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Earnings Call: Q2 2022

Jul 19, 2022

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to the Indutrade Q2 2022 earnings call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing star then zero on your telephone keypad. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Bo Annvik, CEO and President. Please go ahead, sir.

Bo Annvik
President and CEO, Indutrade

Thank you, operator, and good morning on our behalf as well. Today, we are happy to present yet another strong quarter and first half year of 2022. Let's start by moving to the overall highlights. Q2 last year was a very strong quarter for us. It's therefore satisfying that we this year continue to grow in order intake, sales, and profits with a record high EBITDA margin. This thanks to great performance from our companies and employees who continue to navigate the challenging market situation in a great way. We saw a positive demand situation during the second quarter in most business areas. There is, however, increased variations between companies and geographical areas, which is partly due to the strong references from the same period last year. Order intake growth in total with 17%, of which 7% organically.

Net sales grow a total of 20% to SEK 6.7 billion. Despite continued supply chain disturbances, we also grow sequentially. This should not, however, be seen as the supply chain disturbances are easing. It's more related to good performance from our companies, and we see no clear indication of an improvement when it comes to the supply chains in the short term. We also grew EBITDA, up 21% from the same period last year. For the first time ever, EBITDA exceeded SEK 1 billion, a new milestone achieved for us within Indutrade. EBITDA margin was slightly better than Q2 last year, record high 15.3%. In terms of acquisitions, the activity level during the first quarter and the first half has been intense.

We have completed 10 acquisitions so far this year, adding SEK 780 million in annual revenues to the group. In Q2, we closed five transactions, and another three has been completed after the end of the quarter. If we look more specifically then on order intake, the demand was, as I said, continued strong in the quarter and orders grow organically by 7% versus the high Q2 last year. For those who follow us more regularly, you might remember then that the organic growth in Q2 last year was a record high 26%. Obviously it was a bit of a boost from the pandemic and COVID-19 related businesses. Daily orders were at a high and stable level during the whole quarter, in line with the levels of March.

The growth continued to be broad-based with an aggregated positive order development versus last year in most segments. The process industry, broadly in general, continued to stand out positively with a good development for almost all companies and geographies. In most of the other segments, we see a bigger variation between companies and geographies, partly, of course, also due to the strong references last year. Orders grew organically in six out of eight business areas during the quarter, and the strongest developments were in business area Industrial Components and Flow Technology. The order backlog increased in all business areas, and order intake was aggregated 5% higher than sales in the quarter. A positive book-to-bill still. The average lead time in the backlog is now longer than normal, and that's mainly because of lead times from our suppliers.

The quality of the backlog still feels good and solid. Just some examples of orders starting maybe in Denmark. We have a large company, Novo Nordisk. They are leading in insulin production, and they are experiencing great times and extending their production facilities and capacities. So we are having and gaining some orders from some of our flow companies linked to that. Our high pressure valves company have now received a large order for components to a new solar power plant, a concentrated solar power plant in South Africa. We have flow equipment from one of our companies in Austria to the Brazilian pulp producer at Suzano.

We have several of our companies delivering both flow components like valves and gas detectors to the Northvolt Group. High activity level, and not least linked to the sustainability transformation in the energy sector, I would say. Total growth in the quarter was +17%, where organic was, as I said, +7%, acquisition +7% also, and currencies +3%. If we then turn to sales, the sales development was also strong during quarter. Improved both versus last year and sequentially despite tough comparables also here. Total net sales development in the quarter was +20%, and the organic development was +10%, acquisitions +7%, and currencies +3%.

From a geographical perspective and looking at our larger markets, Denmark, Finland, and Switzerland stand out positively this quarter, while U.K. and North America is a bit weaker. The supply chain issues with long lead times from suppliers and components, and product shortages continued during the quarter. It's an issue for companies in all business areas, but the worst impact is within business area Measurement and Sensor Technology, which is a bit more electronics intense perhaps than the other business areas. A few companies report a slight improvement, but it is not a clear trend. The consequences of all this are an increased order backlog and also slightly lower sales than if things were normal. It's very hard to estimate, but the aggregated held back invoicing is probably still around the same level as it was in quarter one.

In general, companies are doing a great job to manage the situation. They are flexible and creative, and as you know, most of them operate with low to medium volumes. Our situation is not as bad as high volume producers within the fields like automotive, electronics, white goods, and so on. We have in general, I would say, a different supplier base than those types of industries and companies. Organic sales growth trends. The highest priority for us, really strategically is to engage with our companies and support them to grow organically. Organic, sustainable, profitable growth is key for generating sustainable value over time, and it's a verification that you have a competitive offering appreciated by the customers.

We have now seen seven consecutive quarters with organic sales growth despite challenging circumstances, and this is of course benefited by a global strong demand situation and now also a high price effect. The foundation, we believe, is our well-positioned and competitive companies. All business areas grow organically in the quarter, and the majority of the companies develops positively. Risks are increasing ahead because of the continued supply chain issues and geopolitical tensions, also high inflation and increasing interest rates. The record high backlog, however, gives us a good base to deliver further organic growth the coming quarter. I would say that uncertainty is obviously can provide difficulty, but Indutrade is basically at its best and will operate and manage better than an integrated industrial group on average. This is of course based on the entrepreneurial and decentralized model we have.

EBITDA increased during the quarter with 21%. It exceeded SEK 1 billion, as I said, for the first time, and the EBITDA margin increased to a record high 15.3% versus 15.2% last year. Organically, EBITDA increased with 9%, acquisitions added 8%, and currencies 4%. We still see supplier price increases, which is creating a tough headwind, but our companies continue to manage this in a great way. The organic growth margin continue on a high level and was in line with Q1 and slightly higher than last year. The organic EBITDA margin development was, however, slightly subdued, driven mainly by an increased activity and expense level in many companies.

Since we have been basically having a quarter free from travel restrictions, there's been quite a lot of exhibitions and physical customer meetings and yeah, basically invested time resource in business development in a good way. The newly acquired companies continued to show good margin levels and contributed well to improved group margins. If we now turn to the business areas and start with the sales situation, six of our eight business areas showed strong organic growth in the quarter. We saw the strongest growth in business area Flow Technology, Industrial Components, and Fluids & Mechanical Solutions, with most companies developing positively.

The process industry and med tech and pharma sectors stand out positively in these business areas. In Fluids & Mechanical Solutions, the sales development was held back somewhat by the automotive aftermarket group that has had business in Russia and Belarus, which has been stopped since basically the start of the war in Ukraine. In Benelux, sales also developed positively in a majority of the companies and segments. For instance, in valves for power generation and in the infrastructure and construction segments. The growth in the med tech and pharma sector was slightly lower because of the higher references last year, obviously partly linked to a strong sales in the COVID-19 related segments. In DACH, the Swiss process industry, including chemical industry, was the clear driver of the sales development, while the development in business area Finland was more broad-based.

Growth was a bit weaker in business areas, Measurement and Sensor Technology and U.K., with variations between segments and companies. Supply chain issues and component shortages had an adverse effect on the development, and particularly in the business area MST. If we continue with business areas and discuss the margins profitability, we had, as I said, a record high level EBITDA-wise at 15.3%. The main drivers for the profitability development is the continued strong gross margin development, along with good performance from our newly acquired companies. The organic development was dampened somewhat, but by an increased activity and expense level, as I said, in many companies this quarter. Great to see seven out of eight business areas with margins at or above 15%. This is a clear improvement, just versus a couple of years ago.

Benelux noted the strongest improvement with valves for power generation as an important driver. In DACH, we saw good development in companies exposed to the process industry, including chemicals, along with contribution from newly acquired companies. Business area Finland and Flow Technology margins were very strong, but both were supported somewhat by positive one-offs from facility divestments. Flow Technology was still better than last year, excluding this one-off, but Finland was slightly lower than last year, mainly because of a strong Q2 last year, and also increases in activity and expense levels. The profitability development in business area Fluids & Mechanical Solutions was good, both organically and for newly acquired companies, but the automotive aftermarket segment, which stopped sales to Russia and Belarus, impacted negatively. Without that, they would have held stable margins, I would say.

The margin in business area Industrial Components was continued good, but declined somewhat compared to last year. Very high level, which was supported by a couple of med tech companies benefiting from the pandemic, as I said before. Business area Measurement and Sensor Technology defended their high margin from last year, despite the lower organic growth and supply chain challenges. We did unfortunately not see the margin increase in business area U.K. as we hoped for. U.K. were perhaps worst hit by COVID-19 among all our largest countries, and in addition to this, Brexit have also impacted business. All in all, we have not recovered volumes and sales in U.K. since before the pandemic, as we have in the other business areas. The product and company mix in the U.K. is somewhat less favorable.

We are, however, driving improvement activities and seeing progress, and we are confident that we will stepwise improve also in the U.K. If we then turn to acquisitions, as stated before, the first half of 2022 has been strong for us in terms of acquisitions. The challenging external factors have not had any impact on our acquisition activity, I would say. It's continued really on a high level. So far this year, we have acquired 10 great companies with strong competitive and sustainable business models and good growth potential. This is one more acquisition this year compared to the same period last year, adding SEK 780 million in annual turnover compared to last year's SEK 730 million.

Six out of eight business areas have completed at least one acquisition so far this year, and our pipeline remains good, and the flow of incoming leads are also good. We are, thus, confident that we can continue to acquire good companies at attractive prices during the rest of 2022. As we have stated before, the ambition we have is that each business area should make two to three acquisitions per year, and adding that on group level means 16-24 acquisitions on group level per year. We are also adding a few extra acquisition specialists in the group, both on group level, but even more on business area level, I would say.

By that, I hand over the word to you, Patrik, to comment more on the financials.

Patrik Johnson
CFO, Indutrade

Thanks, Bo. Yes. Let's look at the key data summary then. Total growth for orders and sales was +17% and +20% respectively in the quarter. Year to date, we are up 20% on orders and 22% in sales. Encouraging to see that book-to-bill continue positively in all business areas in the quarter, 105% in total, and accumulated we are at 108%. The growth margin continued to develop positively, despite the supply chain issues and increased supplier and freight prices. 34.9% in the quarter, versus 34.8% last year accumulated. 34.7%, compared to 34.6% last year. Organically excluding acquisitions and currency, we actually have improved slightly more than this.

EBITDA grew 21% in the quarter and 27% year-to-date. The EBITDA margin improved to 15.3%, a record level versus 15.2% last year. Year-to-date, 15.2% compared to 14.5% last year. There are always a few one-offs, of course, in a quarterly closing, but I would say that the net effect of this quarter is around zero in the quarter. The margin of 15.3 is a fair underlying result, I would say. The positive facility-related one-offs Bo talked about in Flow and business area Finland were offset by we had some provisions, write-downs of receivables in Russia, relating to Russia.

We didn't do any revaluations of earnouts either. 15.3 is a fair and underlying result. Finance net increased with 28% in the quarter, 24% year to date. The increase is driven by higher borrowing and increased interest rates. Tax costs increased in the quarter with 23% and 27% accumulated, and that's basically in line with profit increases, which means that the underlying tax rate is stable at 22%. Earnings per share up 20% in quarter two and 28% year to date. Return on capital employed improved to 23% versus 21% last year. Improvement is mainly driven by the higher result, I would say.

Operational cash flow declined versus last year, and I will come back to that, elaborate a little bit more on the next slide. Net debt/EBITDA is maintained on a low level, 1.6 versus 1.5 last year. A note on this KPI is that we include earnout liabilities, of course, in the net debt calculation. But as you well know, then the earnouts they will not be paid out if profits are not increased. It distorts a little bit the outcome of the KPI. If you exclude the earnout liabilities in the calculation, the net debt/EBITDA would be 1.3. It's important to note. Okay. If we move to cash flow then. Second quarter cash flow, operational cash flow was SEK 622.

That's a 21% decline versus last year. It's related to stock build-ups in many companies because of the supply chain disturbances that we have and the longer lead times from suppliers. Also supplier price increases are impacting the stock levels also. That's also a major driver. If you look at the 12-month rolling working capital efficiency, by that I mean then working capital in relation to sales, that's in line with last year and the quarter four last year, and it still improved versus quarter two last year. If you look at the three-month rolling trend, that's also in line with year end, but it declined, however, than versus the same period last year.

Earnings per share grew with 20% from SEK 1.54 to SEK 1.85, which is an increase very much in line with the improvement in the EBITDA. If you look at the long-term trend in EPS, the three and five-year increase in the annual EPS, it was up 90% on the three-year rolling and 18% per year on the five-year rolling. Finally net debt. The interest-bearing net debt end of the quarter was almost SEK 7 billion, and that's an increase with 1.6 approximately since Q2 last year. The increase is mainly connected to the high acquisition pace that we've had the last year and also the slightly lower operational cash I talked about.

The net debt ratios, however, they increased somewhat, but they are still at low levels from an historical perspective, I would say. The net debt/equity ratio was 64% and the net debt/EBITDA 1.6, as I said earlier. Excluding earnout liabilities, it was 1.3. In June, we issued a new long-term bond. Main purpose was to replace some short-term debt we had, but also to proactively secure long-term funds for this autumn's acquisition activities. In addition to that bond, we also have ample amount of long-term unused credit facilities. To summarize, I would say our financial position remains solid and strong, increased but still low debt ratios, and also a good headroom between short-term debt and guaranteed long-term facilities.

Yes, by that, I leave over back to you, Bo.

Bo Annvik
President and CEO, Indutrade

Thank you, Patrik. I thought I'll elaborate slightly on the character of the Indutrade Group. Over the years, the Indutrade model has demonstrated its strength and resilience. I think we agree on that. Started in 1978, we have been profitable ever since. Our diversified structure with more than 200 companies in many sectors and geographic markets provides us with good risk diversification, which creates the prerequisite for stability. By constantly adding new well-managed and successful companies, our portfolio is further diversified, and the aggregated economic risk is reduced, but the opportunity for organic growth improves. Through our proven decentralized business model, driven entrepreneurs are given the opportunity to maintain independence with full operational responsibility and mandate. We are confident that the best decisions are made locally, close to the customers and the market.

You can see on the slide that, we as a group have very little dependency on any single market segment, any single product area, any company, customer, supplier, or whatever dimension you choose to analyze. I think we are well-positioned to manage, different economic cycles, with strong stability and professionalism. Also, talking a bit about a leadership conference we recently had. We really have a long-term commitment to ensuring that both our people and companies can grow. We contribute to our own development and that of society at large, I would say, by giving more people and companies the chance to become part of a business world driven by true entrepreneurial spirit. Our employees are, of course, the key to our future success.

We strive to derive the greatest value and benefits from our employees by sharing and spreading best practice throughout the group. One key activity for this is knowledge sharing and to facilitate networking between our companies. During quarter two, we had the Indutrade Leadership Conference in Stockholm, where we were plus 200 managing directors and other key people from the group. We gathered to exchange ideas, workshop, and to learn from each other, and obviously also celebrate successes. We have during the last year increased the focus, as I've said several times, on organic growth, but also on sustainability in all aspects of the business. It's really inspiring to see the engagement from our companies on these topics. Together, we are working actively on innovation and product development, finding new partners, finding add-on products, and other opportunities to strengthen the competitive edge even further.

In addition, we see sustainability as a business opportunity. It will be key that we reduce our own CO2 footprint, as well as ensure that we offer solutions that help reduce customers' CO2 footprint. During the conference, we also gave out awards to the best performing companies. We've done that since many years back. The first award is what we call the benchmarking winners. We look at a number of financial KPIs to award the companies who have had the greatest performance. New for this year, we also had a sustainability award. Where we recognize the companies who stand out in three different categories. It's the people dimension, climate environment, and last but not least, what we call profitable growth/innovation.

Not only is it important to celebrate victories, but I would also say that the awards are also a great opportunity to further ignite the winner mentality of our MDs, if now that's possible. They are quite driven already in terms of this, I would say. It's clear that we have exciting times ahead of us and good prerequisites in place for continued value creation. By that, it's time to summarize and focus on the key takeaways from this presentation. Despite the very tough comparisons for Q2 last year, as I said, when the organic growth was +26%, and a general challenging market situation, Indutrade had a very strong performance in the first half of 2022. Our companies are doing a fantastic job, showing good flexibility and working closely with our customers and suppliers.

The business risk for the second half have, however, increased, and supply chain disturbances continues to be a challenge. It's therefore satisfying that our order backlog is record high, which provides confidence in our ability to provide good invoicing and profit development also in the short term. I'm also very happy that the Indutrade family has been strengthened by 10 new quality companies so far this year. As I said before, the pipeline is strong, and we have good acquisition activity in all business areas. I'm convinced that our robust business model, which is based on decentralization and diversification with decision power close to the customer, is able to cope with any changed conditions in a very good way. We are continuously developing our ability to generate sustainable, profitable growth, and we have a stable platform as the starting point for continued value creation.

Lastly, I'd also like to highlight that we will host a Capital Markets Day on November eighth in central Stockholm, where we obviously will give some more flavor on our strategy and priorities for the years to come. Please mark this in your calendars, and we will send an invitation with registration details, soon to you. By that, I say thank you for participating, listening, and I leave the word over to the operator.

Operator

Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw your question, please press star then two. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. The first question is from Carl Ragnerstam with Nordea. Please go ahead.

Carl Ragnerstam
Director of Research, Nordea

Hi, it's Carl from Nordea. A few questions. Firstly, I wonder if you have seen any changes in the demand situation throughout the quarter or entering July. Also you talk a bit about an uncertainty. Of course, we have the inflation, et cetera. But is it something you have seen in any of your end markets, or is it more something we'll read in the newspapers, et cetera?

Bo Annvik
President and CEO, Indutrade

No, as we said during the presentation, we basically saw a stable order intake in line with the March level in all the individual months of quarter two. It's been stable and good. We don't really. We haven't really seen, experienced anything yet. We are more on the newspaper headline stage, as you said yourself.

Carl Ragnerstam
Director of Research, Nordea

Also in your construction/infrastructure is your largest end market. You haven't even seen any changes there or postponed or canceled projects, et cetera, or no changes there either?

Bo Annvik
President and CEO, Indutrade

No canceled projects. One area where we are experiencing a bit of a dynamic situation is maybe more the pharmaceutical area where we have some companies who have supplied to vaccine producers, and they have overbought to some extent and built safety stocks. They are not canceling orders, but the order growth will probably be a bit hampered in the fall and maybe the beginning of next year. I would say in the construction sector and infrastructure sector, it's a little bit too early to be anything visible for our companies yet.

Carl Ragnerstam
Director of Research, Nordea

Okay, super. And also, Patrik, a question on the cash flow, as you also mentioned, a fairly significant, I mean, change in inventory at least. Could you help us understand your thinking regarding sort of inventory management, the risk of sitting with too much inventory in a potentially at least weakening market? And also if it's possible to quantify the pricing and then maybe FX effect on inventory in the quarter. Thanks.

Patrik Johnson
CFO, Indutrade

Yeah, if you take the sort of the composition of the increase first, it's really difficult, but I would. My high level assessment would be that it's a 50/50 split between price and volume, and not a significant currency impact, I would say. Then, yeah, it. We have in many companies then increased buffer stocks of course, and the sort of the more volatile purchase pattern lead times to suppliers have forced us to do that. I think in many cases it has been good. I think we feel that many companies have also been able, actually to gain market share, as they have been able to deliver.

It's of course a difficult balance and we now see the increased stock then. I don't see big risk for obsolescence. I think what we have focused on, our companies have focused on is of course the high runners and making sure that they are on the shelf. I don't really see a big risk for obsolescence. No, but it is hampering a little bit the cash flow. That's true.

Carl Ragnerstam
Director of Research, Nordea

Very good. The final one from my side. As I think Bo mentioned, you've strengthened the M&A team, or at least you plan to do so, centrally as well as locally. Could you perhaps update us where you are on that journey currently?

Patrik Johnson
CFO, Indutrade

Yeah, I think we have made one, two, three, maybe four appointments. I think most of them will start basically right after the holidays in August, September.

Carl Ragnerstam
Director of Research, Nordea

The remaining, I guess, four positions or did you plan to fill them in the second half or?

Patrik Johnson
CFO, Indutrade

Yeah. Basically all business areas work on their staffing situation and are solving this in different ways, but all of them will strengthen their acquisition capability during this year. Most of them will have it in place as of the beginning of the fiscal year.

Carl Ragnerstam
Director of Research, Nordea

Okay. Very good. Thank you.

Bo Annvik
President and CEO, Indutrade

Thank you.

Operator

The next question is from Johan Dahl with Danske Bank. Please go ahead.

Johan Dahl
Equity Analyst, Danske Bank

Yeah, thanks. Good morning, everyone. Just a question on your acquisition pipeline here. I mean, it's a totally new world out there for debt-funded acquisitions in your space, I guess. How do you see that impacting your dialogues? What sort of threat does that constitute to them? Or on the other hand, can you capitalize in any way on that possibly reduced competition, et cetera? Would be interesting to hear.

Bo Annvik
President and CEO, Indutrade

Yeah, it's a great question. Before I joined Indutrade, I've been here now, as some of you know, a bit more than five years. I think the learning was that it was a little bit weaker acquisition activity in a weak business climate. Sellers of profitable, successful companies, they don't really want to reduce their price level. Then they rather hesitated to sell at that time and waited until there was an agreement between seller, buyer on the price level they wanted. I assume that has probably not changed too much. We have also grown as a group and we are even more established, well-known and have also more own resources.

I think our capability to build pipeline by, you know, having 200 companies and employees in these companies keeping their eyes open for potential acquisition targets, plus being recognized as a good, I would say, acquirer from brokers, also in quite a lot of new countries and so on. I'm quite confident that we will be able to keep this 16-24 type of level in the next couple of years, even if the economic cycle is weakening, potentially a bit. Yeah, I'm really optimistic about the second half of this year and also rather confident for 2023 and onwards that we will continue to manage in a good way.

If we benefit from this versus competitors, other acquirers, yeah, potentially some of these very opportunistic highly leveraged buyers with less equity sort of by themselves go away a bit. But I'm not sure that they have been too much of a problem for us either in the past. The companies we are geared at buying are probably not too interested in them anyway.

Johan Dahl
Equity Analyst, Danske Bank

All right. On OpEx, you talked about increased OpEx year-over-year. How much was that approximately in your view for sort of traveling exhibitions, et cetera? If you were to sort of take the full year view, given that activity remains, what how much sort of a headwind is that for 2022 versus last year? If you could follow up on U.K., you talked about disappointing revenues and margins. What's your action plan there? You, I mean, you talked about working close to your companies, absolutely. Is there anything else sort of to you can speed that up possibly? Thanks.

Bo Annvik
President and CEO, Indutrade

Yeah. If I start, Patrik, and I can give the word over to you soon. My take on the expense and activity level is that it was at a certain level in Q1, and then it increased quite a lot. There are usually quite a lot of exhibitions in the spring time. And a lot of our companies engaged in that. As I said, also traveled physically to customers and so on. Depending on how COVID develops in Q3 here, it might also be if there are sort of few travel restrictions, it might be a fairly high activity level also in Q3.

I think they have reinvested in their relationships, and so on, and we will benefit again from digital solutions and digital means of talking to customers and so on in Q4 and onwards. So slightly higher in Q2 and potentially in Q3 also, but going back to a lower level or normal level. We have a new normal, I think. I don't think we will go back to the expense level from an activity point of view, which we had pre-COVID, but lower in Q1, Q4, a little bit higher in Q2, potentially also in Q3. I don't know, Patrik, if you want to comment on any numbers before I take the U.K. question.

Patrik Johnson
CFO, Indutrade

Yeah. I mean, the expense increase made the organic leverage then not as good as it has been before. I mean, we increased sales organically with 10% and the expense levels actually increased slightly more than 10%. Of course, you have to remember that last year we still had COVID, so activity levels were pushed down. They are back now and you have a slight inflation also impacting. It's all of that generated increase which was slightly higher than 10% though.

Bo Annvik
President and CEO, Indutrade

Yeah. Now the U.K. is a bit of a special case. Maybe in a very sort of broad perspective, if we look at the types of company we own in different business areas and sort of large markets, we have slightly, I would say, lower gross margin levels on an aggregated level of the companies in the U.K. If they experience volume drops, there is a profitability impact, I would say also a little bit quicker in the U.K. versus in most of the other business areas. We have had in the U.K. portfolio. There is also segments which are a little bit unusual. Maybe we have one very successful company linked to the aerospace industry. When COVID hit, no planes were built and no components needed, so they went drastically down.

We have a few other cases like that where industries were impacted by COVID a little bit, but we didn't maybe see in other business areas because we didn't have that type of business in other business areas. They were more specifically hit by certain COVID particularities. Step by step they will improve now, I think. We have had some, as normal in a portfolio, some issues here and there in the U.K., which the management there are working on and improving. I'm confident that, I mean, they were basically at a 16% EBITDA level pre-COVID and step by step they will work their way back. There is no general medicine, if I say so.

It's more surgical company by company to solve certain situations and also then hope for a fairly okay economic sort of activity level in the U.K. I guess it doesn't help maybe short term that there is politically a bit of instability, but maybe doesn't impact too much neither. I think the fall might be slightly better for U.K. than the first half.

Johan Dahl
Equity Analyst, Danske Bank

All right. Thanks.

Operator

Again, if you have a question, please press star then one. For any further questions, you may press star then one on your keypad. This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Annvik for any closing remarks.

Bo Annvik
President and CEO, Indutrade

Yeah. We say thank you again for participating, listening, engaging in our quarterly report. We wish you all a great summer and hope to see you at our Capital Markets Day later in the fall and sooner, hopefully to speak to you. All the best. Bye-bye from us.

Operator

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

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