Good morning. My name is Sarah, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Savaria Corporation's Q4 2023 conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star one and one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one and one again. This call may contain forward-looking statements which are subject to the disclosure statement contained in Savaria's most recent press release issued on March 6, 2024, with respect to its Q4 2023 results. Thank you. Mr. Bourassa, you may begin your conference.
Thank you, Sarah. It's Marcel. It's a pleasure, okay, to be with you, my analysts and my guys, okay, Steve, Sébastien, and Nicolas, who will speak after me, okay? It was a good quarter, okay, a great year, but I think we are in a very good mood, okay, to have this year and next year, okay. We have some game changer, okay, that you will see, okay. Our objective of 2025, that I can speak, okay. Often the people say to me, okay, what I can speak and what I cannot speak, okay? But I think I can say, okay, that in 2025, okay, we have an objective, okay, of CAD 1 billion of sales, with 20% EBITDA.
And I tell you, okay, and you can meet the max you are better than me to reach, okay, the CAD 1 billion sales, okay? What we'll do at, okay, it's not even so difficult. For sure, nothing is easy, okay? We are global, okay, across the globe, okay? So we have Europe, that actually we have to say that is a little bit weak, okay, but North America is very strong, okay? So I can see right now that, at the end of 2024, okay, we just make our forecast for 2025 because that would take some time to be at 2025, but we have a very strong, okay, North America, strong of 2024, okay? And we can see that, we at the end of the 2023, we're in EBITDA at 15.5%, and we go to 20%, okay?
I can look, okay, with our forecast, okay, that we should be roughly, maybe, half of that, okay, in 2024, and the other half of that, okay, in 2025. So I am very optimistic about the number that we put for 2025. And, again, okay, it would be a pleasure for me, okay, to you have some questions for me, or you have my people, okay, who will make a little presentation. And after that, we are open, okay, to answer at our best knowledge, okay, what we do. And you see, okay, some big costs, okay, of consultation, okay? Just that, I signed that, okay, and I was very happy to sign that, okay, because we have to be particular, okay, to be ready for the after CAD 1 billion, after 2025.
So what happened the following week following that week, but years, okay? So with this study that we make with this international company, we'll be better, and Sébastien will speak about, okay, what we are doing in that. We'll be better, okay, from purchasing to selling to a lot of things. So I see the future very good. For sure, it's a big step to be there, but we will be there. We will be there, okay, at the end of 2025. And I am very happy that we will have an open door, okay, for our people, okay, in April. So they will just see, okay, where we are right now.
I will present you my new talent that we have, okay, and you will see that we have very good talent, okay, that we will present to you, and you will believe, okay, because it's always people, people, and people. So you will believe more and more and more about our objective of 2024 and 2025, okay, for the end of 2025. So, on that, okay, it's a pleasure to have you, okay? And I was reading everybody who writes on Savaria Q4 and for the year. And thank you very much, okay, what you say. You're all, okay, very kind, okay, and you understand quite well Savaria. For sure, now, okay, with this consultant, okay, and this big bump, okay, for the end of 2025, okay. I just want to just Investor Day , okay?
You will see exactly what we have done, okay, at the back of the deck, okay? And you will see, hey, that's, they are, I believe, they are at 20% and CAD 1 billion, okay? So, I will pass the line to Steve, our CFO. And thank you very much, everybody, for being there today. If you have some question, okay, don't forget to call me or I will be on the line during the call. So, Steve, for you.
Thank you, Marcel. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for being on the call today. I'm going to begin with some remarks regarding our Q4 2023 consolidated financial metrics. For the quarter, we generated revenue of CAD 216.8 million, an increase of CAD 4.7 million or 2.2% versus last year. This was mainly driven by organic growth of 6.2% coming from our accessibility segment. We also experienced foreign exchange tailwinds of 2.3%. This was partially offset by the divestiture of the vehicle division in Norway earlier this year. We delivered a strong gross profit and gross margin at CAD 74.3 million and 34.3%, respectively, compared to CAD 66.2 million and 31.2% for last year. The increase in gross profit of CAD 8.1 million is explained by better gross margins, additional revenue, and favorable foreign exchange rates.
The increase in gross margin was mainly attributable to greater performance from all segments due to better cost absorption, favorable product mix, and improved pricing. We also incurred CAD 2 million in strategic initiative expenses in the quarter. For the year, these costs amounted to CAD 3.1 million and have been carved out of adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin finished at CAD 35.1 million and 16.2%, respectively, compared to CAD 33.3 million and 15.7% last year. The increased profitability is mainly explained by the increased gross margins, somewhat offset by higher selling and admin expenses. On December 22, 2023, Savaria signed a sale and purchase agreement with Driverge Canada to sell our Van-Action and Freedom Motors divisions. The transaction closed on February 1st of this year, 2024. Accordingly, at December 31st of last year, these assets and liabilities of those businesses were recorded as held for sale.
Now I'm going to provide some commentary on our segmented results. Revenue from our Accessibility segment was CAD 173.7 million, an increase of CAD 7.2 million or 4.3% compared to last year. It was driven by organic growth of 9.5% coming from strong demand in the residential and commercial sectors in North America and Europe, price increases, and cross-selling synergies. We also experienced foreign exchange tailwinds of 2.8%. And this was partially offset by the divestiture of Norway business, as previously mentioned. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin stood at CAD 28.7 million and 16.5%, respectively, compared to CAD 27 million and 16.2% last year. The increased profitability was mainly due to better cost absorption as well as improved pricing. Looking at Patient Care, revenue from this segment was CAD 43.2 million for the quarter, a decrease of 2.5 million or 5.4% compared to last year.
While our backlog remains very healthy, revenue decreased due to reduced year-end spending from institutional customers, product mix, and to a certain extent, large extra- large orders delivered last year, not repeating this year. As a reminder to our investors, our Patient Care business is driven in large part by project-based sales, which can be lumpy from time to time. For the quarter, foreign exchange provided a 0.5% tailwind for the Patient Care segment. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin stood at CAD 7.9 million and 18.3%, respectively, compared to CAD 7 million and 15.3% last year.
The increase in both metrics was mainly due to improved gross margins, explained by the product mix and pricing initiatives. Looking again at a consolidated basis, net finance costs were CAD 4.8 million compared to CAD 6.2 million last year. Interest on long-term debt decreased by CAD 0.4 million due to the reduced balance of debt.
We also experienced a decrease in net finance costs due to foreign currency gain of CAD 1 million compared to a loss of CAD 0.5 million last year. We also incurred a loss on net investment hedges of CAD 0.8 million in the quarter. Net earnings were CAD 11 million or CAD 0.16 per diluted share for the quarter compared to CAD 11.3 million or CAD 0.18 per diluted share last year. Adjusted net earnings were CAD 12.8 million or CAD 0.19 per diluted share compared to CAD 12.6 million or CAD 0.19 per diluted share last year. The decrease in net earnings was mainly due to higher income tax expenses, partially offset by lower finance by lower net finance costs in the quarter. The slight decrease in net earnings per share is due to the increased number of shares. Now turning to capital resources and liquidity.
For the quarter, cash flows related to operating activities before net changes in non-cash operating items reached CAD 30.7 million, which is essentially the same as last year. Net changes in non-cash operating items increased liquidity by CAD 6.4 million compared to CAD 13.2 million a year earlier, mainly due to increased receivables. As a result, cash generated from operating activities in Q4 stood at CAD 37.1 million compared to CAD 43.9 million last year. Cash used in investing activities was CAD 5 million for Q4 compared to CAD 7.6 million last year.
We dispersed CAD 5.1 million for fixed and tangible assets in Q4 2023 compared to CAD 7.6 million in 2022. Cash used in financing activities was CAD 21.1 million for Q4 compared to CAD 35.9 million last year. The variation is mainly explained by a reimbursement on the revolving facility of 2.6 million this year compared to CAD 20.2 million a year earlier.
As noted, our cash balance grew by CAD 10 million in the quarter versus last year. As of December 31, 2023, we were having a net debt position of CAD 269.9 million. The ratio of net debt to Adjusted EBITDA stood at 2.07 in comparison to 3.07 at the end of last year. Savaria has funds of approximately CAD 223.3 million to support working capital investments and growth opportunities. Looking forward, Savaria's future prospects are promising, driven by strong market demand, the progress of Savaria One, and potential tuck-in acquisition opportunities that will enhance our market position. From a financial standpoint, we anticipate average costs of approximately CAD 5 million per quarter through fiscal 2024 and CAD 2 million per quarter for the first half of 2025 related to Savaria One. We may see additional fees depending on the success of the program.
We remain confident that the benefits of this program will increase as the year progresses, leading to long-term growth in both top-line and bottom-line performance. In terms of tuck-ins, these acquisitions would not only align strategically and expand our market opportunities but also help to offset some of the CAD 50 million of annualized revenue loss resulting from the divestiture of Van-Action, Freedom, and the Norwegian vehicle adaptation businesses. Overall, we have full confidence in our ability to achieve our targets of approximately CAD 1 billion in revenue and an approximate 20% adjusted EBITDA margin in 2025. We look forward to sharing more detailed information about our initiatives at our upcoming Investor Day in April. With that, this completes my prepared remarks. I'm going to turn the call over to Sébastien.
Okay. Thank you, Steve. So a few comments on my side concerning the, mostly the operation and the Savaria One. So basically, I'm quite happy with the growth in 2023 in North America of, like, 13.6%, which was greatly supported by Vancouver and Toronto factories. So thank you to both factories. And what's important is we remain a very healthy backlog for our elevator division. So that keeps some fuel for the next few quarters. Finally, we have also some improvement in the inventory management. So I think it shows at least we are trending in the right direction. So I think that that's a start. And it's also part of this Savaria One to improve our working capital. In Mexico, we now have 70 employees. We have some weekly truck coming to our factory in Toronto, starting some shipment to our factory in Vancouver.
We now export some finished product in the U.S., some porch lift, and started some home elevator. So I think that will be a start to, hopefully, some new market or some customer. We sold our Canadian car division, as you saw, the division in Toronto, Montreal. What was important for us is to find a good buyer. And I think with the company we found in the U.S., at Driverge, it will be better for employees to have a company that can help to develop a bit the business. So quite happy with the transition. Nicolas, we'll talk a bit later about the patient care, which was a disappointing Q4, to be transparent, and a modest growth in 2023. But what's important to not forget is, a few years ago, we were a company of 10% of EBITDA in patient care, and it's now 18%.
So when we talk about 20% for the Savaria, you see the patient care is very close to it. And I'm pretty sure with the Savaria One and the work that the team of Les and Pat are doing, we'll be able to achieve. Savaria One, so I would say it's really underway. We have strong participation from our employees. They are super motivated to participate in it. And it's even starting to be part of our DNA. So quite happy with that. I would say we have found some very strong pillars on the procurement, on production, selling opportunity, pricing that will help us to achieve 20% by 2025.
And the most important is we have a strong foundation for the after CAD 1 billion. I will not give a guidance today on the after CAD 1 billion, but at least, okay, we were very decentralized and for many years.
So for us, it was important to think more about the one company, one Savaria, one way of training. So this is really what we're currently doing. And I'm pretty confident that in the next few quarters, you will see a good improvement step by step towards your goal of 20%. And also, part of this Savaria One, there's a lot of training happening for employees just to make sure we think as one company. So I will strongly invite you to register for Investor Day on April 9th because we'll have a chance to talk more in detail of this Savaria One program. And also, if you register, you will have the chance to visit our factory in Brampton, where you can really see that it's a factory under transformation with new layout, new way to manage the company, more digital board.
So I think it will be a good example of where we are. So, Nicolas, do you want to talk a bit more about Patient Care?
Sure. Our Patient Care segment delivered a record year in 2023, achieving CAD 183 million in sales and EBITDA margins of 18% for the full year. Our operational and sales leaders within Span, Handicare, and Silvalea have really come together. 2023 results are a testament of their efforts to integrate and manage these businesses as one Savaria Patient Care Group. Turning to Q4, our sales in the quarter were weaker than anticipated due to a number of factors, primarily that we had some large projects in Q4 2022 that didn't repeat this year, as well as various project delays that pushed some work into Q1. However, our order intake remained strong in the quarter, and our backlog exiting the year was at a record level, which bodes well for 2024. On the margin front, despite the lower sales in Q4, we maintained a relatively high EBITDA margin of 18.3%.
The margin improvement is mainly attributable to the following. First, we had a favorable product mix in the quarter with good mattress volumes, strong year-end sling spending, and high-margin contracts within Handicare's Canadian business. Second, we continue to focus on selling the entire room. We make better margins when we can bundle our sales, and we had a good success selling packages in the quarter, namely bed packages to the VA. Third, pricing improvements in 2023 are having a positive effect, in particular with respect to beds, where we've optimized pricing to preserve minimum margins and gone away from the low-end market to focus on better and best category products. Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the excellent job by our operations teams in improving production efficiencies within our factories and maintaining a diligent control over costs.
To conclude, we were a bit cautious throughout the year and tempered expectations with respect to the significant margin improvement we had been observing within patient care. However, now that we can take a step back and review the full year's performance, we are confident that we have the right team in place and the winning formula for sustained success. We also know that we need to prioritize sales growth, and this will be a key focus for management in 2024. With that, I'll turn the call back over to you, Marcel.
Thank you very much, gentlemen. And thank you to be very enthusiastic about our future. I think we are a little bit conservative, but it's looking very good. So, Sarah, I'll transfer to you to if we have some call that we can answer.
Thank you. As a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, you'll need to press star one and one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. And so we'll draw your question. Please press star one and one again. Thank you. We'll now take the first question. This is from the line of Derek Lessard from TD Cowen. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good morning, everybody. And, Sébastien, congrats on and good luck on your new role. I just wanted to maybe hit on, Marcel, if I heard that correctly in your opening remarks. You said that you expect to get halfway at your targets in 2024. Do you mean on margin and sales?
Yeah. Approximately, approximately, oh, man. It's, it's a long word for me, okay? Yeah. I'll raise that. Yeah. I think we will do it, okay? But I will not say that it's done, okay, but we will work hard, okay, to say that I want, I want, okay, to be half.
Okay. And, and I also wanted to touch on the Savaria One and understand that you, you might not want to steal too much of the thunder from your upcoming Investor Day . But maybe could you just highlight some of the bigger initiatives you have in the pipe and, and when you expect to start offsetting some of the costs of the program?
Yes, sir. I think I can start, and maybe someone can complete. So basically, I would say direct, really, I would take an example of procurement, okay? Procurement, no, we have been very decentralized. So maybe we have some vendor in Vancouver, Toronto that, again, we have never looked, okay, to put it as a is there a national, company that could, offer the parts, put the volume together, get better pricing, do a bit challenge a bit some of the supplier that we work with them too long, do a bit of RFQ. So that's a bit example of procurement that we have been working on. For sure, from Europe to North America, it's not always have, so many common vendors. But yes, we have some for some specialized parts. So I think we have, really look at procurement, seriously.
Production, no, we have been doing the same thing for many years. Sometimes we get a bit lazy. So again, how can we rechallenge our team to have a better flow of material in the factory, to be a bit more productive? So production, to do a bit more output in the factory, you know? We have been talking for almost two years of good backlog in Brampton and Vancouver and a bit difficulty to execute it. But we saw the growth in last year. Again, we started the Savaria One toward the second half. But you see it start to have a bit of traction on the output for the factory. And we should continue this year. So quite happy with the change. Selling opportunity, again, we have many different brands, okay? How can we look at things?
Are we maximizing the sales in one area or another one? So a lot of work has been done also about the cross-selling opportunity, right?
Okay. That's helpful. And maybe, like, on that note, Sébastien, could you maybe talk about Jean-Philippe and the hire as his role of Chief Transformation Officer and maybe his key accountabilities and maybe a little bit of his background on how he's going to help you guys?
Yeah. Sure. So basically, yeah, we saw that when we started the Savaria One project, it was important for us to have someone that can spend more time than me or Steve. Okay, to focus just on the Savaria One, to make sure we are very structured because it's easy to say, "Oh, I will do this initiative. I will do it by this date." But you need to do some follow-up with the team in a pretty rigorous way. When is the date? What is the value? Then to continue. So GP is full-time on that. And he has over 20 years, okay, of experience to do some transformation. Again, us on our side, it's not a restructuring. It's a growth story. So again, that's quite exciting for all employees. So they are very excited.
But GP has this background to do it in a very structured way. What's important is what the day we are going to finish with the consultant, we want what we have done to be sustainable. That's why we're starting slowly to improve our team to make sure we can be sustainable after 2025, you know?
Okay. I'll reach you. Thanks for answering my questions.
Thank you.
Thank you, Derek.
We will now take our next question. This is from the line of Michael Doumet from Scotiabank. Please go ahead.
Hi. Hey. Good morning, guys. For the anticipated costs of about CAD 5 million, I think per quarter in 2024, and Steve, you said CAD 2 million in each of Q1 and Q2 of 2025, so collectively, about CAD 25 million-CAD 30 million of costs, not a small amount. I wanted to get a sense for if you can break that down, is it all consulting fees, or does restructuring get in there and maybe some technology investments? Just trying to get a sense for all the costs.
Hey. You want to answer?
Sure. Yeah. Thanks for the question, Michael. It's the cost that, that we're expecting that I touched on, the CAD 5 million in Q4 or in every quarter for 2024, that's, that's really going to be consulting and other another one-time cost related to Savaria One. There's going to be some training costs in there, but the majority of it will be consulting fees. There's, there's really not going to be much of an investment in, in, in assets, in capital assets. This is so that, that total expenditure of CAD 20 million that we're forecasting for 2024, most of that's going to go through as an expense line item. It's, it's being carved out as strategic initiative expenses, similar to how we recorded it for Q4 of 2023.
Got it. Okay.
And Michael, just to add something on that, you know, yeah, some people might say, "Oh, it's a very high cost." But, you know, that shows a bit the intensity of the program, okay? Again, it's touching other factory at different places, so very intense factory sales, all this the pillar that I mentioned a bit before. So that should bring some confidence that where we were last year, we want to go in 2025, that, again, that give us a better chance to achieve it, right?
No, I surely could appreciate the level of investment, I guess, financially and from a personnel perspective as well. I mean, if I go back to some of the earlier comments, I mean, it does feel like you're doing a lot of heavy lifting here, 2024 and 2025. And, you know, I guess, you know, I don't know if there's a way to think about, you know, assessing the operational risk. And sometimes there is kind of a step back for two steps forward, you know, type of trend. I'm just thinking, you know, to the earlier comments about expecting half the growth in 2024 and the other half in 2025, I mean, would it be more maybe helpful just to think that maybe more of the margin expansion is in 2025, just given some of the heavier lifting?
Well, I would answer that, okay? Thank you, Michael, okay? And first of all, okay, don't forget, our industry, it's one of the best industries in the world, okay, is just about the aging of the population, okay? And, we're in, okay. And it was good for me, okay, 40 years ago when I buy it, okay? But it's continue, okay? It's continue, okay? But with the, the study, okay, the fundamental is, okay, who will be better, okay, everywhere? Everywhere, who will be better, okay? And often, okay, they are like 30 or 40 people from the consultant. They are in Europe, okay? They are in North America. They are in Mexico, okay? They are everywhere or in China, okay? We have to be better everywhere.
For sure, okay, 2025, okay, should be better than 2024, okay, because we will have some subject, okay, or some study that they make, okay, that it will just arrive, okay, that we will make that in execution, okay? For sure, okay? But I want, okay, that we have a little bit more to see, okay, in 2025, okay, and maybe to be better than 20%, okay? Because as you mentioned, okay, for sure, okay, some action, okay, that would be just in 2025 and not in 2024. You are right there, Michael. Sébastien, you want to complete that?
No, I'm just going to use the example, Michael. No, I have high inventory, over 100 days. So when if I have a new saving with the new parts, but I have to eat my inventory before the saving at the P&L. And sometimes if I change of supplier, I need to approve the new parts with R&D, do some correct testing. So again, yeah, it takes time. But no, we are quite happy with the list of projects we have, you know?
Okay. That's a really helpful commentary, guys. Thank you.
Thank you. So now take our next question. And this is from the line of Frédéric Tremblay from Desjardins Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mike.
Bonjour. Yeah, first question, I guess, just to follow up quickly on the expenses for strategic initiatives. On the CAD 5 million, is there a component in there that is performance-based, meaning, like, linked to some of the savings and improvements of Savaria One, or is it all a fixed-cost component at this point?
Sorry. I'll take this one. Hey, Fred. I, I think it's important for everyone to know that you, you know, we have talked about the agreement being fixed and variable. So there are fixed and variable components. We have but we have structured this agreement so that our interests are, are totally aligned with the consultants' interests. We're, we're all working to achieve the same goal here, without getting into too much details of, of, of how the agreement's actually structured. For 2024, we are fairly confident that the, the total the total expected expense is going to be CAD 5 million per quarter, where we may see additional fees are in 2025 and beyond as we start to see, more of the success of the program come through the financials.
Okay. Thanks. That's helpful. Maybe switching to tuck-in acquisitions, just something you mentioned to offset some of the divestitures. Just curious to see how you think about that. I mean, past tuck-ins were, in some cases, dealers in accessibility. Is that an option, or are you looking more at a product that would complement maybe what you have right now?
You know, something, we are always looking about territory or our sole products, okay, that will completely complete our line, okay? And don't forget, when we have products, okay, that we can put them available to 1,000 dealers, okay, so we can buy something at $5 bucks, but it can go to $10 bucks very, very quickly, okay? So it's always territory is always product, okay? So when and Frédéric, okay, you are always good, okay, with your comments, okay? And when I read what you write, okay, you know Savaria. And one thing we don't forget about this study, okay, by an international company, okay, their family own roughly 20%, okay?
Before we make a move, okay, you imagine, okay, how the guy, okay, who has 20%, okay, can look at that, if what he will do this with millions of expense, okay? We just want to be better right now and better for the future.
Yeah. That makes sense. Thanks for that, Marcel. Maybe just a question on patient care, on the 2024 outlook and maybe the first part of 2024. Nick, you mentioned that some of the projects have been pushed back to Q1. Maybe just broadly, your expectations in terms of revenue growth. I know you mentioned that would be a priority for 2024. So maybe just broadly go over what you're seeing so far in Q1 and maybe getting into Q2 in that segment.
Yes. I mean, you know, there was a, there's a lumpiness component to it. I think we've talked about that several times. You know, we have a, a, a very strong backlog. And again, the backlog is based on certain projects that we expect to deliver over the next several quarters. You know, going into Q1, Q1's going to be tough. I'm not going to lie. We had a very strong Q1 last year at, I think it was CAD 48 million close to CAD 49 million in sales, which was an all-time record for us. You know, also kind of exiting COVID. 2022 was also very strong years. And so here we are going into a period in 2023 or exiting 2023 with sales that maybe were a bit lower than anticipated and lower than market expectations. We still feel very strong about the business.
We have good order intake. It's just a question of, you know, when some of these projects will land. And we're also looking to smooth out some of this lumpiness by getting better visibility into our pipeline. And by that, I mean, you know, when we can identify some of these revenue gaps, right, if some of these projects are getting delayed, you know, looking to see how we might be able to bridge those gaps, with quick ship items, right? So maybe there's promotions that we might be able to run to help bridge those gaps in certain quarters where we're seeing some delays in certain projects, to help smooth out some of that lumpiness. So all that to say is that, you know, we are very confident about the business.
We do anticipate, you know, similar kind of high single-digit growth, you know, to help get to that billion-dollar mark. It does have to come from Patient Care as well. So we do anticipate, you know, good growth next year. When it's going to land quarter to quarter, that's something that's unfortunately, it's a bit more difficult for me to explain.
Okay. Yeah. That's helpful. Thanks, everyone.
Merci.
Thank you. We'll now take our next question. This is from the line of Justin Keywood from Stifel. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good morning. Thanks for taking my call. Just on the comments of weakness in Europe versus strength in North America, are you able to describe what factors are leading to the different dynamics in each of the markets? And then also, are you seeing any indication of strength returning in Europe? And, and maybe in the other regard, you know, any potential risks of growth in North America? Thank you.
Okay. I can start, and then people can complete, okay, Marcel. So for sure, Justin, okay, again, don't forget, last year, we had a tough Q2 in Europe. Everybody know we changed our ERP. We don't talk about the ERP anymore. We now see some good benefits out of it. But Q4, we had some growth. One thing not to forget is we do not have the same portfolio of product in Europe than we have in North America. And we know we want to expand the portfolio of products so that we have a one-stop shop with elevator, platform lift. It's taking a bit more time than expected. But definitely, by 2025, okay, we should have a much better range of product that we are able to generate some interesting organic growth. And that will help also the margins.
I would say that let's continue to be patient. We have a good game plan. We have a good team in place, in Europe, where the Savaria One is quite intense also over there. I'm pretty sure we will see some positive things, in the coming two years.
Yes.
Thank you.
Justin, just complete that. Justin, that Europe represents roughly 30% of, right now in 2023, 30% of our EBITDA. The 17% is coming from, mainly from, North America. I would be very uneasy if it was the other way. But I just see that we represent in North America. North America is not in the recession. Our people in Europe work very well. And they work with the leadership of Clare. And she's very good. And she knew what she's doing. And she will be back with higher profit. So the 70% that represents, roughly, in North America is very strong. It's very strong.
Just, I just want to add that, okay, that I think Europe just go one way, okay, with Clare and his team, okay, just to be more participating, okay, in the EBITDA in the coming years, okay? But we are a team, okay? One of the team has some difficulties, okay? They, they are. We don't speak anymore with recession in North America. But them, okay, they are in recession, okay? So even if we have a bulletproof products, okay, from the economy, okay? But often the people need a product, okay? But because of the recession, they will say, "Oh, we'll wait a little bit." So we know that, okay? But it will be. That's why I'm very confident, very, very confident that we will meet or exceed our number, okay, because the people need our products. The people need our products.
When I say, okay, that the 70%, okay, is going very well, okay, I am very optimist, okay? Just a little compliment for the question. Thank you.
Thanks. Yeah, really appreciate the context. And it sounds like there's some potential underlying strength there that maybe, you know, shows a bit later as, you know, that market improves. I just had one other question on capital allocation. We saw deleveraging in the quarter, 2 times net debt to EBITDA. I'm just wondering if share buybacks are on the table or potential dividend raise, or is the idea to keep some of that capital for, you know, some future tuck-in acquisitions?
See, absolutely, okay? For sure, it will be a good thing, okay, for a buyback, okay? But we are not in a position right now, okay? We want to grow. For sure, we have to spend some money, okay? And with the consultant, okay, that will be a use of our cash flow, okay, that we have with them. But it's better than acquisition, okay? Because so often, okay, they are 30 or 40 people, working at the Savaria all the time at the same time, okay, for Savaria, okay? So it's major. It's major. So that's the best investment that I can do. It's why I signed that with a smile. No, it has to come, okay? But we will see the result, you and me, together, very soon.
Thank you very much for the detailed response.
My pleasure.
Thank you. We'll now take our next question. This is from the line of Zachary Evershed from National Bank Financial. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning, everyone.
Hi.
The Savaria One additional fees payable conditional on the achievement of specified financial outcomes, could you clarify for us what margin level does the company have to reach before the performance fees kick in? And how much would they add to the total cost at the 20% margin mark?
Thanks for the question, Zach. I appreciate you wanting more detail to, you know, to try to forecast cash outflows. It's the way that the, the agreement's structured, it's, it's at a very detailed level. When we look at all the initiatives that we have, it's, it's difficult to say. We're not really willing to comment on exactly how much, the potential is because we're, we're waiting to see, you know, how what the benefits are going to be coming to our financials. So it's, I mean, we know the 2024 payments of, of CAD 5 million per quarter. That's exactly what we're expecting. For 2025, depending on the success of the program, it could it could end up being more than what we have in that CAD 2 million per quarter.
But we're actually hoping that it's going to be more in the sense that, you know, the more that we're paying on the performance side, it means the more the better results we're going to be getting out of the program and out of the work that we're doing with the consultants. So, it's too early to comment, I think, past 2024, with regard to total fees. But again, I think the comment that I made around fees potentially being higher, but the fact that our interests are fully aligned with the consultant's interests, I think that's a strong signal.
Good.
And Zachary, okay, just to complement, okay, what Steve very well said, okay, that I don't sign a contract if I don't see, okay, a big return on investment, okay? And not taking 10 years, but taking a couple of years. So we study, okay, the offer. And we sign the offer because, okay, it's very important, okay, the saving that we will make, okay, after the study, okay, that I am more than satisfied right now after, like, nine months, one year, okay? So I signed that because I was sure I was not, no, we are never sure, okay? But I was very optimistic, okay, that the return would be good, very good, okay? And so if it's good, because it's very expensive, okay? But it will bring the other, you know, they work, okay, on everything, okay? Just in purchasing.
Just in purchasing. Imagine, okay, that we have, okay, like, CAD 400 million of purchasing. Imagine, okay, consultant, okay, that make just kind of study all around the world, okay? They know exactly, okay, where is the best purchase and at what price, okay? So the airports right now, okay? And that's major saving, okay? And for sure, okay, they do that, okay? That's their life to do this kind of stuff, study, okay? And I am so happy that we have the guts, okay, to go with this study, okay, even if it's very expensive. So, Zachary, believe in me, okay, that and we are, I don't see that we will, it will not take six months more, okay?
But believe in me. You will see the bottom line that will arrive with this study, plus our regular work that we do. But we will be better. And just in purchasing, I repeat, when you buy roughly 50% with materials, that's where is the saving.
Thank you. For the follow-up on that, I guess, it sounds like you guys are very optimistic on the 20% margin level achievement. But between the change in CEO and upcoming Investor Day , was there any discussion of maybe reducing the 20% target to a range or extending the timeline to achieve it beyond 2025?
To be very optimistic, I guess I had to, to be also comfortable with the target that we have put. So I think, we're going to live with the target that we just put on the market, yesterday night. And I think, the Investor Day will continue. So I think, the target is set up. And even as a change, we are all comfortable in it, right? And I'm spending a good amount of my time on the Savaria One. So I would say what we have put, I strongly believe in it, okay?
Excellent. Thanks. Then just one more if I can sneak it in. I think you guys were aiming to get the Mexican facility up to about 100-person headcount by the end of the year. You guys have 70. Is everything going well on that front? Any reason for the difference in total employee count there?
Again, Zach, it's not a competition of the numbers of employees that we have in the plant, okay? But it's more like what we get output out of it, okay? So I would say we are quite happy with our first year, okay? If we look what we have in China, which took us, like, 20 years to build, I think we have made very good progress in our first year in Mexico. So quite happy with that. And what's nice is now with the Savaria One, I know exactly what I will do in the next two years because all our capex projects are mapped out. And, again, we're staffing it also. So, again, I think this year, we definitely will hit 100 employees. But again, it's not a competition of numbers of employees. It's more the output out of the factory.
I appreciate the color. Thank you very much. I'll turn it over.
Merci, Zachary.
Thank you. Just as a reminder, if there are any further questions, it's star 1 and 1 on your keypad. We'll now take our next question. This is from the line of Rahul Sarugaser from Raymond James. Please go ahead.
Hey, good morning. On some of these, the Van-Action and Freedom Motors that were sold off, is there a piece left on that? Or has the full business rolled off now on these adapted vehicles? And are there any contributions from these sold-off businesses in Q1?
I want to say something, okay, that I was there many years ago, okay, when, okay, I was with running or not running, but participating a lot more, okay, with Van-Action, okay, and Freedom in Toronto, okay? I tell you something, okay? That's what's hard for me, okay, to sell this division. They are from Montreal, okay, my native land, okay? What I say, it's not how much money we will make, okay? It's who will buy that, okay, that I believe, okay, they will be good for my employees. So it's not a question, you pay CAD 5 or CAD 10, okay? You have to have a right place the right price, okay?
But, okay, I am sure that we will have more employees at Van-Action at the end of the year than right now because the buyers, okay, have a lot of place in the States, okay, or over 100, okay, that they can sell Van-Action, okay? So they need, okay, another place, down in, in the States, okay, to manufacture. And they visit us. And they know us. And we've made business with them for many years, okay? So that's the best thing for my employees, okay, that I find, okay, my group, okay, find this buyer, okay, from the States, okay? So, but that was hard for me, you know something? When it's coming, okay, from, from so many years, okay, at the beginning of my, my, my life, okay, that I have that, okay? And they were very good for me.
But right now, that was the right time, okay, to pass the leadership to another company that is unique, okay, function is to help the people with mobility. So, Sébastien, you have something to add?
If I could just actually add a little bit of color as well, Marcel.
Yeah.
Just to clarify on the selling price. So, we have disclosed in the financials. The selling price is CAD 7.5 million. There should be a gain on that. We're expecting a gain on the sale to be recorded in Q1 of this year. So the deal actually closed on February 1st. I did touch on the approximately CAD 50 million of annualized revenues that we've lost through divestments over 2023 and the beginning of 2024. About CAD 35 million of that CAD 50 million comes from the Norwegian business. And CAD 15 million comes from the vehicle manufacturing businesses of Van-Action and Freedom. So we still, and to answer your question specifically, we still do have a piece of the vehicle business. It's the retail side. So we divested of the manufacturing.
Sort of as Marcel was saying, we felt that the home for that business was better suited with Driverge. They're going to be more successful at growing their business. It's core to them. We're going to be taking the proceeds from that and reinvesting in the rest of our accessibility and patient care businesses.
Okay. Thanks. And just how do you think to get to this CAD 1 billion revenue, how should we think of that target being reached through organic growth versus perhaps through the addition of acquisitions?
We're looking to reach CAD 1 billion mainly through organic growth. We and I would say without the divestments, we would definitely have achieved that. So we do have a little bit of a hole to fill with those divestments. That CAD 50 million of revenue is providing or bridging more of a gap than the 8%-10% of organic growth that we, you know, were roughly anticipating per year. So we do need some tuck-ins, some tuck-in acquisitions to fill that CAD 50 million. But that's kind of why we're saying approximately CAD 1 billion in revenue. So there has been some changes to our business since we provided that target, meaning the divestments of those businesses.
We feel good about the organic growth coming in, you know, roughly 8%-10% still, in line with what we had said when we first came out with that target. I think it was a year or two ago now.
Okay. Thanks.
Thank you. There were no further questions at this time. I will hand the conference back to the speakers.
Hey, thank you very much, guys. Okay, to be with us this morning, okay? It's very important, okay, that we show the confidence that we have, okay, to the future, okay? It's incredible, okay? And I am always very enthusiastic, okay? For sure, okay, we have a lot of talent right now, okay, and new talent, okay? And me, I am just a little bit not even a corporate guy, okay? Somebody on the bench, okay, to see that, okay? And my guy, okay, I terrified. And but, okay, if we are good and we'll be better, okay, it's just because you guys, okay, you take, okay, with what we follow you, okay, and you put that for investors, okay? And thank you very much for everybody what you do for me for us. So thank you, Sarah. Merci, Sarah.
Thank you. This does conclude the conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.