Hi, and welcome to the presentation of Swedencare's Q3 report, led by our CEO, Håkan Lagerberg. We will have a Q&A after the presentation, so please raise your hand if you have any questions, and we will answer them in the end. Over to you, Håkan.
Thank you so much, Emma. Håkan Lagerberg here. Unfortunately, Jenny Graflind, our excellent CFO, is not with us today due to some change of traveling plans, but I'll do my best answering your question when it comes to the financials. And if there are any outstanding questions, we will be happy to come back with that, with Jenny's expertise. So I'll start with a run-through, and as Emma said, I will be happy to answer any questions you have after the presentation. So let's see. Q3, Q3, 2023. Let's see now. Here we go. A strong quarter, 17% organic growth with a very strong cash flow. Sales record both when it comes to quarter and also month has been regularly the last quarters.
The end month of every quarter has been the strongest. Looking at the different channels, Pet retail online, really solid growth there, and, as I wrote in the report, the Vet channel, a bit softer, but still a good demand. There's been some particular areas where it's a bit softer, but you see a comeback already in Q4. I will come back to that. The cash flow was very strong. As I said, 99% cash conversion from EBITDA, and Jenny told me to say that, "Do not expect that going forward," but it's an excellent showcase of what Jenny and her team and all of the group companies have been doing, this all year, I would say.
But still, still, this quarter, it really, really, showed an effect with lots of different projects we've had to convert to cash in a faster rate. Everything from accounts receivable to paying suppliers and also looking at our inventory levels. But going forward, we will still continue focusing on that, but but I do not expect to have these, these kind of numbers going forward when it comes to cash conversion. We we used the cash in this quarter, of course, to increase our amortization. As we've said, we've been very focused in amortizing on the debt that we have in the company.
We have always been cash generative, and there's no better way to use the cash right now than to get our debt level down. I'm happy to say that our net debt to EBITDA is below 3, and that was our target for full year after Q4, and we're very happy that we're already at that point. Going forward, we will continue, as I said, but do not expect the same decline in the debt level every quarter going forward, because of course, we need to use our cash also for some interesting projects going forward. All regions delivering double-digit growth.
I have been very clear in my communication that I did expect a stronger second half year, comparing to the first half year, and mainly due to the fact that our main customers that affected us when it come to their decline in or using their inventory that they had, that we saw an end of that in Q2, and the Q3 results really showed that I was correct in my prediction for that. We have a strong demand for our brands, and also when it comes to contract manufacturing, as I wrote in the report, our soft chew competence and capabilities is really in high demand, and going forward, we see an increase definitely in the contract manufacturing side also.
The European demand, as also what I predicted, has been very strong, and will continue to increase over the coming quarters. We are very focused on our ESG work, and, as I informed you in the last report, we have a new European Commercial Director, Laszlo Varga, who will take charge of the ESG work going forward for the group. In this quarter, we have implemented a new sustainability platform that will come into effect in 2024, that will enable us to collect and analyze data from all the group companies going forward. We have also started to work with the materiality analysis, where we go through the most important sustainability priorities going forward, and we will communicate that in the next year.
As I also mentioned in the last report, we had, for the first time, a group employee survey being set up the same way for all of the group companies, and we had really good results, with no group company that there were any issues. Very motivated employees and very happy employees being part of the Swedencare family. But of course, there are always things that can improve, and we have analyzed and started working with that, and address certain areas going forward. So even though the results were definitely very high in all areas, we do want to improve wherever we can.
Net sales first time over SEK 600 million for a quarter, and that was an increase with 25% compared to last year. The Operational EBITDA and the EBITDA and EBITA was operational and normal was the same this quarter. We do not have any adjustments between operational and normal. So it went up to 22.8. I did expect an increase, but perhaps not this much, since we are still battling some issues when it comes to gross margin that will be sorted out first in the next year. But nice to see a good boost compared to last quarter, and also the quarter, the Q3 last year.
So looking at the KPIs for the quarter, the net revenue amounted to SEK 602 million, increased 25%, as I said. Organic growth 17%, a lot higher than the first half year. We had 10% first half year, and 17% this quarter. 6% currency impact and 2% acquired growth. The acquired growth came from Vetio UK and Vet Buyers Club, which was acquired in November first and April third. The net revenue continues to grow quarter by quarter, increase with 5% compared to Q2 2023. Operational gross margin 53.7, mainly affected by higher material costs, where price adjustments towards the customer is coming into effect January next year.
Somewhat lower productivity in some of our manufacturing sites, well, mainly due to ramping up. As you know, we're ramping up in Europe. We're also ramping up in Vetio South, where we have put in a second line when it comes to soft chews. And also that we in Vetio North had fewer development projects in this quarter. The development projects have a significantly higher gross margin than the manufacturing contracts. And also a higher degree of contract manufacturing, where we have a lower gross margin, but from a scalability perspective, it's really good for our group. And as you saw, we got the EBITDA up a couple of percentages.
The Operational EBITDA SEK 137 million , an increase of 35% compared to SEK 101 million last year. And as I said, no adjustments this quarter. We had a very strong cash flow SEK 135 million . And during the quarter, we have decreased the working capital with SEK 33.5 million . And I'm quite impressed with that since we are growing the business. And as I said, we have amortized SEK 75 million on our loan this quarter. Looking at the year-to-date numbers, net revenue amounted to SEK 1.7 billion , an increase of 27%, of which 12% is organic. For the first nine months, all geographical markets have shown growth.
The operational gross margin, 54.3, lower than last year, and mainly due to the same reasons as for the quarter, somewhat more when it comes to the product mix. Operational EBITDA, SEK 363.8 million, an increase of 14%, and the margin is 21.4%. Operating cash flow for the first nine months, SEK 317 million. A positive effect of working capital for the year of SEK 48.8 million due to less inventory and increase of operating liabilities. Investments in tangible and intangible assets, CapEx, amounted to SEK 27.9 million, which is about half of compared to the same period last year and amounts to 1.6% of net sales.
We did communicate that we were expecting lower this year, since we did some heavy investments for our group last year. Last year it was 4.6%. In addition, we have amortized SEK 125.6 million so far this year. Rolling four quarters, the growth story continues, and we're happy to see that, even though we haven't made that much M&A this year, we still continue to grow our business. Looking at our different products and brands, we see a strong increase when it comes to nutraceuticals or supplements, as you also can call it.
A decrease when it comes to topical dermatology, and that's mainly affected by the lower sales when it comes to the veterinary channel, because when it comes to our topical dermatology, the majority of the customers there are in the veterinary channel. But we do expect a bounce back in Q4 already when it comes to this product area. Pharma, also a decline. That's mainly due to two reasons. It's our activities up in Vetio North. The comps were very, very tough comparing last year. The Q3 last year was the strongest quarter for the year when it comes to our pharma business.
As I said, a bit lower when it comes to development projects, and we also had an FDA inspection together with a rebuild of our bottling line that made us not being able to produce for a couple of weeks in Q3. But I'm happy to say that the FDA inspection, first one since 2019, normally you have it around two to three years, but due to COVID, there's been a delay. But we're very happy since we have made lots of changes in our predominantly in when it comes to our manufacturing lines.
We are very happy to see that the team up north had done really, really good preparations for the inspection, and it was a very good result from the inspection. So no major findings at all. Looking at our different brands, NaturVet is really kicking off really strong sales for NaturVet, and that's basically in both channels, both online and pet retail. As you know, we have launched a new product concept called Scoopables. That's been very successful. But I would also like to say that all over the NaturVet line has been very strong in demand and gaining new sales.
ProDen PlaqueOff continues to grow very, very strongly, over 50% growth for ProDen PlaqueOff this quarter and for full year as well. And it's in all geographies, it's in all channels, and it's also due to the new product we have added to the line, soft chews, ProDen PlaqueOff soft chews, that's been doing really, really well in North America. And those are about to be launched in Europe and rest of the world this winter, so looking forward to that. Some of the other brands, Nutravet also increased a lot, our vet specialty brand, dominating in the U.K., but also gaining some new export wins, so really happy to see that. Some of the others have also had...
They have had, even though they've decreased in this pie chart, they have grown their sales. So it's just that the different brands here, as I said, NaturVet and ProDen PlaqueOff has been very strong in the growth. Going through the different regions, starting off with our biggest region, North America, SEK 470 million in sales, a 16% growth, so lower than the other regions, but still very good growth. And as I said, some of our group companies have had extraordinary growth, and looking forward to presenting Q4 for the ones that didn't have that good numbers this year.
So, strong quarter in pet retail and online. Vet, a bit softer, but, collaborations with Patterson and MWI that we have presented, in the first half year, has really starting to show good numbers, and I'm very, very, confident of, of, of those collaborations going forward. But it, it, moves on in a steady pace, and, and, I expect basically quarter by quarter, that those collaborations will, will have a, have a nice increase. Vetri Science, we've done lots of work there, and, and this quarter, I mean, flat, flat in sales, mostly affected by, by some, some, some, let's say, changes like, what we did, in, in adding another line and also coming down to some, some, raw material ingredient challenges, but, but, made lots of progress.
We have a new general manager and the team all around him, they have done excellent, excellent job, and they are eager to show in Q4 that they will be presenting both growth and improved profitability. Vetio North, as I said, declined due to some less development projects and a very strong Q3 last year. But also there, we expect Vetio North to contribute a lot more than this quarter. Pet MD, our online division, really strong. Strong sales continue to grow quarter by quarter between 25%-30%, and that's not only the Pet MD brand that they handle.
They handle also the ProDen PlaqueOff sales on Amazon, where they've done extremely well in getting rid of the so-called rogue sellers or diverters selling online. So that will show a lot more in our top-line sales and also when it comes to profitability. They are also handling the Rx Vitamins sales on Amazon and Chewy, and that has also increased a lot this quarter. ProDen PlaqueOff, as I said, 55.4% growth, amazing, and we do keep on boosting the brand-building activities that we do. And we have had very strong demand for new customers wanting to sell ProDen PlaqueOff. NaturVet, 39% growth, including contract manufacturing.
Really happy that we, we dared to invest in the third production line last year, and now it's really starting to pay off, and it will continue to be utilized more and more going forward. We, we have also made a more structural change. We have moved the Rx Vitamins operations down to Tampa, Florida. All done in October, and up and operational. So has been a big project, of course, moving down all of the inventory, moving down the servers, et cetera, and it's gone really well. We have a strong team planning for this, and the key people from Rx Vitamins will work remote.
Some other operations are moved completely with new staffing down in Tampa. So, I'm happy to say that new CEO is Lynn Bogren, who came on board when we acquired the Vet Buyers Direct concept for subscriptions to the veterinary channel. She will handle both that and Rx Vitamins, and we see lots of synergies between the two operations. And I'm also happy to say that we keep on adding new competencies and skills. So we have gotten Jeff Granger on board as the new NaturVet CEO.
As of now, he goes side by side with Scott Gorman, the Founder of NaturVet that will retire later on. And Jeff Granger comes with tons of experience from big retail, from Petco. He joined us from Petco this year, and he's really digging into lots of new things and operative issues, not issues that we have, but the... we—you can always make improvements. So I'm really happy to have Jeff on board with all of his experience. Looking at Europe, a strong sales quarter, of course, really strong growth there.
A hundred and eleven million in sales and, and, over a hundred percent growth in, growth in sales, so 19% of our total revenue. All channels, performing, mention some, some channels, especially, of course, online sales continue to, to grow for us a lot. We, we do, focus more and more on the online sales when it comes to our dir- direct sales. All European markets, double-digit growth and some exceptional. Spain, plus two hundred and sixty percent. Of course, it's, it's a small market in our group, but re- but really happy to see the, the hard work from the, the Spanish team, that they're really starting to pay off now. And, NaturVet, over a hundred percent growth.
They did have a, let's say, weak comp, but nevertheless, a fantastic sales by the team, and it's all over both the vet channel, of course, where they've always been performing well. But we have also continued to grow our direct-to-consumer sales that we started roughly a year ago or in September 2022, and it's growing month-on-month, and really good results there. And then looking at the exports, starting to improve quarter-by-quarter also when it comes to NaturVet. Lots of interest around the world for the NaturVet brand. Vetio UK, formerly known as CVP, best quarter since they joined in Q4 last year.
And I'm really happy to say that it's a good example of a collaboration within the group. Because of the high demand in Europe, we have utilized Vetio South and will utilize Vetio South in the coming quarter as well, to supply the customers of Vetio UK. And we have also set up a soft chew line in Swedencare Ireland. So, we'll start delivering commercial products from Ireland in Q4, and the collaboration between Vetio UK and Swedencare Ireland is excellent.
The Swedencare Ireland has taken over some machinery from Vetio UK, and also all of the knowledge that Vetio UK has when it comes to the soft chew manufacturing is really, really helping us to kickstart the manufacturing in Ireland. NaturVet by Swedencare, we got the trademark registered or granted for the EU, so we are in the preparation for launching NaturVet all over Europe, basically, next year. And we'll have a sort of kickoff with that when it comes to the biggest pet retail exhibition in the world, Interzoo, in May 2024. But we will probably start a bit earlier on some of the European markets. The rest of the world, basically doubling the sales.
I'm happy to say that it's not only product sales, it's also a development project that Vetio North received from a Chinese customer. First time, as I presented last quarter, we got a signed contract with a Chinese customer, and is really happy to see that that project is developing well. And we do see an increase of geographies contacting us for development projects. So there is a big demand all over the world when it comes to developing RX products for the veterinary sector. ProDen PlaqueOff, strong quarter. Asia, several countries in South America, Australia, and also Mexico.
Really happy to announce that we have finally been able to enter into Mexico. It's a very complicated market when it comes to regulatory for supplements, but now we have a good partner, and really excited to see about what we can do in Mexico with ProDen PlaqueOff. And Nutravet, as I mentioned in the previous slide, starting to be a bit more active when it comes to export. Thailand has been an excellent customer for us this quarter, and Poland is a new market, and really happy to say that a project that has been in the pipeline for a long time with our largest veterinary customer is coming into effect really in Canada in Q4.
So it's a big launch for our, let's say, NaturVet organization that will work with our partner in Canada. ProDen PlaqueOff as an ingredient keeps on growing steadily. Not, let's say, not the biggest numbers in dollars, but still growing quarter by quarter, basically, and we are opening up and planning for new projects in 2024. NaturVet and Rx Vitamins have sales primarily in Asia, and I would say it's Japan and South Korea and Taiwan, primarily. Going forward, more or less the same priorities as we've had for this year. It's growth and profitability and lowering debt level. That's key to us. It's...
We're really happy to see that the markets are bouncing back, and all of the hard work we did in 2022 is really paying off now in 2023, and expect that to continue into 2024. We have a strong pipeline when it comes to partnering with lots of big retailers, big veterinarian companies. So do expect that we continue in that manner going forward. What will help us improving our gross margin is definitely the continued move from external suppliers to internal manufacturing. We have been delayed in some projects, especially when it comes to Soft chews for the North American market, but I have to say that in Q4, we are delivering on many of those switches.
So that will be beneficial to us. Strong product launch pipeline, especially from our Italian company, Innovet, that has a really high scientific level, has had many wins when it comes to presenting new products to the market. And also, there's been several clinical studies with excellent results. And from a more local perspective, the European Dermatology organization had a big meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden, where we presented together with our partner or several, basically, clinical studies with excellent results. And we were up there and presenting some of the products that with a strong interest from the veterinary market.
Keep on working really close to our main customers, solidifying, developing relationships. That's the key for us to be perceived as a very fast-moving and exciting partner to work with. And that's the feedback that we get, that we have lots of customer focus, both from, let's say, the end customers, but also our partners all over the world. That we are very focused on being a partner that you can rely on and a partner that you know that you get high-quality products from, and also that you get the instant feedback and recognition. That's really, really important for us.
And then, of course, M&A. I often get questions about M&A, and that's in our DNA. We have been fairly focused on amortizing our debt level and getting the group together, and that hard work continues going forward. But of course, there are still interesting opportunities for us going forward. So you can also expect that the coming years, we will be a bit more active than we've been in 2023 when it comes to M&A. And also, what I also would like to say is that we've had lots of hard work when it comes to putting together, acting as one when it comes to the North American market.
We have a big project looking over all of the suppliers and trying to gain, let's say, better pricing, better terms from choosing one or a couple important suppliers. So that will definitely have a positive effect on our gross margin and bottom line in 2024. We see lots of opportunities in getting good wins there. That's about it. Sorry, it's already half an hour, but I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Thank you, Håkan. The first question comes from Richard. Please go ahead, Richard.
Right. Good morning, Håkan, thank you for taking my questions. Hopefully you can hear me okay.
Absolutely.
So a few questions, starting off, you know, very impressive 17% organic growth in the quarter, and you have even easier comparables now, and Q4 on the growth side of things. Do you expect to grow above the 17% organically in Q4? What are your sort of expectations heading into next quarter?
I would say I'm happy where we are and have a strong momentum. So, if... I don't want to give a prediction if it's going to be 17 or 20 or 16. I'm happy when we're around this level, but as you said, there are some comps that are a bit lower compared to Q3 last year. So let's see. I think that we have good momentum at least.
All right, great. And on the gross margin side, it remains, you know, a bit pressured. When do you think you can reach the sort of 57%-58% levels you talked about previously, just to get a sense of the gross margin recovery trajectory?
I would say that we're working hard with that, and I hope that we will be there in 2024. I can't say that we will be there in Q1 2024, but definitely we should bounce back to those levels in 2024.
Okay, so perhaps, you know, facing getting there, but not in Q4 or in Q1, but rather, you know, facing for the full year effect?
Yes. Yes.
Is that correct? Perfect. Very clear. You guide for growth and margin bounce back in Vetio North and South in Q4, which you have been, you know, guiding and expecting a recovery there before. Can you talk about visibility there and you know, the actions taken that you feel comfortable with the bounce back in Q4 would be helpful.
Yeah, I would say that in Vetio South, we have done... I mean, basically, the unexpected things that happen has happened a couple of quarters is definitely not there anymore. We have a strong order book and plan for the manufacturing going forward. So I would say both the external and the internal demand is very high. So, and the productivity and the efficiency in the production is a lot more visible than it's been. So I would say that I'm confident on that, but let's—I mean, I will be happy to present it after Q4. So let's see.
But we have a more control of the visibility of the. Then of course, I mean, things can happen, I mean, external factors, but I don't expect that. So we feel confident going into Q4, and October has started well.
Perfect. And a final one on previously this year, you mentioned sort of a cost reduction program or efficiency program. How is that going? How should we think and model about that impact going forward?
Definitely will be impacting in 2024. We are in the final phases for a couple of important areas as it comes to raw materials, packaging, and transport, and those contracts will be for 2024. So, and then of course, we have inventory, but I would say you will definitely see it in 2024, an effect on improved margins on all of those areas.
Very clear. Thank you for taking my questions.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Christian. Please go ahead.
Yes, good morning. I was wondering if you could break down the organic growth of 17%, how much of it was related to price adjustments versus volume growth? And, given the strong sales development in the third quarter, do you see any risk of stocking effect in Q4?
I don't have it really the breakdown, but I can say, for example, our biggest brand, the strongest brand, NaturVet, we did not have any price increase in 2023. So, I would say the price effect is a couple of percentages of those 70%, I would say. And, no, I don't see a big stock build up from our customers. It's been really all over, not the single big orders, I would say. So it's a good result of as we informed you about in early 2023.
We did make some special, let's say, marketing investments when it comes to the displays in some big retailers, and that has really paid off this secondary marketing within the big retailers. We've seen a really good result with that. So I would say that the sales are all over. So no big very exceptional orders from any customers.
Okay, perfect. My second question is regarding the interest-bearing liabilities that you decreased by SEK 75 million in the quarter. Do you plan to step up the amortization pace to SEK 300 million on annual basis from SEK 200 million?
No, I think that we did amortize SEK 75 million, was really due to the strong cash conversion. And I wouldn't say that we plan-
Yes
... plan to amortize SEK 75 million every quarter going forward. No, I wouldn't say that. But definitely, our plan is SEK 50 million, as we have communicated.
Okay, great. Thank you very much.
Thank you. The next question from Adela.
Yes, good morning. I hope you can hear me.
Yeah.
Going back to the gross margin discussion, I understand that it is the development projects that are missing here, I guess, to some extent. Is it just that, the return of that will enable you to get back to higher levels? Or is there something else that you're doing that's going to drive that development? If you could-
No, no, there's several initiatives. As price, definitely, we will be increasing price in 2024. We will also, due to this big project we have in North America, be able to get better raw material and packaging cost and transport. That will definitely have an effect as well, and also from a productivity space. I mean, we have been. As I said, we have and will in Q4 utilize Vetio South for some European customers. That is, of course, not the ideal situation for supplying the European market, both from a cost perspective, but also from a timing and a sustainability perspective.
We, of course, want to manufacture the products where we are. And we are ramping up in UK and also in Ireland. That's. And of course, when ramping up, the productivity is a bit less where we want to be, we want to have it. So I would say that there are many factors that will help us get back to the 57%-58% gross margin in 2024. So all combined will help us do that.
Okay, excellent. That makes sense. And then also on cash flows, and the expectation that it will not be as strong in Q4, could you please just give some more color on why that is? Is there a seasonality aspect that we should keep in mind or anything else?
No, it was just that it was a combination of initiatives in lowering our inventory levels, pushing payments from getting paid by customers, and then perhaps pushing some... We have had a history, perhaps being a bit nice to our suppliers, paying a bit earlier than needed or stuff like that. So I would say that it was a combination, but I mean, I don't expect us to have, I mean, any worse cash build-up than we had in Q1 and Q2. But Q3 has been exceptional. So I just want to say that don't expect that for every quarter going forward.
We have perhaps been, in some cases, since we have a high demand, in some cases, we perhaps will need to build up a bit more when it comes to inventory levels to be able to supply the demand from the market. So it's, I would say, give and take, but Q3 was exceptional, but I still think we will have a very nice cash conversion and cash generating activities going forward, as we have had.
Yeah. That makes total sense. Thank you. And I guess, follow up on that, if we're able to continue to bring down the levels even further, then should we think that you're a lot more inclined to do further M&A at this point, or is the focus still organic growth and integration?
Yeah. I mean, still focused in terms of integration and organic growth, but as I said, we have done lots of successful M&A going forward, and the market is there, and we get lots of contact, and let's say companies and people wanting to join Swedencare. So of course, we are in a good position, and when the right target comes along, we will probably won't hesitate on acting on that.
But, let's say we have communicated that the big acquisitions we made with NaturVet and with Innovet, that was really, let's say, very important building blocks for our group, and then we have just added some smaller projects. I expect us to be a bit more active than we have been, but the majority of our growth should definitely come from organic.
All right. And in that case, then what is it that... What would constitute the right target? Are you looking to expand your production capabilities even further, geographic expansion, maybe some more color?
Expansion, definitely.
Yeah.
There are some geographies that we are interested in, and a bit difficult to find targets, but I would say there are some key markets in Europe where we wouldn't mind finding an acquisition target. For example, Germany is a market where we are underrepresented. Looking at Asia is of interest, but not that easy to find good targets. But Asia is an important market for us, and looking for the prospects going forward, it's a very interesting area. So either we find a target, or we will probably be setting up some sort of activities in Asia.
But if we are starting from scratch, then it's most likely will be more of a, let's say, sales support office in for the Asian markets. But let's see. And also, I mean, it could be, as you said, some interesting companies that have something that we don't have in the group. Even though we have a very wide range of products right now, there are still some areas where we could complement our offerings. So it's all, it's really dependent on the company's, I would say, that the company would fit into our group. And as you know, we are very entrepreneurial.
We are focused on growth companies that have been able to grow together with the profitability. So if those factors are fulfilled, then we always look at the offer presented to us. But let's see. We will... And we continue to have the dialogues, but as of now, we are definitely focused on continuing paying down the debt level. We think that is good way of using our cash at the moment, definitely.
Yeah, for sure. If you were to expand in, let's say, Europe or Asia, would that result in a reduction of your exposure in North America, or is the strategy going forward to keep the, I guess, over-representation in North America?
Yeah, we are not worried about that at all. We do think that the U.S. market, the North American market, is the most interesting market in the world, and with still a lot of opportunities for us. So it wouldn't be to de-leverage the, let's say, U.S. market or anything like that. But it would be more like that. Of course, we would like to have more presence in markets that we deem to be interesting, and then Germany is one of those.
Excellent. Thank you so much for your detailed color.
Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Johan. Please go ahead. You need to unmute you.
I can't hear anything.
No.
Sorry. Yeah, it's still struggling. Yeah, good morning, Håkan. Thank you for taking my question.
Mm.
You mentioned higher input prices as a factor for the lower gross margin, which I would assume also affects your competitors. Have you seen price increases from competitors already in Q3?
No, I wouldn't say that much price increase is
In Q3
... Q3. No, no, I wouldn't say that. And what I do expect, not only because of our M&A initiative in putting our buy-ins together as a group, I would say that we are expecting some. Due to market conditions, we are expecting some decrease in raw material costings in 2024. The prediction is there already for that. So that could be one reason why people haven't adjusted the prices out to their customers. But we do see opportunities for us. We do. Our main, let's say, main competitors, looking at branded products, I do feel that we are in a very good position price-wise out to the market.
So, we are not afraid of some slight price adjustments for our own part.
Okay, very clear. Thank you. And of course, you mentioned mix effect from a higher share of contract manufacturing as to why the EBITDA margins and expand while the gross margin fell year-over-year. Are there any additional drivers that could help explain the sort of spread between the two factors? And what should we, or what can we extrapolate from this going forward?
Yeah, but of course, the contract manufacturing has a lower gross margin. But, as you know, then we don't have any, basically, SG&A costs. So, that will definitely help the bottom line when we grow the contract manufacturing part of the business. So, we're not that worried about the gross margin. It will improve, but I mean, we're not worried having contract manufacturing at lower gross margin because we see that it, the bottom line margin, we get good input there from the contract manufacturing business. So, yeah, I would say that you can probably expect that.
We see a strong demand when it comes to contract manufacturing. But I wouldn't say that it will grow faster than our branded products. So I think it will be in line with branded and contract manufacturing will probably grow hand-in-hand, basically, when it comes to growth levels.
Okay, makes sense.
Yeah.
The final one here on the gross margin.
Yeah.
Have you conducted any sort of campaign activities or lowered prices on certain product categories, which could help explain the spread between sales growth and the gross margins?
Yeah. I mean, we have been active in growing sales, but how much that affect? I think it's more due to some product mix and some key components in the... That has been a bit higher, but that we are finally seeing an improvement when it comes to the cost for those. So I wouldn't say it's any major campaigns, but yeah, we've been active in getting products out there, so and we will continue to do that.
And sure for you. Okay, makes sense. And the final one from me. You've reached your 2023 target of lowering your gearing to below 3x net debt to EBITDA. But do you plan to continue to pay down debt at roughly the same pace that you have been doing for the year? I think that Jenny stated that you had a goal of paying down debt by SEK 200 million per year. Is that still standing?
Yes, yes. We will continue to do that going forward. We see good... I mean, it's a good way to use the cash to deleverage, and then we'll see. When and if we will do any M&A, it will be up to the board and us to discuss how we will best finance that. But we will definitely.
Yeah, sure.
When we are not active in M&A, definitely, we will definitely use funds to pay back the loans. Definitely.
Just an additional one for me as well. But do you mind adding some color on what you're seeing in the veterinary sales channel?
Yeah. No, as I said, a bit softer, but it's been more soft when it comes to liquids, the medicated dermatology products, and comparing to supplements. But we do see a pretty stable demand going forward. So I do expect that the veterinary side will bounce back, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see some quarters going forward that we will have a very good growth in that channel as well. So it's nothing, let's say, spectacular. It's been some...
There, there's been some transactions, as you know, a couple of big M&A activities, and some of those have probably affected us also a bit with the companies wanting to be a bit cautious when it comes to building up inventory. And, so I wouldn't say that the vet market has dropped significantly when it comes to sales to pet owners, but it's just been a bit weaker, comparing to the other channels.
Thank you so much.
Thank you. We have one last question from Otto around scalability. How much can you grow in manufacturing before you need to invest in more capacity?
We can definitely grow a lot more going forward, but we can also increase capacity with not so heavy investments going forward. We have a good setup all over our different facilities, so there's more room to expand, as we did now for Vetri South. That will come into effect in Q4 that we installed a second soft-chew line there. So I would say that we don't see any major investments in the near future due to capacity problems. We still have a lot more to grow from.
Great! That concludes our Q&A session.
Thank you.
Any closing comments, Håkan?
No, just thank you so much for the interest, and I would like to end off by saying that we do have a unique and fantastic organization, and there's been... The efforts from all the organization has been fantastic, and I'm happy to say that there are many exciting things going forward, and we have a good feeling going forward.
Okay. Thank you, all.