Phoenix Mecano AG (PMN) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our half year report webcast. I am Rochus Kobler speaking, CEO of the Phoenix Mecano Group. Thank you all for taking the time to join us today. On this call, we'll be discussing our financial and operational performance for the first half of the year, highlighting key achievements, challenges and our outlook for the remainder of the year. I am joined by Rene Schaffeler, CFO of the Phoenix Mecano Group, and Rene will provide further details on our financial performance. Before we dive into the specifics, I'd like to start by providing you an overview of the key highlights and achievements from the past 6 months. I would like to touch on financial performance as well as on strategic priorities. Firstly, financial performance. We have seen a mixed picture when looking at our 2 main growth areas, namely Industrial Solutions on the one side and Smart Furniture on the other. On the one hand, activities in Industrial Solutions were impacted by the continued weakness of the European economy. On the other hand, Phoenix Mecano's largest division, the DOT Group, continued to recover and was able to partially offset the decline in the Industrial Components and Enclosure Systems. The turnaround of the largest division continues. You will see and hear that in total, the Phoenix Mecano Group sales and profit in this first half year were below the previous year's figures. However, on an organic and local currency level, sales were less. In fact, less than 2%, which is a respectable result considering the current challenging economic environment many industries are faced with, especially in Europe and Germany, in our main market area. This solid development is the result of our well-balanced portfolio of focused business units operating in the 2 different growth areas, with different business dynamics. And second, we have also made some steps pursuing our strategic priorities. Let me repeat them, streamlining our portfolio and focus on activities with high profitability. First, we have made significant progress in streamlining our operations of the DOT Group. One important step of the integration took place earlier than anticipated. During the last 6 months, we have relocated and integrated our production for mechanism technology for motor-adjustable seating into our new industrial park in Jiaxing. Second, we have been successful in capturing new business in some of our selected growth areas. We launched product innovations specified for high-tech applications such as e-mobility, hydrogen infrastructure, enclosures for sensors of panels in LNG terminals or innovative smart drive systems for bedding applications. Our strict focus on profitable activities with growth potential, in combination with our transformation from a pure component player towards a solution provider, continues to pay off. And finally, we have successfully executed a small bolt-on acquisition in the business area of Measuring Technology, the Industrial Components division. Now after this brief overview, Rene Schaffeler will walk you through the financial details, after which we will open the floor for your questions. With that, let me turn it over to Rene to take us through the numbers.

Thank you. A warm welcome from my side as well. I will start with the group figures. With EUR 386.2 million, Phoenix Mecano's consolidated gross sales in the first half of this year were 5.6% down to the previous year's figures of EUR 409 million. Organic, local currency sales fell by 1.7%. The DewertOkin Technology Group continues to grow, while sales in Industrial Components and Enclosure Systems divisions declined due to the reluctance to invest by our customers. Incoming orders fell by 3% to EUR 388.3 million, although in organic, local currency terms, they were up slightly 1%. At 100.5%, the book-to-bill ratio was above the important 100% mark after 97.9% in the previous year. The operating cash flow, EBITDA declined by 8.5% from EUR 41.2 million to EUR 37.7 million, and the operating result by 13.2% from EUR 30.2 million to EUR 26.2 million. The main reason for decline in earnings is the lower capacity utilization in the 2 industrial divisions. It was not possible to fully compensate for the decline in sales and gross profit through cost-cutting measures, capacity adjustments and in some cases, also short-time working. The net profit of the period decreased with a slightly lower tax rate by 11.5% and totaled at EUR 18.2 million. Last year, it was EUR 20.5 million. As a result of the divestment of the business area, Rugged Computing, and despite increased dividend and the share buyback program, the group's net indebtedness decreased from EUR 55.8 million at 30th of June '23 to EUR 34.9 million at 30th of June this year. Now let me jump on to the division results, starting with DewertOkin Technology Group. DewertOkin Technology Group division saw its gross sales rise by 7.2% to EUR 175.4 million. In organic, local currency terms, the increase was even higher with 11.2%. The operating result climbed from EUR 3.8 million to EUR 9.9 million and the operating margin from 2.3% to 5.7%. Customers warehouses have slowly but surely begun to empty. In the main U.S. market, business development was stable and the division was able to tap new business potential with functional fittings or mechanisms for existing customers. In Asia, the market and sales development exceeded expectations with the largest segment, motor-adjustable seating, performing most dynamically. In Europe, business performance remained below expectations with no signs yet of a significant recovery in demand. Furniture mechanism production, which had previously been spread across 2 locations, was relocated to the new industrial park in Jiaxing ahead of schedule, as already mentioned by Rochus Kobler. The substantial expenditures in connection with the complex site consolidation are encountered by increased subsidies. Coming to the Industrial Components division. Gross sales in the Industrial Components division fell by 21.8% to EUR 94.5 million, partly due to the divestment of the Rugged Computing business area. In organic, local currency terms, they were down by 15%. The operating result declined from EUR 8.8 million to EUR 4.3 million, while the operating margin shrank from 7.3% to 4.6%. Despite customer warehouses remaining well stocked, some industrial component orders picked up. The division's book-to-bill ratio has been constantly above the 100% mark in recent months. In the strategic systems and solutions business, the Automation Module business area landed some major projects. In Measuring Technology, continued high demand in the HVDC transmission and smart distribution grids segment offset the economic downturn in transformers and chokes. Operation of the smaller transformer and choke business was taken over as part of a bolt-on acquisition following an insolvency. A positive contribution to earnings is expected from '25 onwards after the integration is completed. Last but not least, a few words in the Enclosures Systems division. Sales in the Enclosure Systems division fell by 10.5% from EUR 124.6 million to EUR 111.5 million. In organic, local currency terms, they were also down by 10.5%. The operating result declined from EUR 19.9 million to EUR 15.8 million, and the operating margin fell slightly from 16% to 14.2%. There are initial signs of a slight improvement in economic orders in European countries as well as in India and in the Middle East. However, in the important German market, especially in key automotive and mechanical engineering sectors, buyers remain cautious. Thanks to the focus on system integration, the explosion-proof enclosure business performed well and there were some sizable orders for up-and-coming green hydrogen appliances as well as in the rail technology. This is so far my comments to the figures in the first half of '24. Thank you.

Thank you, Rene. Let's touch on the outlook and then on the strategic priorities ongoing. With industrial activities still weak, the Phoenix Mecano Group is operating in a challenging environment, and many uncertainties remain in the coming months. In key core markets, the prospects of a near-term recovery are limited. International purchasing managers' indices and the ifo Business Climate Index declined again recently. Nevertheless, our strategic focus on structurally growing sectors of application will further pay off, in Phoenix Mecano growth markets such as these that are initial signs of bottoming-out. Project enquiries from larger customers are resuming and such customers are placing orders at shorter notice. This is resulting in an improvement in incoming orders and book-to-bill ratios. Phoenix Mecano's leadership team still anticipates an economic upturn as the year progresses. However, the recovery may come too late to fully offset the economic headings we are facing until now. In view of this, the Phoenix Mecano Group's Board of Directors and management expect an operating result unchanged from, or up to 20% lower than the previous year. This is our view for 2024. Let us now take a look beyond the end of this year and at the broader picture. We will continue to follow our 2 main strategic priorities: a, further optimizing and streamlining our portfolio; and b, focus on profitable activities, activities characterized by pricing power or scale effects. Most importantly to note for our investors, the Phoenix Mecano Group is well positioned to fully materialize an upcoming economic recovery. And these are the key levers to create value. First, we are holding leading positions in our 2 growth areas. We are #1 in product areas for Industrial Solutions in the DACH region, in the German-speaking European markets. And we are #1 for application areas of smart furniture on a global basis. Second, we are operating in these growth areas with 3 clearly focused divisions. Enclosure Systems and Industrial Components are driven by megatrends of industrial automation robotics and the DOT Group is driven by megatrends of smart home and digital health. Thirdly, we are operating with our proven well-known customer-centric business model, a one-stop solution provider for our customers. And sometimes ambivalent in strength and focus sometimes being an industry cost leader, mastering efficiency of mass production, and other times, as the innovation partner for customers, standing for reliable and responsive customer proximity. Fourth, we have given ourselves targets. We have set growth aspirations and profitability targets. They are set and in the context of what I just said before, I confirm them. And fifth, last but not least, the DewertOkin Technology Group shows more potential for additional value creation. And at the right point in time of our current operational improvement, we will resume the process towards a partial IPO.