Suominen Oyj (SUY1V) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good day, and welcome to Suominen's half year financial report. My name is Emilia Peltola, and I'm heading Suominen's Communications and Investor Relations. And today here with me are our President and CEO, Tommi Björnman; and our new CFO, Janne Silonsaari. Janne and Tommi will present the results. And after the presentation, there is time for questions. So please, Tommi, floor is yours.

Okay. Thank you, Emilia. Good morning all. Welcome to Suominen's Second Quarter Conference Call. Also, on our behalf, it's a pleasure to be with you today. And actually, we are going to run the call with the traditional way as we did already last time. So I will go through the second quarter and the first half 2023 in brief. And then after, Janne will take the control to look at the financial review, and then I will continue with the progress in our strategy and then a few words about the outlook. And then in the end, Emilia will lead us through the questions and answers. And coming to the first -- the second quarter and the first half summary, [ it is sending ] that our top line net sales was slightly lower than in the comparable period last year, mainly due to the change in the raw material cost. What was good, of course, if we look at the comparable quarter last year compared to this month, so we had a slightly better EBITDA all in all in that, and as well as we continue to have a strong cash flow in the quarter. And then looking at altogether the first half, we continued roughly at the same level as last year, slightly above that. We were able to sell a little bit more than comparable period last year; as well as what we did is something that we would be able to show some positive trend as well in our EBITDA. It was slightly above the level where we were last year. And especially, which is important in this type of situation, so is that we continued with a good operative level in our cash flow, resulting EUR 9.7 million altogether. So that was in a nutshell the -- if we look at the first -- totally the second quarter and then the first half of that. Now I would like to hand it over to Janne. But before, Janne, you will take it over the financial result, why don't you share a few words about yourself, your experience and especially now starting as the new CFO in Suominen? So first of all, Janne, welcome. And please, floor is yours.

Thank you, Tommi. So hi, my name is Janne Silonsaari. Nice to meet you all online. I started as new CFO at Suominen beginning of June. Prior to this, I made a long career in Kemira, mainly in different finance but also marketing and product line positions. So I'm happy to have joined Suominen, and looking forward to be able to contribute to the success of the company. Then if we move on to the net sales, the financial part, so net sales totaled EUR 112.7 million in Q2 and bit shy of EUR 230 million in H1, so first half of the year. Sales volumes were slightly higher in Q2 versus comparison period, but sales prices decreased following the lower raw material prices. Currencies had negative impact of EUR 1.6 million in Q2. And as a positive note, share of new products continued on a strong level, being over 35% of net sales. And as a reminder here, new products means products that are launched less than 3 years ago. Okay. Then for the profitability and comparable EBITDA. So comparable EBITDA was EUR 2.7 million in Q2. The increase was mainly driven due to the better sales margins and lower sales -- excuse me, lower sales, general and admin costs. H1 EBITDA totals EUR 5.3 million. And currencies had positive impact of EUR 200,000 in Q2. Let's review still the consolidated statement of profit or loss. And this statement includes one-off costs, which we have reported separately related to the closure of Mozzate plant in Italy. And those totals were totaling EUR 4.6 million during Q2 and EUR 4.7 million in total for the first half of the year. And as Tommi mentioned, the cash flow, even though EBITDA was not contributing so much yet, our internal efficiency actions through improved working capital helped to push cash flow from operations on a good level, at EUR 6.4 million in Q2 and EUR 9.7 million total in the first half of the year. And working capital improved mainly through inventories, both from unit cost, but also from volume and account receivables. That's it in a nutshell from the financials. So back to the CEO. So Tommi, go ahead.

Okay. Thank you, Janne. Let's have a few words and a few slides, [ ones ] when we look at progress on our strategy implementation. So like we said earlier, it's something we continue on the same path. And this is going to be so that our view is still continuing until 2025 with the same setup as we have today. And the main takeaway from this slide is something that we are strongly focusing on, sustainability. We want to be the forerunner nonwoven innovation and sustainability. Which is actually confirmed also by the high share of the new products, as many of those products are very sustainable and fulfilling the need of the current market demand. Then generally speaking, a couple of highlights coming from the implementation and the actions. So we continue to fulfill and complete the investment what we separately announced last year in Nakkila. So it's planned to be ready during the next half of the year, in the coming quarters, in order to start implementing and delivering results on that improvement. And then, of course, what is also a very important topic, generally speaking, is improving our financial performance, which we strongly focus on. And maybe just one takeaway from that is something that we have fulfilled and finalized, the closure of the Mozzate factory. And generally speaking, it's something that this is the activity what we continue all our operations and disciplines across the whole company. And then a few words about the outlook and understanding the current market situation: looking at the cleaning and the hygiene market, looking what's going on in Europe and especially the change in the competition environment, looking at what's going on in the North America and Latin America, we maintain and keep the outlook as the same. There are some headwinds coming on the market side. But we believe that once going forward on this, it's something such certain things are in our hands, and especially looking at the improvement actions which have been put in the pipeline. Unfortunately, not all the improvements can be seen as a linear improvement, rather small baby-step improvements, which then will fall and come through to the bottom line. So outlook, it will remain the same. So maybe, Emilia, back to you if you would contact and go through the questions and answers. Thank you.

Thank you, Tommi and Janne. And now it's time for questions, so please.

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Harri Taittonen from Nordea.

If you can just kind of discuss the 2 geographical main areas a little bit. Because, first of all, the America, I think last year, volumes and prices were quite bumpy. And if we take that as a starting point for forecasting this year, it would be helpful if you could, I mean, sort of give some idea of the sequential pattern for Q3 and Q4 versus Q2. I remember that last year, there was a big increase in Q3 versus Q2, but there were some kind of quite specific issues at that point. And also in the European side, if you can just sort of remind how the sort of seasonal pattern in Q3 versus Q2, how that would affect the, kind of the outlook. And the Mozzate closure, if production ended in April, is that -- was the full impact on volumes now already in Q2? Or should we be prepared for some additional impact in Q3 and Q4 stemming from that Mozzate closure?

Thank you, Harri, for the questions. So actually, excellent questions. So let me start from -- maybe from the middle question, where you had limited general profile or sequence of cycles in the business. So that generally speaking, if you look at before the COVID and after the -- and we believe also after the COVID, it's something that, generally speaking, in the nonwoven industry, the second half of the year has been stronger than the first half of the year. It is just the cyclicity of the industry. And main drivers behind that are, for example, that the strong seasons coming back to school because that will impact a lot with the hygiene and cleaning sectors. So generally speaking, it's something that, if we talk about the nonwoven industry, so second half of the year normally is stronger than the first half of the year. Then coming back to your question linked to the different regions, it is something that -- it's very true that actually, last year, North America was very bumpy. But I would say that, that has been more stabilized. We see still some customers which are doing some destocking, but it's not anymore as strong as it used to be. There are a little bit headwinds in North America and also in Latin America. But generally speaking, that market is still fairly healthy. And looking at the ones going forward is something that -- the expectations is something that there are not [ necessarily ] that drastical changes. While coming back to in Europe, which is also the impact coming after the COVID. So that during the COVID, of course, the transportation cost was very high. It was very difficult in order to commercially or affordable way in order to move the goods from continent to continent. But now after the COVID, actually that has decreased. The cost of the transportation has been lower. And we see, again, the low-cost import increasingly coming back to Europe, mainly from China, Turkey, partially also from India, so -- which will impact the competition situation mainly in Europe, but also somewhat in North America and Latin America. And then there was a question linked to the Mozzate. I would say that, of course, that was something that once we did the closure on that, and we mentioned in our announcement that the volumes will be partially moved to the other sites, that progress is still ongoing. So we have not yet been able to finalize all of that. And normally, these type of cases that once, generally speaking, you talk about improvement and changes, they are not necessarily linear, so -- but hopefully that will answer your questions linked to the cyclicity of the business, a little bit about the different markets and then the question linked to Mozzate.

Okay, no, that was very helpful. Maybe if there's a chance to just ask about the working capital and your [ feel as to that ]. The first half, I mean pretty good development there. But do you see more scope for the working capital release or reduction? How should we see the full year, roughly?

Yes. Also, that was a good question again. So that, of course, like we discussed a little bit this in our last call, and let me give a general answer on that. It is, of course, once we see that in the market side, once we see the headwinds, we see that it's once -- it's a little bit more challenging in order to achieve good wins on the market side. Then you need to focus more on your internal factors, which we have been able to do and which we continue to do. So we believe that the measures which we have in place and the measures which we are planning to do, we believe that we would be able to maintain a strong cash flow.

Yes, yes. Because I remember last year, I think -- it looks like there was quite a big sort of tie-up of working capital in the third quarter after a pretty positive Q2 last year. But we should -- I mean there is no reason to sort of expect or see material change. Or was that -- last year, was it more of an outlay (sic) [ outlier ] or exception? Or just to get a feel of how we should see the second half with this price environment, say, like the normal pattern...

Maybe -- unfortunately, I was not here last year. But maybe, just in order to make a little bit of reflection, I will put more that, that was exceptional. So that linked to, maybe to some internal factors. So that, at least that's how we look at now how we run the operation, how we have been focusing, looking at a little bit the SOP and the planning processes. So we do not anticipate similar events to happen in the future, unless there is something drastical happening on the market side. But the expectations is not something that -- we believe that we would be able to continue with the same way how we have been running the -- conducting the business today, business as usual.

Okay. Well, that was kind of what I was anticipating, but thanks for confirming that.

The next question comes from Joonas Ilvonen from Evli.

It's Joonas from Evli. I would also like to continue on this volume-related question, I mean, especially as it relates to the Americas business areas. So you say that -- just to make clear, you say that your volumes -- sales volumes increased slightly year-on-year on a group level. And how was it in Q2 for Americas compared on a quarterly basis? Is there like some slight improvement? And how was that like relative to your earlier expectations?

Okay. Joonas, this is, of course, a good question. And generally speaking, we have not shared the specific data linked to the different regions of our business areas, so North America and Europe. But of course, on this case, it is -- of course, it's pretty obvious it's something that in Europe, we have had a situation which has been more challenging. Mainly due to the competition, increased competition, not only because of the imports, but also the change what we have on the marketplace coming from the new capacity increases on that. And then another way around also as well, in North America, I would say that we have had over there a better recovery. So in order to read it through, it is something that, yes, some of the volumes we have lost in Europe, but we have been able to compensate in Americas.

All right. That's clear enough. And maybe another question. I mean raw material prices have been declining for a while now, especially pulp prices very lately. Has this decline in pulp prices, has it had any impact on your customer behavior recently?

That's -- actually, that's a very good question. So that normally in this type of situation, once you have went through [ the kind ] once, there has been significant increase on the raw materials. And then once the raw materials tend to go down, of course the customers, they try to get the benefit on those discussions. So what we mean is something that of course for us, the most important one is the focus on introducing new products and focusing on the new product sales, in order to be able to mitigate the possible negative impacts coming from those discussions or negotiations. So generally speaking, it is something that the raw material price is coming through with the mechanism or it's coming through with the impact of understanding that there is a change in raw material. And in this process, we have a slight delay. Many people call it lag. There is a slight lag in -- before implementing those. So it's not coming right away. Once they are dropping, it's not coming through. It will take some time. Depending on the mechanism and depending on the contract type, that what is actually then the lead time once the raw material price is hitting to the product cost.

[Operator Instructions] There are no more questions at this time. So I hand the conference back to the speakers for any closing comments.

Thank you. We have also received 2 [Technical Difficulty] [ call ] questions from Markku Moilanen via the chat. So do you see any profitability pressure coming from lower selling prices driven by the trend in raw materials? And have you already booked all the costs related to the closing of Mozzate plant in Italy?

Yes. Okay. Okay, maybe, Markku, I will answer the question number one, and then Janne will take the question number two. So that -- of course, that's already discussed once based on -- Joonas had a good question linked to this. It's something, yes, we see this pressure, of course. Always once there is a change of the price, the customers try to benefit those discussions. And of course, our aim is something to maintain and keep it. But I would say that, of course, in the end, the market price will define then what will be then outcome of the final discussion or the conclusion of the negotiation on the market. So yes, there is a profitability pressure on the -- coming on the market side. But at the same time, I need to highlight: of course internally, we have measures in order to improve our operational efficiencies and way of working, so in order to be able to mitigate that impact as well. Maybe Janne, the question number two?

Yes. So a comment about the Mozzate plant close and cost there. So all the big-ticket items have been improved so far. So I would say, only minor cost expected regarding this topic during the second half of the year.

But maybe we would be able to say it's within the...

Well, we are talking about maximum hundreds of thousands compared to what we have booked now. So I'll comment that way.

Okay. Thank you, Tommi and Janne. Thank you, all the participants. Before I close this session, I want to remind you that our Q3 result will be published on October 27. So once again, thank you, and I wish you all a pleasant rest of the day. Bye.

Thank you. Bye-bye.

Thank you.