Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Drägerwerk AG 2022 Q3 Earnings Call. Throughout today's recorded presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, you may press star followed by one. Press the star key followed by zero for operator assistance. It's my pleasure, and I would now like to turn the conference over to Stefan Dräger, CEO. Please go ahead, sir.
Hey, good afternoon and a warm welcome to joining us today for our nine-month financial results. Today I have with me Gert-Hartwig Lescow, CFO, Thomas Fischler, and Nikolaus Hammerschmidt from Investor Relations. We would like to take you through the presentation of the results that we have made available on our website this morning. I will start with an overview of some business highlights of the last quarter before Gert-Hartwig will take you into the financial detail. We will then close the presentation with the summary. After the presentation, you will have the opportunity to ask your question. Out of respect to everybody's time, we will end this conference in one hour. We already published the preliminary figures two weeks ago. In the final figures we published this morning, there are no meaningful deviations. Starting on page three, we will now look at the business highlights.
Dräger continues to benefit from a good demand in all product areas and markets. Our technology for life remains in demand in these difficult times. While our Q3 order intake was a bit softer than in the prior quarters, our order intake in the first nine months of the year was well above the previous year's level, roughly 20% above the pre-pandemic level of 2019. Despite the good development on the demand side, our greatest challenge remains turning the high orders on hand into net sales in a timely manner. The global supply chain remains challenging. Certain electronic components continue to be difficult to obtain, with low visibility of future deliveries. Sourcing these goods via brokers is a costly undertaking, leading to significantly higher procurement costs and burdening our margin in addition to the current strong inflation.
With the current geopolitical situation and energy price inflation in Europe in particular, further disruptions of the supply chains are possible. However, there are some good news. The availability of parts that has been challenging for over a year has been improving lately, but not as quickly as expected, and unfortunately, not in a reliable manner. In view of the better supply, we have started to ramp up our production. For example, our anesthesia production line for the Atlan has already gone from producing in one-shift model to producing in two shifts per day. The positive effects from the higher output are starting to become visible as Q3 net sales are higher than in Q1 or Q2 of this year. On the flip side, the improvement is coming later than expected and too late to reach our full-year targets. Overall, the supply chain remains unreliable.
Supplies are basically impossible to plan since our suppliers are facing the same difficulties with their suppliers and so on. We do expect the supply chain situation to improve further, but at a slower pace than originally thought. This will allow us to work off the existing backlog and shorten our delivery times. Parts of the existing backlog will move into the next year, supporting net sales development in 2023. In addition to the margin pressure coming from the shortage of supplies, we are facing higher procurement costs through the general inflation. We are mitigating these effects with unprecedented broad price adjustments for Dräger products. We are currently implementing these price increases consistently in all markets and will thus be able to compensate for at least part of the pressure on margins going forward. This is an ongoing process and will continue into the year 2023.
In addition, we have tightened cost control. We have introduced restrictions on discretionary spending and hiring. This will also limit the further cost increases going into 2023. A quick update on the status of the FDA topic. In our last call, I had elaborated on the inspection at our Lübeck site that had taken place in July and has resulted in one finding, a so-called 483. In one of the quality subsystems we have established in regard to fulfilling the requirements of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations. We have responded formally and in due time to the finding, outlined our actions for correction and improvement, and confirmed that the finding has no negative impact on the safety and effectiveness of our products.
In mid-October, we informed the FDA that our current actions for correction and improvement are progressing and successfully and according to plan. In August, the FDA conducted an unannounced inspection at our U.S. site in Telford, Pennsylvania, focusing on two field actions. The inspection was successfully completed after just three days without any findings. In parallel, we are continuing our activities to submit new products to the U.S. FDA for regulatory review, a key milestone to launch new products into the FDA market. For the Atlan, as well as the new ventilators of the V family, the 510(k) process has started. Since this is work in process, it is too early there to talk about expected approval or launch date. We will keep you posted. I'm now going to page four, on the innovation and new products, and the expansion of our portfolio.
During the Q3, we launched several new attractive products, and two of which I would like to highlight. I'm personally very excited about the Babyroo we launched for the most vulnerable patients, the prematurely born babies. The Babyroo TN300 is a configurable open care warmer with thermoregulation capabilities. In skin mode, the device temperature is regulated based on the newborn's skin temperature to allow optimal warming. Moreover, our device monitors central-peripheral temperature differences, integrated thermal monitoring, to help detect thermal stress. If the patient needs further respiratory support after the initial stabilization, the Babyroo helps to bridge respiratory support until the critical patient arrives on a NICU. Workflow support is a core Dräger value proposition, and so the Babyroo supports workflows that are typically in neonatal care areas.
A large graphic display with a dedicated and configurable screen views, an integrated scale with automatic weight adjustment to minimize the need to transfer the delicate newborn for weight measurements, and an automated procedure for cooling and warming up, just to name a few. These functions allow caregivers to spend less time interacting with the device and devote more time to the infant care. As discussed on several occasions, connected services are becoming more important for our customers and consequently in the Dräger portfolio. Therefore, today I would like to highlight the recent launch of our newest multi-gas detector in our mobile gas detection portfolio, the X-am 2800.
The Dräger device can detect several gases using our broad spectrum of high-quality sensors, and in addition to the device, connects with Dräger's Cloud Solution, Gas Detection Connect, to automate the real-time sharing of live data regarding gases if firefighter or worker is exposed. This provides users with a secure access to critical data at any time from anywhere through an internet browser. Combined with the data from the X-am test stations, providing data on testing, calibration, and device event history, the Dräger Cloud Solution facilitates efficient fleet management. With that, I turn over to Gert-Hartwig Lescow for a review of the financials before I will come back with a summary and the outlook. Gert-Hartwig Lescow.
Thanks, Stefan. I would also like to welcome everybody to our conference call for the results of the first nine months. Please, turn to page five for a view on the Dräger Group. As usual, I will be stating currency adjusted figures whenever referring to growth rates. In the third quarter of this year, order entry was slightly softer than in the previous quarters, but remained on a solid level. Year-on-year, order in the quarter was only slightly below the prior year's level. The reason that we did not grow our orders in Q3 is due to a decline of nearly 8% in the medical division. This decline is a base effect, as we still have received large COVID-related orders for ventilators from Asia in the last year's quarter. Other product areas reported higher orders than last year.
Workplace, infrastructure, Dräger Service or thermoregulation all reported solid growth rates. The safety division recorded strong growth of around 11%, driven by good demand in all product areas. From a regional perspective, Europe was the biggest growth driver in order intake with an increase of 5%. While the Americas region saw a slight increase, especially coming from good demand in Central and South America, the APA region recorded lower order intake. As mentioned, this is partly a basis effect from the larger orders for ventilators last year. Our net sales remained on subdued level and they continued to lag behind the development of orders in the third quarter. The main reason for this was the continuing disruption to supply chains and the associated slow improvement in the availability of components that we need to manufacture our end products.
As a result, sales recognition from the high order backlog was delayed. While net sales in Q3 decreased by roughly 9% compared to the quarter one year ago, there is an improvement in the quarterly development in the current year, so compared to the net sales levels of Q1 and Q2 of this year, as Stefan Dräger pointed out, the net sales recognition has improved during the last quarter, and is roughly EUR 70 million above Q2. In the third quarter, gross profit of some EUR 295 million was down significantly year-on-year, as was the gross profit margin. The margin was about 6 percentage points below the level one year ago. The decline is mainly due to the lower net sales volume compared to the pandemic-driven group volume from the previous year. Furthermore, the changed product mix affected the margin negatively.
This mix effect is due to lower net sales shares of ventilators and lower mask sales. Both categories provided well above average profit margins during the corona pandemic. As mentioned before, these effects no longer support the 2022 earnings. Unchanged compared to the last quarters, higher purchasing costs for electronic components, as well as high logistics costs, remained a headwind during the quarter and weighed in on the gross margin. Both medical and safety were affected by these margin effects. As a result of the decline in net sales volume and gross profit margin, as well as higher functional costs, our Q3 EBIT was significantly below the level one year ago. Although we've seen improvement compared to the weak second quarter, the overall development of the third quarter is disappointing and below our expectations. Looking at the nine months period.
Following the very sharp decline at the beginning of the previous year as pandemic driven demand returned to normal, our order intake this year rose again by 5.6%. Year to date, we recorded higher orders and book positions in all three sales regions versus 2019, a year not yet affected by the pandemic. Order entry is up by more than 20%. This is a good indication that despite the very challenging macroeconomic environment, the Dräger business end markets remain intact. The challenge remains to transform the good order development and the resulting higher orders on hand into net sales. Our net sales decreased by 18% at constant exchange rates compared to the high level of the previous year. The headwinds for the gross margin are the same as for the single quarter.
Lower sales volume, unfavorable product mix due to the fading corona-related sales, as well as higher procurement costs. Functional expenses for the first nine months are up by some 5%, resulting in substantially lower nine-month EBIT of -EUR 148 million. Due to the decline in earnings, the Dräger Value Added, the DVA, is also substantially below the prior year's level. Let's now look at the development of the medical division on page 6. In the third quarter, our order intake was 7.8% below the level of the prior year period. The slight increase in Europe was offset by a significant decline in the Americas, as well as in Africa, Asia, and Australia. In the latter region, we had benefited from a corona-related demand in the prior year quarter.
In light of high inflation and increasing personnel costs, CapEx spending of U.S. hospitals has slowed down. Demand from Chinese medical customers also remains under previous expectations. Many countries in Europe remain on a growth trajectory. For example, our largest market, Germany, reported healthy order growth of some 16%, with all business units reporting higher order entry. Compared to the pre-pandemic third quarter of 2019, order entry in the quarter is still nearly 6% higher than reported trends. As for the group, also in the medical division, the transition from order entry into net sales is lagging and is the biggest concern for the current business development. While net sales in Q3 were still below the level one year ago, net sales and past returns have increased throughout the last three quarters. Q3 net sales are roughly EUR 40 million higher than in Q2.
The situation is gradually improving. In the third quarter, gross profit as well as the gross profit margin decreased by roughly 7 percentage points, mainly due to the less favorable product mix, higher procurement costs for the cheaper electronic components, and increased manufacturing costs. Q3 EBIT was just below -EUR 36.5 million, corresponding to a negative EBIT margin of 8.5%. For the nine months period, order intake in the medical division was stable with an increase of 1.2%. Again, comparing this to the pre-pandemic 2019 level, this corresponds to an order growth of some 17%. Growth was reported in nearly all product areas. One exception are the orders for ventilators, which declined significantly as the corona-related business returned to normal and is now on a pre-pandemic level again.
Against the challenging prior year base, net sales were down by roughly 22%. All regions and most of our product areas are affected, with the exception of service. The lower volume is the main reason for the lower gross profit contribution. The gross profit margin decreased by nearly nine percentage points, mainly due to the same reasons mentioned for the Q3 margins. Unfavorable product mix, as well as higher purchasing and manufacturing costs. The functional costs are up by roughly 5%, mainly caused by higher expenses in IT and logistics. EBIT declined to a disappointing level of - EUR 117 million, resulting in a lower DVA as well. Let's now look at the development of the safety division on page seven, starting with the development in the third quarter.
The safety division reported higher order entry with an increase of some 11% over the level one year ago. Continuously good demand across the Dräger safety portfolio as well as all three regions grow this good development, whereby order entry from the Americas regions was particularly strong. Product-wise, personal protection equipment, service, and Engineered Solutions were the main contributors, but also demand for Dräger Gas Detection systems increased. Unfortunately, also the safety division is burdened by the discussed supply chain challenges. Hence, the good order situation does not yet translate into a similarly good net sales development. Net sales in the third quarter declined by 4.5%. All regions reported lower net sales. On a positive note, net sales in the third quarter were some EUR 30 million above the level of Q2.
As is true for medical, also in safety, the net sales situation is slowly improving. In line with the lower net sales volume, the gross profit margin was also around five percentage points lower. As a result of these two effects, gross profit fell significantly. The reasons are similar to the margin drivers in medical, adverse product country mix, and higher expenses for the purchase of electronic components. As a reminder, last year sales with favorable margins. In total, Q3 EBIT was at break-even level. Looking at the 9-month period, we have the same pattern as for medical. Strong development in order entry, but the poor availability of components burned the transition into net sales. Orders are up by 13% compared to 2019, by even 25%. Net sales are lagging behind with a year-over-year increase of roughly 11%.
The gross profit margin decreased by close to 7% for the same reasons just mentioned for the Q3 margin. Higher functional expenses of roughly 5% of higher sales activities as well as higher logistics costs contributed to the decline here. EBIT of the first nine months was -EUR 31.5 million due to the lower earnings euros. Let's move on to some key ratios on page 8, starting with cash flow. Compared to last year, which was still strongly supported by the pandemic, the much lower earnings development this year has resulted in a substantially lower cash generation. Two main reasons for the weaker operating cash flow were the decline in earnings and the buildup of inventories. In line with the continuously high order entry and due to the slow transition into net sales, high orders on hand, we reported a strong increase in inventory.
As the conversion from orders into net sales has started to improve, we are expecting further acceleration of this trend. We expect a strong cash improvement in the current quarter. Investing activities generated cash inflow of nearly EUR 60 million in the first nine months, resulting mainly from the divestment of money market funds held for liquidity management purposes in the net amount of nearly EUR 130 million. Investments in property, plant, and equipment were mainly attributable to replacement investments. As a result of the lower cash generation in the past twelve months, net financial debt increased to around EUR 354 million at the end of September this year.
With the expected improvement in earnings in the current year and consequently better cash generation, net financial debt and the ratio of net financial debt to EBITDA will improve again, but will not reach the levels of end of last year. Net working capital, mainly due to the significantly higher inventory levels of pre-produced products, average working capital increased. While sales decreased, the days working capital are up by nearly 17 days year-over-year. Again, in Q4, with the acceleration of net sales in the current quarter, we expect an improvement of the days working capital to confirm our guided full year level of 100 days- 105 days. That's it from my side. Thanks, and back to you, Stefan.
Well, thank you, Gerd. In light of the very challenging macroeconomic environment, the demand for Dräger's technology for life has been very strong. While the demand in Q3 was a bit softer, our nine-month order intake is substantially above prior year's level and much higher compared to pre-pandemic levels. Nevertheless, the business development in terms of sales development and earnings was disappointing. We have talked about the external headwinds like the supply chain challenges and inflationary tendencies that have burdened our sales and earnings development. Some of these challenges will remain with us for longer than originally expected, so that parts of the order book had to be moved into 2023 for delivery. Most recently, we have seen some improvement in the availability of missing components, which led to some improvements in the transition of our good order book into net sales.
This turnaround has started too late for us to be able to reach our full-year target. As always, Q4 will be substantially better than the prior three quarters. This will be no different this year. Since the degree of recovery is solely dependent on the availability of sufficient components and the supply remains unreliable, we cannot provide you with a helpful quantification for the remainder of the year. Some of the external headwinds will continue for a while, at least into the beginning of 2023. We have tightened cost control by restricting hiring and other expenses. Our pricing measures are showing positive effects, and our pricing increase will continue into 2023. With this, I would like to end the presentation and hand over to the operator to open the line for your questions. Please, you can ask them now.
Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we will begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star followed by one. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star followed by two. Anyone who has a question may press star followed by one at this time. One moment for the first question, please. We have the first question from Felix Dennl from Kepler Cheuvreux. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, Mr. Dräger and Mr. Lescow. Thank you very much for your time today and for taking my questions. The first question I have four questions. The first one would be, whether you're confident that the new anesthesia and ventilation products can be sold in the U.S. in Q1 2023, and more specifically, whether the relevant 510(k)s have already been filed. The second question relates to whether you could provide some visibility on Q4. This is usually your strongest quarter. In fact, over the past five years, your Q4 EBIT margin has been around 10%. Can we expect a similar development for this year despite the supply chain challenges?
Thirdly, following up on that, what visibility do you have on the supply chain, and are you confident that the worst is behind, or will this still trigger challenges in 2023? Finally, given the new earnings disappointments, can you talk about what urgency you feel to reinstate an acceptable profitability? What actions do you take, and by when at the latest do you plan to at least earn your cost of capital? Thank you.
Okay. Thank you, Mr. Dennl. Stefan Dräger answering your first question. What confidence do we have in the Atlan and the V family to have 510(k) in Q1? I understand was the next question. As I said, it's not completely in our hands. It's in the hands of the FDA. There is no guarantee that it will be in Q1. But from my perspective, it is very likely that sometime during Q1, both can have sales in the U.S. And as I said, that's not a guarantee, but I think you know that's quite likely.
I'm not sure. I believe you asked whether that has already been filed. Yes, we have already filed the applications.
Oh, of course, that's the prerequisite. That has been a long time, and there has been discussion and sending the exchange of, say, question and answer back and forth. Now we are waiting. That's the first question. Did we have it?
Second question was, what's our expectation? Clearly, yes, to your question, what's the visibility in Q4? I think it relates also to the other two questions, but we do expect a strong acceleration in net sales development, with that, strong improvement also in profitability. The uncertainty, as Stefan Dräger had pointed out, is to the exact timing. Overall, the order of magnitude of high single digit, double-digit EBIT margin single quarter is certainly what we aim for and what we also expect, again, with a higher level of uncertainty with regards to the onset of the higher net sales. That's a timing question and not an if question.
Perhaps I take the third question as well. You asked about, okay, so what is the visibility in the supply chain? Here I have to give a mixed answer. We do have very positive indications. It includes a feedback from some of our key suppliers that they can guarantee the necessary volume. This is also the basis for us ramping up the second line in our anesthesia manufacturing. It includes security parts for which we perhaps need to redesign, and that is also included in our activities to ensure availability. Still, I would say the fog has not yet lifted, and there is uncertainty not only going into the third quarter, but there is also at this point, uncertainty as far as the first and perhaps second quarter of 2023 are concerned.
Okay. I'm happy to take your fourth question on the urgency that we feel here. I can assure you that we are very alert here about the situation. However, there is, as we have outlined, the uncertainty in how we finish, given the lower visibility, the current quarter, the Q4, and there is the year 2022. That is already some considerable uncertainty. If we manage to convert the orders into sales in a reasonable manner, then it would be, say, completely stupid to exactly now today start a heavy, say, cutting program, cutting expenses and capacity, that would then prevent us from actually fulfilling the order.
However, we cannot make a loss for a longer time, so that's very clear. That we are not going to continue the loss. We will take very different actions and measures than we are currently doing with only some limitations on the discretionary spending, if we shouldn't improve our profitability quite soon, but not now.
Thank you very much for the clarification.
The next question is from Christian Ehmann from Warburg Research. Please go ahead.
Hello, everyone, and thanks for taking my question. I have only one left. When we look at the development of the order book, and as, I mean, you said that it has been improved over the last year, but when you look over the quarterly development, we do see a decline in the order books. Can you give us a little bit more detail about how this came to be? Thank you.
Of course, part of the decline in the order book is due to the fact that we of course see a delivery of part of our orders. In addition to that, we also see of course a slight softening in some of the demand for ventilation. Please keep in mind we had a very high ventilation order also in Q3. To the degree that you're comparing the two quarters, there is a weaker order entry to be expected. That's really, if you will, the three reasons. That's one of the fact, there is a translation of some of the orders into net sales, and there is, to a degree, on the medical side, a somewhat softer development.
What's also perhaps relevant, to the degree you didn't ask the question, but I can clarify that we have not received any cancellation of orders. What is included in the delivery is some degree shift of orders from 2022 into 2023. For the overall across periods development, we view that as a positive sign. Of course, even to the degree that we are able to deliver this year's, those orders are not lost.
I would like to add, Mr. Ehmann, that the slight softening that we saw in the order intake in Q3 was on the medical side. I do not see that as there's an underlying trend. We have fluctuations always in quarters. That's not something that concerns us. I would think from a potential upcoming recession, a more deeper and heavier recession, then that would affect some of our industrial sectors in the safety segment more, not all of safety. We also have quite some government business and authorities and municipalities as customers in the safety division. There it would be visible, and we don't see that yet.
That does not mean it's never come, but it's for this moment, I would say, the general statement the markets are impacted is completely true.
Okay. Thanks, everyone. Very helpful.
You're welcome. Thanks.
Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please press star followed by one. We have a follow-up question from Mr. Felix Dennl. Please go ahead.
Thank you for taking other follow-up questions of mine. The first one would relate to whether you could provide some color on China. Especially Getinge and Philips are seeing extensive headwind there. What sales growth potential do you see in China? And what do you think about the increasing preference for local suppliers? The second question relates to whether you can talk about the sales growth in 2023. While your order book may still provide some short-term support, in which regions do you have the hope for the strongest new demand? And where could you imagine the environment to become more challenging? Finally, moving into 2023, you plan to continue to work on pricing initiatives as you communicated today, and also the cost of freight and broker buys may normalize.
To what extent do you believe that these factors can offset the headwind from inflation, in particular with regard to personnel costs? Thank you.
It's in China, on the medical side, we see the same trend as our market competitors because the government has declared the medical devices as more strategic and kind of completely in the hands of what the government declares here. In some industries that has happened 20 years ago already, like in railway industry, and some others, that's still today not the case at all. It now seems they're coming to some of our medical business now. It is getting more difficult to get approvals for new products. It takes a longer time after the submission to the SFDA to get the certification.
Sometimes it's required to supply the source code of the software. We are not going to do that. That's the clear intention. To do something which would not support. It's in general becoming more difficult. Then there is more and more of the tenders and the buyers have these local content requirements, which is coming at a very low level, because it's against the WTO trade agreements. You will never find it really official in writing that you know this is undercut. It makes the business more difficult. That's also part of the slowdown that we already see in this year. Plus it's of course with all the lockdowns not easy to do business in China.
Our employees in our Chinese development and production facility had to sleep for several weeks on site with sleeping bags. Difficult food and nutrition supply. It is a challenge to do business in China from several aspects. That is for the medical part. The safety is not affected to the same degree, but the business, our safety division in China is smaller. Overall, I would say, it's becoming more challenging to do business in China. That is a correct observation. It is a sizable market for us.
That is, if you look at our overall order intake for this year, which is good, you can see it has been compensated by other areas, including that the almost complete elimination of the business in Russia, which for us was only 2% of our total sales, which is now very low. All has been compensated in the overall geographies. That leads to your next follow-up question. 2023, where would it go? Where would we expect its growth?
Of course, we would expect to grow in all of our regions, but over proportional growth, in particular outside of Europe. One would be in our AAA Region, since this is one of the regions that's most affected also by the supply chain disruptions. We are confident to make up for that next year. The other one of the other regions is North America. Here, we expect to grow faster on the back of the support of the newly registered products on the medical side, which are not yet available, but will be available, irrespective on whether that will be in the first or in the second quarter.
That will support over proportional growth in that region as well. Your third question, I believe was on the balance of pricing versus broker buys and general inflation. First, let me start with a word on the pricing. Overall, we acknowledge that the effect of broker buys or higher material costs versus pricing is net negative this year. We expect that clearly to turn positive next year. That goes into explaining part of your question. The pricing effect will over-balance. The reason why this turns next year is also to do with the delay in implementing some of those price increases or pushing them through in the market really. Overall the price increase will be a key driver and will also balance the higher inflation.
You rightly pointed out that it not only affects material costs, but also personnel costs. The lower broker buys will contribute to that, but will be, if you will, a lower order effect in that equation.
Yeah. I can assure you that the pricing topic really has the absolute top management attention here. As you can imagine, in say, European countries in particular in Germany, that is very unusual in the organization. They never did this before in the lifetime of most the ones that are involved. It took a while to learn how to do this, and we benefit from the efforts during the course of next year. Yeah. On the broker buys, I'm sure you're aware, under the IFRS accounting, there's the commission for the broker is booked immediately in the Purchase Price Variance account.
The benefit of having the parts then after in stock is only accounted later when they result in sales.
Very clear and helpful. Thank you. Thank you very much.
There are no further questions at this time. I hand back to Stefan Dräger for closing comments.
Well, I would like to thank everyone online for being with us today. Thank you for your interest and I look forward to hearing or see you again sometime, hopefully soon. Thank you, and have a pleasant afternoon.
Ladies and gentlemen, the conference is now concluded and you may disconnect your telephone. Thank you very much for joining and have a pleasant day. Goodbye.