Welcome to the telephone conference call, Mersen for the sales for third quarter 2022, with Mr. Luc Themelin and Thomas Baumgartner. I'll now hand over to Luc Themelin. Over to you.
Thank you. Hello, everyone. A few words of introduction to give you before I hand over to Thomas. With the highlights of this quarter, the third quarter was excellent, with organic sales growth of 19% for a quarterly record at EUR 297 million. We owe this excellent result to all our markets, particularly the outperformance of our growth markets, renewable energies, and semiconductors. Thanks to this performance, we're revising our full-year guidance upwards. We're now targeting organic growth of around 13% and an operating margin before non-recurring items of around 10.8%. On the investment side, the adjustment in the guidance is linked to cost inflation and the rise of the U.S. dollar. I'll now hand over to Thomas for the detail on these points.
Thank you, Luc, and hello, everybody. As you said, this is a very good third quarter. The group posted consolidated sales of EUR 297 million, up 19.2% on a like-for-like basis. We also benefited from a favorable currency effect, mainly due to the rise in the US dollar and the renminbi, more marginally representing more than EUR 16 million, giving growth of nearly 28%. This strong organic growth in this third quarter concerned both our divisions as well as our main geographical areas. I'll begin with the geographical areas, with Europe. Business grew strongly in all countries and in both segments, thanks to the semiconductor and renewable energy markets. In France, activity was particularly dynamic, driven by recovery in the aeronautics sector. Now, in Asia, growth was strong in all countries, thanks in particular to the solar and semiconductor markets.
Strong growth in Korea, India, and Japan is also noteworthy. Strong growth in China, driven by the catching up on deliveries after the lockdown periods in the second quarter. And finally, in North America, business was very strong in both divisions and in many markets: renewable energies and storage, semiconductors, aeronautics, and process industries. Now, if we look division by division, the advanced materials division grew organically by more than 23%, with sales of EUR 168 million. Several factors here: the solar market was very strong for the group as a whole. Sales in this market amounted to EUR 77 million for the first nine months of the year, which is higher than the amount for the whole of 2021 at EUR 71 million. So, in three quarters, we've done more what we did in the whole of last year.
The semiconductor market was also very strong this quarter, both in the traditional market, silicon, and in SIC, power semiconductors, with growth exceeding 30% in both segments. The improvement in the aeronautics market, which I mentioned earlier, seen since the beginning of the year, continued, although we're not quite—in fact, we're still well below the 2019 levels, but we are making progress. And finally, process industries continue to grow after two exceptionally high quarters. Now, the electrical power division posted sales of EUR 129 million, with organic growth exceeding 14%. Electrical distribution in North America continued its momentum with a record quarter. Sales for the electric vehicle market also posted growth as we pushed ahead with several qualifications projects on platforms, as in the last few quarters. And finally, the rail market was also more dynamic than in previous quarters.
If we now look at the year-to-date, those first nine months, sales amounted to EUR 821 million. Organic growth was 14%, and that growth was in double digits in both divisions and in all geographic zones. And this good performance leads us to raise our forecasts for the full year, as Luc mentioned in his introduction. So, to finish, there is another point concerning our financing. We decided to bring forward the refinancing of the EUR 200 million syndicated loan maturing in July 2024 to benefit from favorable market conditions. We took advantage of the opportunity to increase the amount available to EUR 320 million from EUR 200 million previously, with unchanged margin levels in the context of strong growth in our business. This transaction extends the average maturity of our confirmed financing authorizations to almost 5.5 years.
So, that concludes my comments, and Luc and I are now available to answer any questions you might have.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. If you would like to ask any questions, please key in 01 on your keyboard. We have a first question from Julia Olien. Thank you. Over to you.
Hello, can you hear me?
Yes, we can hear you very well.
Thank you. So, congratulations. Those figures are excellent. I did want to know, however, we see organic growth accelerating sharply from the second quarter figures. We know inflation is accelerating also. We also see that in your forecasts, you're raising the figures for your turnover, less for your margin. So, have you measured, division by division, the inflation effect? As I mentioned, you have been passing on price rises. Do you have an amount of that for electrical power?
We announced 4% over the first nine months for price rises. We were on 3% in the first semester, so that was slightly faster, and that accelerated on the sales of equipment, more than advanced materials and in electrical power. So, there is more inflation, and you rightly note that the growth in our volume is a bit higher than the growth in our margin, in particular for those reasons.
So, on the third quarter specifically, you haven't broken that down into exactly how much that inflation derives in costs in advanced materials represented in advanced materials and electrical power.
You know it's roughly 4%, but you don't have anything more precise. No, we don't have details at this stage. We will have more detail soon at the end of the year when we see the precise figures for the margin.
My second question is more about the semiconductors activity.
You mentioned very good figures in semiconductors, but there's a difference between the SIC and the conventional semiconductor. We know there's a shift in the markets, especially for the OEMs. How do you see things going on this market, which was very dynamic visibly? But do you fear a slowdown on this market? How do you see things?
We have always said that the silicon carbide market was going to accelerate and be bigger than the traditional market for us, but contrary to what you might read in the press with the drop in sales of computers, etc., quite significant drop. We're not seeing any sign of a drop on traditional semiconductors. We have quite strong growth. And on the SIC, the growth is or will be higher to what we've been forecasting. So, there is no negative signs in that respect. Even on the traditional silicon, yep, even that.
But we have an acceleration on the SIC, that's clear, and we have good growth on the semiconductors generally for the moment.
Okay, and one last question as I am online. On the solar part, the figures are very good as well. And in history, there've been a certain number of changes, ups and downs in the market in 2014, notably. But how do you see this market? Do you think that there is still room for development? You don't see short-term risks? How do you feel about this more fundamentally?
We explained, I think, two years ago that we weren't really looking to expose ourselves more than that to the solar part and to the materials, bearing in mind that's mainly concentrated in China. We have Chinese players who are there. We have limited ourselves to the high-added-value market, and we have been focusing more on other markets.
In the meantime, the market itself has swollen so much, and no one really sees any downturn coming. It is a form of energy which is going to be in increasing demand, but now it is quite possible. We're not aiming for records on this. In the group, we're aiming for about EUR 100 million in the group. We won't be far off that figure, perhaps. It's a good pillar, but we're not aiming for EUR 200. And on the electrical side, we have another strategy, which is that each large solar farm—so the sums at stake there are less than for the materials. And in 2012, 2014, there was a crisis which was perhaps growing pains of the solar market, with a sort of bubble that formed and a lot of actors who wanted to do solar and were ordering graphite. And then the market structured, reorganized itself, etc.
So, I don't think it's really at all the same thing today. There isn't a bubble there today. It's not a totally mature market, but it's more mature than it was back in those days.
Thank you very much.
The next question from Thomas Renouf, Gilles Bardupont. Over to you.
Hello, can you hear me okay?
Yes, we can. Perfectly.
Yes, you can hear me. I had several questions. The first one is whether you could come back to the level of growth in the process industries in the third quarter as compared to the second quarter. And that leads into my second question about your vision of activity for 2023 and how you see your growth drivers. But perhaps the question marker might be over the process industries. And how do you see that sector going in 2023? And how much visibility do you have with your order backlogs?
You talked at the beginning of the year about six months of backlogs. Are you still at that sort of level today? And does that mean you're going into 2023 with lots of confidence? And my final question is about the guidance for 2023. I'm sure you'll be publishing—so you're going to be publishing figures at close to EUR 1.1 billion. Do you not think that in 2023 you might be able to do more?
If we look at the process industries compared to the first half of the year, we're still below that figure in the third quarter, but it's quite marginal. So with perhaps a price effect, but we don't see any sign of any slowdown there. No. In the past, we have even had—we've been in touch with the automotive industry, and we haven't seen any sort of sign of a slowdown this year. But you're quite right.
It's a business which is perhaps where there are no signs at the moment of any drop in the market. It's difficult to say what might happen to the process industries in 2023. That's not the easiest activity to forecast. The other growth drivers are things we feel quite confident about, as we said last time. And regarding the guidance, it is quite possible that at the beginning of the year we might review that guidance figure.
Okay. And regarding the process industries, should we understand that there are signs—we're seeing signs of slowdown pretty much everywhere, but do you think you can gain market share? Is that what explains the good levels of growth for you? Is it that you're gaining market share?
I wouldn't say that. In the US, we've gained in market share, I would say. We gained some market share which we haven't lost, so that's quite good news in the process industries. But we don't really—in Germany, perhaps there's been—the orders have been a little less strong at the end of the quarter. We'll see whether that is confirmed as we go forward. But for the moment, no, I don't really see anything much. But I don't think it's a question of taking market share generally.
And perhaps one last question regarding energy costs. Do you think you could review that? I know on these subjects of energy inflation, do you feel quite at ease for 2023?
We're at ease for the US and China in that we're not seeing big variations, and in some cases, we are hedged. We're paying attention to Europe. We don't consume a lot of megawatts, but when prices can be multiplied by 10, that does have an impact.
But we'll wait and see whether things calm down. It seems to be calming down a little bit at the moment. Before we say anything more, we had given a scenario some time ago on the basis of an electric cost at EUR 450 per MWh and EUR 250- EUR 300 per MWh for gas. And that was really a worst-case scenario. I know the prices are very volatile, but that scenario is what it is. But that would represent about EUR 15 million in additional costs for Mersen, and we're a long way from those costs at the moment. So that is a scenario which we think would be really a worst-case one.
Okay, that's very clear. Thank you very much.
Ladies and gentlemen, I remind you that if you would like to ask a question, dial zero one on your telephone keyboard. We have a new question from Jean-François Grangeon.
Over to you.
Good evening. A first question about the currency effect in Q3. Do you have the figures for the nine months, the year to date? And we understand on prices, there's an increase in accelerating price rises quarter by quarter. Today, what is the policy? Where do you stand? Are you considering further price rises in Q4 and beyond? And a third question regarding the backlog, to pick up on Thomas's question, but with your backlog, what's the situation through to the start of the year? And could we look at the CapEx? You mentioned EUR 90 million in CapEx for this year. And are those budgets which are also being maintained or revised upwards for the coming years?
I just wanted to—when you were talking about the accelerating price rises, it's an acceleration in the effects.
These are price rise measures which have had an effect in the third quarter, which are accelerating. But to be frank, we no longer have a lot of possibilities, a lot of margin for increasing the prices at this stage. I think on materials, we've pretty much gone as far as we can. There are price effects, I would say. There were price rises over the summer, which are going to continue having an effect over the end of the year and the beginning of next. But with the rise in energy prices in Europe, we can't increase prices for US clients. That's not something they're going to go along with. So that would be a bit more complicated. However, we could very well increase the prices in Europe because of those energy prices for European clients, and that is something we are looking into.
Regarding the backlog, we have a backlog. Difficult to have a view for the whole of the year. At the beginning of the year, with the bookings where continue to get, we see the beginning of the year looking quite positive. And then that EUR 90 million CapEx figure, it's the same. I think we'll probably discuss that a bit more at the beginning of the year. We'll probably have to review some of the prospects on semiconductors, but it's a bit too early to talk about that. And also on the nine-month figures and for Q3. For Q3, I think there's a mention of EUR 16 million and perhaps EUR 30 million for the first nine months of the year. And if we project that through to the full year with the current exchange rates, we'd be looking at about EUR 50 million.
And just regarding the CapEx and the partnership with Subtech today, there's nothing new to say about that partnership regarding the CapEx. There's very little of the tech in the EUR 90 million figure, but I think we'll discuss all that in a few months' time. We'll continue to continue working on developing the product, getting the samples ready, and then we'll try to look forward to see what the demand's likely to be over the next two to three years. Thank you very much.
The next question, Stephane Benalou of VNTXN. Your turn.
Can you hear me okay?
Yes.
Good evening to all of you. Most of my questions have already been asked. I just wanted confirmation regarding some information you gave, the breakdown of the volume and price effects and product mix effect. Is it true that this corresponds to 4% the rise in price over the nine months? And can you quantify the catch-up effects in Q3 due to the difficulties on deliveries that you had in the first half of the year?
There's no catch-up effects regarding the deliveries. In volume at sales, are you talking about China? In China, it's not very representative. Perhaps EUR 3 million, approximately. And regarding the breakdown of the volume and price effects, it's a price effect and a mixed product mix of 4%, price effect of 4%, and mixed volume effect which makes up the rest. The price is the 4% figure over those first nine months of the year. And for Q3, I listen, we'd have to calculate the difference. I don't have the figures in I don't have the figure; it doesn't come to mind there. Sorry. And on debt, so the debt is going to be raised in 2022 and will be in the accounts for 2022.
So is that credit line classic?
It's a credit line. It's not an RCF where you draw down when you—yes, it is. We draw down when we need it. But we haven't raised EUR 320 million in loans. It's a credit facility, a credit line.
And if you have raised so much, it's because you do have needs in terms of CapEx. So what should we expect for 2023, perhaps, in terms of the amounts we're going to be drawing on that?
We resized the credit lines in relation to the size of the group. And to give you an idea, about five years ago, we were at EUR 300 million on the credit lines, and we're returning here to amounts which seem to be in line with the size of the group.
So when we look forward, if we're looking at EUR 1.2 billion figures, the credit line isn't just for one year; it's for the coming five years.
And the final question regards the industrial processes, the process industries. Could you remind us the portion of sales which is linked to recurring business or maintenance business?
The last question is the hardest one there. There's a lot of aftermarket and maintenance. There's very little OEM in process industries, I think, not even 10% of the figures. So if we base ourselves on the assumption that no matter what, you will be impacted by a slowdown in growth, there won't be a shock, a violent shock on the first quarters of next year. It's more likely to be progressive if ever there is a big slowdown. I don't know. Whenever there are crises, they're never the same. They always surprise.
But we've got about one-third of process industries, and Europe is—so it's about a third of the group. So if there is a crisis concerning the process industries in Europe, that'll be a third of a third, a third of Europe. But how sensitive will we be? How quickly will that go? There have been different cycles, and it never goes the same way each time.
Thank you to both of you. Thank you.
We have a new question from Julien Aignan.
And your—thank you. I had just wanted to come back to the price effect. You mentioned that the price rises have been made overall. Now you have a catch-up effect which is appearing in the accounts. But with copper and electrical power, copper prices have gone down. Are you expecting in this area perhaps to see prices going down in coming months, given the fall in copper prices?
That's not something that really seems—but there isn't really demand for that at the moment, and it's index-linked. So apart—no. However, we'll benefit very certainly from the fall in copper prices and silver prices as well if that continues, but not so much in 2022 where there's the hedging in place, more on 2023. And in the first half of next year, there will be an effect of more pronounced commodity price rises. So overall, I would say it should be pretty much neutral.
Okay.
Thank you.
We have no other questions for the moment. I remind you, if you would like to ask a question, press key in 01 on your telephone keyboard. There are no further questions. In that case, if there are no more questions, we will be delighted to see you again on the 26th of January for the publication of the annual sales figures. Thank you very much, and have a good evening. Ladies and gentlemen, the conference call is now finished. Thank you for taking part, and you can.