Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding ASA (WWI) Q4 FY2025 Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning. Welcome to fourth quarter results for Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding and for the year-end of 2025. And Christian, it's been quite a year.

Yes, but -- done some real good.

Yes. And it's been a pretty volatile backdrop as well. But I must say, when we look back at the year, we've delivered 49% total return to the shareholders, which we feel is pretty good. At the outset or the start of '25, I'm not sure if we would have forecasted such a trajectory. But anyway, it's nice to see that at this point in time, we've had solid growth on EBITDA for the group. And of course, when it comes to our associates, Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Hyundai Glovis, they've been performing pretty well as well during the year. And all of this in a very, very, I would call it, difficult and chaotic backdrop. We've had, say, tariffs and warfare in the USTR [ warfare ], which, say, had a potential of up to $400 million in negative effect for Wallenius Wilhelmsen on an annual basis, now seem to be a bit of a distant memory, although it's not that long ago.

And it's not gone away.

It's not gone away. It's just put on pause, but still -- luckily that it was put on pause, so we weren't hit as hard. But the backdrop is really -- it's a challenging backdrop for us. So -- but when we look at the rest of sales performance of the group, we've had a pretty good distribution to shareholders in addition to the general, say, growth in share price. We distributed $117 million during the year in combination of buybacks and dividends. We paid down quite a lot of debt during the year for the group and the holding company. We've invested a fair amount in our various businesses. We are focused on growing the segments and the business units that we do have. We took Treasure private during, say, the tail end of the year, we were also party to taking Edda private together with our partners in Edda. We have increased our position in Reach during the year by exercising the options, which took us to just shy of 30% ownership in that company. And of course, there's a lot of organic growth within the various businesses. All in all, we've invested more than [ USD 200 million ] within our portfolio of businesses during the year, not counting associates. And then on top of this, given the, say, significant macro backdrop that we see, there's been quite a few internal efforts in order to improve efficiency in many different ways or forms. And that's -- unfortunately, we had to depart with many good colleagues during the year and also other efficiency measures that we've initiated, which I think is an important driver or continuous driver for this business. So then again, we are summing up, it's been a good year, but it's challenging and some of our businesses are probably at peak or maybe even past peak of a super cycle. So just going briefly into Q4. It's been a relatively strong quarter. We've had strong EBITDA growth in our underlying business units. We've had good contribution from our associates, although somewhat down from Wallenius Wilhelmsen during the quarter compared to last quarter. All in all, it ended up with a strong contribution to equity holders of the company of USD 129 million for the year, it accounts to USD 652 million. Just -- I didn't mention that on the previous slide. And of course, we did the treasury transaction during last quarter. And yesterday, we had a Board meeting where the Board is proposing, say, the dividend distribution for -- to be put forward to the general assembly with NOK 20 per share for the first dividend and potential up to NOK 8.5 for the second dividend. And that takes us up in the upper quartile of our dividend policy, the way that we measure it, which will then equate to 5%. So in line with the 3% to 5% yield target. So Maritime Services, yes, a pretty okay quarter. I think the underlying fundamentals for Maritime Services are pretty strong. The general maritime industry or the shipping industry is, say, faring at a pretty high level. And of course, servicing more or selling products and services to more than 50% of the merchant fleet, that's our total market. So it's an important backdrop for us to have. We've had significant, say, profit improvements or efficiency programs in place during the year. The quarter, we saw a somewhat small drop within Ships Service, which is the largest part of the Maritime Services segment, which -- well, I think it's -- if that happens, there's nothing dramatic with the drop that we saw there. So overall, I think we can say that it was a good quarter for Maritime Services. On the margin side, in the Q3, we did have some one-offs. So the margin improvement is reflecting that.

You could add also, Thomas, that in this area and in this segment, that's where we really have to fight towards sort of the currency fluctuation. So that's a continuous fight. And we are sort of coming from a very high level when it comes to USD, NOK, for instance, which is the most dominant currency. And we do see that, that's something we need to really fight on a rolling day-by-day basis. And then very important then to do efficiency measures on a rolling basis to get that positive effect on the EBITDA and the operations from the businesses.

Thank you. Very important part. And I would say that's actually the biggest threat we see to the Maritime Services segment going forward at least in the short to medium term, how are we able to position ourselves versus the currency. So -- and if we then go over to New Energy, it's a little bit of a different picture because here, we have, say, a positive effect of a weaker U.S. dollar. And when we talk about currency, it's very much related to the U.S. dollar versus other local currencies because in WMS, U.S. dollar is the predominant currency, and we have a lot of local, say, currency costs related to our operation. For New Energy, especially when it comes to NorSea Group, that's a Norwegian kroner-denominated company. So when we have a decline in the U.S. dollar, then we actually have, call it, an inflation or upward pressure on -- when it comes to total income, so converted into U.S. dollar. But it's been a strong quarter also for New Energy, and it's been a very strong year for New Energy and driven largely by NorSea Group, but also with Edda having vessels coming on stream or on water that adds, say, to the positive contribution. There's also been a few vessel sales in Edda during the quarter, which is positively contributing. So I think that's all in all, pretty good. We see also with Reach Subsea, although today's results are probably not what we had hoped for, but they are, say, progressing well when it comes to these unmanned vessels. One is on its way to Australia or is in Australia and one is operating here in Norway, and there's 2 more coming. So that concept is, say, slowly but surely, say, proving itself. So it's an interesting journey. When it comes to Holdings and Investments, of course, this is very much driven by Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Hyundai Glovis. We had USD 99 million contribution from associates, USD 66 million from Wallenius Wilhelmsen, which is down quite significantly actually from last quarter. But still, it's on a high note and USD 33 million from Hyundai Glovis. If we look at the backdrop of, say, the car/RoRo industry, there are some major, say, drivers happening. During 2025, more than 70 new vessels were added into the overall fleet. That has been, I would say, more or less all absorbed. And the reason for this is really the growth of export out of China. So we see a continuous increase in the export out of China, but we'll see -- we're seeing a continuous decrease export out of Europe. This is causing an imbalance. It's not very good for, say, the general profit levels, but it's good when it comes to utilization of the fleet. So the order book, which at the peak had more than 43% in it is now down to, say, just above 20%. So it's -- we've been, I would call it, probably a little bit positively surprised in how the industry has been able to absorb the influx of new vessels.

I don't know, Thomas, if you want to sort of also mention the Qube takeover bid.

Yes, could do. We have a small position in percentage terms in a fantastic company in Australia called Qube. We've been one of the founding investors of this company. We have roughly 1%. It equates to approximately USD 80 million in money terms. Macquarie, a large, say, fund in Australia has made a bid for Qube. It's a conditional bid. So it's a little bit difficult to forecast whether this will actually come through. But anyway, they have made a bid for the company at a decent price. So if they manage to do a satisfactory due deal, or another acquirer comes on the scene, we will most likely sell our shares in Qube during the year.

And as far as we know, there is an exclusivity period sort of running through the 15th of February this month. So we don't know what's happening, but that's the sort of thing we know as for now.

And we do also know that it will definitely take some time. So we'll see how that goes. It's a fantastic company. So we are happy to remain a shareholder. And if someone is able to make a good bid and take it over, then we wish them good luck because they will end up with a fantastic asset base. Just to pause a little bit on Hyundai Glovis since we took Treasure of the stock exchange during the quarter, just to give a little bit of a historical backdrop. We were invited back in '04, '03, '04 to invest in Glovis as it was called at that point in time. We acquired 25% of this company, which was at that time a privately owned company. We invested $100 million in 2005, Hyundai Glovis, which was renamed to, went on the stock exchange, which diluted our shareholding to 20%. And a little bit of technicality, but we stock listed Wilh. Wilhelmsen ASA in 2010. And through that separate listing, Hyundai Glovis shareholding was part of that delisting. That's the company which is today Wallenius Wilhelmsen. But in 2015, we did a demerger and through the company called Treasure, which then became a separately listed entity on the stock exchange, only owning the shareholding in Hyundai Glovis.

At that point, 72.8% actually.

So Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding owned 72.8%. And we had some ambitions of actually looking at how we could use Treasure ASA to also expand into other business areas. That was not, say -- it was not -- say, the feedback we received from the other shareholders was that they preferred Treasure ASA to solely own the shareholding in Hyundai Glovis. So that's been the platform ever since. But there's also been a wish from both Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding shareholders and also Treasury shareholders that we would acquire the remaining shares, which we then did. So now Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding owns the full 11% of Hyundai Glovis. Throughout this period of time, we have sold 9% roughly of the company. It's been a fantastic financial investment. You can see on the right-hand side of the slide here, just a little bit in terms of, call it the -- both the profitability and the distributions during that period. And of course, this remains. It's a very, very significant part of our asset base. It's an industrial strategic investment where we have a very long-term perspective, and it's also giving us a very, very interesting platform in Korea, which is quite unique for a Norwegian-based company. So I thought I would just have that as a little bit of a backdrop since we did the take private operation of Treasury ASA during the quarter. So when it comes to the outlook, we feel that we've been able to build a very, very strong platform within the Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding Group. We have both in terms of our people, the general infrastructure, the balance sheet and also slowly but surely building some liquidity. We believe this is important. We know that the maritime and the shipping industry is volatile, and we think this is important to position ourselves for the future. We've been as a company operating in this market for more than 160 years, and we intend to do so also going forward. So we are positioning ourselves for the future to be resilient and also to be a strong supporter of the businesses that we do have in the portfolio. And also to be able to branch out in potential, say, new areas or business opportunities going forward. So with that, thank you very much, and I'll leave it to you, Christian.

Thank you. Thank you, Thomas. I'll walk you through some of the numbers and starting off with the Q4, which Thomas basically has walked everyone through. And coming back to the top line, top line quarter to quarter 3 is basically flat. EBITDA up some with Maritime Services delivering USD 28 million and -- USD 26 million (sic) [ USD 28 million ] and New Energy delivering USD 22 million. And New Energy then basically delivering on a very high note, as Thomas alluded to. Coming to the share of profits from associates and JVs, just as a reminder, and probably all the listeners and viewers basically know this, but make -- the share of profit is not the same as cash from the associates. So specifically not from Hyundai Glovis, but not from anyone. It's sort of from their accounts. Again, giving us a strong EPS with $3 plus per share, not the same as cash per share. The total year, again, the year, as Thomas said, growth on the top line, close to double digits, strong on Maritime Services and sort of as a GDP plus company or area, it's kind of actually strong that we are growing at that number. New Energy as well with NorSea as the, in a way, the star for the segment. And again, strong annual EBITDA, both from New Energy and Maritime Services with Maritime Services delivering USD 112 million and New Energy delivering USD 79 million. Really strong on an annual basis from JVs and associates when it comes to their share of profits with, as you said, Wallenius Wilhelmsen delivering USD 406 million. And then also as of yesterday, proposing or deciding actually a quite substantial dividend and extraordinary dividend for the second half of 2025.

Which is good for us. And I must say on the efficiency measures that WMS and NorSea Group that they are able to take out, say, to the extent that they've been doing these efficiency measures in, say, a growing trajectory, I think that's a pretty good effort from the teams.

Yes. And it's a really good response from the operations and from the different organizations on the challenges that we are seeing coming. The dollar is actually weakening. So we see it coming, and we are taking measures immediately, not waiting for sort of someone to tell us or anything, but we are taking measures. Thought I would sort of allude to sort of the financial items a bit because we don't sort of spend too much time on those. And then for the year being on the positive side, interest rates are typically sort of on the negative side, and we have to pay $26 million on the interest rates. But on other side and giving it to the plus hedges -- and hedges on the currency is giving us a plus USD 26 million. So we do have some hedges when it comes to the USD and other currencies. But that's also -- that's on the rolling 3 years. So it's not giving us anything more than sort of some relief, but for -- it's not giving us a profit forever, unfortunately. And also a value uplift when it comes to the asset management of USD 22 million as some main contributors. Strong EPS per share, as we said, close to $15 or just above $15 per share. On the cash through the year, and Thomas said sort of we had -- we are delivering a lot of cash through the year from the operations and from -- and taking in from dividends. And if you go through the cash from operating activities, then being basically the New Energy and WMS side, very sort of CFO-friendly stack there because Maritime Services running at really delivering the cash, not sort of losing the cash in working capital and basically being able to grow the top line without sort of taking too much, I think it's USD 3 or USD 4 in increased working capital, which is really good. And then we must really sort of applaud on the New Energy side because they are delivering the cash from operation, which is strong. But at the same time, I'm not saying it's sustainable, but it is really good that when you grow, you're delivering results and you are actually contributing positively with USD 17 million on the working capital. That's really good work. So that's CFO-friendly stuff. When it comes to the dividend, basically, that I must say that that's also CFO-friendly. Of the USD 411 million, USD 375 million is coming from cash from Wallenius Wilhelmsen. USD 21 million coming from Hyundai Glovis and USD 112 million from New Energy side. On the stack, which is called other investing activities, close to USD 115 million is short-term money funds. USD 75 million is, as Thomas said, that's the dollar equivalent of investing in the activities we do on. So that's sort of hardware, software, not only being computers, but also then assets in the different areas that we do on. And in the Reach and Edda, 2 businesses, we have invested close to USD 40 million through the year. Thomas gave you the number, USD 117 million of dividend and share buybacks for the year. We do have -- we have paid down debt. It's basically that we have paid down debt in WMS. WMS basically been debt-free as for now, and I will come back to that as well. And technically, but rightly so, on the other financing activities, the main negative or the main contributor is spending or investing USD 127 million on purchasing all the remaining shares of Treasure and USD 40 million is leasing payback. So starting off with USD 155 million, ending up at USD 214 million for the year. And again, rock solid balance sheet, I would say. We cannot sort of disagree on that, Thomas. There is a debt maturity profile, as you can see on the right side of the picture. And as probably all the viewers and listeners do know, it's a pretty good market to do financing and with a good balance sheet, it's even hopefully better and a good operation. So we are working on what I would say, pushing that green stack out of the picture or at least more than 4 years as we speak. So trying to utilize the good times of financing to refinance some of the picture. And as you see, there is basically no debt in WMS as of now. And as you can see on the bottom right, liquidity is sort of increasing through the period as the last 5 years. The Board, as Thomas said, proposed NOK 20 per share dividend to be approved by the general assembly later this year and to give the Board authority to additional NOK 8.5 per share. Just sort of as a reminder, how do we account our sort of ambition or the target? So it's a very easy mathematical choice. We do actually say that we have an ambition, a target to 3% to 5% dividend yield of the average of A and B shares by the end of the year. So that's the sort of very simple calculation. So A and B shares average times whatever comes out. That's the target that we are sort of aiming for. And the first dividend will take us into the mid-3%. And if decided by the Board later on, the NOK 8.5 will take us to 5% through our measures.

And it's probably fair to say that this has been the way we've been doing it for many, many years. So it should be no surprise.

And as stated in the top paragraph that we will continue on a rolling basis as we have done in the last 4, 5 years, to purchase back shares as we have shown to the market and to the business earlier on in the other years that you see on the stack on the right side. So that's us still continuing shaping the maritime industry. Thank you so much. I think we will open up for questions.

Yes. Thanks, Christian, and thanks for listening in.

Anna Kverneland, Investor Relations. We have a first question from Helene Tingvold with Pareto. How do you look at your ownership in Glovis? Do you have a long-term perspective on this? I think you touched upon it, Thomas.

Yes, definitely. We see this as a very long-term strategic ownership. And as I showed on the slide, we've been an owner since '04. It's a fantastic company. They've been developing, say, at tremendous speed during those 20-plus years. They have a strong position within their markets. They have a strong balance sheet, and we have a very good relationship with both Hyundai Glovis and the overall Hyundai Group. So this is definitely a long-term shareholding for us.

And we could sort of add on to sort of we do have industrial ambitions to sort of seek development together with the sort of Glovis company as such, but also the Korean market as such to develop further industrially as we go along. And we have some smaller sort of tests on that, and we will continue on that work going forward.

And we have a few questions regarding capital allocation. First from Jorgen Lian with DNB. We continue to forecast a substantial cash inflow in the years ahead. With a strong balance sheet, I would appreciate your thoughts on where to apply this capital for future growth. Any specific segments, sectors that offer appealing growth today? And in magnitude, would you prefer smaller bolt-on acquisitions? Or would you be comfortable with larger transactions?

Well, we should -- I think it's a very good question. And of course, it's pretty all-encompassing of what we're looking at and in a way of how we will position ourselves for the future. Just to start with the small bolt-ons, I'm sure there will be smaller bolt-ons along the way. The challenge with small bolt-ons is that smaller acquisitions often take quite a lot of time and resources with relatively small, say, financial effect, but it might have, say, other aspects to it in terms of strengthening certain, say, product positioning or service positionings within, say, the broader portfolio. So I don't think we should, say, rule out bolt-ons happening also in the future. But of course, it's a little bit more exciting to have somewhat larger acquisitions either within the current portfolio in order to strengthen and broaden the base or whether it's completely new arenas as when we entered for example, Edda a few years ago or when we acquired and started the journey with NorSea Group. So that's definitely part of our strategy going forward.

And just sort of -- it's not career promoting to sort of test on that. But of course, it's within sort of the space of shaping the maritime industry. So it's in that those arenas that we are sort of testing, looking and trying to develop the group as such.

But I think it's also fair to say that we're in a very different financial position today, both in terms of solidity and liquidity than we were a few years ago. But at the same time, values have increased, at least on the steel side for the last 3 years which, of course, we need to be, say, diligent and patient in terms of how we execute this.

And since we haven't sort of said anything about sort of shareholders and others, obviously, we will also invest in our shareholders by buying back shares and paying dividends and reducing debt, if possible, further on as well. So it's a combination of growing and it's a combination of taking care of the shareholders we do have.

I think that covered the other questions from the investor as well. That's all.

Okay. Then thank you very much for listening in, and we're looking forward to...

Sorry, other last final question...

They came in, a question right now. Yes. What are you going to do with all the cash you generate when you only pay out a relatively low percentage on the cash?

Yes, I think that was, in a way, covered by what we just said. So we'll see during the years or the year and the period going forward. But 2026, it will be an exciting year probably as 2025 were in terms of significant volatility in terms of geopolitical and the overall macro space of everything that's happening. So we'll watch it, and we'll do our best to maneuver in a challenging backdrop. But as we said many times, we believe we have a strong platform. So we should have the strength to navigate through choppy waters. Thank you very much for listening in.

Thank you.