Welcome to Aperam Q2 Podcast. I am Tim Di Maulo, Aperam CEO, and I hope you are having a good start of the day. Together with Sudh Sivaji, Aperam CFO, I will be discussing our second quarter performance, current trading, and the outlook for the third quarter. As always, we will host a conference call later. The start time for today is 3:00 P.M. Central European Summer Time, and we are waiting for your questions. A link to register for the conference call is available on our website and at the end of the last slide of this podcast presentation. As always, please take note of the disclaimer on page two. What was important in this second quarter of 2025? It was challenging again, but we delivered on our guidance. We achieved a clear improvement versus Q1, mainly due to seasonal factors and a better performance of the alloys segment.
The market environment in Europe was difficult to start with and has further deteriorated. Pricing pressure intensified, and on top of weak real demand, an inventory cycle began to further the price volumes. Our cross-leadership position in Europe helped us to realize a positive result. In Brazil, the second quarter is seasonally stronger, but the overall market also remains solid and supportive. Imports into Europe have increased, and the level is now 24%, which helps a lot in an already highly competitive market. The leadership journey made good progress in the second year of phase v. realized EUR 20 million in Q2 after delivering EUR 21 million already in Q1. The program is well on target, and at the midpoint of phase v, we are happy to have realized 68% of our target gains already. In the ESG space, we note the publication of Aperam 2024 Sustainability Report.
For the very first time, it is CSRD-aligned. We did this voluntarily, and the double materiality approach was applied. Last quarter, I present Aperam's new vision to you. It is based on sustainability and includes all our activities. It is central to our development, so let me repeat it. We are committed to establishing Aperam as the leading value creator in the circular economy of infinite world-changing materials. The sustainability report demonstrates that we have already progressed very well towards this vision. We reaffirmed our best-in-class role in sustainability and introduced a revised decarbonization roadmap. The CO2, as well as the safety data, has been externally verified. The decarbonization and health and safety are also reflected in the management long-term incentive plan.
In health and safety, which is our top priority, the total recordable incident rate is reduced by one-third within two years, and we are on path to achieve our goal. Newly acquired Universal is now implementing the high Aperam standard without any exceptions. Our CO2 footprint is best in class, and our operation in Brazil is carbon neutral today. Aperam is steadily progressing on its path toward net zero emission. Let me repeat that decarbonization is CapEx-light and technologically easy for us. Water intake and dust emission are other key elements, and here we made a big step forward with a reduction of 6% and 23%, respectively, in 2024 compared with the prior year. We see sustainability as a value creation opportunity for Aperam. We leverage our integrated circular industrial model to respond to environmental and social expectations while maintaining competitiveness in a challenging global market.
CBAM should show the advantage of our differentiated value chain with a much lower carbon intensity compared to imports. ESG rating already reflects our efforts, and we have the best possible ESG rating from MSCI with a triple A. We do not rest here. Our goal is to maintain this position by improving our sustainability footprint further. Let's turn to the current market situation. While the performance in Brazil is solid, the situation in Europe has been difficult for nearly three years in a row. The stainless steel industry dropped into recession at the end of 2022, and it has been one of the longest low cycles that I have lived through in my career of nearly four decades. Regarding real demand, the sector trends have continued.
As a new sector, we added aerospace, and in this sector, and this is in the sector in which we see the most positive development. The construction sector is one of our most important segments. The positive signs in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning that have started last quarter are confirmed, but the overall outlook remains weak so far. This is a segment that could clearly benefit from the German spending program once it materializes in 2026. Brazil's construction sector continues to perform solid and should remain on that path. Consumer goods demand is stable without improvements. Demand in food, health, and catering was solid, while food and beverage showed some improvement but far away from a trend reversal. Industrial demand is solid in the energy sectors, with some tentative signs pointing to a potential recovery. The strong consumption in Brazil continues.
The automotive sector is weak with declining demand, but the situation in Brazil is more promising. For light vehicles, consumption is still good, better than truck demand. Aerospace is growing, and manufacturers have full orders booked, supported by new orders after the recent air show. The whole production chain remains well stocked, however, as build rates of passenger planes increase only slowly. The stock continues for the time being. As mentioned before, imports into Europe rose to a notably high level of 24%. This is a significant figure given the current market weakness with low price. As a consequence, the distribution chain is also well stocked. Inventory levels have increased persistently, and inventory days are elevated. In the face of global macro uncertainty, distributors have stuck to the stock. I will now hand over to Sudh to present the financial review.
Thank you, Tim, and a very warm welcome to everyone. Let's start with adjusted EBITDA, which equals EBITDA, as we had no exceptions this quarter. We had guided for a higher adjusted EBITDA compared to Q1 2025. We delivered it despite the intensifying price pressure in Europe and no relief from the valuation charges on the back of falling raw material prices. Our differentiated value chain, with major contributions from our Alloys business in Brazil, enabled this. Despite the worsening price pressure in the stainless segment, we achieved a solid result in Europe. This reflects the effectiveness of our self-help program focused on cost, the Leadership journey, which enables us to remain profitable even in the most challenging conditions. Most important is the free cash flow. EUR 157 million. Were generated with zero one-time effects and purely from operations. This covered our CapEx and dividend, but also.
Marked the start of our net debt reduction. We reduced net financial debt by EUR 92 million, and we are progressing along the deleveraging roadmap that we shared with you in Q1 already. Moving to the next slide, our four segments performed in line with the guidance we gave. Brazil and alloys remained cornerstones. The pricing pressure in Europe for stainless steel intensified in the second quarter, but seasonality had a positive impact. Recycling and renewables, the adjusted EBITDA decreased to EUR 13 million and is due to lower volumes and softer scrap prices. Both are linked to the weak demand in Europe. The valuation effect was negligible. For Q3, we expect a higher adjusted EBITDA as shipment volumes improve to prepare for the seasonally strong Q4. In Brazil, we expect a stable development at Bioenergia. Stainless and electrical reported adjusted EBITDA of EUR 65 million.
The lower demand and price pressure in Europe could be offset by cost optimizations and the seasonal support and reserve. Due to our cost leadership, Europe improved slightly even in this difficult quarter. In Brazil, the improvement is a result of very good volumes at decent prices. As mentioned last quarter, H1 EBITDA in Brazil surpassed the full-year result of 2024 already. The outlook for the segment in Q3 is even more challenging. In Europe, the summer quarter marks the seasonal trough of the year, and while Brazil is seasonally stronger, shipments should be on a comparable level. Lower realized prices, however, are expected in both regions. The price effect and the volume seasonality in Europe will be clearly reflected in our EBITDA. Service and solutions achieved an adjusted EBITDA of EUR 6 million. This decrease reflects the current spot market situation with pricing pressure and lower demand.
Distributors currently hold sufficient inventories and are cautious with new purchases. The market will remain challenging, and the seasonality is negative. We do expect a lower but positive EBITDA in Q3. Alloys and specialties report a new quarterly EBITDA record level of EUR 38 million, partly driven by the full Universal consolidation. Demand was solid, and higher shipments, together with the margin increase, underpinned the Q2 result. In Q3, the segment will be impacted by seasonality but also by the repair and maintenance of key assets. Furthermore, there are ongoing topics at customers that have a full order book, but their output per quarter is lower than expected. As a consequence, EBITDA is expected to decline versus Q2 to a comparable level to Q1. Universal is an acquisition that was timed right and, more importantly, at the right price.
We are confident that the temporary weakness in the aerospace supply chain will resolve concerning the full order books at the OEMs. The alloys business is a key part of the Aperam transformation portfolio by adding stability and a growth component to our businesses. Others and elimination came in at EUR 9 million, and this is a typical normal figure. The intercompany eliminations resulting from the strong integration across Aperam's businesses such as recycling, forest, stainless steel mills, and distribution are located here, as well as the corporate costs. Moving to the next slide. Last quarter, I already said clearly that we have one important mission post the acquisition of Universal: deleveraging. As the economic outlook is beset with volatility, deleveraging helps us also to reset for the future as we refine our business model across the value chain to deliver the cash for our transformation and to our shareholders.
This is our key financial priority now. As guided, we were able to start deleveraging in Q2. The improvement in net working capital supported this. The next quarter will be a difficult one as payables drop seasonally, but even then, we aim for another slight net debt reduction. Optimization of our differentiated value chain allows us to streamline working capital management further and generate cash even in quarters with cyclically low earnings. In short, for 2025, to be clear, the peak of our net debt was reached at the end of our first quarter after the closing of the acquisition. Longer term, we state in our financial policy that net debt to EBITDA should be below one through the cycle, while the current ratio has dropped below three and is currently sitting at 2.77. This is a result of the cycle and a below normal EBITDA.
We do still value in a strong balance sheet. The target remains to decrease net debt by EUR 200 million compared to Q1 closing until year-end 2025. We are at the bottom of the cycle, but our promise to deleverage within three years is valid. Now, this was on the numerator of our deleverage plan. Moving to the next slide, let's talk about the more important part, the denominator, which is the EBITDA and what we are doing to increase it. The leadership journey is driving Aperam's transformation and helping to build a truly differentiated value chain. We are now in the second year of phase v of this highly successful self-help program. After exceeding our targets last year, we also made a strong start into 2025, achieving EUR 21 million in Q1 and EUR 20 million in Q2.
In total, we have already reached 55% of our 2025 target at the midpoint of our program. The booster program, or classic cost cutting, is being accelerated to counter the mounting pressure in the European market. We are committed to defending our cost leadership in the markets we operate. While we confirm that the general goal of the leadership journey is to achieve an EBITDA improvement of EUR 300 million in a normalized economic environment, we are still far from a normalized situation. Over the past few years, we experienced a series of disruptive events that have reshaped the global landscape. COVID-19, the energy crisis, shifting value chains, and tariffs. These developments may represent a new normal, suggesting a potential structural shift in demand. However, thanks to the leadership journey, progress is visible in the tangible EUR 136 million we have reported so far in leadership journey five.
Our alloys, recycling, renewable, and Brazil businesses show the growth aspect in our leadership journey as they overcompensate the weakness in European stainless in EBITDA added. Even in difficult times, we are positive in Europe with stainless steel, but this is just not enough. As always, we will continue to focus on our competitiveness to remain the most profitable player in the market on every ton we ship. I hand over back to Tim now for outlook.
Thank you, Sudh. With seven months of 2025 behind us, the recovery that we hoped for is nowhere in sight. The manufacturing recession, which began at the end of 2022, might be the new normal. We have faced a series of unexpected crises in recent years. Today's reality is one of perma volatility. While the future remains uncertain, preparedness and decisive action are more critical than ever. Regarding tariffs, as we pointed out already, Aperam has little direct impact, but the agreement from last Sunday brings more stability to the market. On top, we welcome the announcement of free steel quotas for Europe again, plus the joint working with the U.S. on global overcapacities. Given the current uncertainty and opaque economic situation, making a reliable forecast is challenging. However, to put it simply, we don't anticipate a recovery to begin in the second half of 2025.
For Q3, we anticipate the typical seasonal slowdown in shipments due to reduced demand during the European summer. This will be amplified by distributors' restocking. Our alloys segment is also impacted by seasonality and by the failure and repair of a key asset. Current spot price indicates a comparable valuation loss in Q3. Altogether, enormous seasonality, with some additional headwind on top, should lead to a Q3 adjusted EBITDA even below Q1. Sudh explained the net financial debt outlook already, and despite the lower-end earnings, we expect to make a slight net debt reduction also in Q3, driven by working capital optimization. In response to the economic environment, we cut the CapEx budget from EUR 200 million- EUR 170 million. The lower capacity utilization requires less maintenance CapEx. As always, volatile commodity price and unforeseen effects on the macroeconomic situation will still change this EBITDA and net working capital indication.
We will only be able to provide guidance once the raw material prices are known. Our quarterly update will be released at the beginning of October 2025. What could spark the recovery? Three potential catalysts stand out. The European Steel Action Plan, with new safeguard rules, should protect the European Union. I'm working with our organization, Eurofer, and met the Chief Commissioner of Europe several times. I am confident that she will protect Europe and save the steel industry. She said thiis clearly, that Europe cannot absorb global overcapacity, nor will it accept dumping on our market. There is CBAM. We discussed this often, and the message remained that CBAM will be implemented step by step starting 2026 to establish a better level playing field versus Asia. The German plan, investment in infrastructure, is part of a huge debt-driven program by the German government.
Germany is our biggest market, and we should benefit from it. Concerning the timing, investment banks see a positive uplift by mid-year 2026. We expect this potential catalyst to materialize in 2026 only. Meanwhile, we are strongly committed to continuing to transform the company in an even stronger and more competitive Europe while expanding our diversified business model in line with our vision to be the leading value creator in the circular economy of infinite world-changing materials. To finish, a persistent challenge that might require a different response, we raise questions. After the summer break in August, we will be back on the road in September, attending conferences and carrying out roadshows. Sudh and I are looking forward to meeting you in person. Please contact our investor relation department with any feedback or if you need corporate access.
Thank you very much for listening to Aperam Q2 Management Podcast. We wish you a pleasant day and look forward to your questions in our conference call this afternoon at 3:00 P.M. Central European Summer Time.