thank my colleagues around the world for their commitment and dedication during the first half of the year. The progress we are presenting today is a result of their hard work and continuous efforts. Having spent my first months at Feintool getting to know the company, I'm more convinced than ever of the strength of our people, technology, and market position. While challenges remain, I'm confident that Feintool has the right foundation to further improve profitability, generate sustainable cash flow, and create long-term value for our shareholders. Thank you for your attention. We now look forward to answer your questions.

Sorry, yes. I will continue with an outlook, Marc, but thank you very much for your in-depth look of the financials. And I would like to -- a brief outlook for the remainder of 2026, highlighting some of our global projects. The global footprint, our founder envisioned and that we built out early around the world, is now one of our strongest assets and is fast becoming a decisive competitive advantage. To close the outlook, let me share 4 examples of that global strength in the familiar order, first projects in North America, then Europe, and then Asia. In November 2026, we will start production in a new plant in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the U.S. with motor cores for cooling fans deployed in data centers. This marks a milestone as this is our first E-Stamping order for North America and completes our global rollout of our advanced E-Stamping technology that we started in 2022 with an acquisition. We rolled it out to Asia. And now our last region, North America, comes online with a high-demand product for data centers. The all-new electric EX60 changes the game in terms of range, charging, and price, and represents a new beginning for Volvo Cars and our customers, says Håkan Samuelsson, CEO of Volvo Cars. Feintool is proud to supply the motor core for the main motor of the EX60. Production for Volvo's newest electric vehicle is currently ramping up, and we are scaling our capacity accordingly. Driven by the strong demand Volvo is seeing for this state-of-the-art vehicle, our sales in Tokod, Hungary, are expected to double over the remainder of 2026. 96 glu dots applied directly into 2 ultraviolet light-activated adhesives and 0.1-millimeter sheet technology are just a few of the technical highlights of a new generation of generator cores for ultra-efficient gas turbine-driven power generators for AI data centers, currently ramping up production in Vaihingen, Germany. 1 single rotor is made up of 3,200 individual sheets, a remarkable engineering achievement as seen on the picture and the finished unit from TurboCell installed in a data center in the smaller picture. If we go to Asia. Finally, in the rapidly growing Indian market, we see considerable potential for formed components, particularly for transmission applications. We have, therefore, received Board approval to invest in a large 2,000-ton servo-driven forming press as shown on the picture in our plant in Nashville, Tennessee. This servo press technology will be the first of its kind in India and is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2028. For the remainder of 2026, our guiding principle is 1 destination, many routes. The global shift towards cleaner drive technologies continues, but not as a uniform worldwide development. Instead, 2026 reflects a reality in which each region follows its own path, shaped by economic conditions, policy frameworks, and consumer behavior. Feintool is following these developments. 3 strong and independent regions and 18 production sites worldwide position us perfectly to adapt flexibly to regional needs and to benefit from their respective market movements. In the U.S., we're starting the first production of motor cores for data center cooling systems. In Europe, we supply the latest generation of fully electric vehicles with glulock motor cores and are providing highly efficient generator stacks for primary and backup power solutions for data centers. And in Asia, we're positioning ourselves in some of the fastest-growing markets with our own plant in Pune, India, and the approval of a large-format servo press for formed components. To conclude our half-year presentation with an outlook on the remainder of the year, the market environment will undoubtedly remain challenging. Our first half results, however, demonstrate that we are actively managing the business and focusing on growth applications tailored to each region. Overall, our stance can be best described as cautiously optimistic. We remain positive on further growth in North America. In Europe, we are managing business very closely but see further potential for consolidation. In China, we see a stabilization and a slight growth in volumes for the remainder of the year. Feintool expects revenue growth of approximately 4% and an EBIT margin percentage broadly in line with the level achieved in the first half of the year for the 2026 fiscal year. Supported by a disciplined approach to capital expenditure, we anticipate a significantly positive free cash flow at the end of the financial year. What ties all of this together is the recognition that our business and electrification more broadly is not a one-size-fits-all journey. The destination may be shared, a lower emission future, but the route towards it will be as varied as the markets as we serve. I would like to close with a word of thanks. The Feintool Group's development in a difficult and challenging market environment directly affects you, our shareholders. We sincerely thank you for the trust you have placed in us and in our strategy. We thank our employees for their commitment and dedication. Our thanks also go to our customers, our colleagues worldwide, and all our business partners for their long-standing and trusting cooperation. Because we make more than parts, we make commitments. Now we would like to open the floor for questions.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question is from Walter Bamert from Zürcher Kantonalbank.

Could you please try to make a split of the top-line growth related to volumes and pricing?

Volumes and pricing?

How much has the top line been driven by higher steel prices?

Actually, we had the first 6 months stable steel prices. What we see now is a slight increase in Europe, about EUR 50 to EUR 70 a tonne. But in the first half year, we had no changes in steel prices. We usually operate in most of our businesses on 6-month fixed contracts.

Okay. So that's all volume-related then?

Except yes, sorry, we have 1 plant in Ettlingen and that's copper prices, those increased a little bit, but that was mostly reflected in the EBIT numbers and less in the -- because the plant is very small and the business is not very much. But on EBIT level, that increased a lot. We had some windfall from better copper prices managing. But overall, the steel prices were stable in the 6 months, and it's truly volume driven. And you saw mainly in North America, we had very strong demand on the truck platforms, mainly for Stellantis, GM, and Ford. We saw the F-150, the RAM trucks, those had a very strong demand in the first 6 months. And we are heavily on those transmission programs.