Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Vistin Pharma Quarterly Report, Q2 2024 Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during this session, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one and one again. Alternatively, you may submit your question via the webcast. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I will now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Magnus Tollenhaug, CEO. Please go ahead.
Yes, thank you, and welcome all to this Q2 2024 presentation. I will now go through the highlights of the Q2 2024 results. The revenue in the Q2 ended at NOK 106 million, versus NOK 107 million in the Q2 of 2023. Currency neutral, revenue was slightly higher in the quarter compared to the Q2 of 2023, with about 1%. The year-to-date 2024 revenue ended at NOK 210 million, compared to NOK 208 million year-to-date last year. The Q2 ended with a record high EBITDA of NOK 27 million, versus NOK 20 million in the Q2 of 2023, an increase of 40%.
The EBITDA was positively affected by product mix, favorable material cost prices, and good cost control in the quarter. The EBITDA year-to-date ended at NOK 48 million, versus NOK 34 million year-to-date the same time last year, an increase of 42%. The manufacturing line two has been producing according to plan from April, after the unplanned maintenance and repair we had in the Q1. We also had planned biannual maintenance stop successfully completed in the Q2. A cash dividend of NOK 0.5 per share was distributed in June 2024, and an additional dividend of NOK 0.5 per share is planned to be distributed in the Q3.
The net profit was positively affected with NOK 2.5 million in the quarter by fair value of a future currency cash flow hedging contracts. So an unrealized gain, no cash effects in the quarter. Vistin Pharma, we are a pure play Metformin company supporting diabetes patients worldwide in a growing market. Diabetes is really one of the largest health emergencies in the twenty-first century, and the Metformin is the gold standard treatment of type 2 diabetes that is used as a baseline treatment. Therefore, Vistin Pharma has an attractive growth opportunity, as we are a leading global producer of premium, high-quality Metformin. Some words about the market. The global market demand for Metformin is expected to grow with about 4%-6% annually, if you look at the compound annual growth rate forecasted.
Vistin's global market share will be approximately 10% when the new capacity expansion is fully utilized. We are growing in a growing market. For those who have been following us as a company, you have seen this slide before, but it is a relevant slide because it shows the magnitude of the diabetes epidemic in the world. The International Diabetes Federation has predicted that the number of people with diabetes is expected to increase by 50% from 2019 to 2045, up to 750 million people. It's really an epidemic. We know that around 550 million people have diabetes today in the world, and about 90% of those are type two diabetes.
We also know that already by 2030, it's projected that we will be at around 640 million people in the world having diabetes. It's also worthwhile to notice that about three out of four with diabetes live in low and middle-income countries in the world. Vistin Pharma, we are selling our metformin API, which is the active pharmaceutical ingredient. We sell it globally to typically to reputable international companies, who then create and process the final drug product and sell it at least in more than 100 countries, as we know of. So, we have our sales, as you can see on the slide, all the way from Japan in the east to US and LATAM in the west.
However, the majority of sales or volume is going to Central Europe, where either it's processed into tablets and distributed, or where the API is distributed further for manufacturing elsewhere. So it's really a global, company and global distribution. We've had a long and a good track record, and in 2022, we installed our new manufacturing line. So now it's nice to see that the investment is materializing into increased sales, as you can see from the graph. And I think with that, I'd like to hand over to our CFO, Mr. Alexander Karlsen, who will bring us through the details of the financial figures.
Thank you, Magnus. We will start with the sales volume, which ended at 1,250 tons in the quarter, which is an increase of around 4% from 1,200 tons in the Q2 2023. The year-to-date sales volume is close to 2,500 tons. However, it's impacted by the unplanned stop in the Q1. We also had some limitations in the volumes available in April due to the mentioned production stop in the Q1. Having a look at the revenue, which ended at NOK 106 million, compared to NOK 107 million in the same quarter last year. As Magnus mentioned, adjusted FX, the revenue increased by approximately 1%.
It's important to emphasize that the global metformin prices has decreased for the past twelve months and stabilized at a low level due to decreased raw material prices. When it comes to May and June, the available sales volume was according to the plan. Gross margin, we see a positive development. We have had no more stable production in the Q2, and we have seen economies of scale in raw material purchasing, and 64% gross margin in the Q2 is well above our target of 60%. Having a look at the record-high EBITDA, ended at NOK 27.3 million, compared to NOK 19.6 million in the Q2, 2023. It's a 40% increase, which I was very satisfied with.
EBITDA is positively affected by product mix, material prices or material cost, as mentioned, and also, we have consistent good cost control in the quarter. I would also mention that we had a positive development in the margin, which went from 23%, in the same quarter last year to 26% this quarter. It shows that we still are optimizing the sales prices, even with decreasing global metformin prices. Having a more look at some details in the income statement, we have touched on the revenue and EBITDA, and the EBIT ended at NOK 22.3 million, after around NOK 5 million in depreciations in the quarter. Net finance positive with NOK 2.2 million, mainly driven by the unrealized gain on the FX forward contracts.
Profit before tax ended at NOK 24.6 million, while net profit for the period ended at NOK 19.2 million. The taxes are still non-payable for us due to the deferred tax assets we have from the recent trading time. Going into the balance sheet, starting with the assets. Total non-current assets of close to NOK 250 million, mainly the fixed assets related to the production plant in Kragerø. Total current assets of around NOK 155 million, mainly inventory and receivables, giving a total assets of around NOK 403 million. It's also mentioned that, as probably most of you have seen or to the media, that there are still reduced transportation to the Suez Canal, and as we purchase raw materials from Asia, we see that the freight lead times has increased significantly.
However, it has not been an impact on the production in the H1 of the year, as we have a significant safety stock of critical raw materials locally. And I believe we will continue that with the volatility we see out there. Having a look at the equity and liability side of the balance sheet, total equity of around NOK 294 million, which gives an equity ratio of 73%, which is strong. The share premium has slightly decreased, which is driven by the dividend payouts this year. Total non-current assets of NOK 10 million, while current assets at around NOK 98.7 million.
We have moved from a net cash position as of end 2023 to a net debt position as of end June of NOK 34 million, and that's mainly driven by the dividend payouts in January and June and acquisition of 15% in CF Pharma. We do, however, have additional credit facilities if needed. This brings the total equity and liabilities to NOK 403 million as of end Q. I think that was all from me, Magnus, and I will give the word back to you.
Yeah. Thank you, Alexander. I will do a summary of the presentation. We deliver an all-time high EBITDA of 27.3 million NOK in the Q2 of 2024, with a gross margin of 64%. The metformin market is expected to continue to grow by a compound annual growth rate of 4%-6% annually in the foreseeable future. As Alexander mentioned, the situation in the Red Sea and the Suez Canal makes the shipments of raw material longer, the routes goes through the southern parts of Africa, and also therefore the freight prices has gone up during the Q2. So we can see that the freight prices are expected to gradually increase during 2024 due to this spike.
There are four months left of the quarter, so now sales prices and volume for the remaining 2024 are booked. The long-term renewable energy supply agreement that we signed with Statkraft until 2032 provides predictable costs and also secures 100% green hydropower long term. This is important for us to be as environmentally sustainable as possible and also secures stable access to power long term. We have an attractive metformin growth potential to be realized when the remaining manufacturing capacity is fully available and utilized. In Vistin we are strategically well positioned as a leading European clients. They typically prefer high-quality supplies, nearshore production, and an attractive ESG profile.
Vistin have an ambition to pay out 50% of the net annual profit as a dividend, of course, balanced against the company's financial strength at any given time and capital requirements for future growth. After the purchase of 15% of CF Pharma in Hungary in Q1, we are exploring our various strategic options for further growth. And I think with that, we are done with the Q2 2024 presentation, and we are ready to open up for questions.
Thank you. To ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one and one again. Alternatively, you may submit your question via the webcast. There are no questions on the phone at this time. I would like to hand over for any webcast questions.
Yes, I think we have received a couple questions. There is one question about dividend, and the question is: Will the next dividend be classified as return of capital, as income? I think we will communicate the details when relevant, but I think it's likely to be that it will be done in the same manner as previously, which is a repayment of the share premium. We also received a question regarding the cost-saving project for the recycling of water, which is a significant project for us and also gives significant savings. We had a planned maintenance stop in April and have installed the recycling equipment, and this will be started up in August/September and have a test period during September. So we expect savings from that project soon.
Yeah, you can comment on some questions on the CF Pharma, Magnus.
Yes, sure. There is a question here about our plans with the ownership of CF Pharma. Yes, so in the Q1, we bought 15% of CF Pharma in Hungary. CF Pharma is a European reputable API CDMO with a big customer base and, of course, buying 15%, we are now looking into different strategic options, as mentioned. But of course, we cannot go into any details about what we are thinking. But, in general terms, you could say that, within pharma, we are opportunistic when it comes to growth. So, at any given time, we are looking at different options to grow for the benefit of our shareholders. But as for now, we don't have any concrete more information.
And we have a question on the production levels and the expected 7,000 metric tons yearly production. I would say that we are now ramping up the production according to the sales forecasts and what they expect to sell. So, it's progressing. I would also say that the H1, both sales and production volumes are affected by the unplanned stop in Q1. So both the sales and production volume would have been higher if we had not had the unplanned stop.
Yeah, there's another question here about if we could elaborate on the strategic options based on the CF Pharma. I think we have commented on that, but of course, as mentioned, CF Pharma is a European well-reputed CDMO with global sales. So there are several options, both for collaborations or ownership or different options. But as mentioned, we are looking into our strategic options at the moment, but we don't have anything more concrete to say at this point.
I think that was all the questions we have received, so I think now we can close the call, please.
This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.