SIG Group AG (SIGN) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. Today's call is hosted by Samuel Sigrist, CEO; and Frank Herzog, CFO. The slides for the call are available for download on our investor website. This presentation may contain forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ materially from those statements. The full cautionary statements and disclaimer can be found on Slide 2 of the presentation which participants are encouraged to read carefully. And with that, let me now hand you over to Sam.

Thank you, Jennifer, and welcome, everybody. I hope all of you are safe. Let me start with the highlights of the first half year. We sustained strong revenue growth against a tough base of comparison in the context of ongoing uncertainty around COVID-19. Profitability increased despite the negative impact from exchange rates and the business is proving resilient in an inflationary environment. Our new plant in Asia Pacific has been up and running since the beginning of the year. And in April, we announced the construction of a new plant in Mexico to serve North America. We acquired full control of our Middle East and Africa business at the end of February, and the integration has proceeded very smoothly. I'm also pleased to report that instead of closing the Whakatane paper mill in New Zealand, as originally announced, we were able to find a buyer. This is more attractive because it preserves jobs and also from a financial point of view. From a more general perspective, sustainability continues to be top of mind, not just for investors, but also for our customers. We have seen a number of launches involving either a switch to carton from PET, such as the recent Volvic flavored water launch or the adoption of our formats with enhanced sustainability. Core revenue on a like-for-like basis was up 8.8% at constant currency. As a reminder, like-for-like growth is calculated by adjusting the 2020 base for the inclusion of the Middle East and Africa revenue from the end of February. Without the 2020 adjustment, core revenue was up 15.3% at constant currency. The adjusted EBITDA margin at 27.3% was more than 200 basis points ahead of H1 2020. Adjusted net income was also significantly higher at EUR 109.6 million. Free cash flow was in line with our usual seasonal pattern and showed a significant improvement in the second quarter. Turning now to the second quarter. Core revenue on a like-for-like basis was up 5% at constant currency, a robust performance after an exceptionally strong first quarter. The adjusted EBITDA margin was a touch higher than Q2 2020, which is an impressive performance given the strong operating leverage effect last year. Frank will cover the financial KPIs in more detail later in the presentation. So let me turn now to the revenue performance by region. Europe delivered moderate revenue growth for the first half despite the lower second quarter year-over-year. This reflects a very strong Q2 2020 when both customers and retailers restocked after the consumer stockpiling at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. That said, the higher at-home consumption, which has benefited our liquid dairy business did continue in the first half of this year. We should reasonably expect it to diminish somewhat as people return to working in the office. Our business in Europe is predominantly liter packs which are suitable for at-home consumption. However, we are now expanding more into the premium single-serve segment with the rollout of combismile. COVID-19 has led to unusually large quarterly fluctuations in the European growth rate. Our underlying performance, however, shows a continuing positive trend with new field installation and opportunities in plant-based milks. We can expect a further benefit in 2022 and as the new fillers with Hochwald in Germany come on stream. Middle East and Africa shows a similar picture to Europe with the second quarter performance measured against the very strong Q2 2020. In addition, as we mentioned at the first quarter, the level of sales in March was exceptionally high. The noncarbonated soft drinks market has been negatively affected by COVID-19, with lower out-of-home consumption and the closure of schools. However, there are now signs of recovery in some markets. Also in the first half in South Africa led to a milk shortage, which affected our liquid dairy business in the early months of the year. We are now starting to offset this through new businesses. Altogether, 7 new fillers were deployed in the region in the second quarter. We remain very confident in the attractive growth opportunities of this region with its many white spaces for SIG such as, for example, Pakistan. The capital milk consumption in the Middle East and Africa is less than 10% of the European level and milk is an important source of protein in the region, where affordability of food and beverages is a key consideration. In addition, we continue to pursue our strategy of waiting this business more towards liquid dairy, which now accounts for over 60% of our volume. Moving on to Asia Pacific. In this region also, there has been an effect from the elimination of sales to the Middle East joint venture. The growth rates, which you see on the slide are on a like-for-like basis. In the first quarter of 2021, we saw a significant boost from restocking. Growth in the second quarter was lower, but still solid. Market conditions in China have returned to more normal levels. However, with isolated outbreaks of COVID, there are still some restrictions. In our business, demand is strongest for white milk due to its acknowledged health benefits. In Southeast Asia, vaccination programs are ongoing or at least starting, but the situation remains volatile. Lockdowns and work from home requirements remain in effect or are being reintroduced in some countries, with schools also closed. On the positive side, we do see continuing innovation in the region, which, for example, an expansion of the Nestle combismile range in Vietnam. After an exceptional start to the year, the Americas saw sustained growth in the second quarter. The new fillers placed at Shefa, at Líder or Nestle continue to play a role. At-home consumption remains high in Brazil and Mexico, although in Brazil, disposable income is under more pressure with a reduction in welfare payments. This is leading to a focus on affordability which our range of packs is well placed to meet. The U.S. market has performed well. In addition to a high level of at-home consumption, the reopening of restaurants has led to restocking of food service products that are packed in our cartons. Interest in sustainability credential is undoubtedly most pronounced among the European consumers. Hence, our European customers are the ones making the first moves in this area. We are delighted that Danone has chosen combismile for its new range of flavored waters under the Volvic brand. The choice reflects both the favorable environmental profile of cartons in general and to consumer convenience and premium appearance of combismile. This is an important milestone among a growing number of launches for Stillwater, which is gradually emerging as a new category for our business. Also in France, we saw the supermarket chain Intermarché, launched 100% pure apple juice in signature packaging. The MERCI! brand support farmers and environment. SIGNATURE or SIGNATURE, which uses certified plant-based polymers, offers an opportunity to reduce the use of virgin plastic and is perfectly in keeping with the brand's positioning. We're also helping our customers to comply with regulatory requirements, notably those that have arisen under the EU single plastic directive. In 2019, we were the first company to introduce FSC certified paper straw, and this has been adopted by customers in all regions. Now we are the first to introduce tethered cap 3 years ahead of the deadline. These are caps that remain attached to the carton even after opening. The tethered caps will be a requirement for all beverage containers, whatever they are made of and are designed to reduce littering. Let me now hand you over to Frank for a review of the financials. Frank?

Well, thank you, Samuel, and also welcome from my side. I will now provide you with more details on our strong financial results. With an adjusted EBITDA margin of over 27% in the first half of the year and over 28% in Q2, we saw a robust profitability as well as sustained sales growth. Let me now take you through the drivers. FX was a positive factor in the first quarter due to the nonreoccurrence of the revaluation loss, which occurred at the end of Q1 2020. It was a negative factor in the second quarter and for the first half, primarily due to the weakness of the Brazilian real and Thai baht against the euro compared with the average exchange rates in Q2 2020. The impact of raw materials was positive in the first half. This is because of the hedges we entered into in 2020, they have more than offset the impact of higher spot prices for aluminum and polymers. However, you can see that the benefit was lower in the second quarter than the first. This signals the trend we expect for the rest of the year with a negative contribution in the second half. However, we remain on track with regards to our expectation that for the full year, the impact of raw materials will be broadly neutral. We continue to achieve production efficiencies in our plants as a result of our lean programs. In the second quarter, cost savings were more than offset by higher freight costs. Our extensive local sourcing and production, together with our contracted agreements should limit the impact of freight on a full year basis. SG&A made a positive contribution in the first half compared to the prior year. This is partially due to the timing of R&D projects. Also, it compares with the first half of 2020 before some of the cuts we made in response to COVID-19 took effect. In the second half of this year, spending in areas such as travel is expected to return towards a more normal level and the pace of growth investments will pick up again. As a result, the full year impact of SG&A on EBITDA is likely to be negative. Let's look now at the effect of the MEA acquisition. This reflects the timing of the consolidation, which was effective for one full month in the first quarter and for the entire second quarter. The net effect of EUR 40 million in the first half is the adjusted EBITDA contribution, less the dividend previously paid by the joint venture. Yes, the business is showing strong profitability as can be seen on the next slide. Both Europe and MEA on a like-for-like basis are showing high levels of profitability in the first half. On a combined basis, profitability is ahead of the former EMEA region and supports our expectation that the acquisition will enhance margin in Year 1. In APAC, the adjusted EBITDA margin was negatively impacted by high raw material spot prices. Bearing in mind that the benefits of our centralized hedging programs are reported in Europe. The Americas are showing a sharp improvement in margin. This reflects the excellent growth in this region, which more than offset a further currency headwind. Turning now to net income, which shows various effects related to the joint venture acquisition. Both reported and adjusted net income include the PPE depreciation and amortization related to this transaction which for the full year will be around EUR 15 million. Adjustments to EBITDA and to net income include the deduction of a net positive effect of EUR 38 million relating to the valuation of our share in the Middle East joint venture at fair values as part of the IFRS acquisition accounting. The adjustments to EBITDA also include restructuring costs of EUR 22 million, which mainly relate to the sale of the Whakatane paper mill in New Zealand into the closure of our plant in Australia. Overall, the sale of Whakatane has a positive impact on P&L and cash flow compared with the closure scenario besides obviously preserving the mill and its jobs. The unrealized gains on derivatives which is deducted from EBITDA arises from our raw material hedges. The adjusted effective tax rate decreased from 29% to 25.7%, and adjusted net income at EUR 110 million was 38% above the H1 2020 level. Now turning to cash flows. This slide shows how free cash flow in H1 was pretty much in line with last year with our seasonal pattern, which is weighted towards the second half of the year. Cash conversion remained strong despite higher gross CapEx. For the full year, I expect free cash flow to be again very comfortably above the EUR 200 million mark. The next slide shows the evolution of CapEx in more detail. The expenditure on property, plant and equipment was slightly lower than in H1 2020, with the bulk of the investment in the new APAC plant behind us. Gross filler CapEx increased, which is a positive signal for the placement of new fillers in the months to come and for future revenue growth. The level of upfront cash also increased significantly, resulting in a reduction in net filler CapEx. The impact of the EMEA acquisition in both gross and net CapEx was minimal. As a percentage of sales, net CapEx was 7%, so below our guided range for the full year of 8% to 10%. Now turning to leverage. Net debt at the end of June totaled EUR 1.7 billion. Since March, we have a new unsecured credit facility of EUR 100 million, which has been used to refinance the debt of the Middle East joint venture on very attractive terms. Liquidity has been reduced by 2 major items. The EUR 167 million payment to the Obeikan Investment Group, which was the cash component of the MEA transaction and the dividend payment in April, which totaled EUR 128 million. The payment to OIG was partially offset by cash balances on the Middle East joint venture. The increase in lease liabilities compared with a year ago is mainly due to leases relating to our new plant in Asia Pacific. Our leverage at the end of June stood at 2.9x and was unchanged from H1 last year despite the financing of the MEA acquisition. This is testimony to the strength of our business and underlines our prudent financial policy. Turning now to our guidance for the full year. Our expectation for full year core revenue growth at constant currency is 4% to 6% on a like-for-like basis. Earlier this year, we expect the growth to be in the lower half of this range. The strong first half performance opens up the possibility of growth in the upper half of the range. The outturn will, however, depend on how the COVID-19-related uncertainties play out, notably in Southeast Asia. Our guidance otherwise remains unchanged. The adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be well within the 27% to 28% range. Whilst we saw a significant increase in March in the first half. For the second half, you need to take account of a lower rate of top line growth, higher raw material costs, which are expected to contribute negatively, and a higher level of SG&A spend in the second half versus H2 2020. It is also possible the FX effects will contribute to be negative in the second half. With all this said, these strong results, a very solid basis for a robust performance in 2021 with significant growth both in revenues and profits accompanied by strong cash flow generation. So thank you for your attention. Yes, this concludes our presentation. Samuel and I are now happy to take your questions.

The first question comes from Jörn Iffert from UBS.

The first one would be please on Europe. For 2022, I'm fully aware you cannot give a precise guidance, but given the rollout of combismile, given the new fillers and for the all 5 deal being in place, is there a good likelihood that you can have positive sales growth here in Europe next year despite we maybe see a full opening of the economy? And the second question would be, please, on this whole debate plastic versus carton, it's roughly a realistic market potential. You are incrementally attracting here? And what can it add to your organic sales growth realistically over the next 3 to 4 years? Is it around 1% or 2%? Or what is your view here?

Thanks for your question, Jörn. To start with the first one on Europe. I mean, if you kind of look at the past 3 years' performance in the European market, and you strip out the effects from COVID which definitely were a tailwind to the European sales, we have been able to gain share and to deliver top line growth in since basically the IPO and we already had the IPO, we're very outspoken about our positive view on Europe because we have the visibility, we feel that they will come on stream over time and expose -- we'll also see that, that has turned out to be true. We remain positive in Europe for the reasons you mentioned. I think on the one hand side, there is new filler capacities that will come on stream. You cited Hochwald, which will be 15 filling machines, which allows us to double our share of votes not just German dairy. But also, as you said, it's combismile, which is a differentiated premium on the go format, which we started to launch in Europe first in the Nordics and now also with Volvic, and we seek other opportunities there as well. So I think, to some degree, we're very positive also to continue the story that we did right in the past also going forward. Now your second question on this plastic versus carton question. And we discussed that with investors also in earlier meetings. To some degree, over past couple of years, the lines between the substrate pricing cost have been pretty defined. And we do see, given that against the backdrop of the sustainability discussion that these lines are moving and that the pie of the carton is growing. But I think it is a process that hasn't yet come to the new normal. So the verdict to what degree the beverage carton is going to be able to establish itself in those categories like water, like MEA water, where it hasn't been established historically. The verdict is still out there. We definitely like these launches. We follow them closely. We have a number of leads that we pursue, and we have more discussions than ever with these big players in the industry to, kind of, demonstrate the solutions, how we can help them to make a better impact or a smaller impact on the environment. But again, I think the lines are still moving, and it's too early to tell. That said, I would say our 4% to 6% top line growth guidance for medium term does to -- does include those movements. I think maybe when we came out with the midterm guidance at the IPO, we saw already this trend starting. And now obviously, 3 years in, we clearly see the first effect and the positive effects. And it might be that this helps us to rather kind of deliver growth at the upper end of the range. But we don't think it's going to be a step change that's going to come as an upside to our top line guidance, if that makes sense.

The next question comes from the line of Lars Kjellberg from Credit Suisse.

Just coming back a bit to Europe again, if you -- Samuel, you mentioned the trend growth or it's looking constructive in Europe. Can you share with us where you are now versus where you were in prepandemic, meaning 2019? On the Middle East business, of course, we're kind of new to that one as following as a revenue line. You talked about high rate of filler deployments now. Clearly, such that the deployments have been a huge boost the Americas business and considering the comparatively small scale of this, should we expect this to be a really meaningful contributor to growth in that region as we go into next year? And finally, just on the U.S., the food service restocking that you're talking about, can you comment in terms of quantum, what that meant for growth? And what do you expect to happen in H2?

Thanks for your questions, Lars. On Europe, we clearly believe that we were able to gain share over the past 3 years as we have placed more filling lines. And this is unrelated to the COVID-19 situation. And as I elaborated before, we also remain positive on the outlook on Europe. At this stage, we don't have specific market share numbers. But when it comes to Middle East, and I think you make very good reference to America South, where we talked about the filler deployment, and we have all seen the kind of impressive contribution it adds to the growth rates in the region. I think the reason why we reflected those filler deployments in the Middle East are because we do have a number of headwinds there. As you recall, as we just talked about non-carbonated soft drinks business, which is softer because it is geared towards the out-of-home consumption to the undergo consumption. It is, to some degree -- if you think of the juice box business also consumed in schools and schools especially on the Arabian Peninsula and into North Africa remain closed post summer. And we have the drought in South Africa. But we wanted to demonstrate with this filler deployments that they help us to offset those headwinds. And it is one of the reasons why despite the roll shortages also in Sub-Sahara Africa as a function of the drought, we were able to kind of compensate that at least partially. So I definitely do think they are relevant. They are also relevant going forward, but I don't expect necessarily the repeat of what we saw now in the Americas because that was a very impressive performance. On the food service, in the second quarter in the U.S. and people recall, we have quite a sizable food service business in North America, especially in the U.S. We did see that -- with the reopening of restaurants, obviously, the entire value chain for food service started to pull again and there is a bit of a restocking effect in the second quarter. But we also saw that especially the quick service restaurants, did do well. It's not only that people come back and either drink at Starbucks to coffee or take one on-the-go. We also see that people order for pickup and then consume at home. And I think that also did boost a bit of the sales in the second quarter now. It's hard to quantify at last at this stage. And I think there's definitely a bit of a restocking effect included in there. So at this stage, it's difficult to split out what that means for the top line growth in the Americas.

Just a couple of questions to Frank as well. If you're looking at the CapEx, of course, you're running at below your guidance. How should we think about PPE CapEx -- And do we expect the upfront cash from co-investing as opposed with your customers and sellers to continue? And the fun point, as you pointed out in the presentation, the lease liabilities have moved up quite a bit relating to the China facility. Should we see a similar move from the Mexican facility? The final question relates just to Whakatane. Obviously, you're no longer sourcing internal tonnes from there. Do you have sourcing agreements in place already and how does that impact your EBITDA, if at all?

Yes. No, thank you for these various questions. On the topic of CapEx, Obviously, we had the bulk of the CapEx for the [ AP3 ] plants last year. So that was a big investment. We're continuing to now have follow-up investments in that plant, and we're kicking off the investment in the Mexico plant. So I think that's a continuous program. Your question about leases in our investments, that's really a tactical decision in the [ AP3 ] plant with the local conditions in China, that was the right thing to do, particularly for lands and building. And then with regards to the upfront cash that we get, that's really a question -- there are 2 drivers to it. One is the type of market. There are certain markets and customers where we get more upfront cash, and there are others where we don't. So it's a mix question. And also, it's our ability to do sale and lease financing for the -- our own investment, that also reduces the net CapEx that we have because we then get more cash through the sale and lease arrangements. So when you put all of this together in the mix, we still believe we're in this range of 8% to 10%. Obviously, we're trying to be capital efficient, and we'll use all the tools available to us to drive our capital efficiency on this. Then your question about Whakatane. I mean, first of all, we're happy to have found the solution where we are better both in terms of P&L and in terms of cash flow than we had anticipated, plus it preserves the jobs in this community with the biggest employer. So I think that's also something we're quite pleased about. But in terms of the supply, we obviously anticipate the closure, and we have, therefore, made sure we have long-term supply agreements with our major liquid paperboard suppliers that make sure that we don't have any shortfall or bottlenecks in terms of supply. And actually, our suppliers are -- the price that we have with them, because they are much bigger plants than the Whakatane plant, are very attractive terms. And the Whakatane plants, one of the reasons why we didn't want to continue it wasn't as efficient as a big integrated large mill from the store and those of the world can be. So I think overall, we're very positive to have found that solution for Whakatane for everybody involved.

The next question comes from the line of Sandeep Peety from Morgan Stanley.

I have a couple of questions. Firstly, on core revenue growth. So you have maintained the range of 4% to 6%, but changed the wording from lower to upper half of the range now. If I work out the math, the 2x growth will be lower than the 4% growth rate. Can you just walk me through the moving parts, just explaining what's -- what could be the reason that the growth is expected to be lower than 4%. Then second question is, is it possible to provide sensitivity to margins for every 10% change in aluminum and polymers, assuming no pass-through of higher raw material prices to customers?

Maybe I'll kick it off with the first one, Sandeep. Thanks for your questions. I mean, if you look to the H2 and also against the backdrop of the strong start into the year in H1, we have indeed opened the range back to the 4% to 6% with the possibility to come in, in the upper half of the range. I think the math you did obviously -- for us, what -- the way how we think about in the second half year is along the regions. For Europe, while we came out of a period where we enjoyed elevated at-home consumption, we also do see that Europe obviously is reopening, as a matter of fact, has started to reopen in the second quarter. So that's why we expect, and I think it's reasonable to expect that its whole consumption will also come back to more normal levels or down to more normal levels. If you think about the Americas, especially South America, where we had the significant contributions as a function of the filler deployments that kicked in, in the second half year last year, pulled through into H1 this year. So it's going to be part of the comp basis for the H2 this year. And hence, obviously, we won't see that a repeat of that effect. And I think also in general, also in the Americas, we did benefit, especially in Latin America from increased at-home consumption which also, I guess, it's reasonable to assume that once the market there, the societies reopen, will come down to more normal levels again. And keep in mind, there was also especially in Brazil, the situation of these welfare payments last year. They continued into this year, but to a lower degree, and they also will come to an end. And I think the last point why we remain a bit cautious is also within Southeast Asia. I mean you saw what happened in the second quarter. Obviously, starting in India, but then the wave, kind of the third wave hit also Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, markets that were allowed to open had to put measures in place again. And I think given where the vaccination programs stand, the situation in Southeast Asia remains fragile. So these are the considerations why we have guided for the range of 4% to 6% with the possibility to get into the upper half. Maybe on the second one, Frank?

Yes. No, thank you for the question on raw material cost impact. I think it's worth bearing in mind that 36% of our cost -- of our revenues is raw material costs, but 19% is the liquid paperboard where we have high visibility on the prices because these are long-term supply agreements, and they tend to move with European consumer price inflation, give or take. So not a lot of impact on our P&L. And then the remainder, it's the polymers and the metal part of the aluminum, that's about 12% of our revenues. And so substantially smaller than perhaps also in other businesses. And then we have our hedging policy that allows us to have hedged really over 80% of our annual consumption. So that allows us to have the very clear guidance that we gave out that for this year because of the hedging we have, our -- the P&L impact of higher raw material prices is broadly neutral. So that's where -- yes, the movement of raw material prices doesn't really have a big impact for us because the hedge -- the benefit from the hedges goes up and the prices move in the other direction. And again, reiterating that for the full year, in this year, we expect a broadly neutral effect from raw material prices.

Just a follow-up on the raw materials. So I clearly understand that 2021 is well hedged and raw material impacts -- higher raw material prices should not impact your margins. But I'm more thinking about now fiscal year '22 because aluminum polymer prices are up by, let's say, 40% on an average versus last year. So even if you hedge the needs. So I just wanted to understand what could be the impact going into '22? So just the sensitivity for 12% of the cost would be helpful.

Yes. Look, if we look at our -- the way we deal with raw material prices, we obviously continue our hedging program this year, and we're halfway through the year. So we're halfway through the hedging program. And we'll see what price development in the second half of the year. So it's hard for me to give you anything without -- in detail without being speculative. But on the other hand, and that's really the purpose of the hedging program. It allows us to have some clear visibility on those input costs. And those input costs are one of the many factors we include in the annual price discussions with our customers. And those price discussions happen towards the end of the year towards beginning of the following year when we have, based on the hedging program visibility on our input costs. And so that's kind of how we look at the effects of raw material costs also with regards to 2022.

Your next question comes from the line of Alessandro Foletti from Octavian.

I also have a couple of follow-ups on the margins. Maybe can you give an indication on the regions, what were the moving parts there? I see that the margin in America was pretty strong, up year-over-year, but also above 28%, or in the range of 28%, which is quite a good step-up over many quarters now. And by contrast, APAC was a little bit lower. So can you on these two maybe give a bit of an indication of what the moving parts are?

Yes. No, thank you for this question. And I guess you're referring to Page 13 in the presentation. Just specifically on Americas, yes, you've noticed the increase of the margin from 23% to 29%. A big driver of that was the nonreoccurrence of the revaluation of the balance sheet from FX that we had in the first half of 2020. Plus, we obviously have grown the business, and this is a nice robust growth that also drives profitability in addition to the nonrecurrence of that one-off currency effect. Then if you look at APAC and maybe I mentioned in the presentation, but to reiterate the point here is, APAC has a negative effect from sourcing because the region sources on spot prices and our central procurement and hedging is in the Europe segment. So therefore, if you were to eyeball this, you pretty much come out at, give or take, flat margins year-on-year also in APAC. So that's where there isn't any deterioration in the underlying business. Obviously, we've talked about the market in particularly Southeast Asia with the COVID affects and strong volumes would help on the margin side. But in both regions, APAC and Americas were very pleased with the margin development.

So if I may follow up now on the hedging. Is it so that all regions are sort of carrying their cost and the hedging is all allocated in Europe. Did I understand your problem? So the gains are allocated in Europe and the other regions, that's what you said?

Yes, we have a central procurement to take the advantage of really making sure we're buying at the best terms through centralized procurement, which is in Europe. And with the procurement connected to that, obviously, is also the central hedging to make sure, again, we have the most efficient way of protecting our raw material costs as I explained early with our hedging strategy, and that is in Europe. And so that's where Europe is the center of those activities. And the other point I think worth noting this year because of the big changes in raw material prices, you have obviously big hedging gains that you also saw in our adjustments in the unrealized hedging gains, which are quite large this year. So you can piece it out also from the financials. And that obviously corresponds the positive effect in Europe corresponds to a negative effect in the other regions. And compared to prior years, it wasn't that -- the price movements weren't that big.

All right. All right. So should we assume for modeling purposes that next year, hedging goes against you, then we should reduce the European margin and not the others?

Yes. I mean there are obviously corresponding movements. The way I really would look at on the overall group margin where we continue to be -- have strong performance on the group level.

The next question comes from the line of Geroge Barrows from Exane.

I just wanted to touch on the Europe Q2 performance. The 1.6% fall against tough comparatives seemed like a pretty strong performance. And I was just wondering if there was any sequential fade across the quarter as economies reopened. So is the 1.6% broadly effective of June as well as April, please?

I mean, we don't really comment on single month performance. That said, I mean, I don't think it's now per se the pattern now of the reopening only. I think if you look to the full quarter, definitely, but I think in April, sales were not much stronger in June than weaker. I think it's not that there is a linear development there. But overall, I think the quarter performance, I also agree, is strong. And especially if you consider the strong comps. And I mean, I guess, you're based in Europe as well. So we have seen that certain markets have very open, but others were a bit more cautious. But in general, people have remained to a large degree in home office. And I think that has just supported at-home consumption. But I think it's fair to assume that, that will go back to more normal levels now if the economies continue to reopen.

And just to follow up on something slightly different. With the sustainability-driven contract wins, we've seen lots of global beverage companies have announced sort of new sustainable packaging goals by 2025. So I'm just wondering if you're starting to see any pipeline discussions outside of Europe as well as inside of Europe for switching from plastics to cartons.

We definitely also have sustainability discussions outside of Europe. It's just that obviously the European customers is a function of the awareness in the consumer base. As that it is the highest on the agenda and we normally adopt those solutions early here. But that said, if you look to the launch of the paper straw which is one of the industry first. We had -- we launched it also in the Americas, together with Nestle. And I think that's just a testament to the fact that also, especially the big brand producers, but also local champions, one of them show to their consumer base that they care about the environment and indeed also adopt those sustainability solutions. So it is not solely a European topic. It's a global topic with probably the most emphasis in Europe.

The next question comes from the line of Daniel Koenig from Mirabaud.

Yes. I have 2 detailed questions. A, I note this the adjusted effect, the tax rate of 25.7% is somewhat below your guidance. Can you elaborate on that? And then my second question would be Europe is starting to reopen how was your business performance in June, like as a proxy for the reopening? I was just wondering.

Yes. No, thank you for the question on the tax rate, which I'll take. Tax are really in the first half and I emphasize first half is driven by geographic mix between different countries where some where the profits arise. But tax, I really look at it on an annual basis because we look at the full year, how we generate profits throughout the year in the various jurisdictions. And so on a full year basis, I maintain our guidance for the tax rate.

And on your second question, I mean, if you look to the second quarter last year, which was really the quarter where we saw the highest elevation as a function of stockpiling on the consumer side, at one point, empty retail shelves and then we saw this kind of bullwhip effect where everyone in the chain started to order, starting with retail with our customers and the order centers up with us, we produce. We talked about that last year that it ended to a large degree, up on inventory. But it yielded in a 12 -- over 12% growth rate for Europe last year, second quarter. So in other words, very strong comps. We are slightly down now in the second quarter this year. I think that still is a very good performance. If you think about the people get more used to being at home and don't have the stockpiling tendency anymore. As I said before, to Geroge already, it's not that we did see a linear kind of slowdown now over the month of April, May, June. But I think it is definitely an expression of the fact that the economy is reopening. But to what degree, kind of, there are going to be a new normal wheteher they are companies more and more that say, 3 days in office, 2 days at home. That all has to be seen. So I think to some degree, so we need to kind of watch further the next month and kind of see whether there is also a new normal when it comes to total consumption.

There are no more questions at this time.

So then before wrapping up the call, let me return once more to the theme of Asia Pacific. We are very proud of our new plant in China, and we would have obviously loved to invite you towards our opening, but circumstances have made that impossible. So we have prepared a video to showcase some of the engineering and sustainability milestones that the plant represents and to position it in the context of our expansion strategy. And for those of you who have not yet visited one of our factories, I think it's a great opportunity to better understand our carton manufacturing process. The video is available now on our investor website, and we hope you're going to enjoy it. With this, let me thank you for your time today, and I wish you a good and safe summer. Thanks, everybody. Have a good day.