Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the audio webcast on the Mayr-Melnhof Group interim results for the first three quarters of 2023. I have the pleasure to have the company CEO, Peter Oswald, with me for some firsthand information. Peter, could you please share with us your initial reflections regarding Q3 results?
Yeah. If we start with the markets and look to our Board and Paper division, we saw sales volumes continuing at a low level and with declining sales prices. And in our packaging division, we saw on a lower scale also declining sales volumes, but prices held up fairly well. On top, if we look at our results, we shouldn't forget that our mill in Količevo, in Slovenia, was stopped by the flooding in Slovenia and then further rebuilt. And I'm very pleased to say this, that despite this difficult environment, MM's Q3 operating profit came in above Q2, thanks to a strong contribution from our packaging division. And of course, we are continuing our Profit and Cash Protection Program, and we are, in these times, placing even greater emphasis on competitiveness, profitability, and cash generation..
Can you provide an update on the factors contributing to the significant market downturn and the still gloomy outlook?
Yeah. Longer than expected, de stocking in the supply chain was the major reason brought forward throughout the first three quarters of this year, and we were surprised that it took so long. It looks like that most inventories have now come back to normal levels. However, since we have returned to a buyer's market, customers tend to wait longer and still delay orders. We can also observe that consumer behavior has changed due to high inflation, resulting in reduced consumption of food and other daily life FMCG products. In some areas, consumers have shifted towards budget products, with some of them using more plastics. However, on the question of plastic substitution, I'm convinced that the trend from plastics to cartonboard will continue medium and long term, since cartonboard is renewable and efficiently recycled.
We shouldn't forget, it can be used up to 25 times, which is a fantastic fact.
Your three large board machine modernization projects this year necessitated long periods of downtime and had major impact on the results in board and paper. What's the current state of these projects, and, what shall we expect for the time ahead?
Yeah. Importantly, the rebuild of the first two machines are done, which is very pleasing. And with regards to our third rebuild at Količevo in Slovenia, we are just now in the start-up phase, somewhat ahead of plan. So it will affect Q4, but only with probably one month. In hindsight, the timing for carrying out these significant modernization projects in 2023 worked out well, given the market downturn. The primary objective, to remind us of this, of this project, has been to enhance our top-class competitiveness in recycled cartonboard and Coated Testl iner, offering our customers better quality, higher sustainability through lower grammage and reduced energy and water consumption, increased innovation, and most importantly, improved efficiency and productivity. But most pleasing for me is that we've got a lot of positive response for our...
from our customers, who say that our already top-notch products have got even better.
Could you comment on the strong development at MM Packaging so far this year?
Yeah, indeed, our packaging delivered strong results well ahead of last year, although volume was down by around 6% on a like-for-like basis. And this result is remarkable, taking into account restructuring costs of EUR 31 million in the first nine months, related, on the one hand side, to the closure of a German plant in Q1, and the integration and restructuring costs of the former Essentra Packaging plants. And on an operating profit level, the newly acquired pharma businesses compensated roughly for the lost Russian business.
The integration of the ex-Essentra pharma packaging business has been a major task for the packaging division in the current year. What progress have you achieved in the past twelve months, and what are the future prospects?
Yeah, let's start with the IT integration, which was the biggest challenge of integrating 21 sites, and this was successfully completed by the end of the third quarter. So that's indeed very pleasing. And in the past 12 months, we've made good progress in turning around the historically marginal and profitable ex-Essentra Packaging business, focusing on price discipline, operational improvements by increasing productivity and reducing waste, as well as cost reductions in administration and low-performing facilities. And we've launched, and that's even more important, a large number of projects to secure future growth opportunities with our customers, increasing quality and innovation from an improved asset base.... And so overall, we're ahead of our business plans at the time of the acquisitions.
Reminding ourselves of the strategic rationale, our move into the pharmaceutical packaging market has proven to be the right decision, given its resilience, growth, and its profitability potential. In the present market, we can clearly observe a higher level of stability and resilience compared to some other markets.
Coming back to current market developments, how did sales prices develop in light of the overall weak market situation so far this year?
Yeah, in the board and paper sector, we saw, with regards to FBB, a rather stable market in the first half year, with slight decline towards the end, but unfortunately now a stronger decline in the third quarter. Whereas in WLC, so in recycled cartonboard, we saw that the decline, which we saw already in the first quarter and in the second quarter, continued in the third quarter. In packaging, declining cartonboard prices are gradually feeding into prices through cost adjustment clauses, even though the price level held up relatively stable.
How did costs develop in Q3?
Yeah, if we compare it to Q2, a lot of cost items were flat, so paper for recycling, wood, energy, personnel costs. However, we could reduce chemical costs, and also pulp prices declined.
You informed about the launch of a Profit and Cash Protection Program along with your half-year results. How is this paying off, and what can be expected for the upcoming year?
Now, this program emphasizes significant reductions in working capital and, reduction of CapEx, in addition to cost reductions. In Q3, already demonstrated clear improvements on the working capital side, and on CapEx, we expect a level of below EUR 400 million this year, and below EUR 350 million for next year. Our cost reduction initiatives cover all areas: procurement, personnel, OpEx, and they are gradually filtering in and had already a positive effect in Q3. Overall, for Q4, as well as, the next year, the improvement of our profitability and making further cost savings is our main objective.
Finally, looking into Q4 and next year, what is the outlook?
In our division Board and Paper, we presently see a slight improvement in order intake, as cartonboard stocks destocking comes obviously to an end. However, our packaging markets, which have seen a much lower decline, there we don't really see an uptick yet. If we look back over the last three years, we have closed two high-cost cartonboard machines, and that's a big advantage in the present time. And this, and our recent investments in latest competitive technology and our Profit and Cash Protection Program, position us strategically very well. Over the last years, MM has structurally strongly improved the asset base and its product portfolio, and the entire MM team is strongly dedicated to take the necessary measures in the current market crisis in order to emerge with enhanced strength and resilience.
I'm pleased and strongly convinced that in the long run, cartonboard packaging has a promising future since customers value sustainable and renewable packaging, preserving consumer goods. In times like this, we should not forget about this medium to long-term outlook.
Peter, thank you very much for this interview.