HusCompagniet A/S (HUSCO) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Welcome to HusCompagniet Holdings First Half of 2026 Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. If you have any objections, please disconnect at this time. [Operator Instructions] I will now turn the call over to your speakers. Please begin.

Thank you so much, and welcome to the presentation of HusCompagniet's results for the second quarter of '26. I'm Martin Ravn-Nielsen, CEO of the company. And with me today, I have CFO, Allan Auning-Hansen. Today, we will begin with a brief update on some of our key strategic priorities before we turn to the market condition. Please go to Slide...

Allan, can you please unmute your telephone and then we can hear you speakers again? Allan, if you can hear me, can you please unmute your telephone so we can hear you?

Deliver on this point as well. Finally, we are pleased that the three challenging projects progressed as planned in the quarter. One project was delivered in July, and we still expect to deliver the other two projects in the first half of '27. All in all, we are back on the right track. We have become more asset-light with the sale of the factory. And we will engage as developer in selected low complexity projects only. And we are very selective and focused on low-risk projects, execution frameworks and counterparties. In addition, we will look for opportunities to build more on own land, and we will only offer our own standardized building concept going forward on the consumers' own land plots. Please turn to Slide 3 for an overview on the current market conditions. The economic indicators for the Danish market remain strong with low unemployment and inflation rates. This is, of course, positive for the development in the housebuilding market. Still, we continue to see volatility in consumer confidence. This is illustrated by our detached sales, which dampened in the first two months of the year. This was followed by a positive trend with higher lead generation and sales in March and April. The end of the period and July then came in slower again. It is safe to say that consumers remain cautious. We remain focused on maintaining a good dialogue and staying top of mind when they are ready to decide for a new house. This includes that we have improved the customer experience for private house builders with several things, including the opening of new showrooms. We managed to secure largely stable material prices in the first half of the year, which was impacted by the situation in the Middle East. We are focused on that and prepared to take any necessary commercial steps if the situation escalates.

Sorry to interrupt here. I just got a message that people on the conference call might not be able to hear us from the beginning. Could we please have a feedback on that?

It is correct that right at the very beginning of your presentation on Slide 1.

Captivate, are you online?

Yes. Captivate is here. Lars, can you hear me?

If you could please just hang on for a second if you can hear us. We are just trying to sort out the technical issues. Okay. I suggest that we start all over because there was some initial issues. So sorry for the inconvenience, and let's start over again.

So then please let's start and go to Slide 2 again. We continue to execute on our strategic priorities in the second quarter, and I'm pleased that we made a really good progress on the efforts to recalibrate our semi-detached business. We have ticked several important boxes as (sic) [ at ] this point. We signed a deal to divest the factory in Esbjerg in April. This was a key element in our reversed (sic) [ revised ] strategy to get back to the core activities in semi-detached and focus on improving performance and profitability ahead of growth. We have completed a full reorganization of the business units in the past month. This included full implementation of new processes we introduced in the autumn last year. It also reflects that we have added experienced leadership resource with a solid track record and deep market and business insights. And in addition, we are focused on building stronger project management and procurement, and we have hired skilled people to deliver on this point as well. And finally, we are pleased that the three challenges (sic) [ challenged ] projects progressed as planned in the quarter. One project was delivered in July as planned, and we still expect to deliver the other two projects in the first half of '27. All in all, we are on the right track. We have become more asset-light with the sale of the factory, and we will engage as a developer in selected low complexity projects only. We are very selective and focused on low-risk projects, execution frameworks and counterparties. And in addition, we will look for opportunities to build more on own land, and we will only offer our own standardized building concepts going forward on consumers' own land plots. Please turn to Slide 3 for an overview on the current market conditions. The economic indicators for the Danish market remain strong with low unemployment and inflation rates. This is, of course, positive for the development in the housebuilding market. Still, we continue to see volatility in consumer confidence. This is illustrated by our detached sales, which dampened in the first two months of the year. This was followed by a positive trend with higher lead generation and sales in March and April. The end of the period of July then came in slower again. It is safe to say that consumers remain cautious. We remain focused on maintaining a good dialogue and staying top of mind when they are ready to decide for a new house. This includes that we have improved the consumer experience for private house builders with several things, including opening of new showrooms. We managed to secure largely stable material prices in the first half of the year, which was impacted by the situation in the Middle East. We are focused on that and prepared to take any necessary commercial steps if the situation escalates. I am ending on a positive note in Sweden, where new mortgage regulations came into effect in April. The initiatives are expected to support activity in the housing market and have a positive effect on the Swedish new build market. For our part, we already now have seen and noted a pickup in the number of leads in the first half of the year. And now pass the baton to Allan for financial guidance and highlights on Slide 4.

Thank you, Martin. Overall, we made good progress in Q2 with revenue growth of 16% across segments after good execution on our order backlog. The detached business contributed with higher average selling prices based on increased pricing and customer demand for larger houses compared to last year. In the semi-detached business, progress was driven by delivery of 40 housing units against none in Q2 last year and increased work in progress. In Sweden, the market was stable and growth was modest. Gross profit amounted to DKK 125 million compared to DKK 136 million in the comparison period. The development reflected progress in semi-detached after a comparison period, which was impacted by unsatisfactory low margins on a few projects. The improvement could not fully compensate for the impact of the unusually cold winter on detached, which continued into Q2, as mentioned on the Q1 conference call. In addition, there was a slight decline in wooden houses, where the comparison period was positively impacted by reversal of provisions from two projects. All in all, the gross margin declined from 18.4% to 14.6%. After the divestment of our prefabrication plant, we are reporting an EBITDA before loss from divestment of subsidiaries, which came in at DKK 12 million against DKK 23 million last year and a margin of 1.4% compared to 3.1%. The decline reflects the lower gross profit. This is also the case for EBIT before loss from divestment of subsidiaries, which amounted to DKK 1 million, down from DKK 12 million in the same quarter last year. The divestment of the factory entails a preliminary accounting loss of DKK 71 million, which was recognized in the second quarter and largely on par with the DKK 68 million expectation we stated when the transaction was disclosed back in April. Free cash flow came to DKK 36 million compared to an outflow of DKK 12 million last year. The development reflected that working capital was negatively impacted by delayed deliveries in detached due to the cold winter, while the divestment of the factory had a positive impact. Let's go to Slide 5 for the financial highlights for the first six months of 2026. The revenue grew by 20% to DKK 1.645 billion in the half year, driven by all segments executing on the order backlog. We saw a positive contribution from higher sales prices in detached as well as more deliveries and higher work in progress in the semi-detached segment. Gross profit decreased by 2% to DKK 255 million for a margin of 15.5% against DKK 260 million and 18.9% last year. The drivers were the same as for the second quarter. Improved performance in semi-detached could not fully compensate for the decline in detached after the cold winter. The underlying performance in the wooden houses segment was stable. EBITDA before loss from divestment of subsidiaries amounted to DKK 30 million for a margin of 1.8% compared to DKK 39 million and 2.9% in the same period last year. The decrease was mainly due to the lower gross profit. EBIT before loss from divestment of subsidiaries was DKK 6 million against DKK 18 million in the comparison period. Free cash flow came to an outflow of DKK 61 million against an outflow of DKK 26 million in the first half of 2025. As mentioned on the previous slide, this was primarily due to working capital changes and the factory divestment. At end June, our net debt was DKK 283 million for a leverage ratio of 5.4x compared to DKK 304 million and 3.2x at the end of June 2025. The decline in net debt was mainly due to the divestment of the factory, which offset the changes in working capital that I have already covered. Let's go to Slide 6 for an update from Martin on sales.

Thanks, Allan. Sales in our Danish business were lower than last year. Detached sold 203 units against 228 last year, which were positively affected by a temporary increase in consumer confidence. We still pursue opportunities to build on own land, and we have secured two attractive land plots for the future development of our private housing areas. This is fully in line with our strategy, and we look forward to pursuing these good opportunities. Semi-detached sales declined 17% to 77 units. This was in line with the revised strategy, which is seen to entail fewer contract signing for the period. In July, we signed an unconditional turnkey contract for the construction of 21 semi-detached units in Stenløse on Zealand. Sales increased by 5 units and 21% in wooden houses. We see an increased activity level after the implementation of the political incentives to boost new private houses, as mentioned earlier. And more consumers have already acquired a land plot when contacting us. These are good signs from the Swedish market. So let's flip to Slide 7 for an update on deliveries. The number of deliveries increased 17% in Q2. The positive trend was driven by semi-detached with delivery of 40 against 0 in the comparison period. Detached deliveries declined 4%, which was mainly related to timing as the segment remained impacted by the effect of the extraordinary cold winter. In Wooden houses, the number of deliveries remained stable. Let's turn to Slide 8 and our order backlog. Our net order backlog amounted to DKK 1.8 billion at end June '26, down from DKK 2.1 billion in the same period last year. The decline reflected the lower sales in the Danish business in the second quarter of '26. Detached accounted for 64% of the total order backlog, semi-detached for 31% and wooden houses for the remaining 5%. On Slide 9, Allan will end the presentation with a few comments on the outlook.

Thank you, Martin. Based on the developments year-to-date, we maintain the 2026 guidance and expect revenue in the range of DKK 3 billion to DKK 3.3 billion, assuming that we deliver between 1,000 and 1,300 houses. EBITDA is expected to reach DKK 70 million to DKK 130 million and EBIT DKK 15 million to DKK 75 million. The earnings outlook is provided before loss from divestment of subsidiaries, which is currently seen to come to an expense of DKK 71 million. We continue to see the midpoint as the best representation of our current expectations, but there are still some timing and execution variables that can move the outcome within the existing range. In addition, please note that our guidance is based on no severe deterioration of the situation in the Middle East causing disruption of supply chains or significantly increased raw material prices from the levels seen in Q2. We continue to see reasonable macro trends, and we remain cautiously optimistic about the outlook for the housebuilding market. Still, we are operating with low visibility and impacted by continued volatility and a higher price sensitivity. Thank you for listening in. Now please turn to the next slide for the Q&A session.

[Operator Instructions] The first question we have is from the line of Sebastian Grave from Nordea.

Good call to redo the first part of the web presentation here. I think we all got the message. For start, I would like to talk about the activity levels. Can you talk us a bit through the activity levels you see in the detached segment in particular? I mean, as you mentioned, it's been quite lumpy over the recent months, starting the year on a soft note then improving in March and April, just to dampen again, it seems in May, June and July, where you're trending below last year despite investments in showrooms. I guess what I'm fishing for here is, has anything structurally changed in the market from last year? Or I mean, has anything moved the needle here? I noticed that the number of building plots available in the market is near record low. Is this an increasing constraint on the activity levels? Or how do you see it?

Thank you for your question, Sebastian. So as you said, the sales in the first half is lower than last year. And I think what we hadn't expected this year was the impact from the war in the Middle East, which we can see has an impact on consumer confidence. So we have seen fluctuating leads and sales throughout the first half year and into July. And the way that we look at it now is that we are slightly more optimistic on our second half than we were -- than what we have seen in our first half. So I would say it is a very volatile market that we are operating in right now. And clearly, as you can see, deliveries from own land is nonexisting in this quarter. So own land is currently also impacting the total number of sales compared to where we have been historically.

And it appears when I look at public statistics available, the number of plots in the market remains very low as well. So I guess customers coming to you with their own building plots may also be restricted due to this. Is this something you see? Or yes, any observations here?

Yes. Sebastian, of course, the very low number of plots for sale, of course, it has an impact. We still see that percentage that we have more tear down and build new in our business now than we have seen in the past year. So of course, when the municipalities and so on don't secure that there will be new plots for sales to private customers, it has an impact. But there's a lot of new plans going forward to 2031 for the municipalities all over the countries that have secured that we will see that -- I think that will be a pickup in plots for sales going forward.

Okay. And I guess on that note, you stated in the report that you have received two attractive plots in Central Jutland for future development. Can you talk around the timing and the dynamics of this deal, the size as well? And how does it impact cash flows?

I would say, overall, these are some very interesting land plots that does have a positive effect or we expect a positive effect on going forward. And from a cash flow perspective, I think it's difficult to comment further on. But I think it's a deal that supports our growth in the market in Jutland where we are focusing very much.

Okay. No, that's fair. And then just maybe a last question, and I will jump back in the queue. The gross margin performance in Q2 in the detached segment, 16%, down from 20% in Q2 last year. How much of this margin decline is winter headwinds? And how much is pricing or lack of own land deliveries, roughly speaking?