Wendel (EPA:MF)
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May 11, 2026, 5:35 PM CET
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Earnings Call: H1 2022

Jul 29, 2022

Operator

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Wendel's 2022 H1 trading update conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. There will be a presentation followed by a question-and-answer session. If you wish to ask a question, you will need to press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. You can also ask your questions on the webcast. Olivier Allot, Director of Financial Communication and Data Intelligence will read them. I must advise you that this conference is being recorded today. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. André François-Poncet, Wendel Group CEO. Please go ahead, sir.

André François-Poncet
Group CEO, Wendel

Hello, everybody. This is André speaking. I'm here with David Darmon, the other member of the executive board and Deputy CEO, with Jérôme Michiels, Group CFO and Executive Vice President, as well as with our investor relations team, Olivier Allot and Lucile Roch. Welcome to this call. We'll present our half year trading update and go through a short presentation of the main items for 6 months of the year, and then engage in the Q&A session that we've just described. If you'd like to ask questions, you can submit them directly through the web platform, or you can use the telephone number you've been provided with. As a reminder, again, this is recorded, available for 1 year on our website. Here we go. Now moving to slide 2, half year results, key highlights.

First half has been a good one for our portfolio companies, with consolidated sales up by 16.3% and up 10.3% organically. Our net asset value at the end of June 2022 stands at 165.6 per share, down 10.4% from the high point of last December, driven by the impact of the Ukraine crisis on financial markets. When compared to the end of the first quarter, 2022, it is quite resilient. Restated from the EUR 3 per share dividend, which we paid in June, our NAV actually would have been up 1.7% quarter- on- quarter.

This first half has been busy, as you know, in terms of portfolio rotation, with the disposal of Cromology, which we closed early in the year, generating almost EUR 900 million of proceeds to the firm and a significant capital gain, and the closing of the acquisition of ACAMS in the US for an equity investment of roughly EUR 300 million. In addition, we further committed capital to the Wendel Lab, adding EUR 49 million in new commitments, increasing the total to EUR 165 million. Lastly, we bought back EUR 25 million worth of our own shares during the first half. We returned capital through this purchase of shares and EUR 3 of dividends. We canceled 377,000 shares on April 27, which generated a pro forma positive impact of EUR 0.70 per share on our net asset value.

I will now leave the floor to David, who's gonna take you through the performance of our portfolio companies, and then I'll make a short conclusion.

David Darmon
Group Deputy CEO, Wendel

Thank you, André, and good afternoon, everyone. You will find the usual slide that we prepare company by company in the appendices. We know that you're currently overwhelmed by listed companies' publications. That's why we'll go straight to the point and leave you some time for questions shortly. As you can see on this table, our portfolio companies did exhibit solid organic growth and profits in the first half of the year. In some cases, despite very challenging conditions. They confirmed that they have some pricing power, which is particularly important in an inflationary environment like the one we are currently living. Regarding Bureau Veritas, it did publish its half year results yesterday with a solid H1 2022 operating and financial performance. It makes sense as Bureau Veritas management is delivering a very strong performance, which is better than its peers.

Revenue in the first half of 2022 were up 11.4%, benefiting from solid market trends across most businesses despite the global environment. Bureau Veritas confirmed its outlook for 2022. As you can see, Constantia Flexibles delivered a +22.6% organic growth, with strong performances across both markets in consumer and in pharma, +23.3% in consumer and +20.4% in pharma. Sales are globally up +31% in total over the period, driven mostly by price increases necessary to compensate for the inflationary input of its cost base. Despite raw material shortages, Constantia has experienced an encouraging return to organic volume growth. Stahl posted total sales of EUR 470.9 million, representing an increase of +12.2% versus H1 2021.

Organic growth stood at 9.1%. The activity over the first half of the year was above expectation at group level, with a strong growth both in coatings and leather in both quarters, and growth was largely led by price and mix effects. Regarding CPI, as you can see, the company did post a +19.8% growth over H1 2021, of which 21.2% was organic. The success of the new program launches is now confirmed, as you can see. They now account for over 20% of the initial certifications for H1. The international expansion strategy, notably in English-speaking countries, generated growth rate above 20% as well.

CPI continues to enjoy a mixed shift towards digital solutions and virtual loaner materials continue to represent a strong share of delivery, and they do now account for 42% of loaner material sales. ACAMS acquisition was closed on March tenth. Today is the first time we publish half-year financial information regarding the company. I'll go into more details later in this presentation, but in short, it did deliver a very strong growth with total revenue up +21% compared to last semester in 2021. Regarding Tarkett, which published its results on July 25, you can see that net revenues were up by 24% compared to the first half of 2021, with the total effect of the price increases implemented across all segments being +12.7% on average.

As you can see, our companies delivered a very good first half in terms of revenues. Let's go through the profitability now and turn to Slide five. This table gives a clear view of our company's profitability in H1 2022. Bureau Veritas adjusted operating profits increased by 8.7% in H1. The adjusted operating margin declined 38 basis points to 15.3%, mainly attributed to the impact from the lockdowns which took place in China in Q2. Regarding Constantia Flexibles, EBITDA was up +34.8% with a 13.5% margin of 40 basis points above last year. This is the result of Constantia's effort towards profitability measures to mitigate the impact of raw material cost increases, a continuous cost reduction program, a positive volume and mix effect, and Propak acquisition, which took place last June.

Stahl posted an EBITDA margin of 22.2%, in line with Stahl's historical standards. Comparison with last year had to be done cautiously, because as you remember, last year, Stahl did benefit in H1 from a very positive effect, with a strong rebound of sales and an exceptionally low cost base at that point in time. Across all segments, price increases were implemented since the beginning of the year to mitigate the strong impact of rising input costs. The company has taken and is ready to take additional measures to protect its margin where needed. Stahl's management continues to closely monitor the inflationary environment as well as the supply chain and potential energy disruptions. CPI EBITDA increased by +27.8% year-on-year.

This corresponds to a strong margin of 49.7% over the period, which is plus 312 basis points compared to H1 2021. H1 EBITDA did benefit primarily from the flow through of higher sales to earnings, as well as from effective cost management. It did benefit to a lesser extent from temporary timing differences related to marketing spend and delayed new hires. H2 EBITDA margins are projected to return to budgeted levels. ACAMS EBITDA pro forma for the carve-out was $8.9 million, and the resulting pro forma margin stands at 18.4%. I will come back with more details on ACAMS later in this presentation. Last, regarding Tarkett, you can see that adjusted EBITDA margin represented 8.1% of revenue to be compared to 8.9% of revenue last year.

In absolute value, the adjusted EBITDA is up +12% year-over-year. Growth in volumes sold contributed positively to EBITDA in an amount of EUR 10 million. Inflation in raw materials, energy and transportation was unprecedented at EUR 161 million against a backdrop of rising oil and other energy prices and ongoing tension on procurement of certain raw materials. As you can see, our companies delivered good or strong profitability, in some cases despite very challenging conditions regarding raw material availability and cost. We have the benefit of having experienced management teams running this company and they prove again their strong ability to adapt to circumstances. I'm now moving to Slide six to talk about the leverage of our portfolio companies.

The cash flow generation of our portfolio companies and the strong level of activity have resulted overall in an improvement in leverage ratios, which are down to record low levels for several companies, with some exceptions, of course. The leverage ratio of Bureau Veritas is down to 1.1x, which is the lowest level on record since the company was listed. Constantia did further reduce its leverage ratio to 1.6x, which is well below its covenant of 4x, thanks to a strong performance despite a very volatile environment. Stahl did report a leverage of 0.8x at the end of June.

Stahl did remain cash generative despite a very hostile market environment, not only this thanks to the good EBITDA level, but the reduction in the net debt level was partially offset by the impact of the stronger US dollar as Stahl's borrowings are mostly denominated in US dollars. CPI leverage is now down to 5.3 times, which is quite an impressive achievement considering where the company was last year, and this is largely below its acquisition level. ACAMS presents a leverage of 5.7 times, which is already down compared to the leverage ratio at acquisition only three months ago. Tarkett's leverage was increased due to the usual seasonality of the business, which was accentuated by inflation and the need to replenish stocks.

The FX impact on debt is due to the dollar, and it did contribute to this increased leverage as well. As a conclusion, our companies have overall quite a strong financial structures. I'm now turning to Slide seven to talk about ACAMS. We acquired ACAMS in March 2022. ACAMS is the global leader in training and certification for financial crime prevention professionals. Over the course of the first half, ACAMS generated total revenue of $48.4 million, up 21% compared to H1 2021. Memberships and training sales each grew at double-digit rates, in part due to greater sales to large existing customers. Conferences generated the highest growth of any segment as a result of both the return to in-person events with growing attendance and sponsorship. ACAMS grew at double-digit rates across each of its three geographic regions, Americas, EMEA, and APAC.

Although APAC continues to be negatively impacted by COVID-related lockdowns. At the end of June 2022, the EBITDA pro forma for the carve-out was $8.9 million, and the resulting pro forma margin stands at 18.4%, which is in line with our expectations given the ongoing carve-out process. This process is well managed and we are quite confident that we are going to go through by the end of the year without much interruption. All senior positions have been filled now, and the migration of key IT systems has begun and is on track to be completed in the second half of 2022. As of June 31, net debt totaled $144.5 million, or 5.7x EBITDA, as per ACAMS' credit agreements.

I now leave the floor to Jérôme to comment on the Wendel Lab and on the financials.

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

Thank you, David. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Let's start with the update on Wendel Lab. Over the first half, we have continued our progressive capital deployment in funds with EUR 49 million additional commitments to new funds. As a result, we have now EUR 165 million of total commitments in top-tier US and European funds consistent with our strategy. This amount represents just over 2% of our net asset value, still below the 5%-10% we are targeting. Note that we don't see this level as the ultimate goal. We will carefully manage the level of our commitments and direct investments in the coming months, given the radical change of environment which is taking place for tech sector. We are currently pursuing direct investment opportunities in very exciting scale-ups, covering very diverse types of technologies and customers.

Our deal pipeline remains pretty healthy at the moment, and we are trying to find our way into interesting situations through our differentiated long-term approach. I hope I will be able to tell you more about it in the coming months. Let's now switch to the financial results of Wendel for the first half. As detailed by David, the performance of the portfolio has been strong overall, resulting in scope-consolidated revenues of EUR 4.2 billion, up 10.3% organically. The organic growth has been quite consistent over the first two quarters at around 10% for both. As a result, contribution from subsidiaries currently in scope has increased materially, although this has been subdued by the exits of Cromology and IHS, resulting in a modest EUR 12.6 million net increase on this line.

Financial and operating expenses have slightly increased to EUR 59 million, mostly as a result of the intense bidding activity that we have had in recent months, change in scope, and non-cash items. Altogether, net income from operations has increased by EUR 8 million to EUR 345.9 million. Below the line, we have a very positive contribution in terms of non-recurring items, which results from the capital gain of EUR 590 million generated on Cromology, net of the impairment of EUR 159 million of our investment in Tarkett to reflect the decrease in its share price as of the end of June. Other items relate to the portfolio and are less significant when taken individually.

At portfolio level, asset impairments have been a net positive at EUR 5 million, while the impact of goodwill allocation has increased to EUR 62 million following the acquisition of ACAMS. As a result, the net income for the first half stands at EUR 672.6 million and EUR 479.8 million group share, about EUR 350 million higher than last year. In terms of net asset value now, we are reporting a value of EUR 165.6 per share as of June 30, 2022. Listed equity investments represents 4.5-4.85 billion euros out of EUR 8.75 billion of gross asset value, while the sum of our unlisted investments and Wendel Lab represent a value which is slightly north of EUR 3 billion.

The level of discount we have calculated is quite wide, close to 50%, an abnormally high level when compared to historical average. More importantly, I would like to walk you through the main changes in terms of net asset value since the beginning of the year. Actually, our net asset value is down 12% or 10.4% when restating for the EUR 3 dividend paid in June. That's the year-to-date evolution. Looking back, the first half is a tale of two different stories. During the first quarter, the decrease in market multiples affected the value of our portfolio on a broad basis, resulting in -11.9% in total, whereas the second quarter has been much more muted in terms of changes.

Once market multiples continued to decrease, some of our private companies have improved their expectations for the current year, which mitigated the decrease in multiples. Which, with regards, sorry, to listed companies, it happens that the share price of IHS actually slightly increased by $1 between March and June, and the value of the dollar increased as well, whereas the share price of Bureau Veritas slightly decreased from 25.9 EUR to 25.4 EUR, resulting in a net nil effect for listed investments altogether. As a result, our net asset value stands at 168.6 EUR when adjusting for the dividend paid in June, a level which is 1.7% higher than as of the end of March.

Let's now double-click on our financing, which is stronger than ever as a result of our active and opportunistic liability management policy. Let's look at the asset side first, where we have EUR 789 million of cash readily available, and that was before having received the dividend from Bureau Veritas and the proceeds of the sale of our building, Rue Taitbout, in Paris completed this week. Remember that we could also complement this cash balance by drawing on our credit facility of EUR 750 million, which is currently fully available and has just been reconfirmed with the maturity extended to July 2027. On the bond side of things, we have repurchased mid-term maturities and issued smaller, longer-term maturities, the most recent issue being a 12-year bond with a 1 3/8 coupon.

The result of this is the following: no maturity before 2026, a weighted average cost of debt of 1.7%, and an average maturity of 6.9 years. We feel very good to have tapped the market before the rise in interest rates and spreads that is currently in motion, and I would like to congratulate my team for having done that. Lastly, our loan-to-value ratio is at a low level, calculated at 7.8% as of the end of June, or 5.3% when adjusted for the dividend received from Bureau Veritas early July and the proceeds from the sale of our buildings received on July 27. Accordingly, the pro forma level of net debt is low at around EUR 400 million. Thank you very much for your attention.

I will be happy to take your questions at the end, and I'll now leave the floor to André for conclusion.

André François-Poncet
Group CEO, Wendel

Okay. I'm on Slide 16, conclusion. To wrap up before we take your questions. In summary, we're happy with the performance of our portfolio companies in the first half of 2022. We've continued to execute our roadmap of capital redeployment with the acquisition of ACAMS, which is going well at the moment, and further capital committed to the Wendel Lab. Some uncertainties on raw materials prices, shortages, inflationary pressures, COVID-related lockdowns in Asia, geopolitical turmoil are obviously out there. We are very acutely aware of the various risks in the system at the moment. Our companies have shown the very good ability to adapt and to deliver a strong profitability, which is very much a function of their competitive positions. We have robust balance sheets.

We have little corporate and portfolio company leverage, which should provide the firm with the solid foundation to execute the roadmap. In the current environment of greater volatility and uncertainty, there should be attractive opportunities in due course. Thank you for your time. Now we switch to Q&A. Operator, could you please start with the questions by phone? Thank you very much.

Operator

Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Thank you. Please stand by. Our first question comes from Joren Van Aken from Degroof Petercam. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Joren Van Aken
Equity Research Analyst, Degroof Petercam

Yes, good afternoon, everyone. Two questions from my side. First, in the other assets and liabilities line, the NAV, you mentioned EUR 151 million, which would be based on the treasury shares. However, if I made a calculation, I arrive at EUR 90 million. What is the EUR 60 million that I'm missing there? The second question is, could you tell us the covenant levels for CPI and ACAMS? Thank you.

André François-Poncet
Group CEO, Wendel

The what?

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

Sorry, could you repeat?

Joren Van Aken
Equity Research Analyst, Degroof Petercam

The covenant levels.

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

Covenant. Covenant levels. Okay.

André François-Poncet
Group CEO, Wendel

Yeah.

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

On your first question, actually in the other assets and liabilities, you're right in saying we have these treasury shares for roughly EUR 60 million. The remainder is actually various assets that Wendel has, and this includes the building that we just sold, but which was still in this line as of the end of June.

André François-Poncet
Group CEO, Wendel

Covenant is.

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

Covenant levels.

Joren Van Aken
Equity Research Analyst, Degroof Petercam

CPI or ACAMS?

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

Both. Yes.

Joren Van Aken
Equity Research Analyst, Degroof Petercam

Okay. CPI, we don't have the covenants, as the revolver is not drawn up to 40%. As of today, there is no covenant. On ACAMS. Well, hold on.

André François-Poncet
Group CEO, Wendel

We'll give it to you in a minute.

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

Yeah. Yes.

André François-Poncet
Group CEO, Wendel

We're miles here from the covenant.

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

Yes, yes. On ACAMS...

Joren Van Aken
Equity Research Analyst, Degroof Petercam

Leverage covenant at 12x.

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

Yes.

Joren Van Aken
Equity Research Analyst, Degroof Petercam

The first test is in September.

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

Yes.

Joren Van Aken
Equity Research Analyst, Degroof Petercam

Was it 12 times?

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

12. 1, 2.

Joren Van Aken
Equity Research Analyst, Degroof Petercam

1, 2.

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

Yes. September.

Joren Van Aken
Equity Research Analyst, Degroof Petercam

Okay.

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

Starting from September.

Joren Van Aken
Equity Research Analyst, Degroof Petercam

Very clear. Thank you.

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

Thank you.

Operator

We will now take a next question. Please stand by. Our next question is from Alexandre Gérard of CIC. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Alexandre Gérard
Head of Equity Research, CIC Market Solutions

Yes. Good, good afternoon. Can you hear me well?

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

Yes.

Alexandre Gérard
Head of Equity Research, CIC Market Solutions

Four quick questions on my side. The first question is related to your deal flow. Can we have some comments regarding the level of intensity of the bidding process and regarding prices? Also, I mean, can you start to feel some maybe lower expectations from sellers regarding prices, or are they still rather high? Second question is related to IHS, which stock price has continued to slip recently below $10 per share, while the U.S. markets have rebounded. Any specific reasons behind that, according to you? The third question is related to ACAMS.

Can we have some idea of what would be the long-term, I would say, main operating metrics on ACAMS in terms of average annual growth rate and also medium-term EBITDA margin target? The last question, the fourth question is related to the Wendel Lab, the EUR 49 million that you committed for the first half. Are we talking about funds or co-investments? Thank you.

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

Thank you, Alexandre. I will take number 2 and 4 and leave 1 and 3 to André and David. About your second question on IHS share price, why is it still decreasing or at least stable over the few days while U.S. stocks have rebounded? Well, that's not a U.S. company, as you are well aware. This is an emerging market company with a 70% exposure to Nigeria. We think that a stronger dollar, the interest rate hikes are hurting actually the attractiveness of this business or this equity story, to be more specific.

There are very thin levels of trading, so it's not helping as well, which is why you see the share price a little unchanged over the past few weeks. There might be some selling interest as well from smaller shareholders, which also might have affected the share price. As we speak, it is pretty much stable, hovering around 8 dollars and change. On your question number 4, on the Wendel Lab, the EUR 49 million that we've committed in H1 are solely in funds. There are no co-investments nor direct investments.

on question number one, which is the deal flow and how prices to which extent prices have adapted or adjusted to the current environment.

David Darmon
Group Deputy CEO, Wendel

Yeah. Well, I think it's fair to say that sellers and buyers are not on the same page as of today. Sellers are still on yesterday's price, and buyers hopefully are looking for today's price or tomorrow's price. There is a bit of mismatch. We faced that very recently on a transaction where we were actually putting a binding offer, but the seller was having expectations which was beyond reach. It is fair to say that we are now in an environment today where we have found a new equilibrium, a new balance, and we can price transactions properly. Your question regarding deal flow, I would say the deal flow is actually low over the summer.

All the large assets have been pulled off the market because debt is not available. All assets which have some kind of sec ability have been withdrawn and pulled as well. The volumes are actually down, but beyond volumes, it's a question that you, you ask about the sales expectations, which are probably too high at this stage, at this point in time. Regarding ACAMS, we published +21.1% growth over the first semester. This is a particularly high level of growth, which is not the growth we expect long term, and in no circumstances it will be a guidance.

I think we, when we presented the, transaction, we mentioned a high single digit, low double digit type of growth. This is still what we have in mind. We did benefit during this first half of some one-off positive momentum with a large customer signing up for big contracts. We had also big conference accounted for during the first part of the year. This plus 21% is not representative of what we feel is

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

The sustainable long-term growth, but this is still a high single-digit, low double-digit type of company. High growth, but probably not to the current level you're seeing.

Alexandre Gérard
Head of Equity Research, CIC Market Solutions

Regarding margins?

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

We posted 18.4% margin. It's what we call pro forma because as you know, the company is in the process of doing its carve-out. We are still actually deploying the long-term sustainable cost basis. We still have a few hires to do. It's a bit premature for us to communicate on the long-term goal until we have stabilized this cost base. It should be in this area of 18%-20%, which is where they are today. We don't expect major changes to come.

Alexandre Gérard
Head of Equity Research, CIC Market Solutions

All right. Thank you. Very clear.

Operator

If there are any further questions, please press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. Thank you. I shall now.

Alexandre Gérard
Head of Equity Research, CIC Market Solutions

Okay.

Operator

Hand back to Olivier Allot to answer web questions. Thank you.

Olivier Allot
Director of Financial Communication and Data Intelligence, Wendel

Thank you. Yes, we have questions from the web. I will start with the first one, which is the following: Could you please give some more info on your relatively large impairment of Tarkett of EUR 159 million in relation to the amount you invested in this company, EUR 280 million in March? I continue with the question. I remember some analysts being surprised with this investment, as did investors. Well, first, we invested EUR 230 and not EUR 280 million.

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

Actually, the impairment of EUR 160 is the difference between the carrying value, which actually increased slightly because of accounting effects related to foreign exchange change in interest rates, et cetera, which actually lifted a little bit our carrying value. The difference between this carrying value and the closing price as of June 30, which was of EUR 12.4, results into this EUR 159 million depreciation, which you know is the result of IFRS being applied to this equity accounted investment. Second question, and regarding your question on the...

Sorry, your comments on analysts being surprised with this investment, I think this investment is what you could call a value investment. We had the opportunity to invest alongside the De Coninck family in this company, which we felt was an attractive investment thesis. You have seen the, I guess, the results of Tarkett for the first half, which shows that this company is navigating in a high inflation environment as we speak. We believe the share price is not very representative, obviously, of what is happening given the very limited float following the offer, which closed last year.

André François-Poncet
Group CEO, Wendel

Basically, we said we were gonna go for growth investments. Tarkett was a value investment, so it surprised people. It was an exception to what we were trying to do. I think in retrospect, it wasn't the cleverest thing that I did during my years to date at Wendel to start with an exception in terms of a new roadmap. You should not expect other exceptions of this type. And as to the investment itself, we'll see how it goes. The world obviously has taken a turn with the invasion of Russia and what's happened to raw materials, a turn which has not been very favorable. Only time will tell how the investment will turn out.

There was potential when we bought it, and there still should be potential depending on how things evolve.

Olivier Allot
Director of Financial Communication and Data Intelligence, Wendel

Question from Patrick Jussum. Cash as of June 30, EUR 789 does not include dividend from BV. Should we add EUR 2 to NAV per share? You're right, Patrick. It doesn't include the dividend, but I would not add it to the NAV because the day actually the share of BV traded ex dividend, we actually got it back on the cash side. So it's neutral in terms of net asset value, but it represents about EUR 1 per share, a little bit more in terms of net debt improvement. Another question from Samarth Agrawal is on the NAV resilience in Q2. 2 parts to this. What was the benefit from FX impact to NAV?

What drives the strong outlook for unlisted portfolio assets, especially against the backdrop of increasing recession risk? Second question on investment pipeline, are you looking to diversify into newer subsectors in the current changing environment? Any color you can provide on current pipeline would be very helpful. I will leave this second part of the question with David. On your first question, yes, we've had a little bit of help from foreign exchange in the NAV between Q1 and Q2. We've calculated that at roughly EUR 50 million. So, we're talking a little bit more than EUR 101 per share. That's certainly something which is there.

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

Given where the US dollar is today, we expect it at least to carry on for July. What drives the strong outlook for unlisted portfolio assets? Well, some companies have had a very strong H1, as you have seen, with organic growth around 20%. Some are actually ahead of their budget, and they have updated their views, taking into account this advance with regards to the first half budget. Which doesn't mean that there are not uncertainties for H2, but some of our companies have revised upward given the strong current trading in H1.

David Darmon
Group Deputy CEO, Wendel

Regarding pipeline, we are always looking forward to see if we can find attractive new assets similar to companies like ACAMS or CPI, like leading companies with high growth and good margin and then good pricing power. The current environment is not very favorable to buy those assets in at attractive valuation. Back to a comment that I made earlier, the pipeline is pretty low for those type of companies at reasonable pricing.

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

Question from Benjamin Eisler: Can you explain in more detail how Constantia was able to increase EBITDA margins in H1 and do you see this level 13.5% as sustainable?

David Darmon
Group Deputy CEO, Wendel

I mentioned earlier during the presentation, it's the combination of certain number of factors, cost containments, mix, increase in volumes, Propak, so they all did contribute to those levels. We do believe that this type of profitability is sustainable for the company, yes.

André François-Poncet
Group CEO, Wendel

We should add that, we are very happy with the management team at Constantia. We have a first-grade management team. They are executing impeccably. I think there has been a profound turnaround in the performance of Constantia over the course of the last few years, which goes back to the initial thesis that it's a very resilient business in a fragmented sector with leading market positions and the ability to deliver significant value. A big change in, I'd say, in energy and dynamism under Pim Vervaat in the course of the last year and a half.

David Darmon
Group Deputy CEO, Wendel

Yeah, the success of the Propak acquisition is giving us a lot of confidence to go back on the M&A path.

Olivier Allot
Director of Financial Communication and Data Intelligence, Wendel

Question from Zintle Twala: On IHS, you initially valued this business at around $21 a share. Do you still stand by this? And if so, why not buy more shares with it currently trading at around $8? $21 was the IPO price. Since then, yes, it has decreased pretty significantly, which is not totally uncommon for IPO having been done during the second half of 2021. We feel we have enough exposure to Africa through our investment in IHS.

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

We are happy with our position and have no intention to buy more, even if we think that at this price, there is a strong rationale when looking at the discount in terms of valuation to African peers, and obviously with European and US peers, but that's obviously a pretty different business. Question from Morad Lmidy: Have you reviewed the value of CPI upward? Thank you, Morad, for the question. I would take this opportunity to remind you that our net asset value is very mechanical and is very formulaic, if you allow me the expression. We did review the value of CPI, but that was at the end of December when we took into account year 2022 in addition to year 2021.

Actually, at the end of 2021, we swapped year 2020 for year 2022 in our calculations. When we included a good 2021 year and a fairly good 2022 year expected in the budget, it translated into an upward revision of CPI. There is no significant change between Q1 and Q2. It's the value is pretty comparable from one quarter to the other.

André François-Poncet
Group CEO, Wendel

We're very happy with the performance of CPI. We're very happy with the CEO, Tony Jace, who is a fantastic leader, and the company is firing on all cylinders. We're very pleased with the partnership with management.

Olivier Allot
Director of Financial Communication and Data Intelligence, Wendel

End of the Q&A.

David Darmon
Group Deputy CEO, Wendel

If you don't have any more questions, I think we will conclude our call here. Thanks to all of you.

André François-Poncet
Group CEO, Wendel

Have a good summer.

David Darmon
Group Deputy CEO, Wendel

Thank you very much.

André François-Poncet
Group CEO, Wendel

Great. Good summer break.

David Darmon
Group Deputy CEO, Wendel

Thank you.

Jérôme Michiels
Group CFO and EVP, Wendel

Thank you, everyone.

Operator

That concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect. Speakers, please stand by.

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