Kamux Oyj (KAMUX) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hello. My name is Juha Kalliokoski, I'm CEO and Founder of Kamux. Welcome to Kamux' Half Year Results Presentation.

Good morning, my name is Marko Lehtonen, I'm Kamux CFO.

Okay. Table of contents: Q2 in brief, financial development, outlook and financial targets, and then we summarize these. As you remember, our vision is to be #1 in used car retailer in Europe, and this is the very big ambition level for us. I didn't believe 4 months ago that when we present our Q2 results, that these results are so good what these are now. The situation 4 months ago was very much different than today. I'm proud about our colleagues, how well you had been the same team and helped each other in this corona time. In mid-March, we made decision to continually secure the company's continuity in all segment [indiscernible], and there we can see the results of these decisions. Our revenue was EUR 150 million and adjusted operating profit EUR 6.8 million, and it's, Q2, all-time highest result in this period. Our gross profit increased 2.4% to EUR 20.6 million. Like-for-like revenue decreased 16.9%, and this is also the decision what we made in March, this is also the results of this decision. Total revenue increased in Sweden by 2.4% to EUR 39 million. And in Germany, 17% to 16 -- to EUR 12.2 million (sic) [ EUR 12.5 million ]. We opened 5 showrooms as planned: Tornio in Finland, Stockholm, Värmdö, Sundsvall and Kaltenkirchen. The outlook was worrying and visibility result due of the -- to the corona pandemic. In accordance with our decision, we secured our cash flow and our earnings. If we think about these 3 countries and markets, all these countries are a different situation. And also these months, April, May and June, was a different situation. In Finland and Germany -- in Germany, it was locked down 2.5 week in April. And also after that, our people, our employees used mask and so on, and you need 10 square meters size per customer. In Sweden, the market was most open if we compare these 3 markets. And -- but of course, at the same time, customers' behaviors and thinking, they want to be secure. In Finland, the Helsinki area was closed first 2 weeks in April. And after that, the market was opening -- opened and also the customer trips all over the country. The used car market is large and fragmented. And if we compare to new car market, for example, whole [ year ] -- H1, it was minus 38% in this new car market. And at the same time, the used car market was quite stable. Country by country, of course, a different situation. I have been over 25 years in the car industry and I saw many different situation, for example, the finance crisis 2008 to '09 and so on, and all these years indicates the used car market is more stable than new car market. At the end of May and the whole of June, the purchasing market was very tight because the low level new car registration, and they didn't came in tradings and leasing cars. Now the corona pandemia, it was very important for us, our customers and our employees' safety. And we take -- we took very quick response to the market situation and helped our employees keep safety. And also Kamux' business model proved its strength in this current time. And of course, we continue to monitor the situation closely also in -- after Q2. If you think of the customers, it's very important to have to [ store food ] and [ digi-comm ] operation together with this. Digi is of great importance and Internet is very strong interface with customers. Transactions showed digital channels have increased and chat contacts, in particular, have increased in this corona time. We started home delivery 2005, and it tells that it's normal business for us because 15 years, we beat it. It's very important, remember that 1/3 of our sales is cross sales, and it means that every single seller can sell all cars, what we have in our stock not only the old stock, but what they have. Kamux Q2 revenue decreased 4.3 million -- 4.3%, but adjusted operating profit increased 1.6%. This decision made to secure cash flow and earnings, also cost savings are reflected in the results. There was no need for exceptional additional write-downs for inventory at the end of Q2. We sold same level of cars what we sold last year Q2, and it means that it was about 5% lower the average price per car. And we made decision in March and April that we focus more on the cheaper car because we thought that it's easier to sell these cars, and they are not so much risk if we think about the pricing and pricing change -- price change in this type of cars. Integrated services. Turnover from this is more stable than car sales. And it grew from EUR 7.9 million to EUR 8.6 million, and it was 5.7% from the total revenue. Showrooms. We -- as I mentioned, we opened 5 showrooms in this Q2 as planned: 1 in Finland, in Tornio; 1 in Germany in Kaltenkirchen; and 3 in Sweden, Sundsvall, Tukholma and Värmdö, and these openings was at the end of -- end part of Q2. And we announced openings is Lübeck, and this up together 7 stores. And the Swedish and German openings were soft openings, and it means that, for example, Kaltenkirchen, there was only one salesperson in our store. And nowadays, there are 4 people. And -- but we -- because we made a decision that we opened these stores, that we take soft opening. And then Marko, here you are. Financial development.

Thank you, Juha. It is, of course, clear that the actions what you had described had very strong impact to our net cash flow and the result. We can see that with the cost and inventory management, we really were able to make strong result and net cash at the end of second quarter. What I also would like to point out that the operating net cash flow was very strong, EUR 17.3 million in the second quarter. And if we look our equity ratio, it was 45.1%. And what is, of course, good is that -- good to keep in mind is that we have been taken up the revolving credit facility, EUR 10 million at the end of March, and we have also paid first installment of the dividends at the end of April. So despite of those actions, actually, our equity ratio was staying very strong. Our net cash, so if I take our cash, so what we have cash in bank accounts, and I deduct our financial borrowings, so financial debt, so our net cash was EUR 10.7 million. So technically speaking, the company was debt-free at the end of the Q2. I believe that this is very strong and important issue for us, especially when we don't know what is going to happen at the second part of the year. Basic earnings per share, EUR 0.16 per share, were growing 33% compared to the previous year. All this together, Kamux' financial position became stronger. Juha has been presenting the key figures, so I will not go through them all one by one. But I would like to point out a few highlights from the figures. So of course, in the Q2, the revenue, EUR 150.5 million, declined compared to previous year. But if I look the first half, so meaning from January to June revenue, so it was growing 5.9%. So the company is still growing this year. Our gross profit and also our EBIT were very strong due to the actions we made. And gross profit being EUR 20.6 million and 13.7%, of course, was strong. And also operating profit EUR 7.7 million, being 5.1% from the revenue, is also very strong. Have to keep in mind that in our operating profit, we have a return from the tax authorities, EUR 0.9 million, which has been now booked in the second quarter. That is now then reflected in adjusted operating profit, which was EUR 6.8 million, being 4.6% from the revenue. Even that was also very strong compared to the previous year. Revenue from the integrated services is more stable, and it was EUR 8.6 million, being 5.7% from the revenue, which we can also be pleased with. Due to the actions to really secure our cash funds and net results. Our like-for-like showroom sales was negative in the second quarter and also in the first half. Inventory turnover improved rapidly being 45.1%, and last year it was, in the same period, 51.3%. Have to keep in mind that when we calculate the inventory turnover days, we are using 12 months averages and rolling figures, so that doesn't reflect so fast for that 1 individual quarter. Our return on equity was also in a very strong level, 25.6%. And I believe that at the moment in Helsinki Stock Exchange, we are in the best quartile with this number. If we then go through our segments and start with the biggest segment Finland, have to keep in mind that the monthly dynamics here was very strong. So the capital region of Finland was partially closed until 15th of April. So technically speaking, 2 weeks from April, there was quite severe limitations for people to move back and forth in this area. However, the decisions what we made were strongly impacting and securing strong gross margin for us and also the result. Tax issue or tax return, what I was describing, that was solely consisting and also posted the Finnish business segment. So that is also reflected here in this number. Then revenue from the integrated services was strong at EUR 7.5 million, being 6.8% from the revenue. And of course, that also shows the strength of our business model and the stableness of the integrated services. We opened a showroom, a new showroom in Tornio, northern part of Finland, and the like-for-like sales was declining compared to previous year. If we then move to our second biggest segment, Sweden. So the total revenue was growing 2.4% compared to previous year, and the operating profit remained at the previous year level. So this was also strongly impacted about our plan and strategy how we were tackling the Q2. Of course, Sweden, in their fight against the corona pandemic, has maybe mildest actions compared to the societies, but still it strongly impacts the people mind and also their spend, and we can see that in the business. During this difficult time, we opened 3 new showrooms in Sweden. And we also had a -- we had the comparable showroom sales was declining in Sweden. Then if we go to Germany, in Germany, the society had the strongest corona activities. And we can see -- they had a total full lockdown until week 17. And basically, our stores where, technical speaking -- technically is closed, and we were doing all the business through the electronic channels, and via the phone. We can be very pleased with the revenue growth and the result in this very extraordinary circumstances. And even still today, they are not fully normal. Our sales personnel operate with the masks on. And also, we need to secure that we have at least 10 square meters per customer free space in our showrooms. So the situation is not normal. So in those -- in these circumstances, we can be very satisfied that our revenue was growing 17% and operating loss was slightly increasing, roughly EUR 100,000 compared to the previous year. So integrated services sales was roughly on the previous year level. And we opened one new showroom in Kaltenkirchen, and Juha was already describing this soft close models, how we opened in these circumstances. Like-for-like showroom growth was also negative in Germany. If I then go to our net working capital and inventories, what I can be pleased with is that our net working capital and inventories were declining much more than our sales was declining, minus 4%. And of course, I can say that we were successful with our operating tactics, how we were fitting our inventories for our sales. And of course, we have been following in the Q1 when we -- Q2, and also now we are following very carefully the sales development and our inventory development all the time. We can, of course, see now that in the last month is from the market data, what we get that basically used car market has been more normalizing. I was already mentioning that our net operating cash flow was very strong, and being EUR 17.3 million, and that was really made mainly through our stock. So basically, our inventory -- managing our inventory level. And of course, the good result as well there. If I go to our investments, I would like to again remind what is our -- really our key element here is that we are seeking to gain a significant competitive advantage by investing in leading with the knowledge as well as digital customer and business processes. We have systematically continued our strategic investments also in the second quarter. If you look at the numbers, you can see the slight dip compared to Q1. That is mainly due to the reason that most of the investments, the digital functions, are based on experts invoicing ours, so meaning people working to these projects. And of course, now during the holiday period, there has been slightly less those. But we have not hampered or delayed any our strategic projects. Besides that, we have also invested to our personnel and also our international growth. As we told, we opened several stores also in the second quarter. Then if I go to outlook and financial targets. Our mid-term financial targets are a revenue growth of over 10% annually, EBIT margin at least 4% annually, distribute dividends at least 30% of the net profits, and we do not publish a short-term outlook. Due to corona pandemic, we published a stock exchange release, 20th of March, that we informed that we are not likely to reach our medium-term targets in 2020. No changes were made to the other medium-term targets set by the Board of Directors. Due to the strong profitability and the cash position strength of the company, Kamux Board has decided today that we will now proceed with the second installment of our dividend, which will take place at the end of the October, so that will be EUR 0.11 per share. This was already decided in 21st of April in our Annual General Meeting, but it was left to the Board of Directors to define either to pay or not the second part of the dividend. I believe that, that is a very strong sign of the strength of our Kamux financial position. Dividend was 48% of the last year net profit, and it was growing 43.4% from the previous year. And if I now summarize the whole Q2. So revenue decreased by 4.3% to EUR 150.5 million. The gross profit increased by 2.4% to EUR 20.6 million. Adjusted operating profit increased by 1.6% to EUR 6.8 million. And in this relatively extraordinary circumstances, we opened 5 new showrooms. Thank you for your attention, and we are happy to answer your questions.

Operator, have you got any questions in English?

[Operator Instructions] And there are currently no audio questions.

Thank you. No further questions.

Thank you.

Thank you.