Good morning, everyone, and welcome to this presentation of the second quarter financial results for Zaptec. My name is Kurt Østrem. I am the CEO in Zaptec. Together with me this morning, I have the CFO, Eirik Herrem, and together we will walk you through the figures and the highlights for the last quarter. During the second quarter, we achieved several milestones which support our European growth ambition. We have got into a strategic collaboration with PostNord across Europe. We have announced a new product, the Zaptec Go 2. This will unlock EU markets, and we have got into a pan-European contract with Spirii with a value of 23 million EUR. We will come back to this milestone in more detail later on. In a really challenging market, we are very proud of what we have performed when it comes to financial performance.
I think you have to know how weak the EV market have been in the last quarter, and you also have to know about what our competitor perform to see how strong this financial result is for Zaptec in this quarter, as we have had a significantly improved EBITDA. Further on, we have continued our momentum and growth in new markets. We are on track to start delivering on the path towards inventory normalization. That mean that we will reduce the inventory going forward, and we see the results already in July. Further, we have an OpEx reduction, and we have always an ongoing commitment to cost efficiency. And last but not least, we have sufficient liquidity, and we projected to improve this going forward. So now, Eirik, you can walk us through the figures for last quarter.
Thank you, Kurt. I'll give a brief overview of the financial highlights, because we'll come back to these in detail in later slides. Our revenue in the second quarter came in at 341 million NOK. This is up compared to the last quarter, which is good news in a weak market. We had a good order intake of 342 million NOK, supporting our healthy backlog. At the end of Q2, our backlog was at 456 million NOK. This provides visibility for future revenue. Happy to also report that we have continued to have a strong gross margin, coming in at 38%, up from 35% in Q2 last year.
Our OpEx in the second quarter came in at 98 million NOK, a significant decrease from 115 in Q1, and also lower than the Q2 2023 OpEx. This gives a good EBITDA for Zaptec in the second quarter. We delivered 34 million NOK in EBITDA, more than double what we had in Q2 2023. I'll hand it back to Kurt to walk you through a couple of slides before I come back and take the details on some margins and inventory.
We increased revenue from the previous quarter. We increased it from 300 to 341 million NOK, and it's also showing the graph on the right-hand side that Sweden is our largest market, followed by Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, and also really pleased to see that we have a really good growth in the Netherlands, and also U.K. are now picking up when it comes to delivering. We have a slight decrease in sales from the second quarter last year, but you have to remember that 2023 was really special when it comes to the competition and the change in the competition situation, especially in Sweden.
That also shows when we look at the order intake from the previous quarter. We are increased also there from 306- 342, but we are somewhat lower than the second quarter last year. Then when you look at the order intake in the first and second quarter last year, it was extraordinarily high. And that's the reason for this decline to the second quarter this year. All in all, we're really pleased with the sales and order intake.
And the order backlog is now 456 million NOK, and it's important to say that the agreement and the we announced for the Spirii deal is not included in these numbers because the order backlog is only when you get the purchase order in, and this will coming on time further on. So this come on top of this 456, so a really strong order backlog for the rest of the year. So now, Eirik, you can go walk us through some detail.
Yes. So as indicated, we sustain our gross margin at the high level. In the second quarter this year, we came in at 38%. Actually, if you look into the details, it's slightly above 38% and a slight increase from last quarter. It's also higher than 35%, which we had in the second quarter last year. So that's good news. In general, it's the product mix and the market mix, which can impact the gross margin for Zaptec. That being said, we are very confident about retaining a continued strong gross margin.
As you can see, we have stabilized the gross margin quite good now, and we foresee that the gross margin will remain strong around the similar level as we have today. When it comes to the EBITDA, it's very pleasing to report a significant increase. We landed at 10% margin in Q2, which gives us NOK 34 million, and it's more than double what we had in the second quarter last year. The main driver behind this is our commitment to reduce costs, to have a cost focus, so the OpEx level has been reduced from 115 last quarter to 98 this quarter, and it's also lower than in the second quarter of 2023. We are pleased to deliver this.
Looking ahead, we believe in continued sequential growth in revenue. We can't, of course, predict exactly where sales will end up. What we can do is to focus on cost, which we will do. We'll also focus on retaining a strong gross margin, and in sum, it means that we are positive when it comes to future EBITDA development, and we do predict less volatility in quarterly EBITDA going forward, then we wanna repeat the illustration which we gave and presented in the first quarter results. It's about our inventory and the path towards normalized inventory. As you may recall, we've had a build-up of inventory due to mixed market conditions over the last twelve-plus months. Reducing production takes time, and we now see that we get the effect which we have been talking about.
And as indicated in previous presentations, the previous presentation in Q1, our inventory is peaking in the second quarter. You can see on the lines here, in 2024, middle of 2024, that the lines are actually now crossing. This means that we are producing less than we are selling. So units sold during July, which is after the second quarter, I know that, but still very important to note, units sold in July is higher than the units produced, meaning that inventory has started to decline. So at the end of July, the inventory was lower than the end of Q2. Also, it was lower than the end of Q1.
So this means that we are on track to deliver on the path towards normalizing the inventory, and we do expect this effect to continue throughout the year. This will also support our liquidity situation, and during the second half of the year, we foresee a strengthened liquidity, mainly because of the reduced production, continued increase in sales, i.e., we are reducing inventory and releasing cash. So that's very positive for us, and that's why I wanted to repeat this slide this time as well. So I will leave it back to you, Kurt, to talk about the market and our good news for this quarter in terms of agreements and so on.
Yes. When we look at the market development in the second quarter, it was a very mixed market. All over EU, the plug-in vehicle sales was really weak, and we saw a 5% decline in EU as a whole. When you look at Zaptec's core markets, which we defined as Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Switzerland, the decline was 9% in the EV sales. Even if Denmark and UK was exceptions in this quarter with the growth. So you see our number, we don't decline like the market, so that's meaning that we are taking market share in the second quarter also. So we're really pleased with that. EV transition is a mega trend. There's no doubt about that, even if the recent developments show some short-term delays in some markets.
All the largest analysts says that we expect about 20% annual EV sales growth in Europe in the year to come up to 2030. And why do they say this? Because there is some key growth drivers who makes this happen. First of all, the EU regulation is getting harder. Even from the 1st of January next year, there will be a new regulation about CO2 emission. That means that the OEM have to increase their production of EV and increase their shares of sales of EV to not get a penalty. And also really important is that there is now coming more affordable EV models into the market, and this is really important because 75% of all cars sold in Europe are small, affordable cars. So this will also increase the EV sales.
The charging infrastructure is expanding all the time, and that this also helps new EV owners. The battery advancements, longer range and lower cost, and for the first time now, the EV have reached the cost parity versus the internal combustion engine, and this will also lead to increased EV sales. So we are really optimistic about the EV sales going forward, and I have recently talked to the Norwegian EV Association, and they share our thoughts about this. So we will see an increase in EV sales in the coming months. As mentioned, we have gone into a collaboration with Polestar. That this mean that Zaptec Go becomes the recommended home charger on Polestar.com and in all European Polestar Spaces.
This is a perfect match between a really advanced and premium car brand like Polestar with a really premium charging solution like Zaptec. We are really glad for this collaboration, and really looking forward to see the results of our collaboration with Polestar. We have announced the next generation, the Zaptec Go 2. This was announced at the Power2Drive fair in Munich in June, and it was really well received in the industry down there. This new Zaptec Go 2 contains the next-generation hardware. It's ready for the future. It will unlocking major EU markets since it is MID-certified. It's also ready to adapt with switching phases, so it's more adapted against solar integration.
This is really a good news for Zaptec, and we are really pleased to announce that we are on track for launch in the fourth quarter as planned. We also mentioned that we have secured a EUR 23 million deal with Spirii. This means that we will deliver 45,000 Zaptec chargers across Europe. Spirii is a Danish company, but it have recently been acquired by the large French company Edenred, so that means that they will take Zaptec out in Europe into new markets. This is really exciting for us, and this deal is not included in the backlog. Really important to say that. When we look at the momentum in the Central Europe, we can show you really nice figures in the Netherlands. The growth is more than 200% in the first half year, 2024.
And you see that the revenue is more than NOK 60 million in the first six months, so that's really happy. And this is even if we are not compliance with MID, with the current product in Netherlands, even then, we have this strong growth in the Netherlands. Also in U.K., we have a really strong growth, with 140% in the first half. And now in July, we set another new record sales record in the U.K. So I'm really looking forward to the second half in the U.K. also. In France, we didn't have any sales last year, and this is due to really strict regulation in France. It's really hard for EV charging's manufacturer to meet the regulation in France. But Zaptec have passed the regulation.
We are approved for delivering in France, and we have started delivering of the Zaptec Pro in France. The number is not so big yet, but we are in the market, and that's really important, and we're looking forward to that continue. So to summarize, we have achieved several key milestone and demonstrating that we will grow in Europe. We have delivered a strong financial performance, and you have to see it in context with the market and the industry around us. And that means that we are gaining market shares by growing in this challenging market, and this is really strong. As we have shown you, we continue our momentum in new markets... and we are on track, as Eirik told you, to start deliver inventory normalization.
That means that we already know in July see a reduction in inventory, and that will continue. And we have always ongoing cost focus, so we can secure you that we will have control on the cost. And last but not least, we have sufficient liquidity, and we expect it to improve going forward. So the outlook is to sustain leadership in core markets and then grow in new markets. And I also have to say that we have looked into the reports for our competitors, the biggest players in Europe, and we cannot find anyone who has delivered so many AC chargers into the market the first half year of 2024 than Zaptec.
So that means that Zaptec is number one when it comes to deliver AC charging station in Europe, and that's something we are really proud of, and we are intend to grow even more. So that was the presentation for this morning for the second quarter, and then we have invite to send in some question, and we will try to answer the question to you. So the first question we have got is: Would you mind providing some color on the OpEx reduction? What are the main cutbacks, and do you expect to sustain this level moving forward, even when markets pick up? So this is a question for you, Eirik.
Yes, we have, as Kurt mentioned, we've had ongoing focus on reducing cost. We have mainly cut back on marketing, on travel, on new hires, to secure that our EBITDA level improves. It's also fair to note that there's a bit of seasonality in Q2 because of holiday pay in Norway. Going forward, we do see a slight increase from the second quarter. We have had a salary adjustment in Norway in July. So what we sort of foresee is more an OpEx level around the Q1 level, which also was significantly down from Q4, but not as low as in Q2. Yeah. I think that one answers it.
Can you elaborate on which measures you are taking to reduce the inventory? Is it just a question of reducing production volume? Well, this is the most important thing we do, is to reduce the production volume, but we are also, of course, taking other action. And we have done something with our price strategy in Europe, and, of course, the most important thing we can do is to increase the sales, and that is our main topics, to increase the sales. But we also have to adapt the production, so we have a match between production and sales. Many of your competitors report double-digit negative sales growth and say that especially the Swedish market is challenging. You reported a slightly negative Swedish sales. What makes you different from competitors? Can you say your top two competitive advantages?
First of all, we, of course, we are not objective, but we feel that we have a really good product that is really able to compete in all markets. It's small, it have all features built in, it's really safe, and we are competitive when it comes to cost price. Also, it's not only the product, but it's also the organization we have around it, because it's our sales team, and also it's our support team and following up, because one thing is to sell the product, to sell the box, but you need to be there after also to follow up if there is some question about our products.
I think the size that we have a really broad distribution base now. We are in all channels that make us really difficult for our competitor to get into the market. And when the market is slowing down, as we see now, it's not that Klondike like we saw some years ago. I think we have a really good position to... and can defend our market share. And I have to say, the market share in Sweden is really, really high for Zaptec. You have good momentum in some key European markets. What kind of competition are you facing? It is the same competitors in the different markets. What about price pressure?
Well, many of the players in the market are in all of Europe. So many of the competitors we meet in Norway are the same in Europe. But then you also have local producers in each market. For instance, in U.K., there's a lot of local producers. So they are. It's different. But it's the same as we talked about in Sweden. We have a really strong product. We have a strong brand. Even if we haven't used so much money on marketing in new markets, they know about us. We saw that on the trade fair in Munich this summer. We were really well known in the market. What about price pressure?
Of course, we see a price pressure all the time, and we try to adapt, and we have a really low cost, so we can compete. If I should mention something about the price pressure, it would be about a former main competitor. They have really huge stock and inventory out with the distributors. And the distributor tell us that they want to sell Zaptec, but they have to get rid of the stock they have from this former player in the market. So that lead to low price on that old product, and we see that in some market that have some minor effect on the sales to Zaptec. Do you still expect revenue growth in 2024 compared to 2023?
Yes, we do, but we, of course, don't know what the market bring the next months. But, as we speak today, that's what we are aiming for, so we can continue to sell and improving our market share, and then we will get a higher revenue this year also. Yes, but it's in 2025 we really see the growth is coming. When is the German market ramping up? Good question. I have to say, we have really low numbers in the German market, and even if this is the largest market in car sales in Europe, it's in many way a bit destroyed.
They have had a really weak E.V. sales, but they are forced to increase it now with the new E.U. regulation from 1st of January. Also from the year 2021, 2022, with the subsidy they had, there is a lot of charger in the market. Also the producer and the distributors have a huge stock, and the price is really low. I think that we won't see any huge change in the German market before into 2025. What should we think about the gross margin when the Zaptec Go really starts to get sales during 2025? Well, the Zaptec Go 2 will contribute to higher gross margin for Zaptec, because this is a more premium product.
It's have a higher price, and we will have some higher margin on that product. So when the share of Zaptec Go increase, that's really positive for Zaptec. What is the current growth for the Zaptec Pro versus Go? I don't have the number in front of me. But the Go is growing more than the Pro, I guess, Eirik?
Yes, that is correct.
Yeah. You previously mentioned a 20% EBITDA as a long-term target. Is that still a valid target? Yes, you're right. When we start up on the stock exchange list, we were aiming for 20%. A lot have happened since then, but we still think that this is possible to achieve, because we have a very scalable organization. We can really deliver higher number, higher volume with existing organization. So it's possible, but it will take some time to get up to 20%, but we are aiming to increasing this, going forward. What is the key difference between your products and your nearest competitors' products? This is a really hard question to answer because, who is the nearest competitors? What I can say, that we have a unique technology when it comes to Zaptec Pro.
We have the phase balancing, who is patented all over Europe. It's also patented in China and Japan. And this mean that we have an advantage when it comes to Pro charging, that we can utilize the available power in a better way than our competitors. And that lead to that you get a cheaper installation in total when you buy a Zaptec Pro system in a larger facility. When it comes to Zaptec Go, of course, price is more important in this market. But we have to say that we are one of the few who have now built in the e-metering and get the MID-certified, the e-metering inside our own technology.
The most of our competitors buy this e-metering separate and put it outside the box and box it in a bigger box. So we are really cost-efficient with our product. So I think this is really important. And of course, the whole user experience is really nice and a good experience for our customers. Just let us wait a bit, see if they're coming in, some more question. It seems like this was the last question for today, so I really want to thank you for listening in, and we really are exciting to continue our journey out in Europe and coming back with even stronger results going forward. So thank you.