Thank you all for standing by and welcome to the quarterly report at Q2 2021. Our presentation for today will be followed by a question and answer session. Please be advised that today's call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the will over to your CEO, Kjell Erik, Margin. Thank you.
Thank you. Welcome to the presentation of the 2nd quarter and First half twenty twenty one results in Lithium Pharma. The presentation will be held by myself and the CFO in NISP Pharma, Alexander Carlson. We start with a summary of the quarter. We had a record high sales volume in the Q2 of 2021.
However, the revenue was is heavily affected by a significantly stronger NOK versus euro compared to the similar quarter last year. Is resulted in a revenue of SEK 67,000,000 versus SEK 73,000,000 in the same quarter last year, An 8% decrease. First, The revenue for the first half of twenty twenty one ended at SEK 138,000,000 compared to SEK 134,000,000 last year, which is a 2% growth. EBITDA for the quarter ended at SEK 15,600,000 versus SEK 20,900,000 in the Q2 of 2020, which is a 26% decrease. The reason for the lower EBITDA in this quarter compared to the Q2 last year is unfavorable currency effect.
We, The rest of the world experienced a record high international freight costs. The World Price Index is currently 500 percent higher than at the same time last year. And this is due to global constraints in limitation of containers and also port congestions following the COVID-nineteen pandemic. We also, in Norway, have had significantly higher electricity prices in 2021 compared to last year. The first the EBITDA for the first half of twenty 21,000,000 ended at SEK 31,900,000 versus SEK 35,100,000 last year, a 9% decrease.
Operational wise, the quarter has been very good. We have had all time high production Volume in the quarter then adjusted for a planned 7 days maintenance stop. And the Fishebokke plant has been running at full capacity SEK 100,000,000 in doubling the production capacity at our dedicated NetSol Insight. And the project is on track. The first commercial batch from the second production line is expected in the second half of twenty twenty two.
Approximately 50% of the investment is already paid as of end June. It is, of course, a game changer for we still fulfill the additional volume with new contracts. So we are also pleased to be informed that we have recently signed a new long term supply agreement with a customer that was signed in August. So it's a post Q2 event, where we expect annual volumes of 1,000 to 1500 metric tons, which is new volume to Western Pharma. All the financials, the cash balance is SEK 60,000,000 at end of June, even though that we have paid 50% of the expansion project, we still have no interest bearing that a dividend of NOK0.5 per share was paid out in June.
And we still have we have invested significantly in making VISTA Pharma even more green in the last years in different ESG projects. And we have some very, very interesting projects going on, And we are pleased to also to report that we have received government grants of SEK 6,000,000 during the first half for these projects that will be used for productivity increase and further enhance our ESG position and deliver the strategy that we have for environmental health and safety issues. The next slide shows the positive development in the company since 2019, as you can see, we have had a 33% revenue growth from the first half of twenty nineteen until the first half of twenty twenty one and a significant EBIT SAAR growth of 173% in the same period. After the sale of our opioid business, and the tablet production facility in Groovewein in Krogge. VISTA Pharma is a dedicated Methamine producer.
And we are a 1 product company, and we live and breathe with For me, 20 fourseven, and it's the only company in the world that actually have this strong focus. Diabetes is one of the largest health emergencies in the 21st century. If you read the Norwegian newspaper, I think it was Darmblad. Yesterday, they had a front page saying that diabetes 2 is a pandemic and health authorities are worried about the development of the disease. Fortunately, Metformin is a fantastic drug that actually prevents or the development of diabetes 2 and makes life better for the people that actually have that disease.
And it's the gold standard treatment for diabetes 2. So with diabetes as a growing epidemic and Metformin as the gold standard treatment, we see that Visteon has a bright outlook in the Metformin segment going forward. Yes. The next slide shows how the mechanism Of metamine. The only thing that I can say here is that metamine has been in use since late 60s.
It actually have very mild side effects. It's a very safe drug to use, and the treatment is also very cost effective for the health authorities. I mentioned that diabetes is a global emergency. This shows how the WHO expect that the disease will develop in the different regions of the world. Adding everything together, the number of diabetes patients is expected to exceed SEK 700,000,000 by 2,045, Which is almost a 50% increase from today.
And if you convert that to metformin and the demand for metformin, that will imply approximately 4% to 5% growth of the metformin demand the coming decade. The Slide number 9 shows how we are present. We are located in Norway. However, 100% of our revenue is exported to all over the world. Some of our major customers are located in Europe, but metformin from Visteon inside the tablets that are manufactured from these multinational pharmaceutical companies are then available to patients all over the world.
The next slide is an illustration of the record high sales and production volume in the quarter. The sales volume for the Q2, as you can see in the upper left table, was 9.58 metric tons, and that is a 5% increase from the Q2 of 2020. And the year to date sales volume is was 1858 metric tons compared to 1788 metric tons in the first Half of twenty twenty, which is a 5% 4% increase in sales volume. And as we have said earlier, we are completely sold out. So that is also is linked to our manufacturing capacity.
We had a record high production volume in the quarter, close soon close to 1,000 metric tons. Adjusted for the 7 days Cloud maintenance stopped in week 15 this quarter. Some more information of the corona pandemic status. As I said, the Fishapak plant has been running at capacity throughout the COVID-nineteen pandemic and that was still the case in the Q2, we have taken successful actions to secure the supply of critical raw materials. However, due to limitations of available containers and port congestions In some harbors, for example, in Rotterdam and in Alpertu, this is not only a case that is linked to Wissmann.
We have experienced significant delays in delivery of raw material, especially from China. We are taking measures to secure that We will have raw materials available for production going forward. However, some of these uncertainties is out of our control. So if we experience additional delays or congestions in harbors that may lead to short term interruption in production. This is not something that we can forecast, but the situation in the world is is challenging with respect to transportation.
In addition, I mentioned that the container freight index is currently 500% higher than last year, which has a negatively impact, of course, on other costs. There are no reported corona infected employees in distant pharma as of today, and we are strictly following all guidelines from authorities, and we are taking is the local measures to reduce the risk of virus spread in the factory, and that has been very successful so far. Positively is that the demand in the market for meth amine from lithium is high and it is not affected by the corona pandemic. And also that we are strategically well positioned to benefit from the expected increase in local supply demand following the pandemic. And we see that both with the forecast from existing customers, but also that discussions They have the potential new customers.
And we go then we continue with is a review, and I give the word to the CFO, Alex Anders.
Thank you, Erik. As Kjell Erik mentioned, looking at the revenues, it's down around SEK 6,000,000 or 8% decrease compared to same quarter last year. And several factors affecting the revenue in the quarter. The NOK has strengthened around 10% compared to Q2 last year. So having a similar exchange rate this quarter as the same quarter last year will give revenue quite the same.
There's also a couple of factors here. We have some additional sales volume this quarter compared to last quarter or the same quarter last year. However, there are a bit more unfavorable mix this quarter. We have sold a bit less DEC, which has a higher price and a slightly higher margin than the same quarter last year. Looking at the gross margin, we're seeing pressure on the raw material costs.
There are generally high demand out in the world are for our most important raw material complements. And also we see increasing in general increase in raw materials like on the oil prices, ethanol, etcetera that are in use. And as Jiraej mentioned, record high transportation costs, putting some numbers to it. Last year, we typically paid NOK 15,000 for the 2 seat containers. Prices now are typical close to SEK 100,000.
So there's an extreme cost increase on freight, especially from China to Europe. Looking at the results, EBITDA cost came in at around SEK 15.6 SEK 1,000,000 lower than SEK 20.9 million in Q2 last year. As I mentioned, if we had like for like exchange rates, the EBITDA will be very close to the same quarter last year. Obviously, the increase in raw material prices are affecting our margin and results and also the container cost as mentioned several times. And as that hasn't been enough, we also see record high electricity prices is in Norway for the last 3, 4, 5 months.
And we use quite a lot of electricity in our factories will use a demetform means. There are also being some increased motor fees from the municipality. Looking at EBTs came in around SEK 12,000,000 versus around SEK 20 For last year, a couple of factors also. Depreciation is a bit higher and just reflecting that we are doing a lot of investments and also the capitalization of the new reactor we installed late last year. The EBITDA last year is also positively affected for some market to market value reversals of Sandoz booked in Q1.
I think we did move through most of the numbers in the P and L statement. However, I can mention that loss after tax SEK 8,000,000. However, since we have the deferred tax assets, we are not expected to pay any taxes, at least not for 2021 and 2022. Going into the balance sheet, looking at the assets, quite a big increase in the non current assets from last year, again, driven by the net investments that is on the balance sheet as fixed assets. On the current assets, quite similar numbers as last year, except for the cash and cash equivalents, again driven by dividend payout in June at around SEK 22,000,000 and that we as of end June has is around 50% or NOK 50 of the MEP investment.
So total assets around SEK 320,000,000 and again, at similar levels as previous periods. Having a look at the liability Site and equity. Equity or share premium EBITDA driven by the dividend payout in June. Total equity higher a bit higher than same period last year. I think mentioned we have a very strong balance sheet with 83% Equity ratio.
And both the as mentioned, we don't have any interest bearing debt and the current liabilities Same as last year. I think that was everything about the finance side, Eric. And now Back
to you, Kent. And I'll sum up with the outlook. We are still very positive and excited about The future of Listener Pharma. The metformin market, as mentioned earlier, is expected to continue to grow by 5% to 6 is annually. It's very nice to be in a market which is actually is growing and has a steady growth going forward.
That is not the case for all businesses after this corona pandemic. And also, we see attractive growth potential from existing customer base. Of course, as the market grows, our customer also is hopefully growing their business in parallel And then increasing their volume demand from Wissen. And As we said in the highlights, we are extremely pleased with signing a new supply agreement with has significant volume going forward. And we are positive and optimistic that we will be able to also sign additional contracts in the time to come to Fuel the additional net volume according to other plans because we are strategically well positioned as many European clients prefer supplies with short travel distances and also overseas and other customers prefer supply of premium product that is documented of being, for example, free from byproducts.
So that's something that we build on and believe is a competitive advantage Advantage to business. We are in to take advantage of our position And the expected growth, we are investing SEK 100,000,000 in doubling the capacity. The first production commercial batch is expected in Q2 2022. The project is on track so far. So hopefully, we will have more products to sell in the years to come.
So I think that ended our Q2 presentation and the first half twenty twenty one summary. So now it's up for questions. Yes.
Thank you. We'll now begin the question and answer session. On your telephone keypad and wait for your name to be announced. To cancel your request, kindly press the hash queue. Once again, star 1 if you have any questions.
I can answer at least almost the questions that has come in. And there are some questions about that we are experiencing higher costs for freight, electricity, raw materials, etcetera. We have had negotiations with our customers and have done some short term price increases to partly offset the cost increase. This is obviously something we are monitoring closely. And if there are additional increases, especially on the freight side, we have
Yes, another question, which is can you elaborate on Productivity increase and ESG projects in the coming 18 months. I can say something about it. First of all, we are using a lot of water in our production process to cool the tanks, etcetera. Approximately, we are we use almost 30% of the water consumption in the Kvigere Sitti. So we have a project now, which is to recirculate the water.
The aim is to reduce the water consumption in the plant by 90%. That has a 2 fold kind of meaning. First of all, it will reduce our yearly water cost by several million annually. In addition to that, that is part of our environmental sustainable objective because we will then also not it will give more water to the Kvaal to Kvaal, but it also we'll have less impact on the local environment. Even though that this water is not polluted, we do not want to expose or to use more water than necessary.
So that is both has both an environmental objective, but also an extremely important cost reduction objective. Another important project for us is to reduce the emission to air of solvents. So we have a very We are using a very gentle and very mild solvent, the butanol, and we are currently Selling equipment to reduce the emission of butanol by 90%. And That will also the butanol that is not admitted to air will hopefully also will be reused in the plant. We are already reusing 90% of the butanol in the process, so that will add another couple of percentage.
So these yes, we have also other interesting projects going on, I think these are the 2 major ones which have the most significant impact both on the environment, but also on the cost situation in the company. We have announced how many is working in the factory. We have approximately
65,000,000. I think we're close to 70,000,000,000.
Close to 70 in the factory. We are only 8 people in the head office here in Oslo. And when the expansion project is is fully utilized and we are producing 7,000 metric tons. We will probably add around 15 new employees.
I would say 50 to 20, I
mean, depending on In order to produce double the capacity as we do today. So that you understand, it has a significant scale economy effect since we already have all the Infrastructure and all the management present already. We have also asked the question, what do we want to become when we are grown up, meaning what do we want to do after we have filled the additional capacity and are producing and selling 7,000 metric tons of Metformin? I would say, first, I will open up Buffalo champagne because that will be a significant game changer in this time. And as you say Norway, then T, then Glade.
We have There are different options that we are exploring, but I can't say anything more today. I think the absolutely main short, medium term focus for us should be to secure that we can sell the additional 3,500 metric tons at a reasonable good price and good margin. When we do that, I would like to have a great party, I believe.
Okay. I think that was all the question as of now. So I think we will say
thank you. Yes. Thank you for listening. And we will be back in the when we have the Q3 presentation. Yes.
Thank you. That concludes our call for today. You may all disconnect. Thank you all for participating.