Thank you, Niclas, and welcome everyone. The agenda for today will be a brief overview of Bulten, the market development, the result for the fourth quarter, and some words about our focus for 2022 going forward. 2021 has been the second year in a row in a difficult business environment where we've had to navigate around adverse external factors in the shape of both COVID waves, supply chain shortages, and increasing costs. The high-performing team of Bulten around the globe have done an outstanding job to maximize the results in this turbulent year. Turn to page four, please. Bulten is a supplier of fasteners, as you know. Our primary customer group is light vehicle OEMs.
Customers categorized as automotive suppliers and customers outside of the automotive industry had a greater share of our business in 2021 than in the previous year and are continuing to grow. Now, we don't just supply the hardware to many of our customers who are partners for product development support, innovation, procurement, and logistics. Bulten's three largest customers still are Ford, JLR, and Volvo Cars. To be an approved supplier to this many customers is a strength and clearly facilitates further growth. Now over to market development, and I'd ask you to turn to page six. Looking back at the vehicle production statistics for 2021, LMC Automotive states a 2.2% recovery in light vehicle production during the year compared to 2020. The corresponding number for heavy commercial vehicles is a drop of 2.9%.
Considering Bulten's vehicle customer mix, this would mean a market headwind of 1.6% in the year. However, as you can see from our net sales figures in 2021, we've recorded a 16.7% growth despite that market headwind. Next slide, please. Looking forward, LMC predicts a strong recovery of light vehicle production in 2022 of 12.5% and a more modest recovery for heavy commercial vehicles of 1%. The recovery for light vehicles is expected to continue in 2023, with close to 9% increase, coupled with a strong recovery for heavy commercial vehicles of approximately 13%. Next slide. As everyone knows by now, the global shortage of semiconductors has been a major issue for the industry. The estimated lost production impact caused by this problem in 2021 was 9.6 million light vehicles.
Even if there are indications of an improvement, the problem will not go away in the short term, but will continue to be a limiting factor for vehicle production capacity in the world. It should be noted that the end consumer demand for vehicles is still very strong, and OEM order books are generally looking very positive. Next slide, please. Another external factor impacting Bulten's business is raw material pricing. Here you can see the wire rod pricing data related to the DSV index, an index generated by the Deutscher Schraubenverband, based on cost input from German fastener manufacturers. Steel is the dominant raw material for Bulten. Our framework agreements with customers contain, for the most part, raw material price clauses that regulate price compensation, but not to 100%, and in all cases with a certain time lag.
Now we'll look at the fourth quarter in more detail, and please turn to page 11. These are the events we'd like to highlight from and after quarter four. We renewed our financing agreement with the Svenska Handelsbanken, and this gives us an additional SEK 550 million in credit. Our total credit now amounts to SEK 1.3 billion. We also signed an FSP contract for a new vehicle program worth SEK 100 million annually at full capacity, and I'm very delighted that we were awarded this contract since it also has clear sustainability objectives. This is a true milestone for Bulten. The board will propose to the AGM a dividend of 2.25 SEK per share. I will now leave the word to Anna to run through the figures.
Thank you, Anders. On page 12, you can see a quick overview of our results for the fourth quarter and full year 2021 before going into the details. We had strong sales both in the fourth quarter and the best year ever for the full year. We had a strong flow on new agreements, as Anders mentioned, and increased cost levels put pressure on EBIT margin. Next slide, please. On page 13, you can see our quarterly net sales development and, as Anders mentioned, the upturn in the second half of 2020 and Q1 2021 was disturbed by external factors in the shape of both supply chain shortages and COVID waves. However, the sales in the fourth quarter was stronger again with SEK 953 million and resulted in the third best quarter after Q4 2020 and Q1 2021.
The full year 2021 was the best year ever with SEK 3,730 million compared to SEK 3,195 million in 2020, an increase with 16.7%. The EBIT margin for the fourth quarter of 5% compared to 8.5% in 2020 was affected by increasing costs on energy, steel, and transports. The EBIT margin for the full year 2021 was 6.2% compared to 3.6% in 2020, which was heavily impacted by COVID-19. We can still see a stable underlying consumer demand, as Anders mentioned, and Bulten has a good customer mix. Next slide, please.
On page 14, it is satisfying to see that all customer groups contributed to the sales growth, and especially to see that our effort to grow in industries outside automotive and with automotive suppliers have given results. Our main customer group is still OEM light vehicles with 65.4% of total sales in 2021 compared to 72.3% in 2020. OEM heavy commercial vehicles represents 10.2% of total sales in 2021, a slight increase compared to 2020. Automotive suppliers increased to 15.6% in 2021 compared to 12.8% in 2020. Finally, other industries outside automotive now stands for 8.8% compared to 5.2% last year. Next slide, please. Our earnings performance for the fourth quarter was affected by increased cost levels. EBIT amounted to SEK 48 million in the quarter.
Our EBIT margin for the fourth quarter amounted to 5%, which is down from comparable quarter last year. There were no currency effects in the quarter or full year EBIT margin for 2021. On a full year basis, our margin increased to 6.2% compared to 3.6% last year. Next slide, please. On page 16, you can see our financial summary of the fourth quarter. As mentioned previously, Bulten delivered the third best quarter in sales but had a negative EBIT impact due to external factors affecting the whole industry. Earnings per share amounted to SEK 1.16 in the quarter and SEK 6.85 for the full year 2021 compared to SEK 2.66 last year. Next slide, please. The cash flow from operating activities, including change in working capital, amounted to SEK 45 million in Q4.
Cash flow from investing activities amounted to SEK -69 million in the quarter, the key figure affected by the start of the construction of the new facility in Poland in May 2021. Cash flow from financing activities amounts to SEK 71 million. The total cash flow for the quarter was positive and amounted to SEK 47 million with a cash position of SEK 242 million at the end of the year. Our net debt, excluding lease liabilities, has increased since the beginning of the year and amounted to SEK -323 million at the end of the year. Next slide, please. Our full year key indicators 2021 have improved or are in line with last year. We have a return of capital employed of 9.7%, which is a big improvement compared to 5.2% in 2020.
Our net debt EBITDA ratio is at 1.6 at the end of the year. This in combination with an equity ratio of 49.3% shows that Bulten financials are on a solid level. Next slide, please. On page 19, you can see our financial targets, as well as some of the guidelines regarding relevant key figures for Bulten. Worth noting is the full year growth in 2021 of 16.7%, well above the target of 10%. In the right-hand table, you can see some guidelines for some other key figures. We are very much in line with our guidelines. Our guideline for average net working capital in relation to twelve months sales is about 20%-25%, depending on the growth phase.
At the end of December, we had a level of 20.7%, which is in line with our guidelines. The guideline for capital expenditures as percentage of 12-month sales are 2%-3% for maintenance of equipment and additional up to 2% for capacity, depending on the market development. At the end of December, we are at a level of 4.6%. As mentioned before, we started the construction of the new facility in Poland in May. The capital expenditure in 2020 was at a low level due to the pandemic, and postponed capital expenditures from 2020 that was executed in 2021 has also an impact on this figure. The guideline for depreciation as percentage of 12-month sales is 4%-5% considering IFRS 16. Without IFRS 16, it has been in a level of 2%-3%.
At the end of December, we are in line with our guidelines.
Now back to you, Anders.
Thank you, Anna. Let's then look at our focus for this year, and I'll ask you to turn to page 21. As we said, the underlying demand for our customers' products, and therefore also Bulten products, is healthy. Having said that, we're faced with a new set of uncertainties, and our customer production is hampered by the semiconductor shortage that will have an effect on our sales. COVID-19 related absenteeism in customer plants, causing short-term production disruption, is also a concern right now. However, we'll remain prepared to ramp up our production in the Bulten plants at short notice to meet the strong underlying customer demand. Regarding metal prices, we don't see a short-term relief. We mostly face historical highs for quite some time, coupled with historical high rates for freight and energy.
In order to offset these effects, we're working intensively with margin improvement actions. We continue to ramp up our activities in technology and innovation to stay determined to remain a leader in sustainable fastening solutions. We've taken important steps to that effect, and the recent new contract wins are very much enabled by the progress in these areas. Our sales force are using our track record of successful new contract launches to accelerate new business wins and generate additional organic growth. Next slide, please. Reiterating our strategy that we've presented at the Capital Markets Day back in February of last year, it's divided into four building blocks. To start with, we have our strong position with the uniqueness that's taken Bulten to what it is today.
Our clear goal is to further advance our position when it comes to quality and technology leadership. The second block is growth. We have market share momentum through the contracts that we won in the last year. Despite the past year's turbulence, we hold on to and aim for our sales reaching SEK 5 billion in 2024. The same applies to our profitability efforts. Our margin expansion will come through realized synergy effects, improved exposure to customers in North America and China, accelerated initiatives to improve efficiencies in production and distribution, and through launching new technology with a value add for our customers. We stand by our EBIT target of above 8%. We also have a strong financial position that's further emphasized now through our extended financing agreement, as Anna presented before. To summarize, the global downturn has not eroded the validity of our strategy.
Our position is strong. We stand by our targets, and we stay committed to all of the building blocks in the strategy to get there. The next slide, please. Just before we conclude the presentation and open up for questions, I just want to welcome you to our upcoming digital Capital Markets Day on February 22nd, which I believe you will find interesting. Now it's time for questions.
Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press zero one on your telephone keypad. If you wish to withdraw your question, you may do so by pressing zero two to cancel. We have a question from the line of Kenneth Toll from Carnegie. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you. One thing that we have discussed every quarter, I think, for a while now, is the timing between the raw material price increases and your ability to raise prices.
Mm-hmm.
I know that there are automatic clauses in agreements that you push that through. But do you think the net effect between cost increases and your price increases were sort of extra negative in the fourth quarter and that the net effect would be slightly better in Q1, or do you think it will be similar, or do you have any feeling?
Yeah. Hi, Kenneth. It's a good question. We have and as you say, we talked about this a number of times, and I think I've told you in the past that the lag that we have between material prices actually happening and compensation coming into the system is anywhere between three and six months, depending on the customer. Yeah, it's kind of simple math. When you have a sharp increase to record high levels, and those continue to soar over time, the delta becomes bigger. Yes, that's true. We haven't seen, I think, the peak of steel prices yet.
Mm-hmm.
That means that there will be a bit of headwind there on the margins for sure, as you can realize. When that will turn again, when that tide will turn again, we don't know, of course. At some point, steel prices are bound to sort of normalize and even start to go down. It's extremely difficult to predict when that will happen.
Also on the facility you are building in Poland, you started in May last year. When is it expected to be ready and you can start produce? Also, what will it change for you? What will it bring?
It'll come on stream in the early part of 2023. The project is on plan, actually bang on plan, so we're happy for that. You know, the whole reason why we're doing that project is to bring in-house the outsourced coating operations primarily we have. Actually, we're shipping goods from our Polish plant to surface treatment suppliers in the rest of Europe and then back again. That's costly both, you know, from a pure surface treatment pricing standpoint. You know, we in-source it, and we can keep that margin for ourselves. Secondly, you know, as freight's getting even more expensive, you know, it doesn't make sense to ship tons of uncoated fasteners all over Europe.
It will have an effect both on our manufacturing costs, it will have an effect on freight costs, and not the least, it will bring our CO2 down.
Mm.
That's a factor that's very important to us.
Mm-hmm. Working capital as well, a bit maybe.
I'm sorry?
Yeah. Working capital as well.
Yeah.
Could go down a bit.
Yeah.
Mm.
Absolutely right.
Yeah. Okay. Yeah, great. Yeah. Thank you. That's all.
Thank you.
We have one more question from the line of Mats Liss from Kepler Cheuvreux. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Thank you. Well, a couple of one. First, I guess you had a pretty good volume performance in 2021 compared to the market as you indicated. For 2022 now you expect or the forecast institute as you indicate, so are sort of expecting a pretty good volume improvements as well. Do you expect to continue to outperform, or is it sort of a different mix there that sort of make things more difficult to do that? Could you say something about that?
We said in our strategy that we aim for a CAGR of 10% on average. To outperform the market has been, you know, our aim over a number of years, and I think you've seen that we've consistently done that. Yes, it's our ambition for 2022 as well. Difficulty here is gonna be to predict how much the market actually will increase. The forecast companies, as we've alluded to in the presentation, are indicating, you know, about with our mix, about 10%. Yes, we intend to outperform that.
Given the contract portfolio you have and so, I mean, the contract forecast institutes are seldom totally right. Could you say something? Would it mean a similar outperformance as in 2021 or somewhat slower one, smaller one?
That would be to give you a little bit too much of a forecast, I think. I think I'd stop by saying we'll outperform the market. We have new business that will come on stream in 2022. That's our absolute ambition.
Sure. Given the price increases you have implemented it, I mean, the price volume mix will sort of boost sales for 2022, I guess.
That's a fair assumption.
Yeah. Okay. Great. Good. You mentioned the surface installations you make in Poland, but do you have any sort of earnings or cost indication there, how much you will save on doing that in-house?
Oh, yeah. We do have a business case, but we haven't disclosed the savings, so that would be wrong on me to do that in this call.
There will be. I didn't get it when this is in full swing, when it's sort of you're able to-
2023 is our ramp-up year. We'll start producing early 2023, then we'll gradually phase production from our supply base into the ramp-up plant during 2023. That's the ramp up, yeah.
Just coming back to Kenneth's question there about the sort of price increase cost ratio. It seems that, I mean, you have implemented price increases and the costs continue to increase. Do you expect the margins to be squeezed also? Or is it more at the same level as in the fourth quarter?
Well, it's as you know since we have a time lag, as long as steel prices are continuing to rise, we will have a disadvantage and that will be turned when steel prices go down. You know, as long as it goes up, we'll have a pressure on the margin, yeah.
Yep. Okay. Finally, just about the production. What the run rate do you expect to see compared to the fourth quarter? Will it sort of increase there in the first part of the year, or is it sort of on a stable level?
You mean customer production?
Your sort of production serving the customers, of course.
Yeah. The only thing we know is that we have the same pattern of volatility as we've seen actually since quarter two of last year, when it's somewhat unpredictable. It's all supply chain issues and COVID related absentee issues in the customer plants. You know we're hit by reductions and replanning at pretty short notice. You know we're managing that through being flexible. We're keeping a very very close eye and very close contact with our customers so that we minimize the disruption in our own facilities. It is pretty much the same situation with regards to volatility now as we saw in quarter four last year.
Okay. Just a final one. I mean, when steel prices maybe start to come down a bit, do you expect to sort of keep the cost advantage there? Or is it, I mean, I guess it's a similar situation. I mean, the clauses in the contracts work both ways, so it's a three to-
Yes
Six-month advantage for you. That.
Yes, that's true.
Yeah.
Correct.
Okay. Thank you very much. Yep.
Thank you.
As there are no further audio questions, I'll hand it back to the speakers.
No further questions here.
Okay. If there are no more questions, then I'll just thank you for your interest and thanks for listening in. Again, I'll welcome you to our Capital Markets Day on February twenty-second.