Welcome to the Lindab Q1 presentation for 2023. During the questions and answer session, participants are able to ask questions by dialing star five on their telephone keypad. I will hand the conference over to the President and CEO, Ola Ringdahl, and Lars Ynner. please go ahead.
Hello, welcome to this call. My name is Ola Ringdahl, and I'm the President and CEO for Lindab Group. Next to me, I have our Lars Ynner, and he joined Lindab on the eleventh of April this year. I'm very pleased to have Lars in the Lindab team. Let's look at some quarter one highlights. Lindab started the year with strong sales growth in the Q1. In fact, Lindab reported its highest Q1 ever in terms of sales. The increased sales was primarily driven by the acquisitions made during 2022. Structural growth was 20%. Organic growth was negative by 5%, and currency had a positive effect of 3%. Business area Ventilation Systems, which represents 70% of Lindab's annual sales, had a solid development with the highest sales and operating profit ever for a single quarter.
Profile Systems was burdened by lower volumes and continued raw material price effects, which led to a lower operating margin than planned. The adjusted operating profit in the Q1 amounted to SEK 264 million, compared to SEK 340 million one year ago, which was an unusually strong comparison period. Ventilation Systems increased the result versus previous year. The result in Profile Systems decreased significantly compared to the very strong period previous year. Lindab had a strong cash flow during quarter one as cash flow from operating activities increased to SEK 355 million compared to a negative cash flow of minus SEK 213 million in the same period previous year. Let's take a closer look on the revenue and margins on the next slides.
Lindab's total revenue has shown strong growth for the past two years, mainly thanks to acquisitions, but also thanks to price increases to compensate for higher raw material costs. Business area Ventilation Systems has continued to grow strongly as the demand for Lindab's ventilation products has been stable in all markets. Ventilation Systems reported its highest quarter ever in terms of sales, mainly driven by structural growth and the acquisitions made in 2022 of Felderer, R-Vent, and Ekovent. All in all, sales growth for Ventilation Systems was 27%. Acquisitions contributed positively by 24%. Currency had a positive effect of 4%. Organic growth was negative by 1%. The price level was on the same level as in the Q1 of 2022. There is a closing of that gap price-wise versus one year ago.
Profile Systems is a more cyclical business and more volatile between the quarters with a larger exposure to new construction. For the Q1, total sales growth for Profile Systems was negative with 4%. Acquisitions contributed positively by 10%, and the currency effect was slightly positive at 1%. Organic sales growth was negative by 15%, and this is mainly explained by the combination of exceptionally high comparison numbers and lower demand in the market. The price level for the Profile Systems product range was on the same level as in the Q1 of 2022. Now let's look at operating profit. Since the Q3 of last year, fluctuating raw material prices have put temporary pressure on our gross margin and consequently on our operating margin.
We highlighted already during the autumn that we would have these adverse effects into the Q2 of 2023. That statement is still valid. Ventilation Systems managed to compensate relatively well for the raw material effects and delivered its best quarter ever in terms of operating profit. The operating margin was 10.2%. Business area Profile Systems was affected by low demand in addition to the mentioned raw material effect. It should be also mentioned that the comparison numbers are exceptionally high. In any case, Profile Systems did not meet our planned profitability level in the quarter. We are implementing price adjustments, cost savings, and focus the different parts of the business for optimal profitability in line with our goals.
I should also mention that both within Ventilation Systems and Profile Systems, we have at least defended and probably increased market shares during the period. I now hand over to our Lars Ynner, to guide us through our financial position.
Thank you, Ola. Lindab had a strong cash flow during the Q1 as cash flow from operating activities increased SEK 355 million, compared with a negative cash flow of SEK 213 million in the same period last year. The strengthened cash flow during the period was primarily related to changes in working capital, which amounted to SEK 123 million compared to -SEK 528 million in the Q1 last year. The improvement was mainly related to less capital tied in stock. Our free cash adjusted for M&A increased to SEK 261 million compared to -SEK 319 million in the Q1 last year. Net debt has increased compared to previous year as a result of acquisitions and higher leasing liabilities.
The net debt EBITDA ratio is at 1.8 versus 1.0 one year ago. It increases mainly due to acquisitions we have finalized since then. This ratio gives Lindab a continued good financial flexibility. The solid financial position is also a key factor to support our continued growth as we continue to pursue more acquisition targets. You can take the next slide. Thank you. Dividend. Thanks to Lindab's strong profit development and considering Lindab's financial position, the board of directors proposes that annual general meeting in 11th of May approves a dividend of SEK 2.20 per share. SEK 5.20 per share. This is an increase of 30% versus last year.
This represents a dividend of net profit of 41%, which is in line with the dividend policy, which states that at least 40% of net profit should be distributed. The dividend is proposed to be split and paid out in 2 equal portions of SEK 2.60 per share and location, one in May and one in November. Let's shift focus from the numbers to how we continue to build a stronger Lindab. I will give the word back to Ola. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Lars. Some words on acquisitions. Lindab's strategy is to acquire well-managed successful companies who complement our offering in selected regions and product areas. The acquired companies continue to operate independently under their own brands, while at the same time benefiting from Lindab's sourcing agreements, expertise, and sales network. In February, we announced the acquisition of Raab. I will not pronounce the full German name, but it's a German company. Raab is focusing on sales and production of rectangular ventilation ducts. The company has shown impressive growth and strong profitability over the several years. The acquisition adds approximately SEK 160 million in revenue on an annual basis.
I would like to highlight that the acquisition of Raab was possible thanks to Lindab's acquisition of Felderer, exactly one year ago. I'm very pleased with this development where the larger acquired companies in their turn are able to make acquisitions. In March, we acquired Irish Ventilation and Filtration. This is a leading distributor of ventilation products in Ireland. They mainly target maintenance departments of large international companies as well as mechanical contractors. They have long customer relationships with recurring revenues. Irish Ventilation and Filtration has sales of approximately SEK 100 million on an annual basis. After the end of the quarter, we have made two additional acquisitions. In April, we made our first acquisition in the Czech Republic. Ventilace.EU sell and manufacture rectangular ventilation ducts in the Czech market. The business is known for its high level of service and fast deliveries.
Lindab already has a collaboration where Ventilace has assisted at production peaks in Lindab's central production facility in the Czech Republic. They have sales of approximately SEK 42 million on an annual basis. In May, we acquired a slightly different type of ventilation company than our previous acquisitions. Firmac is the European leader in machines for manufacturing of rectangular ventilation ducts. Already today, Lindab has a very strong brand called Spiro, the leading producer of machines to manufacture circular ventilation ducts, also nicknamed Spiro tubes or Spiro ducts. With Firmac, we get the corresponding business for rectangular duct equipment. Firmac is based in the U.K. and has sales of approximately SEK 40 million on an annual basis.
As you notice, there's quite a lot of rectangular ventilation duct producers in the list here this time, and that is a trend in the market given the higher air volumes transported through ventilation ducts. There is a greater need and the market trend that rectangular ductwork within Ventilation Systems is increasing in importance. This is an area where Lindab is already today the leader in Europe, but we aim to make our position even stronger. In total, we have made 21 acquisitions since 2020, adding SEK 2.7 billion in revenue. As you can see on the graph on the top right-hand side, 90% has been ventilation business. Ventilation now accounts for 70% of our total annual revenue in Lindab, and that share will grow over the next quarters and years.
We have also divested businesses with a turnover of SEK 1.3 billion since 2020, and the largest divestment was the business area Astron Building Systems . We continue with an update on our investment program. Investments is another building block in Lindab's strategy. Lindab's investment program has been at the top of our agenda since 2019, and it's rewarding to see how the benefits become more and more visible. We see results in higher production efficiency, higher capacity, and a safer work environment. These are very important areas for continuing to build a profitable and sustainable Lindab in the long term. In the Q1, we invested SEK 97 million in our European operations compared to SEK 106 million in the Q1 one year ago.
We will continue to invest on a high level until 2025. This level will gradually come down, and the amounts will be reduced every year since we have completed a large part of the program already. The peak was reached in 2020. Let's move on to the next slide. Lindab for a better climate. Sustainability continues to be at the top of our agenda. In early 2023, Lindab joined the Science Based Targets initiative. This means that we will set science-based targets for our work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We are also launching products manufactured with low carbon emissions steel. We are starting with roofs and facades and will add ventilation products during the year. For Lindab and for our customers, sustainability is business critical. Lindab is and will be the leader in climate efficient ventilation solutions.
Let's go to our final slide and talk about the outlook and the priorities. Starting with market outlook, we are positive about the prospects for both the industry and Lindab, although there are challenges in the short term. Several indicators suggest that high inflation and rising interest rates lead to lower investments in new construction, especially in the residential segment. We have started to see that in the Swedish market, primarily affecting our business area, Profile Systems. When the economy turns downward, the demand for ventilation systems is usually more stable due to a larger proportion of upgrading and renovation. In the medium and long term, we are optimistic about both the market and Lindab's prospects. The high energy prices put even more focus on well-insulated buildings and energy efficient ventilation to the benefit of Lindab.
We expect a longer period of renovation of public and private properties in Europe. Lindab has more than half of its sales towards renovation and remodeling, we see good growth opportunities in this segment as necessary energy efficiency projects are started in Europe. Within new construction, the demand for sustainable and energy efficient buildings will increase further, also to the advantage of Lindab and our leading product range. What are Lindab's near-term priorities? Well, naturally, in the current economic environment, we are working with proactive cost measures, especially in the business area Profile Systems, where the margins need to improve and where the market demand is showing more weakness. We are adjusting our pricing as well to strengthen gross margins and to mitigate high energy costs and transportation costs. Finally, with our strong balance sheet, we intend to continue to pursue attractive acquisition opportunities within ventilation.
The European ventilation industry is still fragmented, and there are plenty of opportunities to create long-term value. We have a clear plan for how Lindab will continue to develop positively. After the transformation of our business in recent years, Lindab is in good shape. We now conclude the presentation, and we open up for questions.
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 again on your telephone keypad. The next question comes from Douglas Lindahl from DNB Markets. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Ola and Lars. Congratulations on a strong report. A few questions from my side, starting off with the residential construction exposure that you mentioned there. What is your best assessment of your current exposure towards this market right now? Swedish residential, rough ballpark figure.
Within Ventilation Systems, it's small. In Ventilation, we also have a much broader geographical presence with a strong presence in 20 countries in Europe. In Profile Systems, there is a little bit higher ratio of residential in our portfolio. We have a higher exposure to, say, fewer countries. 75% of the revenue in Profile Systems is in the Nordic countries, and the majority of that is in Sweden. Of course, the numbers for the Swedish construction industry and primarily for residential segments, they look a bit worrying. I would say that today we see the negative impact of that mainly in Sweden. Exactly how much is connected to residential, it's difficult to say.
We also see a declining project activity for larger projects like industrial halls, sandwich panel sales, and so on. We have to say that the -15% organic growth in the Q1 for Profile Systems is quite a lot in a short period of time. We are clearly aware of that situation and do the best we can to mitigate it.
Okay. Moving on to profitability. You seem to remain firm in your double-digit target there for 2023, if I understand you correctly. Can you just remind us of the sort of positive factors that you expected implicitly towards the second half of 2023 on the margin side? That would be useful.
I will of course try. Well, I mean, one important factor is the adverse raw material effects that we have been struggling with since the Q3 of last year. They will be minimal by the end of the Q2. Gradually, that situation is improving. That's one positive. Of course the unknown is how will the continued volume development be. We are also with implemented price increases for selected product categories and geographies that should also help the gross margins. Proactive cost measures. I mean, there's no way to get around that when volumes organically are in decline. This is of course mainly within Profile Systems, we have to adjust the cost base.
Mm.
We have, I can perhaps also add, the second and Q3s are normally the stronger quarters for Lindab, while
Yeah
... fourth and the, and the first one are seasonally a bit weaker, mainly in Profile.
Yeah. Understood. You mentioned Felderer there in your presentation. Can you give some sort of update on... I remember you said that you wanted to lift profitability for that business over time. Can you maybe give some sort of update on how that work is processing or?
I'm very, very pleased with the, how our acquisitions are performing. I would say 80% of the cases, they are performing better than their history and at least as good as we planned when making the acquisition. Very, very strong track record for the acquired companies. If we talk about Felderer in particular, had an extra review with them last week to also compare to the situation before the acquisition. The profits of Felderer have increased, I think around 80%, versus the Q1 last year. However, at that time, we did not own them. They are gradually improving profitability. In addition to that, they have now fully implemented the duct system, Lindab Safe.
Before they were buying duct systems from an external supplier, and now they are fully in Lindab's product assortment when it comes to ventilation ducts. Of course, giving some additional synergies within our production and sourcing. I'm very pleased with the performance so far. Strong sales growth.
Okay. A final one for me. On the transport costs, you've talked about this for some time now. Are you seeing any changes in this quarter relative to previous quarters?
The industry we are in, the suppliers over many years have been you know, let me use the word, they have been spoiling the customer with transport free of charge. I think that is not in line with modern sustainability that you think about transport as something which is for free. When transport costs are then rapidly increasing with new cabotage rules, lack of drivers, increased cost of diesel, et cetera, I think that business model is coming to an end. Companies like Lindab and many others need to start to act in a sustainable way where we put a clear price tag on transports.
We are doing this in many different ways, trying to recover the cost, but also to stimulate the customer behavior to be more efficient. We can collect, we can combine orders and transports and really get the carbon footprint down, while at the same time saving costs that can be shared between two parties. This is an area we are working very actively on in many different ways. Clearly, transports, it is a big cost for Lindab.
Mm.
We are recovering a large part of it, but we can recover more.
Okay. No, I mean, no real changes in the short term then, I guess, sequentially.
Except for continuing to increase the price of transport, but that is quite-
Okay
... a helpful tool.
Yeah. Okay. That's it for me. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Douglas.
The next question comes from Carl Ragnerstam from Nordea. Please go ahead.
Hi. It's Carl here from Nordea. A couple of questions from my side as well. Firstly, looking on Profile Systems, to what extent did weather affect the impact sales or margins during the quarter, would you say?
I think it had some effect in the month of March. I mean, we're used to having winter weather in January and February. I think I also read from some other companies who are working on the outside of the buildings and on the roofs of buildings that there was perhaps a little bit of a weather effect in Sweden and Norway during March, negative one compared to previous year. We also saw clear impact of the increasing interest rates when several projects were delayed because of, you know, lack of decisions. We had in Q1 last year very strong project sales, and this year significantly weaker project sales, and I think it has to do with the increased cost of borrowing.
Okay, very clear. You mentioned that you will implement measures to bring back margins in Profile. Is it possible to be a bit more granular on each of them? I mean, what magnitude are we talking when you're mentioning price increases? Also in what parts of Profile, and is it also related to ventilation now that steel prices are coming up a bit? The second part is also what the full year effects will be on the cost saving you're implementing.
Good and detailed questions, as always, Carl. On pricing, I mean, I think we can see that in the reports, and we are also writing it that the profitability in Profile Systems did not live up to our plan. We should have performed 3-4 percentage points better on the gross margin, so the significant improvement needed on the gross margin. How to reach that in a short time? Price increases, that is definitely one thing. We need to correct prices on certain, in certain product areas without jeopardizing the market position. I'm quite pleased to say that we are defending our market shares and also in several cases increasing the market shares during the autumn and during the winter now. That is positive.
In combination with price increases, we also need to work on our cost base. We have significantly reduced manning in the factory in the central factory in Profile Systems to adjust to the volume level that we see now. You saw the -15% organic growth. A combination primarily of lower number of staff during the high season that is coming now and a correction of prices, plus the fact that our raw material stock is, say, normalizing in value during the Q2. Those three effects are the main ones. Can you please repeat your second question?
No, no, it was more. It was, I mean, both on magnitude of price increases and the cost saving. I think I got the answer on both of them. Also, if you're implementing price increases on ventilation maybe as well.
We in certain product categories and geographies, yes, we are. Ventilation Systems is, say, less exposed to raw material challenges now than Profile Systems is. In Profile Systems, you have a higher material content in the product than we have in Ventilation Systems. Some and fewer price increases will also be implemented in Ventilation.
Are we still talking about the 100-200 basis points raw margin headwind from raw materials in Ventilation Systems in the quarter? Or is it less compared to the second half of 2022?
Probably around that, 1 to 2 percentage points margin negative headwind. Yes.
Okay. Very good. The final question from my side is a bit on inventory reduction in the quarter, which was quite visible. Could you give some understanding between sort of the split between pricing and volume effects in the reduction of inventory?
Not exactly, no. There is both a significant volume reduction, and there is a reduction in the average price per ton during the past two quarters. I'm not able to quantify it exactly. We have adjusted our buying pattern. We have to remember that it's only a bit more than one year ago when the disastrous war on Ukraine started. Of course, we were very keen to have enough safety stock and to have the right agreements with the steel makers so that we were guaranteed supplies from March until August in the most urgent phase after the war broke out and there was material shortage. We were sitting with high volumes in stock by the end of the summer and at high prices.
It takes time to consume that and to adjust the purchasing patterns. Of course, easy to be wiser now in hindsight, but if I was in the same situation again, I would do the same. We suffered a bit from that in the autumn that we had high cost in the stock, but at least we had material. After that, it has continued to be a little bit of a roller coaster on steel pricing. As I said, it should stabilize now during the second half of the Q2.
Okay, very clear. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
The next question comes from Anna Lindholm Widström from Handelsbanken. Please go ahead.
Hello, Ola. Hello, Lars. Thank you for taking my questions. First off, could you maybe describe if you saw any trends within each business area during the quarter, or if it was stable throughout?
I think within Ventilation Systems, it was stability during the quarter. In Profile Systems, I think we expected sales to increase a bit more in March than it did after the, say, real low season. If that was due to weather, the weather effect or not, I'm not really able to say. Sales was more negative versus our plan in March than in January, February. Perhaps a little bit weaker towards the end. We've seen also April continuing on that softer trend. April is a difficult month to analyze because of the Easter holidays and so on. A bit softer towards second half of March. During March and into April for Profile Systems.
Okay, perfect. Thank you. My second question is on the M&A market trends generally, such as prices or maybe willingness to sell. If you could give us some words on what you are particularly interested in currently.
Yeah, we have a long list we are working on. Some of the acquisitions, they can be rather fast from the. We identify and make contact. It can be 6 months until we have completed acquisitions. In some cases, we work two or three years before we can actually get signing and closing done. What I'm looking for. We are still focused on the 20 countries mentioned, or basically the European market. At one point in time, we will take steps outside Europe, but not at this very point in time. We are looking for ventilation companies with strong positions in their country or countries. We are looking for more technical content in the products gradually.
We want to work within the air duct systems and the technical products for air diffusion. We are working on air transportation and air diffusion. Pretty much staying within our area of expertise, but making the footprint denser, the technologies more and more advanced, and more building the products into systems. We are also working quite a lot on the digital side. I mean, we are making large investments in our own digital development to enable technical consultants to very accurately and economically design ventilation systems for complex buildings. We are adding some software skills from acquired companies to put sensors and monitoring devices and visualization services on top of that.
We are looking at some quite interesting acquisition areas, but I will not disclose all the details because we don't know who is listening here.
That's great. Thank you, Ola, for those answers. That's all for me.
Thank you, Anna.
The next question comes from Douglas Lindahl from DNB Markets. Please go ahead.
Hi again. Thanks for taking a follow-up question. You, Ola, you mentioned the current trading for Profile in April. I was just curious to hear if you can make a similar comment for ventilation in April.
Well, no, we don't see any major difference in April versus the Q1 for Ventilation Systems. Perhaps a little bit weaker in the Swedish markets, than in the rest, no significant changes.
Okay. Overall stable then, I guess.
Yes.
Excellent. Thank you.
As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please dial star five on your telephone keypad. There are no more questions at this time. I hand the conference back to the speakers for any closing comments.
From my side and Lars Ynner, we would like to thank everybody for listening and wish you a wonderful spring day. Thank you.
Thank you.