Good morning! Many thanks to you all for joining today's conference call for the H1 results in 2023. Before Taoufiq and myself get into the details of what has been another robust period of the company, I wanted to update you on today's announcement, I'm sure maybe you've seen it already, about my position. You know, I've been really delighted and honored to be part of Bekaert since 2019, and to play a role in the company's transformation. In this period, the group has made significant development with financial strength, resilience, profitability, and growth potential. However, the time has come, and by looking at my certificate of birth, it's really someone else to take the reins and continue the progress. So I'm really delighted that Yves Kerstens will take over for me. He is a divisional CEO for the Specialty Businesses.
He knows Bekaert and its culture incredibly well, and he has been a critical part of one of the growth engines for the group. Yves joined us here today, and I'm sure he will be happy to answer any of your questions at the end of the sessions. I will stay until September to ensure an orderly handover together with Yves, and I, of course, wish Yves all the very best in his new role, as he's absolutely the best, I would say, successor I can imagine to continue what we have started. With that, I will get back to the presentation of the first half results for 2024. If we move on the next slide... Oh, sorry, I think, Guy, you have. Guy, are you there?
Good morning, everyone. It's Guy Marks here. I think we've got everyone now joined in the call. Welcome all, and thank you for joining today's presentation on the first half results for 2023. Before I hand over to the team, I just wanted to remind of the fact that this presentation will be made under the traditional safe harbor rules. If you'll forgive me, I'm gonna read out the safe harbor wording to make sure all all is clear. This presentation may contain forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the current views of the management regarding future events and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Bekaert is providing the information on this presentation as of its date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in it. In light of the new information, future events, or otherwise, Bekaert declines its any liability for statements made or published by third parties and does not undertake any obligation to correct inaccurate data, information, conclusions, or opinions published by third parties in relation to this or any other publication issued by Bekaert. With that, I'd very much like to hand over to Oswald, please.
Yeah, thank you very much. I will start with some introduction highlights what we have in the first half year of 2023. Taoufiq will continue on this financial review, and I will have a little bit together with Taoufiq on some operations as well, and the outlook. Of course, if at the end, in the Q&A questions to our colleague, Yves Kerstens, I think we are very happy to answer this one. Now let's get me started, and if I would need to summarize this, what happens in the first half of 2023, I think it's another period of both strategic progress on the one side and financial delivery, and this in an environment which was not so easy when you look at the market conditions.
What we think is what we have really done, we have been able to continue to improve the overall businesses, its strength and resilience. This translate then into final progress, which is about 9.7% EBIT underlying margin, strong free cash flow and then also 20.5%. What it shows is that our execution and the development improvements we see in our portfolio evolves really towards more sustainable solutions. What we have demonstrated is really anticipating and tactical responsiveness where we see difficult market conditions. Just a few examples on, you know, our strategy, very simple: Perform, Transform, Grow. The strategy continues. Some highlights are there. I'm very proud on the Perform part. You see a record BPG performance. When we look on the Transform part, I just take one example.
This is the further penetration of Dramix 4D and 5D higher-end application. We also didn't leave off the growth, as the third part of it, we launch of new products such as Ampact, which is for the electric vehicles, could be really a technology breakthrough, and this would help really, you know, to charge the electric vehicle fastest, we have longer range. I think this is not technology which will be seen in the future as well. Of course, there was a further impact of our products in the nation, hydrogen industry, and I think Yves has here done a fantastic job. We have also continued to build our financial track record, and I will go into more detail on the next slide.
In a summary, and Taoufiq will go much more in the details, we I think we have re-delivered really strong results in a difficult market environment, as mentioned, on the back of lower volumes and against a strong comparative. When we look on H1 2022, it is a strong comparative. It's really especially also linked with the significant higher raw material price than it was. We have a maintenance of 9% EBIT plus, we have a maintenance of +20% in ROCE, and we see this is a little bit in different to the last year, a very strong cash flow already in the beginning, and the working capital performance, I think, was also in the right direction.
The low leverage, I think this allows us and creates financial flexibility for the future. Let me talk a little bit about the strategic execution, which hasn't changed: Perform, Transform, Grow. We perform to excel in all our current business activities. We bring Digital Solutions, Innovation Solutions, Sustainability, to support the transformation, our fields of play, and how we work. We grow organically, we make acquisitions, and we grow ourselves through growth and cut. Just to share a few examples of our strategic actions, we have received, and this is what I appreciate very much because this reflects the attractiveness of Bekaert in our markets. We have received a number of customer awards for performance excellence, technical collaboration, also for Sustainability, overall service and quality in our tire, energy, and utility markets.
Our solar farm, for example, in Burgos, was connected to the plant this month and is delivering already 15% of our energy requirements of our plant in Spain from now on. The majority of our main tire accounts were supplied with the first r-steel, as we call it. It means recycled. The steel manufacturer take a higher portion of scrap, and I think this is really when we talk about the sustainability, circularity, a big step forward. Dramix, you know, my favorite product, and also from Yves. We, of course, they have achieved landmark wins in the flooring segments in U.S., also namely for the battery plants and warehouses. Finally, last but not least, we continue the expansion in Grangemouth, in the, in, in Scotland to serve the fleet, the floating offshore wind demand. ESG is in the heart, and ESG is not cost.
ESG is, for us, a business opportunity, and as per the previous slide, Sustainability remains central to how we do business, and H1 has continued progress from any ESG perspective. We continue to be recognized by the ESG rating agencies. They really see and support the progress, and I acknowledge that. We are on track for our carbon reduction targets that we approved last year, as you might remember, by the SBTi, Science Based Targets initiative, called. We are spending a lot of time with our supply chain to ensure not only Scope 1 and 2, but also our suppliers are compliant and operating in a fashion consistent with our values. We are pleased to be the leading the Comforthybel initiative in Belgium, looking at hydrogen transmission networks, for which we have also been able to secure Belgian funding.
Again, I would like to turn out and spot out the Dramix Green concrete reinforcement, which are really allowing to decarbonize the construction industry, and this has been also by a quite well-known Solar Impulse Foundation, recognized as a really a green, I would say, solution for construction. I think, Taoufiq, it's now your turn to go a little bit more in depth of this quite robust financials.
Thank you very much, Oswald, good morning, everyone. I will take you through the usual highlights, but just before going into the discussion around the sales, just would like us to rewind a little bit to last year. Last year, you might remember that our top line has expanded quite significantly. We expanded our top line by 17%. That was primarily, and you might remember as well, on the back of the cost-push inflation that has been reflected in our sales. We did know that a part of it was not sticky.
I think that the sales contraction that we see this year needs to be also interpreted in that context, in the sense that we see it as also a positive in the sense that out of the 17% top line expansion we had last year, we're losing only 8% in a sequence where we do see a normalization of most of the input prices, primarily related to the raw material. When we speak about the top line, I mean, we do see indeed some volume contraction. I will further elaborate on that. But the main driver of the top line contraction is related to the passed on wire rod price decreases. We do see, since the beginning of the year, a decrease of the prices of the wire rod.
It will hopefully stabilize for the second half. We still expect some additional decrease in Q3. Again, I think it's important that we don't put the sales contraction only on the back of the volume, and that we also correlate it with the significant boost from last year, which, a part of it was not really sticky. An 8.2%, if you go through the different components of the top line evolution, what we see is that the wire rod price changes have generated an 8.5% contraction of the top line, that's equating to EUR 115 million.
It's followed by the volume drop, which was around EUR 109 million, 4.3% in value, but in tonnage, that's roughly 2.5%. A decrease of the volume, but rather contained for the first half of the year. On the positive side, I think it's important to highlight that we have been able to compensate and to offset a significant part of these decreases through the leveraging and the optimization of the mix and the pricing. This is another proof point that we're bringing in terms of pricing power that Bekaert is establishing. We see a higher mix towards more high-end applications. Actually, when we speak about the volume, the volume has contracted primarily in the commoditized market.
We have a strategy, as you know, where we want to put a higher focus on more high-end application. Again, a lot of this is expected, and as I said, we will elaborate a little bit more on that when we will go through the different BUs. Moving to the next slide, I think it will be probably worth spending a couple of minutes on the profitability itself. You saw it in the press release. The underlying gross profit has remained very stable at EUR 409 million. We have a minor decrease of 70 basis points in terms of gross profit percentage. It's an indication that we have been able to offset the negative impact of the operational deleverage.
If you want to summarize the performance, we can say that very simplistically, that the, the top-line revenue contraction in SWS and Specialty Businesses has been largely counterbalanced by the improvement that we have seen in terms of profitability in RR and BBRG. One of the main driver, and I think it's very striking in the bridge that we're showing here, the main driver of this performance has been mainly on the back of the further optimization that we have done in the mix. There are different components there, some structural. There's a portion which is non-sticky, and we, we can discuss it later on. The price and mix has been really the, the key, the key factor for keeping our performance at the right level.
You see as well that we had to deal with quite a number of negatives and headwinds. The first one is the inventory valuation, so -EUR 86 million on a year-on-year basis. The way you read it, you should read it, is the +EUR 60 million positive FIFO we have reported in the first half versus a negative -EUR 26 million for the first half of this year. I mean, despite all that, and for those of you who have been following us for many years, you might remember that when we were going through these kind of sequences, we were badly hit in terms of profitability.
Now, what we're demonstrating is that even in a context where the FIFO is taking a negative direction, we're still able to keep our profitability at the right level. Cash conversion cost. This is mainly on the back of some sticky inflation impact that we have there. It's mainly the labor inflation which is penalizing us. We had also some under-absorption in some areas, but we have been able, with the significant volume increases in China, to generate some upsides there as well. We are also benefiting from some decreases of some basic input costs such as energy. We will need to monitor the trend for the balance of the year.
All in all, I mean, we are able to maintain a very good and very decent level of profitability, both in absolute terms and in relative terms. Moving now to the specifics of the BUs and starting with RR. RR sales have contracted by 8.3%. Remember as well that last year, for the same period, we reported a top-line expansion of 12%. That was mainly on the back, again, of the input cost price increases generated by the inflation. Our volumes in RR are up roughly 3%, with a massive boost of the volumes in China, which are growing up by 30%.
India as well, is expanding by 3%, which is for the region, in Southeast Asia, the extended Southeast Asia, partly offsetting the lower volumes that, that we see in Indonesia. On the other side of the coin, the volumes are down in Europe and the U.S., between 9% and 13%. There is some destocking which is still ongoing there. Again, we're very happy to see that China has picked up a bit earlier than what we were expecting. We do see a positive momentum with the restocking going on currently. We do see as well, the miles driven, resuming. Last but not least, we are also regaining market share.
It was down from 20% - 18%, so now it's moving back again. In terms of pricing and mix for RR, we do see a rather stable level of performance with a slight negative of 0.5% in terms of variance. Again, given the very volatile and the competitive environment, this is a very good performance. Again, the business has been really focusing on stabilizing, improving the EBITDA margin with a strong focus on price, on cost management, and also work to be highlight. The BU has delivered a very strong cash generation during H1. Moving to Steel Wire Solutions. There we are reporting a sales cont`raction of 13%.
This, again, needs to be put in the perspective of the very significant increases of the top line that we saw in H1 of last year. The top line this year has been negatively impacted by the combination of lower volumes, roughly 12%, and also the impact of the passed-on wire rod price decreases on an additional 10%. What we see is that these decreases in volume is mainly impacting the most commoditized part of the portfolio with the biggest volume losses happening in Europe, which is contracting by 18%, the U.S., by 12%, Latam, in terms of volume, by 7%.
We do see that the mix in all these regions has been much better, with a very clear move towards energy and utilities, which are yielding a higher level of margin. Overall, the price and mix performance continues to be strong. It's partly offsetting the volume and the wire rod price changes, I have referred to earlier, and the price and mix performance is contributing for a +9.3% top line expansion versus last year. In terms of segment, as I said, it's primarily the most commoditized applications in our portfolio, so it's typically the low-carbon applications, the agriculture and construction to, to, to, to some extent. Moving on to Specialty Businesses.
Specialty Business top line has contracted by 12.6% in H1, and again, it needs to be put in the perspective of the massive boost of the top line last year by 38%. We're retaining a significant portion of the increase that we saw for the last couple of year or couple of years. In terms of sub-segment within the BU, with the exception of the fiber technologies, volume-wise, sales-wise, all the segment did see a contraction of the performance. BPR, so Building Product, we do see a 12% decrease in sales, so it's primarily driven by the volume. However, we have been able to hold on the very high pricing level and keep the mix.
So we have improved actually the mix by 50 basis point. We are also benefiting from some marginal favorable currency movements. Our Dramix application has been slightly down as a result of some job delays and some slow overground level of activity in Europe. We don't see this decrease as something which is structural. It will come back at some point of time. But I think, again, the key highlight is the fact that we have been able to maintain a higher pricing, a better mix, and I think very relevant information. What we do see this year in 2023 is that we, it's related to the shift to our higher-end type of applications
That's the Dramix 4D and 5D, which now represents 48% of the volume, versus 30% of the volume last year. A very good performance, and as well, benefiting from some positive regional mix, where we did see some higher margin markets like North America and Oceania benefiting from a good level of activity. BFT. BFT, as we said, I mean, top line is increasing by almost 6%, we did see this first half, a steep price erosion in China, mainly related to the core wire, with competition releasing some additional production capacity. On the positive note, we do see a stabilization of the pricing towards the end of Q2 of this year.
We're hopeful that this will be more sticky for the balance of the year. Otherwise, in terms of other application, we did see as well a slow semiconductor and lower filtration sales. The Combustion business has been impacted by the regulatory uncertainty in some of the key markets. We did see and report lower sales to some of our key customers, like Bosch. We do see lower sales of burners in China, however, we have been able to neutralize the impacts, a part of the impacts on the margin through a successful price increases. Last but not least, the Hose and Conveyor Belt, which is down roughly 19%.
There, the volumes have fallen short across all the regions, with the exception of China, and it's primarily impacted by a weaker demand. We do believe that the fundamentals do remain strong, and we do anticipate a market recovery for this specific type of applications. Last but not least, and moving on to BBRG. BBRG, that's the standout performance of H1 2023, with most of the indicators being green. Be it sales, profitability, order book, you name it. Top-line sales is increasing by 16%. It's a combination of price, mix, passed on changes in wire rod prices, which are also positively contributing to the results. We do see as well higher volumes by 5%.
This performance is actually across the board. The ropes business is reporting a volume increase by 2%, with the main increase being in the oil and gas and the mining. One might claim that we're going through the investment cycle for the oil and gas, and some of it might not be sticky. What we can say is that we do see for the balance of the year, a very strong order book. Our order book is quite quite full. This is giving us confidence for the balance of the year. Last but not least, advanced cord, where we also see volumes going up by 17%.
I did touch on the price mix, so our average price has been increased there, so we are able to report almost a EUR 500 increase per ton for the, for this business. As we said earlier, the momentum does seem to be quite good, especially in the context of the very strong demand that we see for some of our applications, like Armofor, where we are upgrading our capacity to meet all this demand. Moving on to just some further details about the P&L. I touched already on the EBIT underlying at 26, at 226%.
If you exclude actually some of the one-offs that we had in 2022, and I'm referring particularly to some sales of land, that happened in H1 2022. Actually, our percentage of EBIT on sales is improving compared to last year. Moderately, but still improving by around 20 basis points. Jumping directly to the results after tax. You do see that despite the fact that we're maintaining our gross margin, and we're roughly keeping our EBIT underlying, the result before tax is showing a decrease. This is mainly related to a non-cash negative effect on FX translation, mainly related to the China RMB.
Other information as well to be reported, we are not seeing any major movement in terms of interest, financial interest as such. You know that most of our debt is at a fixed rate, so we are not penalized by the current environment when it comes to the interest rates. Last but not least, our ETR as well has been reduced compared to last year. We're reporting an ETR of 24.5% versus 26.7%. This is mainly on the back of some improved profitability in some historically loss-making entities, which is allowing us to use some deferred tax assets. Now, moving to the balance sheet. There as well, we're very happy with the performance.
I mean, just before commenting on the specific working capital components. What we are happy about for the first half of this year is the strong performance in terms of cash generation. Last year, we had a cash burn during the first six months of the year, roughly minus EUR 80 million. We are on the positive side with the cash generation between EUR 80 million and EUR 90 million in terms of OCF. Again, a very strong performance, and this was primarily on the back of the very disciplined management of our balance sheet and primarily the inventory. In terms of GIO, we do see an improvement of our inventories.
We're down from 96 days last year to 87 days, below the 90 days mark, in 2023. That's a quite good performance. We didn't see the, the massive restocking that we saw last year, and we're better managing some long lead times going forward. This is significantly contributing to the improvement of our of our balance sheet. A slight degradation in terms of DSO for the receivables, which is going up by four days, so nothing that we should be worried about. I mean, it's the usual effects of seasonality and so on, and we will be tackling that all for the balance of the year.
All in all, we are up for a good start in terms of cash generation for the balance of the year. Again, worth to be mentioned, in terms of cash on hand, we are as well on a very comfortable position, despite the fact that we had some quite significant outflows happening during the first part of the year. We have repaid more than EUR 240 million of debt. We had a couple of maturities, the main one being the EUR 190 million repayment of the Schuldschein that we did in May. We have reported the cash outflow associated with the SBB in the range of EUR 55 million. We have also paid the dividend.
Quite sizable volume of outflow, but despite that, we're maintaining a decent level of cash during the phase, the part of the year where usually the cash generation is not very strong. Bekaert historically had a pattern where the cash was more backloaded and generated more in Q3, especially Q4. I guess that with that, I will pause here, and I will take further questions, additional questions at the end, and I will pass it on back to you, Oswald.
Thank you very much, Taoufiq. I think just some more information on operations, and then, of course, we go with together with Taoufiq on the outlook. As a reminder for our strategy, and I think it was a very simple strategy, very clear and consistent, and we just deploy it, and we continue to execute. It's really about strengthening the core business. This means improving resilience to deliver 9+ margin, despite reduced volumes, improving the business mix, but also then, of course, increased penetration, like in higher value add products like 4D and 5D on Dramix. The second sector going beyond this is the launch of Ampact, which is the electric vehicle. For the starter components, we ramp up the scale of production in Currento. This is hydrogen. Growing interest, we see in clean energy.
This is we cover with Armofor. Alongside the applications we have already for renewable energy, for example, reinforced power cables and exciting markets for floating offshore winds. That, we are really building a strong value proposition for synthetic mooring lines. We have a very nice factory building up in Scotland. It's highly appreciated, also with the local government. Another example is enhancing the service component to our portfolio, particularly for the high cost investment, for road monitoring, make it more safe, and reducing the total cost of ownership. You know, it's nothing about people. Yeah? It's really about we say, you know, how can we support the Perform part? We are very delighted to have now Barry Snyder with us on board. He's the CEO. He's running a lot of procurement engineering in also partly the innovation.
This is also his background, he is focusing on maximizing cost efficiency and also put the costs of procurement in the core part. Of course, if we want to evolve further, this is the continuation of the strategy just before, we have Ernst Lutz now recently joining us, he is really driving innovation across our company, setting priorities, looking that we get the value creation out of the innovation, out of the money we invest there. He has a unique way how he links innovation together with business partners. These are both very experienced leaders. They are complementing our strategy, I think they will help us further to evolve in the direction we have set up. Allow me just to give you three more highlights, I think Taoufiq was so kind to look on the performance of BBRG.
I remember many calls here, that BBRG was a little bit of a troublesome. I have here to give the credit to all the people in the team who have worked, I would say, especially since 2020, that BBRG gets really a highlight, and I think this is what we can say on this one. The margins now are firmly established 10+%. It's really a testament to the successful execution of the profit restoration plan, but also the strategy. We focus on both selective sales growth and cost reduction. I think it's really now a new fundament for BBRG to further continue its, I would say, really excellent story. Looking forward, we are excited that the range of products that in particular can support clean energy solutions and services. We continue.
One topic to be mentioned as before, this is this Armofor, this reinforced tapes, and I think it deserves a special attention when we look on Armofor. This is an example for transforming, and we have seen significant demand for Armofor, our solution for flexible pipes, replacing steel pipes, which have always the topic of corrosion and high TCOs. The flexible pipes are growing, is a really growing market, giving the CO2 and total cost benefits versus alternatives options like steel. At Bekaert, we are expanding capacity in Europe and in Asia accordingly, and further investigating the potential to redesign our established Armofor solution in even to go further to enable green energy application, hydrogen transportation, and carbon capturing. I think here is a business opportunity we really are ahead, and we would like to capture.
Potential to transport hydrogen is not easy, given the size and the pressure requirements. We have a strong tech know-how and experience in the traditional markets to leverage this application. Then I would say, let me go just in the growth area, where we have a really highlight. As mentioned before, the electric vehicles, they are now shifting from 400 to 800 volt. What is really the aim is to increase the efficiency and also to increase the fast charging and, of course, having a higher range of driving. In June, we had our first customer trial sample delivered of our Ampact product, which people, our customers are really excited about. As an essential component, it's 800 electric vehicle cars, is really becoming the likely future standard, the 800 one.
Ampact is a product where the PEEK insulation of the high voltage market makes really the difference and has a lot of advantage with the extended drive range and savings on the TCO, savings on the assembly time, savings on the energy, and there are some other available resources which we can save on this one. This product builds a long-standing experience in steel wire, takes it now to copper wires. The most important is for this application to use our coating technologies. The isolation, you know, that there is not the shock of electricity. This is really something I would say a high-tech product, where we really can have a significant play in the electric vehicle, I would say, applications.
I think all of us, when we look how the demand is growing and how the applications are growing and also the technology is evolving, I think we have a very good fit for all these requirements to come. Then let's go away from product. Let's go a little bit to the region, allow me to give you a China update. We have been in China for more than 30 years, we have a very significant business in China and an extremely strong local management. We have an excellent support from our customers, suppliers, and regional partners. Taoufiq and myself, we have been here now for the second time after COVID. We can connect with our people, with our customers, with our suppliers, but also with the regional governments. Bekaert has here, for me, was really impressive and unbelievably positive reputation.
When we look on the recent dynamics, China has been particularly area of the focus for the executive team. Being very close with the teams, I think it's really that we can strive in the right directions and developments we need in these markets. China holds immense potential, even if the environment is not so easy, but especially for our key focus areas like the electric vehicles and the renewable energy. The potential to create opportunities in both in China and even beyond, because some of these Chinese customers, they also go into South Asia, what we would like to cover. Here, for example, we are also very fortunate for our Vietnam and India plants to really be able, what we maybe missed to a certain extent in China, but to counterbalance in our businesses across the whole region, region of South Asia.
I think with this, I would like to come to a short outlook on the segments. A couple of words on this one before I hand over to Taoufiq for the wrap-up and the outlook. When we look at our Rubber Reinforcement division, it continues to position as a strong cash generator for the group. The team is really actively working on serving the customers' interest in premium, sustainable solution, but also make sure that we can capture growth opportunities, as I mentioned before, in India and Southeast Asia, and this will partially offset for soft demand somewhere else we see in some of the stations.
Our Specialty Businesses will be challenged in some segments, given also regulatory changes, like on the gas installation, et cetera, or some little bit softer markets in construction, but it is very well aligned with critical sustainability agendas, and this will drive further progress for some of our key brands like Dramix, Construction, Currento, and the Hydrogen . Within Steel Wire Solutions, energy and utilities in the U.S. continues to benefit from federal funding. On the other hand, we see subdued demand in EMEA, Latin, and Asia, but here, of course, we continue optimizing both portfolio and cost. Finally, BBRG has a strong order book and a robust market outlook for steel ropes and armor, for we expect to compensate for maybe some lower volumes we will see in hoisting for the elevators.
I think it's fair to say really it's thanks to the teams of the efforts, and we will continue also in the hands of Yves to move forward strategically. In this period is another proof of the point of our track record. Taoufiq, I will ask you to cover maybe the next chapter.
Okay. Again, I went through the first notes, which have been issued this morning. Some of them are referring to the lack of hard guidance, which has been given in the... or not given in our, in our press release. This is primarily on the back that again, I mean, it will be naive from our side to think that the volatility that we're dealing with will stabilize. I think that we kind of touched on some of the dynamics which have been going on for the first half. There will be other dynamics going on in the second half, and at this stage, it will be very difficult to factor this into a very firm projection.
What we do see, however, is that we're comfortable with the consensus as it stands now. In terms of the dynamics that we still need to assess going forward, it's mainly related to the volume. I did refer to the fact that we had minor volume decrease of 2.5% during the first half. This might be a different picture for the second half, barring the fact that China is going well, and this is meant to continue. We need to see how the situation in Latin America will evolve. I did refer to the fact that our top line has been primarily impacted by the evolution of the wire rod prices. This will continue for Q3 before probably plateauing towards the end of the year.
We need to see how this will turn out. On top of that, I mean, we have the usual seasonality, so H2 is lower in terms of number of days of production. This is the reason why, for the moment, we want to stick to the guidance that we have given. We are reiterating the fact that we're comfortable with the consensus as it stands, and we will be monitoring the situation and do our best, as we have been doing it for the first half, to mitigate all these adverse factors that I have referred to. An important information, we are happy to confirm the date of our Capital Market Day for the ones who have not been informed yet.
The Capital Market Day will take place on the 7th of December, and further details on the logistics will be shared with you in the coming weeks. I guess that with that, it's time to open it up for Q&As.
Maybe allow me to take a second from your time.
Sorry.
Yeah, I would like also to thank the colleagues here in our call for their interest in trust in Bekaert . I learned a lot over the last years, you know, from your questions when we talked about sewing wire, when we talked about a lot of things. I really appreciate this course. Some of you I could meet personally, and I enjoyed this conversations. It's now time for me to say also a big thank you, and I wish you all the best. Stay safe and healthy, have a great vacation, and I hope that you continue to have this trust and confidence in our Bekaert. I'm very happy that I can give the reins to my colleague, Yves Kerstens. All the best from my side, but now we should go to the Q&A.
I see a lot of hands have been raised.
Yeah, thank you for that, Oswald. If those that wish to ask a question, do raise their hand. I see most have already. Wim, I think you were first, so if you can unmute your line and please go ahead.
Yes, thank you very much, good morning from my side. A couple of questions. Maybe first on Rubber Reinforcement China, if I may dive a little bit deeper into that subject. Can you say how far restocking has evolved now? Or is inventory, is the supply chain almost fully restocked now? Also, yeah, what's your take on then the underlying demand for H2 in light of that? Also maybe commenting a little bit more on the pricing conditions in China. Do you still are in a downward trajectory with regards to accepting lower prices there? That's the first bucket of questions, I would say, around Rubber Reinforcement China.
A second one would be on your outlook, and, and guidance. Can you maybe elaborate a little bit more on, on what assumption of inventory valuation effect is baked into that guidance? I, I heard Taoufiq mention that there might be some additional negative wire rod price pressure in Q3 and then plateauing in Q4. Can you maybe elaborate a little bit more what is, yeah, what is baked into the guidance with regards to wire rod and inventory valuations? Then the last question from me would be on the CapEx guidance. Can you maybe update the full year CapEx budget you have, and also elaborate a little bit more on the, on the various buckets and maybe quantify that as well?
Those would.
Yeah.
be my questions.
Taoufiq, you want me to take the first question?
Yeah, I will complement it as well.
Yeah.
Yeah, go ahead, please.
You, you asked me, you know, how we see the climate in China, and what we have seen, yeah, a good return on the demand. Yeah, it was not explosive, huh, but it's somehow bottom out is coming back. Customers start to restocking a little bit, the mileage driver resuming, and we regain some market share. What we did not participate in, you know, there were some price wars in previous quarter, and we stood out of that, and this is we have made quite diligently. I think the economic development, the outlook, you know, if this remains somewhat of... We all know this is uncertain, and of course, there's competition around. What we see is we really were working heavily on being competitiveness, having the right products. We go into the areas of high, high sensor strengths, and I think this is rewarding.
China remains, for us, a significant business. We have a long history there, even if the market maybe is not growing that big as they would have. I think this is a huge market in absolute terms, and we see also that the demand is also in line with our good reputation with the partners and government. What I mentioned before, they're really giving us the support. Then what you see is the immense potential for electric vehicles, renewable energies, and green construction. You know, once China has decided to go, they do it, huh? They execute very nicely on this one. This is, for example, and the electric vehicles, they might need a different way, style of construction of steel cord. We are responding to this one.
When you look on energy transition, momentum is now coming up on offshore wind parks and hydrogen infrastructure. Also what we see already, green construction for the investments and regulations is already embedded in. For us in our, because this was your specific questions, we have a good since February, our utilization occupation was around 90%, and I think this is very good, and the sales volumes is also coming back. We are almost running at full occupation in this very moment, but, you know, the uncertainty is also giving. This is why we are really closely monitoring, and we always are very swift in demand in I would say, the changes are coming up, positively or negatively.
I think what we have to see China, in our eyes, also the context, what I mentioned, not only to China, but see it also as a whole Southeast Asia, where we know we can balance and benefit from the different production locations we have and also to optimize the global footprint.
Wim, I will start with the CapEx, with the simplest one. Our guidance for the balance of the year will be between EUR 200 million and EUR 210 million for CapEx. I mean, it has a tendency as well to be backloaded, most of the CapEx spend will happen towards the end of the year. On your question regarding the inventory valuation, raw material, and things like that, just to rewind a little bit. The decreases in the prices have been somehow stronger than what we initially expected, and this is explaining the EUR 86 million inventory valuation that you saw in the bridge. There are different dynamics depending on the region.
I mean, it will be very difficult to average it out and say, "Okay, this is what it will look like." What we see is that the dynamic, for instance, in China, in India, in Europe, are very, very, very dynamic. In, in, in, in China, what we do think is that the prices for the wire rod are going to slightly increase because we do sense an improved demand compared to other regions. In India as well, they will increase after the summer. Question remains, what will happen with Europe and the U.S.? We are still baking in some assumption of some further decreases of the wire rod prices and a negative impact in our results for Q3.
We hope that it will plateau and stabilize in Q4, but obviously, we are carefully watching how the, the GDP and the demand prospects are evolving, because we do see a very close correlation, correlation with those indicators.
Okay, that's very clear. Thank you very much. Also I would like to thank Oswald for the very engaging interactions over the past few years, and all the best to you.
Thank you, Wim. Thanks. Appreciate it.
Frank, I think you're next. Please unmute your line.
Yes, good morning, all. Three questions. In the press release, you say that you see a positive impact. Price mix includes temporary effects from lower input costs. What is this? Could you quantify it? Does it have to do with energy hedges? What do you expect for that going forward? That's the first question, the temporary effects in the input costs. Secondly, you do flag some additional volume declines, possibly in the second half. In what areas and what regions do you anticipate this? Thirdly, could you give us an update on the hydrogen? If I recall well, you wanted to double revenues from EUR 15 million to EUR 30 million this year.
Is that still feasible, and what are your plans here for the future? Thank you.
Okay. Frank, I, Oswald and Yves, I propose to take question one and two on the price, on the prices, volume, and, you can take, the hydrogen.
Yeah, perfect.
Yeah.
I think it would be good if, if you take it, you would-
Yes, perfect. Welcome.
It's a perfect intro.
Exactly.
So go ahead, Yves, probably.
Yeah, no, on hydrogen, we are progressing according to plan. For this year, we're still looking at doubling the revenue. We have a positive momentum also on the incoming requests for offers for different type of customers worldwide. Simply confirming the trend this year and also the plans moving forward in continuing scaling up this business. Fully on track.
If I recall well, we've heard the number of EUR 100 million, 25, 26. Is that?
Yeah.
Is that correct? Okay.
We can confirm that direction. Yeah.
Okay. Thanks, Yves. The pricing, so you might remember last year we touched on that, that in the context of the soaring energy prices, we have been actively driving our hedging strategy, whether through technical hedges or through commercial hedges. We have introduced in some areas of the business what we refer to energy surcharges coverage. This is mainly impacting RR, and it's primarily impacting RR in Europe, and to some minor extent as well in the U.S. This is the part that we think will phase out over time.
Obviously, there's a phasing and a timing and a delay between the moment you adjust the prices and you align them with the market prices. We will still benefit from it from some point of time. We do think that now that we're going through this sequence of normalization of energy prices, the surcharges will be phasing out. However, there is one uncertainty, is what will happen with the energy prices during the winter season. We might again go through tensions in the energy markets with the events in Ukraine. This might again also boost the energy prices, which might allow us again to keep these energy surcharges for some time.
For the moment, very hard to read the situation. We will be able to understand it a bit better when we approach the winter season. The main element that we were referring to was mainly related to the energy surcharges. On the-
I'm sorry to interrupt, but could you also maybe quantify?
Yeah.
Is it, like, EUR 10 million, EUR 20 million, or could you give us.
Well.
some feel?
Yeah. Well, it's difficult to quantify it. I mean, it's sensitive information, it's commercially driven, and things like that. We want to refrain from disclosing a figure on what it represents. To give you some order or, I mean, for you to help you assess what it would represent, if we say it's primarily Europe and the U.S., that's roughly the half of the RR business. It's a surcharge which can reasonably be considered on roughly EUR 1 billion of sales out of the EUR 4.6 billion, EUR 4.5 billion for total Bekaert.
Okay, that helps. Thanks.
Okay. On, on the, the, the volume decline, there as well, we will be dealing with different regional and market type of applications dynamics. I think that we are off for a good start in China. The volumes have picked up, and we do see this pick-up to continue. You referred to the question around the restocking and things like that. We are not completely at the end of the restocking. It will still continue for some time. The mileage will further compound the stabilization of the volume growth. The level of OEM being produced in China will also help. China is not really the area where we see a volume decline. What we will see is a further decline in some of our most commoditized applications.
We. might reasonably assume that Latin America, for instance, will not pick up significantly. Latin North, which is primarily construction and agriculture to some extent, it's not an area where we do see the volumes picking up. Europe and the U.S. for RR, I mean, we did see a decrease towards the end of Q2. It will continue for part of H2 as well. Let's see, with the latest GDP indicators, I did see France releasing its growth prospects for the first half, which is positive. Let's see if all these compounds, and it leads to a stabilization in the demand in these key regions.
Construction, we don't think, as I said earlier, that this is structural, so it will be moving, hopefully, upwards towards the end of the year. In a nutshell, and to summarize, yes, volume decline, yes, primarily targeting specific regions in the most commoditized part of the portfolio.
Okay. Thank you very much. Oswald, good luck with your future endeavors. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for the cooperation and with your performance of the last three years.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Very kind. Thank you, sir.
Thank you, Frank. Martin, you're next. Please unmute.
Yes, good morning, everybody. I have a number of questions. I'm going to take Frank's question, slightly different. In the first half, you've had tailwind from hanging on to higher prices while the wire rod went down, and you've had the benefit of energy prices coming down. Do you think that you will have some sort of benefits in the second half as well, given that wire rods are still declining, at least in Q3, and energy prices are still lower, especially relative to the second half of 2022? That would be question one. I'll do them one by one, please.
Okay, we'll take this one. Wire rod, definitely, yes, for a very simple reason. I mean, you know, when we look at the impact that it has, that the wire rod has on top line, on FIFO, and so on, we kind of forget that it has also a significant impact on the cash conversion cost. What will happen is that, I mean, declines that we're seeing now, once we have consumed our older inventories, these wire rods that we have bought at a cheaper price will start entering into production, and it will reduce our wire rod. We always have these delays, so we take a hit with the FIFO, but we'll recover at some point of time the benefit from it through the cash conversion cost.
To answer simply your question, Martin, yes, we will see some benefit from it. On energy, as I said, this is limited or done with a specific part of the business, which is primarily RR. We have these energy charge surcharges, which are done in full transparency with our customers. We agree on percentages and things like that. This will fade out, and this is also the reason why one of the component which is driving our prudent outlook for the balance of the year. Again, it's not covering all the business of Bekaert. It's, as I said, roughly EUR 1 billion of sales, so this will fade out. The only uncertainty is what will happen during the winter season. If the prices again pick up, we will be keeping some of these energy surcharges.
If they decline, no, we will erase it.
Okay, got it. Moving on to the second question. You mentioned difficult markets for RR in North America, Europe, destocking. Can you share with us what your assumptions are or what you have determined in terms of market shares that you've gained? Have these turned out to be sticky, or have market shares in North America or Europe shifted a little bit?
No, market shares have been rather stable. We don't see a decline impacting us specifically, so we are still at 30% market share overall in China, as I said, I mean, we're regaining roughly the 2% market share that we have lost in the peak. Overall, we're stable market share-wise.
Got it. Now, my third question actually, relates to that China. You've gained market share. You mentioned that prices are lower. Now, I seem to recall that we've had multiple discussions on price discipline.
Yeah
or market discipline in China. Now, it seems as-
Yeah
Though, the, the, the strategy was always we will forgo market share to maintain margins.
Yeah.
Now you've gained market share...
Yeah
in a market where prices are lower.
Yeah
I'm a little bit confused. What? Is there a change in strategy?
Well, well, you know, it's an ongoing exercise that you need to do, and I think that it's, it's a calculation. It's a basic calculation where you try to understand how your pricing elasticity will allow you to offset your under-absorption.
Mm-hmm.
Now we're moving to a phase where the gains are much higher when we are fully occupied, and China is currently almost at full occupation, above 90%. The leverage we're getting from that is higher than pushing the prices, with the risk of being under tension in terms of pricing elasticity and market share. There are different dynamics which are in place currently, which is pushing us to readjust our strategy in terms of pricing.
Okay. Okay. Moving on to BBRG. If we assume that ROCE, it's roughly at 18%, 19%, perhaps even 20% EBIT margins, ROCE did approximately 9%, 10%, 11% EBIT margins in the first half. An astonishing margin for this unit, and you've pointed it out in your presentation as well. I'm wondering, is this a sustainable level now, or is there some sort of incidental element, a sales mix, yeah? Margins are higher in oil and gas than they are in certain other markets. Is this a sustainable level going forward, or is there some incidental element?
Can I give it a try, Oswald, then you complement?
You can give it a try, yeah. I can give you an answer. I think-
Well-
Yeah, please go ahead.
Yeah, go ahead. Please. Okay. Martin, you remember that BBRG was going into a turnaround exercise, so it's a turnaround which has lasted two more than two years, and the, the objective of this turnaround was to structurally improve the performance of this business. We have a significant portion of this performance, which is driven by the turnarounds that we have implemented. I mean, you remember very well, I mean, we closed many sites over the last 24 months. We closed Canada. We closed a couple of sites.
in the U.S. We are transferring production from U.K. to the U.S., our cost base has significantly improved in this market. There is a part, I mean, to be completely transparent, which is non-sticky. I mean, we're benefiting from the good environment around the oil and gas. It's an industry which is going through the investment cycle. How long is it going to last? Hard to say. What we can say is that it will definitely last throughout 2023, potentially the first part of 2024. Then after that, it will need to be replaced by something else. Crane and industrials might come back. Mining might be more longer and more sticky.
We're fortunate to have, you know, these exposures to all these different sectors, which are following different type of cycles...
and it allows us to balance it out. Now, I mean, again, we are more relying on, you know, the structural improvements that we're putting. We continue to improve our operations. We are ramping up, almost finalizing the ramp up in the U.S., and this will allow us to stabilize the level of profitability at the level that we see today. There's nothing which makes us suspect a fall or a major deviation against the performance we see today. As you said rightly, Advanced Cord is a business by nature, which performs at a very high level of profitability, and there, the name of the game is mainly about increasing the volumes and increasing them in construction, in lifting, and so on.
Got it.
Oswald, do you want to complement?
Yeah, maybe just one sentence. I think the opportunities we have in Armofor are not yet explored fully.
Yeah.
Today, we have it more in non-sour applications, but, you know, in the oil and gas industry, there's another topic. These are the sour applications, where you need different ways of thermoplastics reinforced. The combination to reinforce thermoplastics, I think this has a huge potential. The other topic I will just say, you know, real estate, as we all know, in China, everywhere, is not, is not at the highest peak. I think also those will come back, and here we have also solutions where we get requests from customers out of Japan. We get requests on customers out of, I would say, Germany and, and U.S., where we are testing different types of hoisting materials. Yeah? This is not the belt. This can be, they call it, poly ropes, et cetera. There's a lot of innovation in the pipeline.
If, if we are smart enough to go beyond and really, the top three is more the time of the succession ones, you know. I'm very confident, in the next 18 months, there will be a source of more innovative products, which are really then, again, leading in the market and allowing then some price quality.
Got it. Two more small questions. There's other income in the P&L of EUR 29 million. This is a question for Taoufiq. Is there any non-recurring element in the underlying EBIT, as you've reported it, that we see on the other income line in the IFRS-based P&L?
To my knowledge, knowing the other income, what we have is the usual contribution from joint ventures, royalties, and things like that. There is nothing which is non-recurring. It fluctuates as part of, you know, the usual business performance, but there is nothing which is non-recurring in the underlying part of the result.
Good, good, good. My final question is for, for, for Oswald. Oswald, you're 64. You're running a successful company with great potential. Why are you leaving? Your, your, your, your board term hasn't ended.
No, but what I, I can tell you, I found a better successor. It is.
No, all, all jokes aside, it is a serious question because-
No, it.
the share price is down.
Yeah.
It was always, I think, that the term I have considered and also agreed with the board. The early communication was a little bit, I would say, in due course, but it was a period where Yves and I, together with the board, have been developing that. Yeah. I think the time, the last four years, is it almost four years, was a very intense time, to be very honest. I feel good now because maybe there's also, we can step up. We can go for the new chapter. I mean it as serious, I can say, and I feel very confident. When you give something, and it's a little bit my baby, I call it. This is a little bit for human and personal.
I know that this is now the time that it goes for the next, I would say, journey. Yeah.
Okay. It is really about the next phase for Bekaert. There is no dispute or anything else?
No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I think this is-
Just wanted to make that absolutely clear.
Yeah, yeah.
Okay.
I'm not a guy sitting on the chair and being clued and not I think, you know, with the 64, you have to things also let it go. Yeah?
No, no, no. I get that.
At the right time, you know? I don't want to be carried out with 69 or whatever. This is not my way. Yeah? I think this.
I, I wanna, I wanna retire at 61, but never mind. Never mind. I'll, I'll move back in the queue. Thank you very much, gentlemen. All the best for all.
I thank you. Thank you very much for your question.
Thanks, Martin.
Very good. Now handing over to Alexander, please, go ahead.
Hey, good morning. Also, a nice goodbye from me to Oswald as well. Congratulations out to Yves on the new promotion.
Thank you.
Starting off some questions on the Dramix. Basically, I think a year or two ago, you mentioned that Dramix was having some tailwinds from steel rebar, that was becoming more expensive at that moment because energy prices are going up. Now that the steel rebar prices are lowering, just wondering why the demand appears to be increasingly sticky of Dramix, and can we can now consider this move to be structural, in the development of buildings and projects? Maybe in that extension on Dramix as well, how are your main competitors behaving in these markets? Second question would be related to Chile and Peru.
Just wondering if there were any other hurdles to be taken into account next to the next to the regulatory improvements and how that is going at the moment? Then the last question would be just in terms of working capital, how much how much can we still aim there? I think right now it was at 16.1% of sales. Just what's your aim there in the future? Thank you.
Yves, do you want to take the two first question, sorry.
Yeah
First question on Dramix?
Yeah, sure, Alexander, in terms of strategic focus, I think we started on top of the growth trajectory for Dramix also to target more specific segments and also tailor our offering to these segments, talking about precast, tunneling, high-end floorings. What you see happening is that that value proposition is very appealing. That's why we're willing, with the nice projects like mentioned by Taoufiq, on the battery factories in the U.S., but also in Australia and New Zealand, some nice tunnel projects in also the first one in India and in other continents. Since the...
we are tailoring much more our applications, our solution to the end market's needs, it remains more sticky, and it's helping also on the pricing and the mix. To your question, that will remain, and we will continue to focus on that strategy, and if needed, leaving the more low-end 3D fibers, competing with some of our competitors, perhaps less focus on that segment. In terms of competitors, I think we are clearly ahead in terms of our offerings, and we are also working on product innovation. We will be launching a new Dramix with additional performance functionality every two years, which should really make us and remain the market leader in the market.
Okay. Oswald, do you want to take Chile and Peru?
Sorry, I missed this one.
If there are any hurdles on the transaction for Chile and Peru.
Ah, no, no, no.
Latin South.
It goes exactly in the process indicated. You know, there are some antitrust topics which takes time to invest, to go to market. I think we are very well on track, this one. No surprises until now. Of course, you know, these officials, they take their time as they need. You cannot push them. I think the input they got from us, very well prepared. Our lawyers are there in regular contact, and both parties, and this is important, are very interested to finalize it this year. No deviations on that.
Okay. Your last question, Alexander, was on the working capital. I mean, you know the pattern that we have in working capital. Usually, I mean, when we publish H1, we see a percentage which is 200 basis points-300 basis points above the ending position. There's no reason why this should change. I mean, we will have, I mean, the usual pattern for 2023, and versus the 16.7% that we have in H1, we should be reasonable, if we state that we will be closing at 14% or lower.
Okay, thank you for that.
Thanks, Alexander. Stijn, you're next. Please unmute.
Yes, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. I have also a number of questions. I would like to ask them one by one, if that's okay. 1st one is on the SWS divestment. Can you remind us the cash-in that is expected? With that new balance sheet flexibility, could this advance your M&A ambitions, where you had a more cautious stance so far?
Well, we're expecting a netting flow of EUR 136 million from this transaction. In terms of balance sheet, obviously, I mean, it will even further consolidate our position. We will continue with our strategy in terms of capital allocation, which is a mix of growth, both organically, investing in new technologies, in innovation, new applications, and so on. We will potentially consider bolt-on tactical acquisitions to complement our portfolio or our technologies. We will not go for a major, massive M&A.
I mean, nothing has been decided for what's next, but we will continue with our share buyback, and we will continue with our dividend distribution policy, aiming at being progressively improved.
Okay. Understood. Helpful. Then secondly, I was intrigued by the slide on China. Would you say you are forever committed to the region, as it's probably the key factor that is driving the cyclical perception of Bekaert? Yeah, could you perhaps contemplate in the future a JV structure like you have in Latin America?
Now, of course, there are some considerations. Maybe it's a little too early. I think we want to strengthen our competitiveness there. Let me answer this in, in this way. I think the market may go for consolidation, but the market is still big, and if there's even a slow, I would say, a slow growth, it's still sufficient when you look on the overall quantity we have. It's maybe too early to have here a final answer, this one. You know, but I'm not only looking on China. For me, this whole Southeast Asia approach is there, because many of the Chinese customer, they go to Thailand, they go to Indonesia, they go to Vietnam. Here we got an excellent feedback in collaboration, also outlook in, in demand situation, because they are building tire factories.
Then in combination with India, where we have really, I would say, a substantial market share, let's put it this way. When we look at this one, and also the relations we have with our customers, there are always options we are continuously monitoring.
Okay, that's interesting. Perhaps there are more links to your European markets in Southeast Asia than with China. Is it, is it not fair to say that-
It's a mix. It's a mix, you know? It's a mix on Southeast Asia, where you have customers which are originally, let's say, in the Western world, but there are customers which are also in the Chinese world. This is what gives me, I would say, quite a confidence on the factory we built there. We are also now enlarging our product tuning capabilities in India, because we have a clear demand, and we want to keep our market share. We are really seeing there as a leading partner, also from the technology point of view. India is going in Sustainability. You know, we get a lot of requests for recycling and all these things, footprint reduction, CO2 .
The customers, they are maybe more the Big Four, they're really joining very heavily, and I have met them a couple of weeks ago, and I was also impressed the reputation we have there.
Okay, good. Another question to you as well. Can you evoke the analysis you made when you arrived here at Bekaert? I could also ask you where you feel the company has improved the most, but I'm more interested in where you think there is still room for improvement?
Yeah
For your successor.
Yeah. I think this is not our strategy. It's the strategy of BGE, it's the strategy of the Board. We are aligned, if this is the strategy of each of the BGE member. I think where we have mostly informed that we have clarity on this Perform, Transform, Grow, I think the biggest step was really done on the performance, you know, to have a sustainable results. Having clear strategy, but then walk the talk. I think this is what we said. We said when you talk about digital innovation, Sustainability, we said we have to offer the market smart, sustainable, and safe solutions, because a lot of our products are linked to safety as well. Steel cord is reinforcing. A tire without steel cord is nothing. It's just a rubber bunch. Let's be very honest. Ropes, where we are really leading in this segment.
In the markets where we are in, we want to have a clear play. We want to be market leader. We don't want to be beyond three in the market size. I think in the perform part, we have been doing very well. In the transform part, this was about portfolio management, digitization, innovation, sustainability, but also people, I think we make huge progress. Where we still, I think we have, and here, Yves, I think this is where I say it's really absolutely the right guy there on the growth part, yeah? Because, you know, when you talk about M&A, this doesn't just fall off the sky. You have to work on it, you have to look if this is where you have a right to play and ability to win. When we talk. This is the one part, huh?
Transform further, grow further, and keep performance at the level it is. Go beyond still, I think we strengthen the core. This is what you see, but also go beyond in other application. I think the strategy is very clear, and I think the growth aspects, the profitable growth aspects, I'm sure, with the passion Yves has, will be the focus of him and fully supported by them.
Okay. Thank you. Let me take the opportunity to confirm what Oswald mentioned. We've been working, of course, all as BG and with the board on the valuation agenda. One of the fundamentals that under the leadership of Oswald was, was, was put in place is this solid performance, consistent performance, even with the market environment, which was very dynamic, while also starting to embark on some of the transformations, like digital innovation, that should be leading basically to also organic or new or inorganic place. I think that's one of my priorities moving forward, correct? How do we gradually continue to strengthen the core we are having in terms of performance, allowing us to transform the portfolio over time?
Can only echo what Oswald said, and also, with you having here on the, in the call, thanking Oswald for the nice collaboration we had also in the last couple of years, the transition now, and we'll still continue. We'll continue to work together the upcoming months to do a healthy transition. Of course, it's nice to have a foundation that was established, under his leadership.
Thank you. I think when you look on our debt leverage, you know, in 2019 or in 2020, we couldn't think about the call, yeah? In the meantime, we have looked also on the market, where are the opportunities, which sectors we want to serve, where we do cover then the market trends, yeah? I feel so comfortable on this journey. I can tell you about this. Of course, I have shares. I want to also make sure that the shares, the appreciation of the shares is also there.
Okay. Do I understand correctly, you need to find new BU leaders for both Specialty and BBRG now?
Yeah.
Has it already been?
Yeah, it is, yeah. I think this is one of the next step of the organization development. There's a clear plan behind. The first one, of course, is the CEO. Then I think in the near future coming up, we will also have, I would say, the content to communicate.
Okay. All right. Thanks. That's all for me. Enjoy the coming period as well.
Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Guy, are there any other questions?
Yeah, there's one more question from Chase. I think you're next. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good morning, all. Just some quick ones from me, and I'll take them one at a time, if that's okay. First off, I understand that there's still some destocking in RR in, in both the U.S. and in Europe. I just wanna know sort of how you see that developing over the second half, when you expect that destocking to be over. In other words, when do you expect there to be something of a normalized operating environment for RR?
Oswald, you want to start, and I will complete?
The, the, the destocking, yeah, it's a little bit unpredictable. Your question was when you think that the destocking is over. This is what you say, yeah?
Yeah. Yep.
Yeah, what we see is it depends a little bit on the different regions we are in. We see in China, the demand coming up. I think for Europe and America, it maybe takes a couple of weeks or months. I think it's a little bit the cautious outlook we see this very moment, but yeah, I cannot give you, I would say, a date, yeah. But I think we are observing it very, I would say, intense, what's coming up, huh? We see the slowdown, so there can be some, I would say, delay in the pickup, but overall, I see this more as a small deviation and then getting more normalized again. Yeah, but it's a little bit. I think after summer, we see a little bit more.
Okay, that's clear. Just to go back to something that you mentioned on Dramix earlier, you, I believe, Taoufiq, you mentioned that the, the 4D and 5D iterations were now 48% of the volumes, at the, at this point. Just to clarify, was that volume or of revenue for Dramix?
That's, that's primarily the volume which is picking up and turning into a 48%.
Okay. Okay, yep, that's clear. Yeah, maybe my last question, just on this, on, on the CMD announcement, could you maybe go into a bit more color on what exactly you, you'd wish to communicate to investors in terms of sort of what areas you're looking at? What exactly is the rationale behind the CMD? What do you wish you can communicate at this point?
I will, I, I, I will start, and Yves and Oswald, feel free to jump in. I think that the, the, the last C- CMD we did was more than 2 years ago, and I think that with a new CEO on board, it's the right timing to have a discussion about our strategy and where we are progressing versus what we have initially stated. A lot has happened, and I think that it will be the right time to update with more detail and going into more granularity about our different segments, portfolio, application markets, on where we're heading to, strategy-wise. It will be a discussion primarily focusing on our strategy, our midterm outlook.
And how all the things that we have done so far does fit into this overall plan.
Okay, great. That's, that's very clear. That's all the questions from me. Also, I want to wish you all the best. Congratulations.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
All the best for you all. Thank you.
Thank you, Chase. We got one more from, Alexander.
Just a, just a quick one, and it's actually, it's a bit also what Chase just asked. It's a bit. It's not relating to the CMD specifically, but maybe on the hydrogen specifically. Is there a plan to provide some more details? It's a question that we get from investors quite often to provide more details on the hydrogen segment. How that is progressing? What are the margin potentials there, and how do you order book see developing? It's. Or, or do you one day plan to represent it as a separate segment or in, in the nearby future?
Mm-hmm. Yeah, Yves, you go. I can, I can... No, I can comment on it. Yeah?
Yeah.
Great. No, clear. I think it's, we're all excited about this opportunities and that the energy transition gives for not only for company but also for society to decarbonize and to contribute to a better, sustainable world. It's clear that we all are working on how to scale it, how to be successful. As mentioned, we are progressing according to our plans. We are strategizing further in terms of product offerings and what could be our play in the future, which side of the market, which segment of this market, getting specified in the global customers, how they're winning. There's a lot of positive momentum. On the other side, you all know it's a business that's in early stage of scaling.
That means the supply chain for all the components is often the driver for the execution of the projects. And that's where we need to monitor very careful how the market, the demand will be scaling. Certainly, we think it over time can become, let's say, certainly a big business unit, correct? From size point of view and contribution to Bekaert. Of course, we need to remain vigilant on the timing and the scalability. Not on the potential, but more on the timing of the scalability. But we will certainly take the opportunity of the market cap day to share a little bit more of our plans, our strategies, correct?
That all of you can have a, a good image of, indication of what the play for Bekaert could be in the future.
Great. Thanks.
Very good. Well, thanks all for those questions. I'll hand back to Oswald.
Well, I think it's really just, as I said, a big thank you. I wish you well. Stay safe and healthy, as I said. Wish you a lot of success. I'm happy now the next round you have with Yves Kerstens, and I think we have an exciting story. I think the Capital Market Day will be really a big opportunity to say what was the journey, where are we, and what is there? It's not only about, you know, some visions or whatever, it's really about that a lot of has been achieved and, like, having a more clearer picture. As Yves Kerstens was saying, on the what, this is very clear, but maybe the timing, scalability, and maybe all the other innovations. I think innovation will be also a part of the CMD. There's a lot in the pipeline, yeah?
Not sure by when it's gonna be mature, but I think we're really working this. This is the spirit of Bekaert. It was always linked to pioneering, and we want to continue this pioneering with this creativity beyond steel, and I think you're gonna be maybe a little bit surprised what's coming up, yeah. Thank you very much for joining, and maybe some of you are even on vacation. I hope you have a enjoyable rest, and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you, everybody.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Bye.
Thank you. Bye-bye.