Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to this Q3 Results Conference with Gränges. I'm here. My name is Jörgen Rosengren. I'm Gränges' CEO, and I'm here with Oskar Hellström, our CFO, and with Sara Landin Hellén, our VP of Communications and Investor Relations. We'll be referring in this call to a PowerPoint presentation that's available on our webpage, and I'm going to start on page two of that presentation. And as you can see on this page, we had, in the Q3 of this year, another growth quarter, and that's very gratifying, especially considering that the market was rather slow. Our sales volume increased by 7% to 123,000 tons, compared to 115,000 last year.
This, as I just said, was in spite of rather weak automotive demand, but bolstered by good growth in other markets. In all of our segments and in all of our markets, in fact, we had really good effect of the market share gains that we've achieved over the past year and a half or two, during an increased focus period on sales for Gränges. That's, of course, extremely good to see, especially considering the external market conditions. We had, in the quarter, a good productivity improvement and also a good metals management, which is an important thing for Gränges, generally speaking. These two positive effects largely offset an increase in price pressure and increase in wage inflation.
Together then, with the strong volume development, we had a stable operating profit at 420 million SEK, which is roughly in line with last year. Also extremely nice to see, of course, is the very good development of our sustainability numbers, notably the carbon footprint, which is at a very low level compared to our historical levels, and also the record recycling that we achieved in the quarter. We also announced in May this year, our partnership with a company called the Shandong Innovation Group. I'm sorry. Back up a little bit, and let's go through the market segments here. We saw, as I said, before, in automotive, a weaker market, but we saw a very good recovery in our other market segments.
We saw strong growth in HVAC. We saw stable growth in specialty packaging, but the comparison quarter there was quite strong, so year-to-date, also strong growth in packaging. And we saw a very strong growth in other niches, and in total, that turned out then to be a 7% growth for the Gränges Group. And as you can also see on this page, there was good growth in both of our segments, both in Gränges Americas and in Gränges Eurasia. But of course, especially nice to see the very strong growth in Gränges Eurasia, which relied on growth both in Europe and in Asia, in fact, in this quarter. And now let's turn to the new partnership that we're entering into soon, we hope, in the Shandong province in China.
We announced this partnership in May, and the objective of it is to strengthen competitiveness and to enable further market share growth in Asia, in China, but also in Greater Asia. By the terms of this partnership, Gränges will acquire a large production facility from the Shandong Innovation Group, but we will also gain access to scalable downstream capabilities, as well as improved metal supply and also improved energy supply, which, by the way, is also going to help our recycling efforts and our sustainability efforts in Asia and in China. In exchange for this, the Shandong Innovation Group will gain a minority stake in Gränges' subsidiary in China.
And the new factory that we're acquiring, of course, needs sales volume in order to be profitable, and we expect in the first months of operations, the new facility to be operating at approximately break-even profitability. But we also expect the transaction as a whole to contribute positively, marginally to EPS from 2025, from next year then, and on. On sustainability performance then, you can see here that we had, as I already referred to, very good performance. The run rate carbon emissions intensity of 7.6 tons per ton in the Q3, in the last 12 months, is in fact 33% lower than the baseline that we refer to in 2017.
And we also recycled, in the last twelve months, 240,000 tons of aluminum, so 250,000 tons, which is a very good level, especially if we compare with the 2017 baseline. It's then almost 400% higher than that level. And now we'll turn over to Oskar Hellström, who will take us through the financial results in a little bit more of detail.
Thank you, Jörgen. As Jörgen mentioned here, and as you can see on this slide, Q3 is yet another good quarter with solid growth for Gränges. Sales volume was up 7% year on year, but declined 6% sequentially. And I would say that this reflects that we now continue to see a more normal seasonality again. And as a consequence of this, we also see a normal seasonal decrease of both the operating profit and on the operating profit per ton in the quarter. Looking from a year-on-year perspective, we do, however, see a slightly negative development, both in terms of EBIT, that reached 420 million SEK in the Q3, and in the EBIT per ton, that decreased by 400 SEK from 3,800 SEK in Q3 last year to 3,400 SEK this year.
Here, I think we need to remember that the 439 million SEK of EBIT that we delivered in Q3 last year includes a one-off energy cost compensation, that is related to the years 2021 and 2022, and that totals 22 million SEK. If you adjust for this, the year-on-year EBIT development is slightly up, despite unfavorable development of currency rates. If we look at the drivers behind this development, we can see that we continued to manage to fully offset the market price pressure, as well as the wage inflation in the Q3, with the main contributors to this is then the increased sales volume, fueled by the new business gains, as we heard from Jörgen.
It's the increased utilization of our casting and recycling centers, which, together with generally good metal management, had a positive impact on our raw material costs, and last but not least, then generally improved cost productivity. If we look at capacity utilization, which is an important profit driver for Gränges, this increased by five percentage points year-on-year to about 80% for the group in the Q3. This is a good improvement over prior year, but it still means that we operate currently below the optimal level. Let's now look in more detail on the group financials for the quarter. Starting from the top there, we can see that the sales volume increased by the 7% to the 123,000 tons. Net sales, on the other hand, increased slightly less, 3% to 5.75 billion SEK.
The lower increase in net sales than in sales volume is primarily explained by the lower average fabrication price. On the earnings, the adjusted operating profit reached 420 million SEK. That's 3 million SEK higher than in Q3 last year, when excluding the one-off energy cost compensation that I mentioned earlier. On the negative side, depreciation increased like-for-like by 8 million SEK year over year, and this is fully related to completed expansion projects, and the net effect from changes in foreign exchange rates was negative 12 million SEK compared with last year. The profit for the period reached 285 million SEK for the quarter, and the earnings per share was 2.67 SEK, and this represents a year-on-year improvement of 15 million SEK, when excluding the positive impact of one-off items in 2023.
We do not have any such items in Q3 twenty twenty-four. On a further positive note, the return on capital employed increased to 11.9% by the end of the Q3. That's up 0.7 percentage points compared to the year before. Now, looking at the balance sheet and during Q3, the financial net debt was reduced by SEK 200 million to SEK 2.8 billion, and as a consequence, the net debt to EBITDA ratio came down to 1.2 times, and this means that we are gradually approaching the bottom of our target range for leverage of 1-2 times EBITDA.
As you can see on this chart, this was achieved by a continued strong cash flow from operations with the adjusted cash flow before financing positive 474 million SEK in Q3. As you know, we are now approaching completion of several large expansion projects, and during the quarter, we invested in total 280 million SEK in expansion. The majority of the spend in Q3 relates to the expansion of capacity and capabilities for battery cathode foil production in Europe, and to the second of the two recycling centers that we're building in Americas.
As you know, we typically don't provide any forward-looking guidance for leverage, but looking ahead at the Q4 this year, I do, however, think that there are a couple of things that are worth to keep in mind. First, with a fairly strong sales outlook that Jörgen will come back to shortly, we don't expect to see a major release of working capital from a sequential seasonal decline in Q4 this year. Second, as we are completing several large expansion projects at the same time as we're conducting year-end maintenance, we expect capital expenditure to be higher than normal in the Q4. And lastly, in November, we will distribute SEK 159 million to our shareholders in the second of the two dividend payments.
Taking this together, I think it's likely that we will see a leverage increase for Gränges in the Q4, albeit then from a very low level. Moving on to the business areas and starting with Gränges Americas. As you heard from Jörgen, with the exception then of automotive, market demand in Americas improved somewhat in Q3 compared with last year. In addition to this, we saw that increasing effects from the actions taken to further grow sales through capturing new business, especially within the HVAC and other niche markets. In total, this led to a sales volume growth of 3% year-on-year for Gränges Americas. In terms of earnings, we managed to largely offset the continued market price pressure with increased sales volume, generally improved cost productivity, and increased utilization of our casting and recycling centers.
On the negative side, the net effect from changes in foreign exchange rates was negative 11 million SEK, compared with last year for Americas. In total, the Q3 operating profit reached 283 million SEK, which corresponds then to margin of 4.8 thousand SEK per ton. Although this is slightly lower than in last year, we need to keep in mind there that this is still a very good margin level in the industry. Moving on to Gränges Eurasia, also here, we experienced some improvement in market demand, except for in automotive. In combination with the new business gains, this resulted in a total 10% year-on-year sales volume growth. In Europe, we experienced increased demand on the back of normalization of downstream inventory levels, especially within packaging, general engineering, and distribution markets.
And in combination then with a largely stable demand from automotive customers, this led to an 11% year-on-year sales volume growth in Europe. In Asia, we continue to see some positive developments, especially connected to electrification, part of the automotive industry, but also other industries, and this resulted in a sales volume growth in Asia of 7% compared to Q3 last year. The adjusted operating profit reached 165 million SEK in the Q3. This represents an increase by 65 million SEK, compared with the same quarter last year, when adjusting for the one-off energy cost compensation in 2023. The lower average fabrication price was more than offset by higher sales volume, improved metal management, and improved cost productivity.
We also see some benefits from lower energy unit costs in Europe in particular. So generally, a very good development in Gränges Eurasia in the Q3. So with that, I hand back to Jörgen, who will provide you with an outlook for the Q4.
Thank you, Oskar. Well, as we've been saying for quite some time now, the market demand remains quite hard to predict, also in the Q4 of this year. There is an apparent weakness in automotive, but on the other hand, we have seen a recovery and expect also to see a continued recovery in other markets. In this environment, we're continuing to focus on market share gains, considering the significant capacity opportunities that we have. All of this taken together leads us to expect a high single-digit % sales volume growth compared to the Q4 of two thousand twenty-three. For this volume, then we aim to continue to offset price pressure and wage inflation with cost reduction and productivity improvements, as we did in the Q3.
And as regards to currency, it depends, of course, on what the rates will be during the quarter, but we're currently expecting a slight negative effect, compared to the Q4 of two thousand twenty-three. That actually concludes the prepared comments on the quarterly results, and therefore, operator, now is a good time to take questions from the audience.
If you wish to ask a question, please dial star five on your telephone keypad to enter the queue. If you wish to withdraw your question, please dial star five on your telephone keypad. The next question comes from Adrian Gilani from ABG Sundal Collier. Please go ahead.
Yes. Hello, Jörgen and Oskar. I'd just like to start off on the fact that you mentioned the noticeably weaker demand from automotive customers, but at the same time, your automotive volumes in Eurasia were fairly flat year-on-year. So I guess, do you expect more of a downturn in those volumes, or do you sort of think you can keep fully offsetting that with market share gains?
Well, as you point out, there is a lot of news now about weakness in automotive, but we don't have any further news than what is already in the market. What we're expecting is, generally speaking, not only for automotive, but generally speaking for Gränges, to continue to take market share gain in an uncertain market. Exactly how that will play out in the individual segments, we'll have to wait until the Q4 report to see, but it is, I think, also important to point out that automotive, though it's an important segment of Gränges, is by no means our only segment, and that we are able to generate the 7% growth in quarter when automotive is weak, I think, proves that we have a well-diversified customer and operation space.
Understood. And now, you talked a bit about the expansion projects as well, and you're only a few months away from commissioning the new battery cathode foil line in Finspång. And of course, a lot of battery producers right now are struggling. And with that in mind, are you concerned for that line, that you may have a fairly low utilization rate there for some time, or do you feel confident that you can fill those volumes?
As you say, it's correct to say that many of the electrification projects for the automotive industry, and especially in Europe and in Americas, have been delayed somewhat, right? And that, of course, influences not only our battery cathode foil, but our business in general. On the other hand, we are seeing good growth with many of the battery and electrification rate related products, such as battery cooling plate, battery casing, and so on. Regarding that specific line, we'll have to see. We have good customer relations there and a strong interest for it. But of course, like with any new production equipment, there will be a ramp-up period during which utilization is low, and that also goes for that particular line.
Understood. And a final one from my end. Are you able to give us any more comments on the financials of the Shandong plant? Not for 2025, but just more over time, because... I mean, things like, if it will be above or below group average in terms of fabrication price or EBIT per ton, or any other metrics you could provide to help us understand the asset a bit better?
Yeah. No, I can start there. I mean, we haven't closed the transaction yet. We hope to do that in the very near future. But after that, of course, we can comment a little bit more on it when it's actually within the Gränges Group, so to say. But maybe a little bit of flavor on this facility and what we can expect, right? From what we have communicated earlier, we consider this to be a low-cost facility, and I think that's gonna be an enabler for us to take larger market share in certain product segments in Asia that we cannot address from our current Asian production facility in Shanghai.
What characterizes these market segments? Well, these tend to be market segments with slightly higher volumes, but also generally a lower value add and lower pricing. So you will see slightly different sort of metrics coming out from this facility. So EBIT per ton is likely gonna be lower from the Shandong facility than what we have on Gränges average. On the other hand, we will process quite a few tons there if we can deliver on our business plan. So in terms of absolute numbers and or absolute earnings, it will hopefully be a good contributor over time there.
I don't know, Jörgen, if you wanna add anything else to that, or if we try to keep quiet prior to actually completing the acquisition.
I think the acquisition should be seen as a strategic acquisition, which is intended to strengthen our competitiveness, but also our ability to grow and take market share in China and in Asia, and I guess strategically, you can say that the market in Asia, not least the market in China, has become in some respects more important because of the strong players that are there in the automotive industry, and therefore, we think it is quite important for us to be there and be able to grow with those partners.
But as regards to profitability of this, we have to also be honest and say that it's a relatively low-utilized factory that we're acquiring, and therefore, we're saying we expect it to break even in the first couple of months, and then we expect it to contribute slightly positively to net earnings, to earnings per share during two thousand and twenty-five, after taking into account the minority interest that we're so to speak paying for the acquisition. So, it's not something that will be major plus or a major minus in two thousand and twenty-five, but we do expect it to be a major strategic step forward in our position in the Asian market.
Yeah. Perfect. That was a very helpful answer, and that was all for me, so thank you for taking my questions.
Thank you, Adrian. Take care.
As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please dial star five on your telephone keypad. The next question comes from Albin Nordmark, from Nordea. Please go ahead.
Hello, Jörgen and Oscar. Albin from Nordea here, so thanks for taking my questions. You showed quite impressive growth here in HVAC and other niches, so especially maybe for other niches, in what products do you manage to gain market share? And how much more is there to do, do you think? And also, is there a supply/demand issue that you quite easy can grow market share, or is it rather that you win over customers from other players?
Well, firstly, other niches is other niches, right? So it contains many different niches, and what we've been doing now over the past two years is to look a little bit more proactively at the market and say, "Look, we have this capacity and these capabilities. What other niches, what other customers are there out there whom we could serve?" And that has then given results in various. It's not one or two or three, it's in fact very many different customers and applications that we're serving there. So it's hard to pinpoint any individual product or customer. As regards to the question whether it's hard or difficult or easy, I would say it's difficult, but we're also quite good at it, as you can see.
And, it's good that it's difficult because we, in this business, you have to have the customers for a long time, preferably, and, that is also what we intend to do with these market shares. We don't only intend to have them now, but also to keep them for the longer term. So we're... In total, I guess we can be quite content with these market share gains that we've had, and, especially as it's a result of an effort that has been ongoing now for a year and a half or two years. Hopefully, that answers your question. Otherwise, please repeat it.
Yeah, yeah, that's a good answer. And automotive, I know that you don't know usually when I talk so much about the market going forward, but can you talk a bit on the automotive demand, if you split it between Asia, Europe, and America? And also, is content per vehicle here contributing to your quite solid numbers or... Yeah.
Firstly, for Gränges, the most important part of the automotive market is Eurasia, because our market in Americas is, relatively speaking, much smaller. That is the most important part of it. With regard to content per vehicle, it is strategically so that we believe in a bigger content of aluminum and also of our products per vehicle, especially in the shift to hybrid vehicles and to fully electric vehicles. That shift has slowed down a little bit, especially on the fully electric vehicles. On the other hand, hybrids are strong, and we expect, for some years to come, a higher per-vehicle content of aluminum and a higher per-vehicle content of Gränges' products to be a growth driver.
In the short term, however, what happens to the market and the market shares matters much more than the content per vehicle, and that's also the case in this quarter and in the next one.
All right. Perfect. Thanks very much. That's all for me.
So Albin?
There are no more questions at this time, so I hand the conference back to the President and CEO, Jörgen Rosengren, for any closing comments.
Thank you, operator. Then, I'd like to thank all the participants for listening in, and wish you all a nice day. Goodbye.