Fluidra, S.A. (FDR.MC) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, and welcome to our 2025 9 months results call. I am Clara Valera, Strategy, Investor Relations and FP&A Senior Director. Joining me today on this call is our Executive Chairman, Eloy Planes; our CEO, Jaime Ramirez; and Xavier Tintore, our CFO. They will walk you through a few slides on our results, and then they will be available to take your questions. You can follow this presentation in its original English version or in Spanish. [Operator Instructions] The presentation is available via our website, fluidra.com, and has also been uploaded to the Stock Exchange Commission this morning. A replay of today's presentation will be made available on our website later today. With that, I hand over to our Executive Chairman, Eloy Planes.

Thanks, Clara. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining today. Let me open with a few points before Jaime and Xavier go into the details. Q3 was another strong quarter for Fluidra. We continue to outperform the market, and we have made progress against our strategic priorities. Sales were up 10% in the third quarter on constant FX and perimeter and 7% year-to-date, reflecting consistent volume growth, as you will see later, across all the regions. We are particularly pleased with the acceleration we are seeing in the Commercial Pool segment, which continues to gain momentum. And this growth momentum is also supported by our operational progress. Our simplification program is delivering results, helping offset mix effects. And as you will see, our margins are up year-on-year. Year-to-date, adjusted EBITDA has reached EUR 411 million, which put us on a solid path to deliver our full year guidance. And these results are especially meaningful in the actual environment. We have faced FX headwinds, tariffs and a softer new construction market, and yet the company continues to grow volumes, has gained market share and has adapted with speed, discipline and strong execution. Net debt to EBITDA was 2.1x at the end of September, down 0.2x compared with last year. We are further strengthening our balance sheet. These results, together with the market dynamics we are seeing at the beginning of the fourth quarter, give us confidence as we move into the last part of the year. As I shared earlier, we are on track to deliver our full year 2025 guidance while building a stronger foundation for the long-term. And this progress is not only visible in our numbers, but also in how the market and our customers see us. Our team's commitment to excellence is being recognized externally. We were again named Vendor of the Year by the top U.S. distributors for the fifth consecutive year, a clear reflection of our customers' trust. We are a global leader in an attractive industry driven by the long-term structural growth dynamics, having positioned the business for growth and transformation. We continue to gain market share by executing our strategy with discipline and focus in a dynamic environment. We are positioned exceptionally well to continue growing and delivering value into the future. We look forward to discussing our results with you this morning. And with that, I hand first to Jaime to continue with our presentation.

Thank you, Eloy. It is a pleasure to be here with all of you today. Moving to our 9 months performance on Slide 5. I will provide some highlights and then turn it over to Xavier to share more detail on the financial results. Our performance in the quarter was strong with sales up 10%, and I thank the teams for their delivery in a dynamic environment. Year-to-date sales were up 5% year-on-year or 7% on constant FX and perimeter to EUR 1,724 million, with growth across all regions, driven by higher volumes and prices and the contribution from acquisitions. Adjusted EBITDA was up 6% year-on-year, 8% on constant FX and perimeter to EUR 411 million which represents a 24% margin, up year-on-year, driven by higher volumes and prices and ongoing operational excellence focus. We continue to invest in the business in strategic areas to support long-term growth and the underlying performance remains strong. Going down the P&L, I'm pleased adjusted EPS was up 10% year-on-year. The level of operating net working capital to sales in the last 12 months was around 20%, slightly higher year-on-year given the strong sales performance. Xavier will provide more color later. And we reduced leverage by 0.2x net debt to adjusted EBITDA on the back of our strong operating performance and FX tailwinds. We have a solid balance sheet. Turning to Slide 6. The chart on the right illustrates the solid volume performance in the 9-month period as we continue to gain share together with accelerated price contribution. Revenue growth also benefited from our bolt-on acquisitions in Australia, Portugal and Central Europe. FX had an overall negative effect on sales in the period. As you see on the left-hand side, North America delivered 9% organic growth year-on-year in the first 9 months on constant FX and perimeter, aligned with underlying sell-through trends across our customer network. This reflects continued market share gains and underscores the strength of our customer-centric model, our strategic focus on the Sun Belt region and our positioning in the mid- to high-end segments. In Europe, the positive momentum continued, resulting in approximately 4% organic growth year-to-date. We started to see some recovery in France in Q3, driven by the aftermarket, while Spain recorded a strong growth. Performance across other European markets was good. Growth in the rest of the world also accelerated on a constant FX and perimeter, supported by double-digit growth in Commercial Pool. In summary, although demand for new builds remains slightly negative across our markets, aftermarket activity was solid, and we continue to expand our share across core regions, both in residential and commercial pool. On the other hand, price contributed almost 2% in the first 9 months with higher breakthrough in North America. As we shared in our Q2 earnings call, we expected a higher contribution during the second half of the year, where we see the positive effect of the price increase implemented in April to protect the P&L from tariffs. Effective October 1, we have issued our usual North American price increase for the 2026 season to cover normal inflation together with the annualized impact of tariffs. Let me remind you that we are offsetting entirely the impact of the tariffs we know today on the P&L with the implemented price increases in North America, I just mentioned and alignment with our suppliers to be more efficient in our sourcing. We continue to monitor development very closely and will be agile if further measures are required. Next, on Slide 7, at Fluidra, our success is built on our simple truth -- on one simple truth. We win together with our customers. Our teams provide attentive, extensive and truly committed support. This is what sets us apart, not just selling innovative, high-quality products on time or offering a strong technical support, but being a trusted partner that helps our customers succeed every day. And they value our partnership. We won 4 awards, including being named Vendor of the Year by 3 top U.S. distributors for the fifth year in a row. Winning these distinctions is a testament to the dedication, innovation and integrity demonstrated daily by every member of our team, and I would like to sincerely thank them. With that, I'll turn it over to Xavier to explain the financial results in more detail.

Thank you, Jaime. Let's turn to Page 8 and start with the P&L. Sales of EUR 1,724 million represent a 5.3% increase year-on-year. FX represented a negative impact of 210 basis points and acquisitions added 100 basis points of growth. For the quarter, FX was a significant headwind with 400 basis points of impact. Gross margin reached 56.1%, 20 basis points higher than in 2024, driven by a positive contribution of the simplification program and pricing read-through despite impact of tariff and unfavorable product and geographic mix, which was more pronounced in the third quarter. Operating expenses reached EUR 556 million, up 5.3% with enhanced investments in digitalization, R&D and inflation in labor cost and logistics. M&A contributed EUR 6 million to SG&A. Adjusted EBITDA of $411 million was up 6.4%, driven by the higher gross margin despite some increased OpEx investments and inflation. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 23.9%, 30 bps higher than the same period in 2024. EBITDA of EUR 334 million is up 6.1% with a margin of 19.4%. Below the EBITDA line, PPA amortization is down 10% to EUR 43 million. Restructuring, stock-based compensation and other expenses of EUR 17 million is 58% lower than the prior year as one-off costs from the simplification program come to an end. Financial result amounted to EUR 48 million, 12% lower than a year ago, driven by lower debt. Tax rate was 26%, similar to the one of 2024. Net profit reached EUR 163 million compared to EUR 123 million, a remarkable increase of 33%. As you know, we track adjusted net profit, a good indicator for Fluidra as we have a significant amortization charge entirely purchase accounting related that impacts our net profit and EPS calculation. Adjusted net profit amounted to EUR 213 million, 10% higher than last year. On the next page, I will share our progress on the simplification program, which delivers long-term value and structurally strengthening our business. We have continued to execute during the third quarter, having achieved to date EUR 93 million in cumulative savings since the start of the program. And we are well on track to finish 2025, delivering the target EUR 100 million savings. September's year-to-date incremental savings of EUR 25 million are driven by global strategic procurement efforts and product design to value initiative. Page 10 shows the free cash flow statement as well as the net debt evolution. Free cash flow generated in the period was EUR 6 million that compares to EUR 113 million last year. Let's look at the different components. Operating cash flow was EUR 199 million versus EUR 252 million last year, with higher cash generated by the P&L, but greater cash invested in net working capital. Overall, the net working capital to sale ratio was -- is at 20%, 170 basis points higher than the prior year, with increased receivables due to the accelerated sales in the quarter. We expect to finish the year around 18% of sales, which is aligned with last year's level. On the investment front, we have used EUR 99 million including CapEx and EUR 29 million in acquisitions, driven by the completion of BAC in Switzerland and Pooltrackr in Australia. On the financing front, we have seen a flat evolution. We expect the Aiper acquisition to close in Q4, executing the USD 100 million investment for the 27% ownership agreed. Finally, net debt reached EUR 1,034 million down EUR 34 million compared to the prior year period. Our leverage ratio is 2.1x versus 2.3x ratio last year, improving 0.2x. And now I will give the floor to Jaime to conclude today's call.

Thank you, Xavier. We had a strong Q3. We continued growth across all regions, in line with our expectations for the year. We are confident in delivering our full year 2025 guidance. Please remember that these targets represent an upgrade on the guidance we provided in February at constant currency. All in all, we're expecting sales between EUR 2,160 million and EUR 2,220 million. Adjusted EBITDA between EUR 500 million and EUR 520 million and adjusted EPS between EUR 1.33 and EUR 1.40 per share. Looking into the future, we are focused on executing our strategic framework and delivering improving returns on capital by accelerating growth, both organically and inorganically, fostering competitive differentiation through innovation and digitalization and enhancing operational excellence. Clara, over to you for Q&A.

Many thanks, Eloy, Jaime and Xavier, for your presentation, and we now begin the Q&A session. [Operator Instructions]. The first question comes from Chitrita at JPMorgan.

I've got 3, please. So firstly, just on the unchanged guidance. I agree that I think from an underlying basis, it seems like an upgrade. But after a strong Q3, maybe the top end of the range is achievable. Could you give a bit more color on this, please?

Yes. Thank you, Chitrita. Yes, we are happy to see the strong Q3. And as we look at the remainder of the year, we continue to see the positive momentum on the business. And we are confident on delivering within our range. I think if you look at the guidance that we have provided and the year to go, we have a very high degree of confidence in achieving the midpoint, which is this mid-single -- mid- to high single digit growth when you adjust for currency.

Chitrita, let me add some color on that one. Yes, our performance in Q3 was very good. I mean, you saw the organic growth we had. You saw the performance of price, the performance on volume. And I also want to highlight that this is very connected to the sellout dynamics in the market. So we're very pleased with all the improvement. For our Q4, you see the numbers. I mean, the midpoint of our guidance is showing almost a 7% organic growth, which that's going to be an amazing result for Q4. So we're very confident on that number and we will continue very focused on delivering organic growth in the quarter.

Chitrita, you said you have a couple more?

Yes, sorry. Can you hear me?

Yes.

Yes, perfect. Sorry. My second question is just regarding the market share gains that you've been talking about. And it seems like you're consistently outperforming your 2 U.S. listed peers. Could you provide more color on how you're gaining market share? Is it by product innovation? Is it pricing? And then is it mainly from smaller players? Or is it more broad based?

It's a very good question, Chitrita. Thank you very much. Yes, we're very proud of a clear signal that we're gaining market share with the volume growth we're having, especially in the North American market. Also, we're seeing the same in the rest of the world. I would say the main reasons for our organic growth, number 1 is the continued success that we have with the new build in the U.S. As you know, we've been very successful growing the business in new build. Second, the tremendous focus we're putting on in the aftermarket. Aftermarket is a tremendous opportunity for us in North America and our team is very focused on how we're gaining market share. On top of that, we're working a lot on conversion of pool builders in North America, moving into selling our Jandy products and installing our Jandy products. So this is a good combination of the hard work that we've been having over the years, our innovation and the new products that we've been selling in the U.S., the great service and focus on conversion that our commercial teams have. I would say that Fluidra for many years has done a phenomenal job staying very close to the pros and our customers. And that has been what we're seeing is a result of that ongoing effort and investment in the business.

Very clear. And then my final question is just regarding the Commercial segment, which 14% growth organically is very strong. How should we think about this for the rest of the year and then, I guess, going into 2026? Maybe if you just touch on the drivers behind this?

Very good question. As you heard from us in our Capital Market Day, commercial is a focus area for us. It's 20% of the market and we see an opportunity to gain market share. That commercial business is very connected to projects. So the team has done a very good job working on multiple projects. Projects, I mean, you got to see what's the pipeline for the future and that's what the team is working on. But at the same time, because what we said, we've been putting investment and focus on that area of the business. And what we offered, the full services approach that we have for projects is the key for our success. So more to come on that area and at the same time, looking into building the pipeline for future growth. But as I said before, that's a focus area for our growth going forward.

The next question comes from Jingyi at UBS.

My first question is on the current trading. Could you please share some color on the current trading and how the early buy season is going?

Jingyi, we couldn't hear you very well. You said on current trading and the early buy, if I understood correctly your question.

Yes. Yes, indeed.

So on the early buy, we haven't finished the numbers yet as we finished the early buy in the month of October. But the progress so far in the early buy, we're very pleased with where we are. And one of the critical things of the early buy, as you know, why is that so critical? Because that give us a better way for us to manage supply and prepare for decisions. So it's going well as expected. It's in line with our expectations, and that gives us confidence for us in 2026.

And in light of that, should we expect organic growth run rate or momentum to continue into Q4? And secondly, does it give us higher confidence in the new build market in 2026?

We see the trend of organic growth. The new build market in 2026, I would love to have the answer for that question. I mean, the expectation we had in 2025 of new buildings that, that was going to be better and is basically flat or even, I don't know, a little bit negative. We are -- I mean, we hope that given the current interest rate dynamics, new build is going to be better in 2026. But to be honest with you, for us in 2026, the focus is going to be to maintain our strong presence in new build regardless of what happens with the economy and the dynamics of new construction. But what is critical for us is the focus in aftermarket, as I mentioned before, where we have a lot of opportunity, where we continue gaining market share. And of course, we will continue also with our price discipline next year as we have shown during this year to offset tariffs and also inflation.

Got it. And then for Q4, do we expect organic run rate to continue into Q4 from current levels in Q3?

Yes, Jingyi. We expect organic growth. We expect organic growth to continue in Q4. We see similar trends that what we have seen year-to-date. And if you look at our guidance, if you look at the midpoint of the guidance and just for currency, we expect around 7% growth in that midpoint.

Got it. And my second question is on acquisitions. Earlier in the year, you acquired BAC pool systems and Pooltrackr. Could you share some color on how the pipeline is looking out and what's expected in terms of M&A activities going forward?

I'm sorry, can you repeat the question? I didn't listen well.

Yes. So my question was on the M&A activities. Could you share some color on how the pipeline is looking now? And what is expected in terms of M&A activities going forward?

So on the 2 acquisitions, the 2 big acquisitions we did on April, as you know, we're still going through the process of the antitrust and getting the approval. But the performance of April continues to be good. And the team continues working really well on the commercial and new productivity. And they are I mean, they had very good news. They I mean, and this is public information. They just signed one major distributor in the U.S. So we're very pleased with the progress of April. But more to come as we complete the antitrust and we move into the Phase 1 of the process. On Pooltrackr, the team is working on how Pooltrackr will help us to accelerate our digitalization and our Fluidra Pro and Fluidra Pool initiatives around the globe. The initial focus is, of course, maintaining Pooltrackr is strong in Australia and expanding in the North American market where we see the biggest one. On M&A, I mean, Fluidra has been a very active company. We have a pipeline, and we're always looking into great opportunities that are financially compelling and strategic for our business to getting stronger and bigger.

The next question comes from Leo Carrington at Citi.

Could I please ask a couple of questions on pricing. I noted your U.S. peers who've proposed already mentioned pricing fatigue among customers given the broad price increases across products. And firstly, is this something you're also noting in your business, perhaps as a sign in terms of mix? And then what's the implications for Fluidra? I'm wondering if there is, in fact, an opportunity for better bundling of your products if customers are or distributors or product buyers are more sensitive to pricing?

Yes. Leo, we've implemented pricing all along the history of business. It's true that in 2025, we have implemented higher-than-average price increases due to the impact of tariff, especially this is true in North America. And yes, we hear the same noise around pricing fatigue in the industry. I think this is not really reflected on the mix comment if the mix comes from the fact that that's impacting our margins. The impact of mix is happening more outside of North America, where pricing doesn't really have that big component. And as to the future, I think we continue to work on innovation. We continue to work on improving our offering to our customers so that they can see the value. And I think that up to now, that market share gains, basically, tell us that we are successful in our product offering. So that's where we are.

Yes. Let me add some color on that one. I would say that, yes, we're watching the pricing dynamics. That's something we have to watch in this industry. But at the same time, I want also to reinforce that, and you saw in our presentation, the win awards with our customers means a lot for us in terms of our customer-centric culture. And that makes a huge difference when it comes to how we see the business. So we're trying to create value for them, number 1. And the second point was Xavier just mentioned, we're very focused and you're seeing investments in our P&L, in our OpEx, very related to what we're doing on innovation, on new products, on digitalization. I just talked about Pooltrackr. So we're working on those areas to really, really create value for our brands, our products and also for our customers.

The next question comes from Tim Lee at Barclays.

So my first question is also about pricing. In terms of early buy, I think one of your competitors were talking about, say, mid-single digit -- mid- to high single-digit increase in prices. I'm not sure whether that's the number that you are also seeing in terms of the price implementation for the next pool season. And second is about the simplification program. So obviously, you have done a very good job in terms of bringing out the value of the company and to bring the cost down and the cost saving has been amazing. The simplification program is going to end this year? And I remember in the CMD earlier this year, you were also talking about another, let's say, EUR 120 million cost saving opportunities in the next 5 years until 2030. So I'm just wondering whether there will be another round of simplification program or cost saving program that will be launched starting in 2026 that you can see to further drive your margin expansion in the next couple of years?

Thank you, Tim. Yes, I'll take the questions. In terms of pricing, yes, we are seeing similar mid-single price impacts in North America. Actually, if we look at our growth in North America is driven by price and volume half-on-half more or less. And as we look into 2026, the pricing that we've implemented will probably be slightly lower than the one -- than the impact of the read-through that we are seeing up to today, but it's going to be close to that mid-single-digit number for the U.S. and it's going to be slightly lower in -- outside of North America as we don't have that impact of tariffs that we are offsetting in North America. If we look at the simplification program, yes, we are very pleased with the execution of the program. We are about to close the program reaching the EUR 100 million mark that we established 3 years ago. And we are working on the details of the EUR 120 million program that was shared at the Capital Markets Day. It's a little bit too early to share with you the components of that program, but it's going to have areas of obviously, product redesign, manufacturing footprint, SKU rationalization, the topics that Jorge covered in the Capital Markets Day. We will share with you in the February call, the phasing of these savings by year and the content of restructuring cost and so on. So as I said, it's a little bit too early, but you will see margin improvement and productivity coming from those initiatives in our 2026 numbers.

Our next question comes from Luis at ODDO.

Most of my questions have been addressed. Maybe a follow-up on the negative margin effect mix geographically. I get the product is related with the chemicals. But product-wise, I'm looking at the evolution of the different segments, I think it might be within regions, specific markets maybe facing more soft figures. Maybe if you could specify and address the French market evolution.

Yes. I mean the margin, as you were indicating and as we said during the call, was a little weaker in the third quarter, which, as you know, is a market where we have significant weight of the aftermarket business. And therefore, some of the commodities like chemicals, as you mentioned, carry some pricing declines and an impact on the margin. Some other commodity products like liner, and we also see some trade down on robotic cleaners driving a little bit -- having an impact on the margins. In North America, this was the quarter where we have the biggest impact of tariff. And that's what you see in the quarter. As you know, year-to-date, we're still above margin -- above last year's margin. For the fourth quarter, we expect better performance as the -- some of these mix effects have a lower impact because, as I said, the aftermarket doesn't weigh that much in the quarter. And for the full year, we expect to be broadly aligned with the gross margin with a combination of positive price, positive contribution from simplification and then some of the negatives, as I said, tariff mix and currency. And as we look at 2026 and as I told Tim in the previous answer, we expect some margin contribution driven by some of the productivity initiatives that we talked at the Capital Markets Day.

And just to add on what Xavier just said, yes, we saw the dynamics of gross margin in Q3 for all the different reasons he mentioned. The good news and the positive news is the trend we're seeing even at the end of the quarter and what we're seeing for Q4 is the recovery of the margin and to be better than last year, and that will come out of all the different activities we have. So we're very confident on that positive trend of the gross margin getting into Q4 and the end of the year and getting into 2026.

We don't have any more questions on the line. I'll give a couple of seconds in case someone has an additional question. Okay. As usual, you know the Investor Relations team is here to help you if you have any other questions or follow-ups. But this marks the end of today's presentation. I'd like to thank our speakers and all of you for joining and your interest in Fluidra. And as always, please feel free to reach out. Thank you, and goodbye.