Hello and welcome to H+H International Q3 2025 financial results call. For the first part of this call, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Afterwards, there'll be a question-and-answer session. To ask a question during the Q&A, please press five-star on your telephone keypad. This call is being recorded. I'll now hand over to the speakers. Please begin.
Thank you, and good morning, and welcome to our conference call covering the third quarter of 2025. My name is Niclas, and I'm the Head of Investor Relations and Treasury. Joining me today are, as always, our CEO, Jörg Brinkmann, and our CFO, Bjarne Pedersen. Yesterday evening, we published the Q3 report and related materials, including the presentation for this call, on our Investor Relations website. Please note that this call is being recorded and will be made available on our Investor Relations website after the meeting. Before handing the call over to Jörg, I would like to direct your attention to the disclaimer on page number two. Please be advised that this call will include forward-looking statements, which are subject to risk and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed or implied. For more information about these risk factors, please see the 2024 annual report.
I would like to hand it over to Jörg with an update on our performance in Q3.
Yeah, thank you, Niclas, and good morning to everyone. Thanks for taking your time and dialing in into our earnings call for the third quarter. Please turn to page three. As always, I'd like to share with you a couple of the financial highlights and then the key takeaways. If you look at numbers, Q3 performance is in line with what we've expected. You know, seasonality in our business, the third quarter is usually a stronger one. We're seeing a 2% organic growth, 24% gross margin, and then also EBIT margin of seven, and also positive cash flow. All these numbers we've expected. When you look into the business, you know that we are reorganizing Germany. We announced that in July. We are moving, or I have to say, moved into a profit-centered structure following a regional approach.
This is well on track, and we're also seeing cost savings coming through. I'm going to elaborate a little more on that during the call. However, the market is still flat in Germany, so there's no impact from the market, but our restructuring is underway. Also, Poland delivered another strong quarter with really exciting results, I have to say. What happened after we've closed the third quarter? This leads me to the situation when we were seeing actually a quite significant drop in volumes in the U.K. Until September, a very stable development driven by more activity in the house-building market in the U.K. The first house builders were reporting lower sales rates of houses, and we could see that in the October volumes, and that is impacting our outlook for the fourth quarter.
That also led to the situation where we had to correct the outlook for the year. I'll come to that a little later. Overall, we need to really summarize that the market environment is still challenging. It is still volatile. What we are doing is here making sure that we stay agile, that we are able to react to different situations that we are seeing, and driving really the performance of our plants because that is what we can influence. We cannot impact the markets, but we certainly can impact stuff we are doing on and the things we have in control. This is performance in our plants. For sure, it is also to manage our fixed costs carefully. This has been the program for the company, and it will continue to be the program for the company.
With that, let's have a quick look into the different markets and the dynamics on page four. What you can see here is the development of building permits. Let me start with the U.K., as this is the most critical market at the moment for us. You can see that registrations actually have developed nicely. We are seeing a 30% year-to-date compared to last year increase. However, as I said, October was kind of a hard stop, actually. House builders were purchasing less volumes, managing their own stock. This, as I said, is based on the lower sales rate they were experiencing. The question is, where is that coming from? You know, the key point is really for that development, and it always has been, is uncertainty on future homeowners' sides.
What's currently going on is that the government in the U.K. has postponed their budget for 2025. Instead of announcing this October, it's now announced to be shared on the 26th of November. There's a lot of speculation in the market about taxation rises. This is really leading to high uncertainty in the market. We can hear that from our customers, but also from other sources. There's high uncertainty at the moment, and that is holding future house builders back. We really need to see what is happening in the 26th November budget, and that will then also determine the future outlook. However, the current lower activity, we expect this to continue at least until the end of the fourth quarter. That is, as I said, what we are currently dealing with. We're also preparing for shift adjustments.
For sure, we always are after managing the demand and the supply side. We are looking into this. How do we do this in a smart way? Always what's guiding us is to make sure we are reacting to things we are seeing in the market, but not giving up on the long-term fundamentals and the long-term opportunities. These are strategies we are currently working on. From the U.K. to Poland, I think also in this call, we've discussed that actually, we are seeing a decline in building permits. We're talking 15% less permits in the year-to-date, so compared to last year. This is mainly coming from multifamily houses. There are developers having also fairly high stock of apartments they want to sell, and they are also holding back a little here and adjusting their own stock base. We can see that.
We can see that h owever, the pipeline on projects is still fairly strong. There is a backlog of projects that were permitted and that are currently still executed. That is why we are also delivering a strong Q3, and we remain also positive for the rest of the year for the Polish market. What's good is actually that just a couple of days ago, the central bank has further decreased the reference rate. I mean, it's an important indicator. It's impacting the mortgage costs for people. That is the sixth shortcut within six months, actually, going in the right direction, quite positive stimulus for the Polish market. Then comes Germany. When you look into the graph here, you can see there is a 7% growth in permits after really a long time of decline. You can say it's a first sign in the right direction.
What also is happening is that the government has launched a support program, which the old government has stopped. I think this is also a good sign. It still needs to be approved, but likelihood that this will start in December is high. We need to see and wait a little how much that will bring. It is an EUR 800 million program, so not super big, but I think every sign that goes into that direction is certainly valued as a positive sign in the right direction. As I said, we need to see how this is impacting the market. So far, it is a very flat and also high competitive environment we are operating in. For markets, a little deeper insight into Germany. With that, please turn to page five. This is about the update of our reorganization in Germany. It is well on track.
We were sharing with you that we are transitioning into a profit-centered approach. We really want to establish regional businesses that are close to the market. What I can tell you is that structure is in place. We have shifted from this nationwide, more functional organization into that regional profit-centered structure, making sure all people are in place, and then adjusting the processes of the company accordingly. This is in place. What we are currently doing is, and I think I have shared that, is really strategies selling around the chimney. You know that our products do not travel unlimited. It is really about making sure we are strong partners for our customers within the region, and that is currently undergoing. We are looking into product programs, really products that we want to offer and that we can also make in the region and that also fit the region.
We're looking into and evaluating different customer relations. There is a lot of stuff going on. A lot of stuff is under review. Always a clear target to establish profitable businesses, also in low-volume scenarios. This is what we are executing. Bjarne will talk about financials a little later. We've spent the biggest amount of our special items already, and we are currently seeing savings of DKK 40 million-DKK 50 million run rate. Bjarne has the numbers a little later for you. We have also announced that we are executing a strategic review. We have started those discussions. We are believing that the market needs further consolidation. I think this is without doubt. We are in dialogue with partners, testing different options. You can imagine these processes take time. There are moving parts in the market.
Yeah, this will allow a little bit more time. There are dialogues going on to see how we can create further value in the German market. With that, let me hand over to Bjarne, who will share the financials on page six with you.
Thanks so much, Jörg. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our call. As mentioned on slide six, you see a couple of charts. If we start on the left-hand side, that is the quarterly volume development, and we have a 2% volume growth this quarter over the same quarter last year. When you see the curves, you see, let's say, the normal seasonality you would expect out of our business. The volume growth is then broken down on the right-hand side. In the most right-hand bar, you can see the split per region. You can see that the growth is coming from Poland and from the U.K., and then partly offset by a volume decline in GWE, which is driven by Germany. Overall, the prices, they are on par with last year.
When you dig further into it, you see that we have this organic growth of 2%, so nothing coming from prices. Prices are slightly up in Poland. Number-wise, they are flat in the U.K., but that is due to customer and product mix. There are no changes in the pricing in the U.K. despite the changed market situation. We have a lower price in GWE, again driven by Germany, just in line with the assumption we had for our financial outlook. Overall, it leads to a revenue for the quarter of EUR 738 million. On the next slide, which is number seven, we have a little bit on the margins. Gross profit came in at EUR 179 million. That is equivalent to a gross margin of 24%, which is in line with the third quarter last year. There are some changes in some of the underlying drivers.
As Jörg mentioned, Poland performed strong. We have a better factory utilization in the U.K. this year than we had the same quarter last year. Those two things, they are offsetting the negative impact we had from Germany. We also see the first financial benefits from our restructuring costs. It is not specifically visible here, but it is in the numbers. That is as there are lower indirect production costs from the simplification of the supply chain setup in Germany. If we move to the next slide, we have more details on the restructuring, as Jörg already alluded to. We have in this quarter posted special items, which is all cash-related to be paid out here in the third, fourth quarter, or the first quarter of next year. EUR 43 million we have put into the restructuring program so far.
For the full year, we expect to spend between EUR 50 million and EUR 70 million. We have some kind of buffer in there because referencing to Jörg's comment, there are ongoing initiatives, and we will have to see how they play out. The anticipated savings, they will be between EUR 15 million and EUR 20 million this year. That will be in the indirect production cost and in SG&A. In the third quarter, some is in the production cost, and you will see more in the fourth quarter where it will be more visible on the SG&A as well. Into next year, there will be a top-up to the numbers Jörg mentioned. Compared to this year's cost base, it will be an additional DKK 25 million-DKK 30 million as a payback on the investment into the special items.
In summary, we expect to spend less than we have originally announced. The savings expectations are adjusted accordingly, but the ratio remains the same. As a reminder from the half-year report, we also have some benefits from the impairments we posted in the second quarter. It goes on under the depreciations. We have a benefit of EUR 15 million this year, and then we have another EUR 15 million to come next year. With that, I will hand over to Niclas to look at the cash flow.
Thank you, Bjarne. Please turn to page nine. If we take a look at cash flow from operating activities before financial items and tax, this came in at EUR 115 million in Q3 compared to EUR 170 million in the same period last year. The cash flow in Q3 were mainly driven by a positive operating result and seasonal development in working capital. As a reminder, Q3 last year was impacted by significant destocking, which weighted on cash generation at that time. Non-cash adjustments primarily reflect changes in provisions, mainly related to the ongoing restructuring efforts in Germany. Beyond that, cash flow were limited to interest and tax payments, as well as EUR 26 million in CapEx. Consequently, we ended the quarter with net interest-bearing debt of EUR 779 million, corresponding to a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 2.5x. Now, please move to page 10 for our financial outlook.
As announced on October 23rd in company announcement number 587, we have revised our expectations for organic growth to around 0% compared to the previous guidance of around 4%. We also adjusted EBIT before special items to a range of EUR 85 million-EUR 115 million, down from the previous range of EUR 100 million-EUR 150 million. With that, I would like to hand it back to Jörg, who will finish the presentation with a few final remarks. Please turn to page 11.
Now, let me conclude with what has been said. Financials for the Q3 came in as expected. That is good. The U.K. is certainly a sudden development. It came quickly. We have reflected that, and I think it is important to take away that we are reacting to it and preparing for it. Poland, strong underlying fundamentals, attractive results. Happy to have this being part of our business.
Germany, still weak market, but the reorganization is progressing well. With all we do, there are challenges around us everywhere. We are proactively managing them. In all we do, we always are not losing sight for future opportunities. I think that is important. We are taking decisions that are relevant for now, but also keep opportunities open for market pickups and stronger demands that we will see. With that, let me open the call up for questions.
We'll now start the Q&A session. If you wish to ask a question, please press five star on your telephone keypad. To redraw your question, you may do so by pressing five star again. There will be a brief pause while questions are being registered. Our first question will be from the line of Anas Spretzmann from Danske Bank. Please go ahead. Your line will now be unmuted.
Thank you very much and good morning, Jörg, Bjarne and Niclas. Thank you for taking my questions. I have a few, and I'll start with a question on the U.K. market. You mentioned a hard stop in orders from the U.K. home builders here in October. I was wondering if you are able to quantify this in any way. What does a hard stop mean?
Yeah, Anas, good morning. Yeah, we've built that into the organic growth guidance. Certainly, it's a significant double-digit drop, actually.
Okay, that's very clear. If this were to continue into 2026, what would that mean for the profitability of the U.K. business?
I mean, we're not guiding on 2026, right? For sure. I think what is important is even if demand is changing, and at the moment, we simply can't say that. We are really in a position here where we want to wait for that budget that the government announced. At the moment, it's a really uncertain situation. We believe that this budget will provide clarity no matter what will be announced. We need to see the effects on the market. We're going to use that to get a good outlook on what the demand will be. I think then also what's important is that we are able to adjust the supply side. This is what we are currently preparing. There are step plans that we are preparing, how we adjust shift patterns so that we always meet the right demand level.
That equation at the end then ends up in the right profit level. It is too early, actually, to comment on that.
Yeah, no, that's perfectly understandable. Definitely, it is volatile. If I may move on to a question on the Polish market. I mean, you mentioned yourself the declining building permits in Poland, but you see volume growth for the quarter due to the strong backlog of permits, which is, of course, very positive. When do you expect this decline in permits to feed into your volumes in Poland too? I mean, how big is this backlog you mentioned, and how long would you be able to theoretically sustain the volumes due to the backlog?
Yeah, what we can say is that we are not seeing this too late into 2025. This is how we've built the outlook for this year. For sure, we are preparing an outlook for 2026. It's certainly an area we need to deep dive into. There are really two different dynamics. I was talking about that this is more a multifamily topic. The single family is actually developing nicely. There you can see even higher permits, even higher starts. There are different dynamics going on in the Polish market at the moment. That is certainly a watch-out area for us. We're going to deal with that in the 2026 plan. Also making sure that what we're seeing on the demand side, we also mirror that on the supply side.
Okay, thank you very much, Jörg, for the flavor there. That was super. If I may move on to a question on the gross margin. So we've previously talked about the gross margin improving gradually over the year for 2025. And this has also happened in Q3. Do you expect further improvement in Q4, or should normal seasonality sort of bring gross margin down, or how do you see this?
Factory utilization is always a key in this. With the limited demand that we're seeing in the U.K., we don't expect any further improvements for this year.
Okay, thank you, Bjarne. That is very clear. A final question from my side. Again, the guided-for range on EBIT on Q4, I mean, what needs to happen for you guys to reach either end of the guided-for EBIT range in Q4?
Just as you saw from the previous announcement, it is very much about organic growth. We have the costs well under control. Adjusted guidance, we have initiated a few additional cost exercises, and hopefully, we can also see a little bit of results from them. Those are the two drivers in what you should expect.
Thank you very much for answering my questions. That was all for me.
Thank you, Anas. As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please press five star on your telephone keypad. We'll have a brief pause while any further questions are being registered. As we have no further questions in the queue, I'll hand it back to the speakers for any closing remarks.
Yeah, thanks everyone for taking your time this morning to dialing in. Wish you a good rest of the week, and yeah, looking forward to catch up with one or the other over the next days. Thank you.