Hello and welcome to the Systemair Interim Report Q1 2022/2023 conference call. My name is Lauren, and I will be coordinating your call today. There'll be an opportunity for questions at the end of the presentation. If you would like to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad. I will now hand you over to your host, Anders Ulff, CFO to begin. Anders, please go ahead.
Thank you very much. Good morning, everyone, or good lunch to everyone. We're sitting here in lovely Skinnskatteberg, the day of our annual general meeting here today at 3:00 P.M. We hope you can hear us well and clear. You find a presentation on our investor relations homepage on the quarterly report. I will start with handing over to Roland then for the presentation. Let's go ahead.
Hello, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Roland Kasper, and I'm very happy to be able to present our quarter one report 2022-2023 to you. Going directly into the presentation on slide number 1. A short recap of Systemair. Systemair's company established here in Skinnskatteberg at our headquarters in 1974. Our last fiscal year, we had annual sales of EUR 960 million. We are listed on the Nasdaq Nordic Stock Exchange since October 2007. Currently, we have our own sales companies in 52 countries. We have our production facilities in 21 countries, and we employ 6,800 people in the Systemair Group. Our last fiscal year, we exported to 135 countries all over the world. With that, switching over to the next page number 3 and counting.
Here, we're running directly into our quarter one report. In the quarter one for our year 2022, 2023, our sales amounted to SEK 2.84 billion, compared to SEK 2.29 billion the same period the year before. That amounts to a growth of 24.4%, whereof organic 14.3%. On the right side of that slide 3, you can see the organic growth development growing as well for the past years. By that, I'm changing over to slide 4 to break down the growth, to make the growth analyzed for our first quarter. For the organic part, all regions showed good organic growth in the first quarter. By acquisitions, it's mainly an impact from the acquisition of Sacci Coprim in Italy.
By a strength of currency, the euro versus the dollar and the Canadian dollar is another 5%. In total, organic 14.3%, acquisitions 5.1%, currency 5%, in total 24.4% growth in the quarter. Next slide number five. Our operating profit in quarter one. The gross margin for the group decreased slightly to 34.6% against 34.8% the quarter before, the year before. Sales and admin expenses for the quarter increased by 15.4% for comparable units. By that, the operating margin increased to 9.5% compared to 9.2%. The operating profit for the first quarter thereby increased to SEK 269.6 million, compared to SEK 209.6 million.
As a recap, our quarter 1 in 2021-22 was SEK 210 million at 9.2%, and now in quarter 1, 2022-23, SEK 270 million and 9.5%. Next slide number 6. The profit after tax in first quarter. Our net financial items for the first quarter amounted to -SEK 3.8 million. The currency effects on long-term receivables, loans, and bank balances amounted to a net of SEK 7.5 million. The interest expense for the quarter amounted to SEK 10.6 million. Altogether, the profit after tax by that amounts to SEK 217 million compared to SEK 157 million in the quarter the year before. Switching to slide number 7, cash flow analysis for the first quarter.
Our cash flow from the operating activities in the first quarter this year amounted to SEK 309 million compared to SEK 249 million the year before. The change in working capital, though, amounted to -SEK 373.8 million, which is mainly due to increased inventories, an increase of SEK 260 million and trade receivables increase. The net investment, excluding acquisitions, amounted to SEK 87.7 million, which primarily is machine investments, the final steps in Czech Republic, in Sweden, and in Denmark. Thereof, the amount in free cash flow amounts to -SEK 152.5 million, which brings our net debt in total to SEK 2.6 billion compared to SEK 1.5 billion the same period the year before. Switching to slide number 8.
Looking at the markets and overall in this pie chart given on this slide number 8, as you can see, starting from the left side, Eastern Europe and the CIS countries are decreasing from 15%-13%, mainly because of our stop of deliveries to Russia. North America is increasing from 11%-12%. Western Europe is increasing from 44%-46%, and the Nordic region slightly decreased to 17% from 18%. Other markets, so-called, are stable at 12% as the market share of the total. By that, I would like to go a little bit more into details on the different markets, starting with Nordics with the next slide number 9. Sales in the Nordic region increased by 20.9% during the first quarter compared to the same period the year before.
Adjusted for effect of foreign exchange and acquisitions, sales increased by 16.8%. Here it is very good to see that all markets show good growth during this quarter. Again, growth 20.9%, whereof organic 16.8. Next slide number 10. Western Europe. Sales in the Western European market increased during the quarter by 28.1% compared to the corresponding period last year. Here, adjusted for foreign exchange effects and acquisitions, sales increased by 13.3%. Also here, all markets in the region show good growth in the quarter, mainly driven by Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, and Germany. Again, growth 28.1%, whereof organic 13.3%. Next slide number 11. Eastern Europe and CIS.
Sales in Eastern Europe and the CIS increased by 9.7% during the quarter. Adjusted for foreign exchange effects and acquisitions, sales still increased by 2%. Of course, sales in Russia declined sharply during the quarter because of deliveries to Russia being stopped. Major markets that show good growth in the region were Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia. Growth 9.7%, organic 2%. Next slide number 12. North America. Sales in North America increased by 28% during the quarter. Adjusted here for foreign exchange effects and acquisitions, sales increased by 10.1%. Here in particular, the Canadian, but of course also the American market showed good growth in the quarter. Again, growth 28%, organic 10.1%. Switching to slide number 13. Middle East, Asia, Australia and Africa.
Sales in this region increased by 31.3% compared with the same period last year. Here, adjusted for currency effects and acquisitions, actually the sales increased by 34.1%. Especially India, Morocco, and Australia showed good growth during the period, while sales in Turkey decreased due to the currency effect in Swedish kronor. Growth 31.3%, whereof organic 34.1%. Switching to slide number 14. Some information. Systemair partners with Mar del Sur in Chile. Systemair signed an agreement in the quarter with Mar del Sur to strengthen the partnership and the collaboration between the companies. By this, Mar del Sur now has the exclusive right to distribute Systemair products in Chile, replacing the local Systemair sales company.
Mar del Sur, which is established in 1974, imports and markets quality products with focus on HVAC and providing excellent after-sales service. This is also following the steps of Systemair, as we also have withdrawn from the Brazilian market and now have an exclusive partner for their market in Chile. Next slide number 15. I'm very happy also here that we had the opportunity in the quarter to attend one of the exhibitions that have been postponed several times due to the pandemic for the last two years. Systemair presented all the complete HVAC solutions and portfolio at the Mostra Convegno in Italy in Milan. After four years of absence, it felt extra special to meet with industry peers, partners, and customers in person.
We showcased all our efficient and green products, which is in line with the event's push for HVAC technologies that are increasingly respectful of the environment. Next slide number 16. As information that Italian authorities have approved Systemair acquisition of Sacci Coprim S.p.A. As announced on the seventh of April in 2022, the agreement to acquire all shares in Italian company Sacci Coprim, was done. The purchase was now meanwhile approved by the Italian authorities, and the closing up took place in June 2022. To remind you, Sacci Coprim is an international supplier with extensive experience in air filtration and in air distribution. The company produces highly efficient air filters of HEPA and ULPA class. Also in Sondrio, in the Valtellina valley, the company manufactures products for air distribution.
The company's consolidated sales in 2021 amounted to approximately EUR 36 million with an EBITDA result of EUR 4 million. The company today employs around 200 employees. By that, I'm switching to the last slide, say thank you for listening to our quarter one report and open up the lines for questions. Thank you very much.
Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad. If you change your mind, please press star followed by two. When preparing to ask your question, please ensure that your phone is unmuted locally. Our first question comes from Carl Ragnestad from Nordea. Carl, please go ahead.
Hi, it's Carl here from Nordea. A few questions from my side. Firstly, you delivered a quite nice organic growth in the Nordics, surprisingly strong 17%. Are there any larger projects you have delivered in the quarter which could have driven the high growth? Especially, I think it's especially strong given the component shortages you have had in that region. Could you elaborate a bit on what's behind the growth? Also, have you seen an easing component shortage situation in the Nordics? Thanks.
Hello, Carl. In general, there are no major, I would say, big projects that we have seen in the quarter. It is, I would say, more that some of the product groups that have been on a shortage for the last 6-9 months, we could deliver throughout this period, especially when it comes to residential projects. In general, the component issue or the component shortage that we see all over the world and everyone's talking about, I would not say. Yeah, it's a little bit easier, a little bit better, but not good. We still have a lot of restraints, and it just varies if it's motors, if it's processors, if it's cable, it varies a little bit. It's becoming a little bit easier but not good.
That's global or is it just for Nordics?
No, that's rather global.
Very good. Also raw material headwinds, you've had headwind. Could you perhaps quantify the impact on the EBIT margin? Or is it fair to assume that the slight gross margin drop is an indication of the magnitude of the raw materials headwinds you had in the quarter?
The drop in the gross margin was 0.2%, Carl. It's not because of that. I would rather say that as you see the ease, or if you can call it some of the easier possibilities to get the raw materials or components, does nevertheless mean that you have to be rather dynamic in the planning of the production and the supplies to our customers. That is rather a mix just now. It is not because of a special ingredients or components or raw material that is affecting this.
I think also our price increases are catching up now also.
Yes.
They are beginning to have a full effect.
Will you be fully compensated as of Q2 or?
No, no. No, we will continue with price increases also. We have announced that from the first of September, the next one.
Yeah. We still have a company.
Can we take some of it? I'm sorry.
Sorry, Carl. We still of course see that some components are still going up, of course. Some raw materials are actually flattening out or even decreasing. Still, for example, energy costs are going up quite heavily in several places where we have manufacturing, which of course has an impact and needs to be compensated for.
Okay, the price increases as of first of September or September at least will compensate for energy costs as well?
Yeah. As it looks today, but we need to look how the development will be for the next couple of months. As we were reading in every newspaper or any media you get today, it's a little bit unstable outlook, how this will establish itself in mid-Europe, Germany and other countries. How will it really look like? It's not really fair to say that we understand that today.
Also looking at the number of employees or changes in the number of employees, which is stated in the report, we can see that it's quite big changes in America and also the South African business. Are you sort of cutting back the South African business a bit given that it's been less profitable for a while? Or how should we interpret those numbers?
I think, regarding specifically South Africa, I see that the reason is that they've been working on a major delivery there on a data center project. It builds it up more than something else.
That's been temporary workforce.
On the America side, it has been cutting down on staff, rearranging a bit, also due to the problems to meet up and deliver due to component shortages.
As you remember, Carl, we have been talking about that we have been sending some of the production from Germany to our plant in Slovenia, which has now finally been closed and is done. Of course, we have rearranging staff also.
Okay. Very good. The final one from my side. You've had or you have residential exposure in your U.S. business. Given the weakening consumer confidence, have you seen a more muted demand from the resi side in U.S.?
Clear answer, no, not at all.
Okay. That's clear. Thank you.
Just to give you some other.
Yeah.
Now, just to say this, what we still see is that in U.S. especially, they are changing the building codes starting in California, in Texas, and in Arizona, and that will most probably also now play over to other states in the U.S. This new building code is actually demanding balanced ventilation in the residential premises, which has not been before. The market has an underlying growth driven by legislation.
Okay, that's good. Thank you.
Thank you, Carl.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Hjalmar Jernström from Erik Penser. Hjalmar, please go ahead.
Yes. Hi. Thanks for taking my question. You mentioned in the report that the price versus price increase versus volume contribution. I was wondering if you could provide some details on the specific situations in the Nordics and Western Europe in terms of that, please.
You mean the share of the organic growth that comes from price increases and what comes from organic growth or volume?
Yeah, yeah, that's correct.
Oh, okay.
The organic growth, as you could see in the report, has been, today, at 14.3%. We would see today that of this organic growth, it's round about 5% is pure organic, and the rest would be driven by price increases.
All right. Thank you. I was wondering, exiting the quarter, do you see any trends? Could you provide some flavor on the commercial versus residential trends? Anything you see leaving the quarter, please?
It's very hard to see a specific residential versus commercial. We see more renovation versus new builds, where renovation is increasing stronger. The residential part has been increasing for the last two, three years, and I would say driven by the energy shortage and discussion that you have actually in the news all over Europe today. I would see that continuing.
All right. Thank you. Finally, one long-term question. You mentioned that 42% of your revenue to your estimate then is taxonomy eligible. Could you just remind us again on your expectations on the taxonomy and the pace that you expect this to materialize looking forward, please?
I would say to that, we would like to wait to comment on that until a little bit further on here, because it's still quite fluid material, you know, for many companies. We're still discussing about classification of certain products really due to, I mean, what kind of energy classes they belong to and so on. I would like us to come back to that a little bit further on the coming reports really, because this is the work we need to spend more time during the fall.
All right. Yep. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you, Hjalmar Jernström.
Thank you. As a reminder to ask any further questions, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypads. Our next question comes from Henrik Alveskog from Redeye. Henrik, please go ahead.
Yes, hello. You covered almost everything now, but could you maybe describe what the sales numbers in Russia? I guess you still had some business there during the quarter, and if you could tell us, is it now down on a very extremely modest level? Just to give us an idea of how
Hello, Henrik.
Yes.
I understand. Yes, Henrik, it is decreasing steadily, yes, of course, quite heavily also. That's also mentioned shortly in the report. After the quarter report, we have also been closing down sales offices, and we have withdrawn from the big office in Moscow, and relocated people. A lot of people have already been leaving us, so it's-
Mm.
On the down pressure to say.
Currently it's extremely modest?
Yes. Correct.
Just also, regarding potentially underperforming units, if you have identified any new ones that you will target particularly?
I would say on the contrary, I mean, we have talked about our air conditioning segment for quite a long time, and it's really. We're doing really good business in that segment for the moment. Still we have a lot of things we would like to accomplish with the America business. But I mean, I guess the list is more or less the same as before. As we have seen then, in the last quarters also, I mean, we are bit by bit closing down the operations in South America, closing down traders now. We have also transferred the business in Chile, as Roland mentioned here in this presentation.
Also as mentioned from one of colleagues before, I mean, we have transferred now according to plan the operations that we wanted to do up until this point from America to Slovenia. We're following those plans. As Anders mentioned here, what we see in the business development, for example, for the French and Italian entity is really, really nice this quarter, actually, it's really profitable.
Regarding the latest acquisitions, is there potentially any, well, integration restructuring costs that could arise?
The latest acquisition, as we talked about, we start with Tecnair. Tecnair, as already explained when we acquired them, day one, we started to move them into our premises in Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto, Italy. That has been. It was actually concluded within two and a half weeks. We're really happy about the integration. Works really well, and it's outperforming its year before's figures and results. So this is very, very positive for us. When it comes to the strategic business operation, it's rather the opposite in that part. They're on a very good positive development, and we are looking how we can expand the capacity actually, because, as you can understand, the filtration business of course within ventilation is really interesting these days, especially.
Mm.
Of course also following the pandemic. It's rather the opposite. We need to find more capacity.
Okay, great. That's all for me. Thanks.
Thank you, Henrik.
Thank you. We currently have no further questions, so I'll now hand you back over to the Systemair management team for closing remarks.
Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, it was a pleasure to hosting you during our quarter one report. Thank you very much.
Yeah, thank you very much. You're all, of course, very welcome to contact either me or Roland if you have any further questions. Otherwise, we see you for our Q2 presentation then in seventh of December, I guess it is.
Yes. Thank you for calling in.
Thank you very much. You all take care. Bye-bye.
This concludes today's call. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.