Good morning, everyone, and welcome to B2 Impact second quarter presentation. As usual, we will have the Q&A after the presentation has concluded. We will start with those calling in live, and then we will go to questions in the activity feed, where you can post questions during the presentation. With that, I will give the word to Trond Kristian.
Thank you, Rasmus, and good morning everyone. I am pleased to report another strong quarter that confirms the positive momentum we have built over the past years. We are tracking well ahead of our targets, and today we will walk you through the key developments that support this. Looking at the Q2 highlights, unsecured collection performance came in at 117%, once again demonstrating significant upside in our estimated remaining collection. Cash collections grew by 10% year-over-year with stable operating expenses, clearly demonstrating the scalability of our business. We have invested and committed NOK 3.1 billion as of today, well ahead of our original plan. Strong REO sales in the quarter has supported our capacity for even higher investments. Earnings per share growth is ahead of target, and as a result, we have increased our financial and investment targets for the full year 2026.
In summary, strong execution, strong results and a clear strategy ahead. The investment activity in the second quarter was high, and we are well ahead of plan. As of today, we have invested and committed NOK 3.1 billion. Based on this momentum, we now expect to invest at least NOK 4 billion for the full year, up from previous target of NOK 3.5 billion. Importantly, the early deployment of capital this year drives higher collections going forward. The investments we are making today will contribute positively to our earnings in the coming years. The market remains large and attractive across our markets. Our strategy gives us the flexibility to select portfolios with the best risk-adjusted returns, and our pipeline supports the revised target. Unsecured ERC has grown by 60% year-over-year. With our performance in collections, the actual value in our book is sustainable and higher than what is reported.
This will continue to have a positive impact on our financials going forward. We are well positioned to maintain a disciplined and selective approach for the remainder of the year. We are not chasing volume. We are selecting quality. This slide illustrates what I consider one of the most important developments for our business going forward. Unsecured collection performance was 117% in the second quarter, up from 112% in the same quarter last year. This is due to excellent execution and collection strategy by our teams across the group. We have seen a 26% increase in unsecured collection per FTE year-over-year. This is a remarkable development and reflects years of investment in technology and automation. We continue to accelerate the deployment of AI-supported tools. Voice bots are now introduced in several countries with a very encouraging results, offering opportunities to increase reach, lower costs, and improve quality.
Automation of written communication and document processing are further driving efficiencies across onboarding and back book collection. The result is a highly scalable cost base that can absorb significantly higher portfolio volumes without a proportional increase in headcount. The systematic rollout of automation across all countries remains a strong strategic priority, and this effect is expected to accelerate throughout 2026 and in the coming years. Based on the strong performance in the first half, we have updated our financial targets for 2026. Earnings per share of at least NOK 2.25, up from previous targets of 2.1. Return on equity of approximately 16% at year-end, up from 14%. As mentioned, total investments of at least NOK 4 billion. Leverage ratio to remain below 2.5. Earnings per share reached NOK 0.66 in Q2 and 21% year-over-year.
We are on a clear path towards our updated full year target and the combination of growth, profitability and capital discipline gives us confidence in attractive and sustainable shareholder distributions. Our financial targets for 2027 to 2028 are currently under revision, and we will present updated targets once we have concluded 2026. What I can already say is that the strong development in 2026 provides a solid foundation for the years ahead. With that, I will hand over to André for the financial details.
Thank you, Trond Kristian, and good morning to everyone listening in this morning. I would like to give some extra appreciation today to my colleagues in the finance team for all the support in finalizing the material this quarter. And of course, to all employees contributing once again to delivering excellent results across our markets. We are pleased to present very strong financial performance. We are tracking above our communicated financial targets. In the second quarter, we continued to build on the key value drivers we have presented for some time now. Growth in unsecured collections, sustainable high collection performance, highly scalable cost base, and lower cost of funding. We continue to see sustainable, strong collection performance with further improvements also in the quarter. Unsecured collection performance came in at 117% in the quarter and 116% year to date.
Operating expenses has remained stable with 10% growth in cash collections, demonstrating once again the scalability of our cost base and the increase in collection per FTE Trond Kristian presented. Cash flow in the quarter was very strong, with Cash EBITDA up 10% compared to last year, supporting low leverage. This is driven by the growth in unsecured collections, the scalability in cost, and also supported by the accelerated REO sales, which I will come back to on the next slide. Investments came in at almost NOK 1.3 billion in the quarter. Ahead of the plan, both in terms of volumes and timing. Unsecured ERC is consequently up 16% or 22% in constant currency. The earnings per share was NOK 0.66 in the quarter, and NOK 1.23 per share year to date, tracking ahead of the target for the full year.
The growth in EPS resulted in a much improved return on equity of 16%, combined with a solid equity ratio around 30%. As a result, we have revised and increased the financial targets for 2026, and I will come back to the updated targets and some more details later in the presentation. We continue to see, again, a positive trend in our unsecured collection performance across all markets. Unsecured performance at 117% is up 5 percentage points compared to the same quarter last year, with year to date performance at 116%. Despite positive revaluations over the recent years, the performance continues to increase, demonstrating that the underlying improvement is sustainable. Secured collections were solid at NOK 278 million, up 22% compared with last year. The increase is driven by strong and accelerated REO sales.
REO sales was NOK 206 million in the quarter, with a gain of 46% compared to book value. For the year to date, we have REO sales of NOK 267 million. We have previously shared that the full year expectation for 2026 was around NOK 300 million. We have been able to accelerate sales, still at very high margins of 46%, and we now expect to see REO sales closer to NOK 400 million for the full year. Moving to slide 10, and then some details on the cash flow for the quarter. The cash earnings over the last 12 months clearly demonstrate our ability to grow the business while maintaining a moderate leverage. We are currently in a very strong position where our operating cash flow supports double digit Cash EBITDA growth, attractive dividends, increased investment activity, all while keeping leverage well below our target of 2.5.
In terms of costs, we have for a long time focused on communicating the scalability of our cost base, and I want to reiterate that this is one of the most important value drivers for our EPS growth. Cash collections were up 10% in the quarter compared to last year, and the total cash revenues were up 16% compared to last year. At the same time, we have seen stable cost in the quarter and cost up 3% over the last 12 months, comparing to the 16% growth in revenues. The underlying OpEx ratio is consequently trending down, with profit margins trending up, supporting high EPS growth. Moving to slide 10 and some more details on the investments for the quarter. Investments came in at NOK 1.29 billion for the second quarter. The majority of portfolios were unsecured within consumer finance and banking.
The secured assets acquired in the quarter relates to a buyout of a joint venture partner in Central Europe. We have serviced this portfolio for a while and expect very limited marginal cost in taking over the remainder of the portfolio, and we do expect a notable accretive impact from this portfolio. I would also like to highlight the importance of utilizing the strong competence we have within secured, while keeping the main investment focus in the group on unsecured. We do expect to see some mixed portfolios in Western and Central Europe that can support both the unsecured and the secured collection teams. As Trond Kristian already mentioned, we have invested and committed already more than NOK 3.1 billion for 2026. The group is well ahead of the investment target and on track to deliver the revised target of at least NOK 4 billion for the full year.
We see continued high activity in the market for portfolio transactions, which allows us to be selective and prioritize return requirements. The total ERC at the end of the quarter stands at 28.9 billion. Last year, the ERC was 26 billion, and Trond K ristian in that presentation mentioned that we expect the actual ERC to be north of 30 billion. Today, it is almost 29 billion, and we still see the same comparable upside, taking potential ERC well north of 30 billion. Interest costs and commitment fees decreased from NOK 179 million last year to NOK 163 million this year. Compared with Q1 this year, we have seen net interest bearing debt increasing due to higher investment volumes. At the same time, we see interest costs remain stable.
The improvement is largely explained by improved margins following bond refinancing in the first quarter of this year and new interest rate hedges at favorable terms. in April, we saw an upgrade in our rating from S&P to BB with a stable outlook, up from previously BB-. While the rating has improved, we still argue the low underlying risk and strong financial performance we have consistently delivered indicates an even stronger rating. In terms of liquidity, we hold a reserve of approximately EUR 320 million in addition to operational cash flow. Now, I would like to share some more details. Probably the most important update today, the increased financial targets for 2026. Based on the strong performance in the first half of this year, and obviously the higher investment level, we have done the following adjustments to our financial targets for 2026.
Earnings per share has been increased to at least 2.25, up from our previous target of 2.1 or 2.10. With comparable FX rates, the new target would have been around 2.35, up 12% compared to the original target. Return on equity is expected around 16% at year-end, up from previously 14%. Portfolio investments are expected at least NOK 4 billion for the year, up from NOK 3.5 billion, with NOK 3.1 billion already committed for the full year. Leverage, of course, is expected to remain well below 2.5 to facilitate up to 100% dividend distribution. Now, we would like to highlight that the combination of these targets supports a uniquely strong total risk-adjusted return for our shareholders.
With high direct returns through dividend distributions, an attractive return on equity of 16%, in combination with an equity ratio around 30%, and low leverage, which further strengthens the attractiveness of the total return. With that, I give the word back to you, Trond Kristian.
Thank you, André. Just a small summary. The key takeaways from today's presentation. Collection performance at 117% demonstrates the real and sustainable value in our portfolios. We have already invested and committed NOK 3.1 billion as of today, well ahead of plan, and we have raised our investment target to at least NOK 4 billion for the year. We have significantly improved efficiency through technology and AI-supported automation, with 26% higher unsecured collection per FTE. Earnings per share growth is ahead of target, driven by strong operational execution and capital efficiency. We have raised all our financial targets for 2026. I would also like to thank all B2 Impact employees for their contribution to these strong results. Across the organization, our people combine deep commitment and strong execution with a clear focus on creating long-term value.
We are confident in our ability to deliver continued attractive and increasing returns, and we remain well positioned to capture opportunities in the market.
Thank you both. With that, we will then continue to the Q&A. I guess we will have some AI voice here to introduce this session.
If you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key five on your telephone keypad to enter the queue. If you wish to withdraw your question, please dial pound key six on your telephone keypad.
Thank you, AI. As of now, we don't have any live questions, but we have some questions in the chat, so we will kick off with those questions. First, a couple of questions from Fredrik Flørnes Støle from ABG. First question here. How should we think about the very strong unsecured collection performance at 117% of our costs? Are the collection curves providing overly conservative, and is the outperformance mainly coming from the back book, or are you also seeing similar performance from more recently acquired portfolios?
There is not one clear answer to this. First of all, the new investments coming in are not performing at the same level. They are performing as expected, which should dilute the performance, but we continue to see a higher collection performance. We have for a while tried to convey to the market that there is significant upside in our ERC, and it's coming from a lot of improvements that we've seen over the last years. Improving automation, improving strategies, as Trond Kristian pointed out. We see a much lower decay in the trending collection compared to the back book curves, which will result in write-ups of the book over time, as we have also communicated. We will do that over time. We have also seen lately in both Q1 and Q2 that new strategies and initiatives have improved collection performance further in many of our markets.
We have expected an improvement, but we also see new initiatives improving the performance even further. I think that only cements the point we made that we believe the total ERC is well north of NOK 30 billion.
Thank you, André. I think you partly answered the next question from Fredrik. You have for some quarters talked about an ERC above NOK 30 billion, and now potentially well beyond that. When should we expect this to become visible in the reported numbers, and what are the key drivers or timing effects holding it back?
It is reflected in the reported numbers through the collection performance. What we have communicated is that we will do write-ups over time, which we are doing every year. Not to a significant extent, but we are step by step writing up the book when the portfolios are triggered based on our internal procedures.
Thank you. Then we have two questions from Roy Tilley at Arctic Securities. First question. You reduced FTEs again this quarter. Is this a trend you expect to continue, or should we expect stability?
We are working very hard to employ technology. We are not focused on how much we can save, but how we can improve, make things better, and automate. That is not something we started out with the introduction of AI. This has been a long, long-term focus. We see results month by month, and we really are expecting this to continue.
Thank you. Then we go to the second question. You report strong investment activity in the quarter. Can you share some thoughts about the level of competition in your core markets? Are there any markets where you have seen a change in dynamics?
Perhaps a boring answer, but it differs by market. As we have footprints in a lot of countries, we are able to select and invest where we see the best opportunities. In terms of competition, I would say it's all in all kind of stable.
Thank you. I think that actually concludes the questions. We have a comment here in the chat which just says, "Congratulations. Excellent quarter." I think that's a good conclusion to this presentation. If anyone has questions, you can find my contact details on the last page of the presentation. With that, thank you to everyone who listened in, and we'll see you on November 5 when we present our third quarter. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.