Viohalco S.A. (VIO) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining us today. Actually, we are very pleased, proud and excited for the results that Viohalco published. In more particular, the revenue of the Viohalco has exceeded EUR 7.2 billion, first time in history, along with the profitability, which stands at EUR 727 million, 20% better compared with the previous year. And on the bottom line, we managed to reach almost EUR 400 million as profit before tax. At the same time, the net debt stood below EUR 1.5 billion at EUR 1.496 billion. The CapEx remained almost the same with the previous year. This robust performance of the group is due to the excellent performance of all -- mainly all of our segments, which we have an opportunity to discuss it with you later on. You see here in this slide how the key financial KPIs of the group has been developed in the last 5 years. The revenue is increasing by 7.7% on average, while the profitability, the adjusted EBITDA was 14.3%. Finally, the earnings before taxes is also growing with a trend of 9.6%. Here, I would like to comment that these results have been also supported by the significant decrease of the interest rate cost that the group actually paid to the banks. In this slide, the main purpose actually of this slide is to highlight for one more time that the core, the vast majority of operations of the group are industrial. Viohalco is an industrial conglomerate, while the Real Estate division is an additional segment, which actually support with extra value, providing extra value by the utilization of assets where in the past was working as the production facilities. Getting deeper now to the Industrial division profitability. You see here that the adjusted EBITDA of the group of the Industrial division stands close to EUR 700 million. Cables is the segment is the main contributor, while the steel, the turnaround of steel contributes with additional EUR 38 million and then aluminum and steel pipe follows. Regarding the investments and the net debt of the group, as you probably know, as industrial conglomerate, we are investing heavily in our equipment, which we believe is the main actually decision of ours, which contributes to these results. At the same time, the net debt of the group has decreased significantly this year, and now we are below EUR 1.54 billion and a very healthy liquidity ratio of 1.9 to EBITDA. Now getting closer to each segment and starting by the aluminum, you see here that the aluminum revenue has been again increased by 11%, supported by the demand -- the strong demand of flexible packaging and automotive sectors, events which also offset weaker conditions in industrial and general engineering markets. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 13% to EUR 180 million, with both Elval and Etem Gestamp achieving steady growth in profitability. While short-term conditions are expected to remain challenging, demand for sustainable packaging, energy efficiency and lightweight materials remains strong. We remain confident in the long-term outlook for our aluminum business. We can move on to the next slide, please. Now the Copper segment. In the copper revenue -- in the Copper segment, revenue increased by 3% to EUR 1.8 billion, mainly due to higher and average LME prices. At the same time, sales volume rose close to 1%, driven by strong demand for bus bars and decreased sales of copper tubes. Adjusted EBITDA declined by about 13%, affected by elevated energy and overall inflationary costs, along with an unfavorable sales mix. At Sofia Med, the expected increase in production was pushed back due to temporary operational issues during the ramp-up of recent investments there. Importantly, the capacity upgrades are now in place and support stronger production in the future. Going forward, we expect recent capacity expansions and portfolio diversification to drive revenue growth, supported by disciplined cost, working capital and debt management. We believe that trends like the data center development will provide an additional growth to the copper segment. Moving on to the Cables segment, which for one more time has delivered an outstanding performance. Revenue increased by 24%, reaching EUR 1.424 billion (sic) [ EUR 1.443 billion ] supported by seamless project execution and resilient demand for our cables products. In addition to the project execution, high utilization rates across all production facilities and the favorable evolution of the sales mix led to a 34% increase in the adjusted EBITDA to EUR 246 million. We secured a series of new orders during the year, maintaining a backlog of around EUR 2.9 billion. With a robust pipeline and our major expansion program now close to completion, we are entering an exciting new phase of growth. Once our new plant in the U.S. is up and running, which will be next year, this will provide a further boost to our performance, supporting our prospects. Moving on to the Steel Pipes. Revenue grew by 4%, reaching something close to EUR 600 million, EUR 592 million. This growth led to a EUR 14 million increase in adjusted EBITDA to EUR 108 million and a record high EBITDA margin of 18% underpinned by our targeted capacity enhancing investments and operational improvements, which actually enabled higher production volumes, high capacity utilization rates and the high-margin project mix. The year marked a successful execution of a number of high-profile complex projects in the Gulf of Mexico, in the North and Norwegian Seas and several other pipes for Snam in Italy. Our order backlog grew by 15% to EUR 491 million, reflecting the new projects secured globally in 2025. Overall, this underpins our positive outlook, supported by a strong order backlog and ongoing energy infrastructure demand. The current high activity in the energy infrastructure market actually was the reason that led us to decide to acquire a pipe mill in the U.K., as you may have seen or heard in yesterday's announcement by our subsidiary, Cenergy Holdings. Moving on to the Steel segment. I'm actually very pleased to report that despite the continued challenging operating environment, the gradual recovery we witnessed during the first half continued throughout the whole year of '25, allowing us to generate stable revenues of EUR 1 billion. This achievement was thanks to higher sales volumes, driven by higher sales in the construction market in Greece and higher sales of special steels. This is reflected in the adjusted EBITDA, which almost doubled, reaching EUR 77 million, driven by improvements in operational KPIs such as productivity and yield. To give you some context about the market conditions, demand across most markets in the European Union has remained weak throughout this year. However, the European Union has now introduced 2 important measures to address the situation. First, the CBAM, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism came into force in January '26. This strengthens the European path to climate neutrality by 2050 and supports to an extent, a level playing field between European steel producers and imports. Second, from next July, new trade protection measures will significantly tighten portfolio volumes. Tariff-free steel imports will be capped at 18.3 million tons per year, around 50% lower than '24. And any volumes above that threshold will face 50% duty. These measures significantly improve the structural outlook of the European steel producers. In addition to a gradual improvement in European demand, we expect positive momentum in '26, which will be supported by further growth in the Greek construction market and our continued productivity enhancing investments. Finally, the Real Estate segment or division, its revenue grew by 70%, reaching EUR 72 million for the year, with adjusted EBITDA improving to EUR 29 million. The fair value of the real estate investment portfolio increased by 7%, driven by active asset management and strong demand for high-quality, sustainable buildings. Key milestones during the year included the delivery of a prime office building in Marousi, here in Attica, completion of mixed-use building in Mets in Athens and pre-leasing of approximately 34% of the Class A office building at Kifisias 199. Looking ahead, we are very well positioned to benefit from the strong demand for premium and sustainable properties in Greece. The completion of the 2 flagship office developments, Kifisias 199 and the Grid will be a key driver for our performance in '26. To sum up, this slide actually summarizes what we said before. And that's the main conclusion of our performance that 2025 results are the outcome of long-term efforts by our people, backed by sustained investments even during very challenging times in the past. And as an outlook, while we're entering -- we have already entered actually 2026 with confidence despite the new geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. And we are -- we are closely monitoring the situation. We continue to assess potential impacts on energy costs, supply chain and broader macroeconomic conditions. Regarding our companies, we see continued long-term demand in aluminum and copper, stronger order backlogs in cables and steel pipes and growing opportunities in steel as European measures will improve market conditions. At the same time, disciplined execution across our real estate portfolio is expected to continue in '26, providing incremental support to overall performance. Taken together, this leaves us well positioned to deliver sustainable growth in '26 and beyond. Thank you very much for the attention. And now I'm happy to take any questions that you may have.

[Operator Instructions]

So we have a question from Mr. [ Rubazis ]. Could you please provide the gross debt breakdown by division? Mr. Rubazis, I think we have shared this information in our press release. So you can get the information from there. Thank you for that. So [ Mr. Karanikas ] also has 5 questions. Can you please provide some color on how the latest regulatory CBAM new trade protection measures can affect your steel business? Also the steel division, could you please provide the split between Greek and non-Greek EBITDA? We'll do. Can you please comment the government's latest plan to support energy intensive industrial? What percentage of OpEx energy? And what impact do you see from these developments in the Middle East? CapEx guidance for 2026? So the majority of the questions regarding steel. So allow me to say again that this measure, first of all, the CBAM is a measure which makes the non-EU steel more expensive, which is a great favor of ours, not only us, but also the other European producers. There are cases where the imported steel can be 30% to 40% more expensive of what it used to be in previous year. So the measure is significant in order to protect the European producers. Now about the split, as discussed previously, as I said previously, the growth of the steel segment came mainly from the Greek plants, while Stomana Industry provided -- contributed negatively. And the reason for that was a very weak European market. This is actually what we believe will change in '26, while these European Union measures will protect plants like Stomana Industry in Bulgaria. Now about the OpEx. As you know, energy is a very important cost element for the whole group, but in particular, in the Steel segment. We do -- we always try to opt to be more efficient in terms of energy consumption. And in Steel segment, we have done a lot since 2013 because we have built there the induction furnace, which eliminates one phase in the production and thus an event saves a lot of kilowatt hours per ton. And finally, about the CapEx, the only thing that I can say that I do not expect significant differences compared to 2025. I don't know whether we do have other questions. I think we don't. I see no further questions. Mr. [indiscernible], can you explain per business segments how you view the outlook for first half and second half? For instance, [indiscernible] cables probably only will benefit from first contracts. The only thing that I comment about '26 is that we -- the plants as built at the moment can provide more from what they have already provided to in 2025. And the extra capacity that has been built in the cables will provide -- we assume that we believe that it will provide extra results in '26. Now again [ Mr. Karanikas, ] again I needs to -- one question. So we are expecting some support, some measures that will support us, not only us, but also the whole country's manufacturers, energy-intensive industries like ours. We don't have something solid so far. So we cannot say something specific at least at the moment. So if there is no other question or -- yes, I believe there is no other question. Allow me to say a big thank you for being here with us today and hope that we will see you beginning of August this time for the 6-month results of the group. Thank you very much. Have a great weekend.