Good morning, everyone. I'm Mark Gounder, CEO of Hulamin. Welcome to our 2025 interim results presentation, where Pravashni, our CFO, and I will take you through our operational performance and financial outcomes for H1 2025 and share an update on our execution against our strategic objectives. We will then close with an outlook on our business imperatives for the remainder of this year. We have also included additional information for your reference. At this point, I invite you to type in your questions as we progress through the presentation. In a year of critical expansion and maintenance, safety remained paramount with heightened focus on people and machine interaction. I am pleased to report that we experienced zero injuries during our 25-day integrated shut while maintaining a continued decline trend of our reportable incident frequency rate, dropping 9% over the last five years.
With us experiencing two lost time injuries in the first half compared to two for the entire 2024, we have launched a project to increase emphasis on our 16 defined high-risk categories. Going into H2, ensuring a safe working environment remains our core focus as we ramp up production following the shut. Zero harm to our employees is critical in the success of Hulamin. Our key objective for the first half of this year was to build sufficient finished goods to supply the market during the integrated shutdown, while focusing on maintaining profitability and liquidity. The stronger demand on local can body of 6%, coupled with fulfilling of deferred export can-end orders from prior year due to the fire, enabled a 2% growth in volumes and a stronger sales mix.
In line with our strategic objectives, we have grown our local market share by an additional 1%. Completion of our CapEx was in line with our forecast, while normalized EBITDA was ZAR 282 million, with sufficient inventory holdings of 41,000 to support a ramp-up in production post the shut. The net debt of just below ZAR 1.6 billion was in line with our forecast. Reflecting on our strategic priorities, key milestones have been completed. Successful completion of our integrated shut and protection of the local market during the shut period. Effective working capital management resulting in net debt forecast being achieved. We have commenced with an aggressive cost improvement rollout. Following the strategic review of our non-core operations, we have ceased trading on our containers division effective June 6th.
While we are in the process of winding down the business, we will be exiting the extrusion business this year. As announced on the 18th of August since, we've entered into negotiations with a potential buyer. For this reason, in our results, we have classified it as a discontinued operation. I will now hand over to Pravashni to take us through the financial performance overview.
Thank you, Mark. Good morning, everyone. Overall normalized EBITDA was down 20%, driven by a combination of tailwinds and headwinds. Tailwinds presented opportunities which included continued strong local demand on can body . Our aggressive cost improvement program has started yielding benefits. U.S. volumes remained resilient despite the 50% duty and a 6.7% increase year-on-year on utilization of cheaper metal units. The benefits of these tailwinds were offset by the following headwinds. Rand dollar exchange rate strengthened by ZAR 0.34 . 2024 pricing on deferred export can-end volumes. We were unable to pass the rapid incremental change in U.S. tariff costs from 10% to 25% to 50% during the transition. However, with all the orders post the new tariff effective date, the incremental tariff was passed through to the customers. There have been imports of cheap finished can ends.
Can ends constitute only the top of the can and are made from a different material than the can body . These imports have affected the local pricing. We are actively partnering with our customers and government to explore the possible solutions. Higher than inflationary increases in energy costs, mainly gas and electricity. Considering the tailwinds and headwinds discussed earlier, revenue increased by 8%, while normalized EBIT was down 24%. The higher net debt levels of ZAR 1.6 billion was impacted as we continued to prioritize our expansion CapEx strategy, which resulted in us incurring a higher interest bill. To contextualize the current year earnings, normalized EBITDA excludes metal price lag and other non-trading items. Our normalized EBITDA has moved from last year to this year with a movement of ZAR 70 million. The increase in currency contributed to ZAR 49 million of the ZAR 70 million movement.
The remainder, largely driven by pricing pressures, was not fully recovered despite significant efforts to offset the impact of high CPI and energy inflation through improved sales volumes and optimized product mix, strategic pricing, better scrap utilization and cost containment measures. However, we remain committed to our aggressive cost reduction program, which will drive greater efficiency in the second half. Finance cost is driven by elevated average debt levels required to support the working capital and capital investment strategy. Taking into account the key issues highlighted, our normalized headline earnings for the year was ZAR 80 million. We have had an expansion CapEx program which we have implemented, which was the key driver of increasing our debt from ZAR 1.3 billion to ZAR 1.6 billion. We recognize the requirements of this project and as a result secured additional debt facilities to complete the project.
By the end of June, our headroom was higher than last year, reflecting the planning done for this CapEx project. We are confident that we have sufficient headroom to support our trading activities and have implemented the necessary measures to effectively manage this capital expenditure. We are mindful of our debt position and confident that the benefits of our capital program will support our trading performance, ultimately leading to a reduction in debt in line with our initial expectations when we launched this CapEx program. In addition, proceeds from planned non-core disposal will further contribute to lowering our net debt level. I will now hand over to Mark to touch on our strategic execution journey.
Thanks, Pravashni. Our committed strategy from 2022 to improve shareholder value remains unchanged as we continue to focus on seizing opportunities in both the local and export market by improved operational efficiencies, plant reliability and global cost competitiveness. By the end of 2025, we would have strengthened our core business by completion of the market-driven wide can body investment, which includes commissioning and product qualification with our can customers. Utilization of cheaper metal units like recycled secondary ingots, used beverage cans and increased can makers waste will boost our scrap usage to 25% as a percentage of total sales. An aggressive cost reduction program, which is underway, is critical to ensure margin step change and long-term sustainability of our business. Enablers to drive increase in plant output for 2026 will be completed.
As a result of the integrated shut, full impact will not be realized in 2025, with our forecast being an annualized production between 175,000 tons- 180,000 tons. Forward looking to end 2027, we deliver on returns from capital spend by production exceeding 200,000 tons with 60% being in the can stream. Driving our can strategy by commercializing wide can body in the first quarter of 2026 will enable us to displace current imports of wide can body coils. This will allow for our market share to increase up to 85%. This further aligns to current market developments, with all can makers installing additional capacity as the can market continues to grow at an estimated CAGR of 5%.
Our cost base will be further enhanced by significant increase of cheaper metal units and delivery of our aggressive cost reduction program. The positive returns from operations, working capital initiatives, and release from non-core operations being exited will translate to a gearing below 25%. Beyond 2027, our focus will be on sustaining shareholder value while identifying further growth opportunities. A quick recap on our delivery on our market-driven wide investment would focus on the next steps. To allow commercialization in quarter one next year, we have partnered with our canmaker customers to complete the three-stage qualification by December 2025. The next six months is not indicative of the true normalized performance of the business, and therefore we have extended our forward view for a period of 18 months.
Our second half of the year began on a positive note with the successful commissioning of the final phase of the market-driven wide can body expansion project. The focus now shifts to plant productivity across core streams and initiating the product qualification process to achieve commercial readiness by the first quarter of 2026. An improvement in the financial performance by delivery of production enables us to support sales exceeding 200,000 tons with a strong mix, coupled together with the realization of margin improvement through aggressive cost reduction and increased usage of cheaper unit metal units. With our CapEx peak being over and improved cash generation, we will reduce our gearing. By exiting non-core businesses, our sole focus will be on delivering improved value from our rolled products business. We thank you for joining our results and outlook presentation. We'll now open the floor for any questions.
We have also included additional information in the annexures for your reference. I continue to encourage you to type in your questions as we go through answering what questions we currently have. Noma, do we have any questions that we can start the process, please?
Yes, Mark, we do have a couple of questions. The first question is coming from Alicia, from the company Autoneum Feltex. The question reads: Good day. Please can you elaborate on Mozal closure and how it affects Hulamin?
Thanks for your question, Alicia. I can confirm the Mozal closure has no impact on Hulamin. We source our raw material from South32 at Hillside in Richards Bay and there's no impact on Hulamin at all.
Thank you, Mark. We have a next question, which is coming from Victor Gaba from Hulamin. The question is: How does the wide can body stock expansion support long-term revenue and local margin growth? And when is the return on investment expected? How is leadership managing pricing pressure in the local market while protecting margins and sales volumes growth?
Thanks so much. Thanks, Victor, for your question. I'm gonna break this up and I think if in the presentation itself, I spoke about 2025 and by the end of 2025, where we'll be from a return of investment and returns for shareholder value as a whole. We move on to particularly very clearly that in 2026 and during 2026 and 2027, that's when the value or margin growth will kick in. So that by the end of 2027 we should be well above getting our returns from the capital invested over the last three years.
With regards to pricing pressure, we touched on earlier that we've moved our business from the last three years to be customer-centric and to have partnership with all our customers, both local and export, but focusing on local, which we've predominantly done in the last two years. What we're doing right now is working together with our customers and government to be able to look at all possible measures to protect our local market.
Thank you, Mark. The next question is from Stefani Terblanche from Netwerk24. He has two questions. One is: How did the USA tariffs impact the company? The second question is: How dependent is the company on the USA as an export market, and are there alternative markets this revenue could shift to?
No, thanks. Good question. The business, and I think the key part here that we need to remind everyone, we used to be 70% export and 30% local, and at that time, 40% in the U.S. market and 25% in the European market five years ago. Where we've evolved, coming from our reset of our strategy of three years ago, is we are proudly 55% local right now, 25% in the European market and only 14% exposure into the U.S. market. Of that 14%, it's predominantly two products only that we sell into the market currently.
It's our plate where we've got longstanding customer relationships and predominantly driven from our quality that we've managed to still maintain our volumes, plate volumes due to our relationship and the quality that they even though the current tariff of 50% applies. The second product that we do there is converter foil, and again, it's based on a long-standing relationship and also availability of that product in the U.S. market. What we're seeing right now is that the impact of the tariff as a whole is minimal. Our volumes are holding, and we are managing to pass through the full tariff impact to our customers ultimately.
Thank you, Mark.
Sorry, Noma . Moving on to alternative markets. Our return for those products will be actually in the European sector if additional risk comes in from a volumes perspective in the U.S. market.
Okay. Thank you, Mark. The next question is coming from Sean van Wyk. There's a couple of questions in one. First one is, why was the deregistration of Hulamin Rolled Products not disclosed to the markets? Next one, why was the Aluminium Beneficiation Initiative allowed to be deregistered by the CIPC for not filing annual returns? Can I stop there, then Mark you can respond, and then I ask the next questions 'cause there's a couple from Sean.
Okay. Firstly, those companies are dormant companies and applications have been made to deregister them to the CIPC and yeah, they are dormant companies, so to me, the deregistration should have happened.
Okay, thank you. The next question, why did Hulamin not disclose to the markets that the Hulamin Containers sale was a related party transaction and issue a SENS announcement of it?
Right. Do you have any other questions specifically around Containers?
Yes. There's also another question. They say, "Please explain why ex-CEO Richard Jacob is a director of Containers." I'm just gonna look for another question around Containers so that you can respond to all of them at once. It says, "Can Hulamin confirm if there's an investigation into the sale of Containers division?
All right. Thanks, Noma. As all shareholders are very well aware that we executed a review on all non-core businesses at the beginning of this year. With regards to Containers right now, we've ceased operations and we're busy winding up the assets with regards to the remainder of the business. Hulamin as a whole takes feedback from all parties very seriously. I can acknowledge that the board has received allegations from one shareholder regarding the transaction as a whole. We've basically engaged with an independent party to be able to review the allegations, and we'll be able to provide feedback to everyone once that report has been completed, which will definitely cover all the questions regarding Containers that you've just earmarked.
Okay. The next question, still from Sean, is, "Can you please confirm if Hulpak is the new owners of Containers, and is it arm's length sale or non-arm's length sale?
Okay. As we put there, we're still right now winding up the assets. We're busy in the transaction now with various parties. Once we conclude everything, we'll be able to share with everyone exactly who the owners of the assets will be.
Okay, thank you, Mark. We have a question from Cobus from Value Capital Partners. The question is, "Good morning, Mark. Just want to get an idea of CapEx plans for the scrap utilization and if this is all on track.
Okay. Most definitely. I mean, Hulamin has got a clear cut, we've got a clear cut strategy with regards to using cheaper metal units, going into our strategy plan as a whole. The key part here is that we've got the CapEx. Firstly get return from the CapEx that we've expended over the last three years on the Wide Project, while looking at various initiatives from recycled secondary ingots, used beverage cans and basically can makers' waste, to drive the lower cost production over the next two years. Beyond 2027, that's when we will review CapEx to be able to drive an increase, substantial increase again, on our recycled content.
Before we get there, what we're wanting to do is maximize on the facilities that we do have and apply our minds to be able to sweat the current assets to get the maximum value before we commit any further capital. It's definitely in our plans beyond 2027.
Okay. Thank you. Cobus has a follow-up question, and it reads: What level of gearing would be considered optimal, and what ratio will be looked at for the board to consider the resumption of dividends?
Returning dividends is definitely key in our strategy to be able to provide return to our valuable shareholders as a whole. Where we are right now is we are definitely looking at within the next two years to start that process of giving back return to our valuable shareholders. The board right now is currently reviewing our dividend policy, and we'll be able to share it later on during the year. The gearing and the ultimate gearing that we're looking for that we've earmarked, we want to be below a gearing of 25%. And at the same time, to be able to issue shareholders dividends as a whole.
Thank you, Mark. Another question actually from Sean van Wyk. Coca-Cola is choosing to look for alternative packaging because metal prices for aluminum to be too high. Your information is contradicting the market.
Okay. Right now, with regards to the, I'm not too sure what information he's talking about. Actually, what we've put out there in engaging with our customers, and particularly in South Africa right now, is there's definitely a growth in the can market, that's grown over the last three years and also predicted to grow, continue growing at a CAGR of 5%. That really speaking comes, if you look at right now, is four, five years ago, there used to be one can maker in South Africa. Now there's actually four. The growth in the market is definitely there. I want to remind everyone that we supply to our can makers, and Coca-Cola is ultimately the customers of our can makers.
Just like every business, everyone is always looking for cheaper raw material, thereby lowering our costs. This is where the wide capital project is quite key. It was something that our customers wanted. By producing wide, our can makers can be more efficient and be able to produce more cans, thereby driving their efficiency. This is where us completing the Wide Project allows us to partner with our customers to drive value from both sides, and thereby making their production more efficient, and allowing the valuation as a whole to the whole value chain.
Thank you. The next question from Volker Scooter. The question is, more than 50% of your sales are in the local market, where you enjoy a 15% import duty protection. Nevertheless, your gross margin on flat rolled products only at 2.3%, which is around 1/3 of last year. For the first half of the year, what has happened to this margin, and what is the outlook for the second half of your gross margin?
Okay. Thank you, Mr. Scooter, for your question. In Pravashni's feedback to the market on what has progressed in H1, we are clear that exchange rate did definitely play a big part, but the price increases that we've managed to get out to the market do not offset additional costs that's come in, particularly around our high energy, higher than inflation energy costs. What we have done is we've put in a plan of aggressive cost reduction plan program itself. That's well established and ingrained right now. We're looking at H2 to be able to reap more rewards from that established program.
In my presentation also, I covered that in order to be able to drive the margin uptake, it is essential for us at Hulamin to be able to right-size our cost base to the volumes that we produce. Even more over and above that, our plant must be able to produce more than 200,000 tons. If you look at where we've set ourselves up to and the enablers that we have in play, not only will we be able to reduce the cost going into the H2 and into the future, at the same time drive efficiencies and margin uptake on getting our volumes greater than 200,000 tons.
Thank you, Mark. We have a follow-up question from Mr. Scooter. It reads: Hulamin admin expenses were at 1.4% of sales 10 years ago. Today, they are at 5.6%. What is the reason for such a dramatic change?
Okay. Thanks, Mr. Scooter again. Pravashni, can you help on this one, please?
Sure. Thank you, Mr. Scooter. The admin expenses over the last 10 years and with the reduction in the volumes at a high fixed cost business, what we've done is we've restructured the costing between two categories, our MEC costs and our admin costs, where we actually within the five years moved some of the expenses that were previously in MEC to admin, and it is made a change to the percentage of the admin expenses, and that's why you see a disconnect. If you look at the two categories together, that will give you a more fairer view of the increase in expenditure.
Thank you, Pravashni. The next question is from Theo Potgieter from our Hulamin Extrusions division. The question is: With the announcement of the imminent exit of the Extrusions business, is there an indication as to when, in brackets, he's looking for a date, we, as Extrusions, will cease to operate, and what is to happen to the employees? Thank you.
Okay. Thanks, Theo, for your question. As per our SENS announcement and all communication that we've issued to all stakeholders, we've definitely emphasized that we will be exiting the extrusion business as a whole, but we've also announced that we are currently in engagement with a potential buyer. All stakeholders, including employees, will be communicated with regards to progress that we've made. I can confirm already that we've set up meetings with various stakeholders, including employees, which will progress into H2. We're definitely looking to have everything finalized by 31st of December. There will be further announcements and certain announcements as we go through the process and confirm each step.
I can assure Theo that all stakeholders, and Hulamin continues to value our employees, so there will definitely be proper communications to them via the correct channels.
Thank you, Mark. There is a question from Matthew, from Blue Current Capital Management. His question is: What are the expected CapEx for the second half, roughly?
Okay, thanks Matthew for the question. The ZAR 271 million that Pravashni spoke about earlier was obviously for work that we completed in H2. As per our SENS announcement, we did our final execution and commissioning of the Wide Project early in July. All that CapEx and the cash flow relating to that, approximately ZAR 200 million, will come through in H2.
Thank you, Mark, for that. We have another question from Mr. Scooter. The question is: Mark, I am happy to learn that Hulamin has finally decided to close the Extrusions business after losses in this division for many, many years. Good to see this decision, and I hope you are able to execute this decision now properly.
Thank you again, Mr. Scooter, for the comment and the question. I can confirm that, together with the board's support and my management team as a whole, we are determined to be able to make sure that our focus remains, as per our presentation, on rolled products and our non-core activities are resolved, so that we can get the full value creation in rolled products.
We've got a detailed plan to be able to execute this year in line with our presentation, where I detailed through exactly what our plans of action for the remainder of 2025, at the same time as how we unlock the shareholder value for the period of by the end of 2027. That's gonna come with us accountability driven, but more especially timely execution. We, me and my management team are definitely up to the task to be able to execute it timely.
Thank you, Mark. We have another question from Peter from Metamarkets . The question is: Following the planned reduction in net debt, will there be any appetite for a debt refinancing?
Let me just say that where we are with debt, and I think Pravashni covered it quite well in her presentation, we plan with regards to our debt levels to where it is and ensure there's sufficient financing in place to be able to support the investment that we've done over the last two to three years. What we continuously and a clear indication that I need to give the market is, we are not looking at shareholders from a recapitalization point of view to fund our debt levels. What we are continuously doing as management is continually looking at our balance sheet and our working capital requirements to make it more efficient.
I can confirm that we will continue to embark on looking at our balance sheet and structuring it effectively to be able to support our strategic plan that I've just shared in my presentation. We're not necessarily just relying on just pure debt refinancing. Again, I'm gonna emphasize, we are over our CapEx peak. Now it's about unlocking the value release from non-core activities and positive generation will bring down our debt levels.
Thank you, Mark. That was the last question we have. Maybe if you could just give it a couple of seconds to check if there are any more questions coming through. Okay. It appears that there are no more questions. We'd like to thank everyone. Back to you, Mark.
Yeah. Thank you very much, Noma. Thank you to everyone for joining us in our session again. I look forward to delivering the value that Pravashni and I have set out today and seeing the market. One of the things that I will point out is that we're excited to share with you, with our valuable shareholders, our Wide Project and showcase what we've done and the valuation that we've done over the last three years. I will be in touch to be able to set up an Investor Day during the month of October, where there'll be a plant visit, and we'll have further discussion with regards to unlocking shareholder value going into the future. I thank you for your time today.