Good morning. Welcome, everyone, in this conference. Another quarter has passed, the company yesterday has published a report, a semi-year report, in which we have included, I believe, very good results and the current situation, also the factors that have impacted the implementation of these results. This shall be commented today by the management board. Later on, we shall move on in the second part to the Q&A session. You will have a chance to ask questions to the present members of the board. We'll start as standard, as usual, by the CEO, Roman Przybylski. President, the floor is yours.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to welcome you in our conference, I believe that it's historical because we have the best quarterly results in the history of our company, slightly even exceeding our published forecast. What is most important, constantly quite careful market conditions.
Generally, the business segments have coped in the last quarter very well and the turbulent circumstances, the geopolitical situation, especially in the Middle East, of course, in terms of demand and the market is not helping us, but from the side of the raw materials, it has an impact that we are able to effectively use. The financial results for this quarter are very good and we can be optimistic looking at the second half of this year. The macroeconomic situation is constantly rather poor in the industry and the industry construction sector also and generally in industry. Constantly in the Eurozone, there is poor indication for orders and optimism. In Poland, generally, it's a bit better. This is contributed in the first quarter by quite a difficult winter.
This has no direct impact on the second quarter, but generally, the whole production, construction production, assembly construction works have been postponed, delayed, and our sector is suffering from this. As we can see in the results, and in a moment we'll show you in more detail, we'll discuss. We are really coping very well in this circumstance. Our volumes are increasing or stable in terms of margin, EBITDA profit, we are benefiting from the situation. Rafał, would you like to take the floor?
Absolutely. Good morning, everyone. Good afternoon. As standard, we'll first comment on the consolidated results, then we will enter the details in terms of the particular segments. As Roman mentioned a moment ago, EBITDA is a record result. It's very important that it results from strong operations.
Revenue from sales is by PLN 222 million higher compared to the second quarter of the previous year here. The most important companies are those of the aluminum area, three-fourth of this increase, but one-fourth also is the Flexible Packaging Segment. High utilization of power is increasing volumes, also a supportive effect resulting from the rotation of the storage. EBITDA is higher by PLN 84 million. It's reaching nearly PLN 380 million in the quarter, which is a very good result. Similarly, the operational activity profit is a consequence of the EBITDA, practically the same dynamics. In terms of the financial costs, practically only there's a difference in the interest. There was no significant impact of the exchange rate differences, and our indebtedness quarterly was PLN 70 million lower. There is no elements that are specific in terms of tax.
There is no significant asset recognition for deferred tax, therefore, the rate is similar to the effective rate. If we could now discuss the particular segments, the largest contributor in terms of EBITDA, the segment of Architectural Systems. Well, wonderful results, both operational, because over 10% increase in terms of the amounts and also in terms of the value. This contributes to the dynamics of EBITDA, which is even higher because we know that we maintain high effectiveness. Fixed costs are distributed to larger amounts of sales, therefore, maintained very high margin level and PLN 135 million EBITDA in the quarter. There is no change here in terms of the structure or in terms of the product or in terms of the market, which confirms that we are developing as dynamically, equally, both in the country and abroad and in our standard sectors.
The next segment is the anti-Sun Shadings system segment. Here, the situation is a bit more difficult. Here, we have a reduction in the volumes, but we managed to maintain sales in terms of values. Clearly, this is perhaps partially also the result of what Roman discussed, the shifting of this construction season. We are dealing here with products that are getting more and more expensive. These are not products of first need, and therefore, from our observations of the market, we believe that we can also have here effect of delaying the purchase decisions. Also noticing the market, we can see that this trend of rapid increase of the prices in aluminum has reversed in some way in Sun Shadings segment in the second and third quarter.
In terms of the product structure or the geographical structure of the sales, we have here no significant difficulties. We have the Extruded Products Segment, and this is another very good piece of good news. 10% of increase of the volumes. We're practically working with 90% utilization of production capacity. We're coming close to 30,000 tons per month, quarterly. 10,000 tons per month, and this is our record level. Indeed, here we have both the volume effect of the impact on EBITDA, and also the effect of rotation. The one you know also from 2022, the year 2022, when the raw materials are getting rapidly more and more expensive, but still our purchasing horizon is up to three months. Naturally, the accounting effect of rotation of stock supports the reported results. This does not only result from this.
Above all, we are happy with such a good situation operational-wise. Some reflection also of the trends that were discussed by Roman in the beginning. Construction, relatively better than industry. We could say that we see this in the product structure because transport, automotive, construction is also the area where the sales is higher year-over-year. In terms of the geographical structure, it is, I would say, stable. The third segment, Flexible Packaging Segment, revenue from sales are higher. Here, mainly the reflection of the increase of petrochemicals prices in the percentage perspective year-over-year. This is even higher increase than in case of aluminum, because it's about 65%, both for polyethylene and for polypropylene. There are, let's say, the defining aspects of the macroeconomic situations here. Indeed, the situation is specific because it is connected with a paradox.
The situation globally is very complicated, turbulent, difficulties, lack of accessibility to raw materials, even risk considering its availability. Our segment that in such situations, first of all, perfectly, in terms of operation, in terms of production, functions because we were able to work in high volumes. Perfectly, we were able to, in terms of trade, to translate the effect of the raw materials and to the market that is getting more and more expensive. Also, this is supported by a rotation of stock. If you look at the EBITDA, it's increasing by PLN 55 more or less, million. It's 80%. It's a very high result, of which we are very happy and proud because it's indeed an achievement that is, both in terms of operation, that is extremely good in this very difficult macroeconomic situation for the segment.
To sum up for the financial part, in terms of our standing, it was a good quarter, a very good quarter in terms of EBITDA. For a long time now, we have not been informing you about significant changes in the working capital here, considering such rapid movements in terms of the raw materials prices. We see PLN 200 million increase of the demand for working capital, but we were prepared for this, and also the EBITDA allowed us to finance this increase, investments and also the interest and the taxes. We were able to fund from such a large EBITDA. Therefore, the indebtedness was lowered to a level of 1.1, so about PLN 100 million i n this quarter. This is net debt to EBITDA one indicator.
Of course, we are facing the payment of dividends, PLN 200 million in the second half of the year, and also more intensified investment expenses compared to what we saw in the first part of the year. Just a few words in terms of what we see. As for today, it has been a short period, so just the first weeks of the first month of this quarter. We see, it seems that the trends we've been commenting in the second quarter, an improvement in construction. In terms of industrial production, we don't see stabilization. We see fluctuations of prices of raw materials, which are still possible, even though the current trend is rather towards stabilization or slight lowering. The perspective, our operational perspectives, we treat them as stable or increasing here, divided into segments.
In terms of finance, also, in a moment, we shall pay out the first installment of the dividend, more or less 1/3 of the amount, in November the second tranche. In total, nearly half billion PLN . What's of key importance for us is focusing on the cash flow, operational cash flow, both here the working capital, as we can see the strong impact it may have on us, but also very
Detailed, careful monitoring of the liquidity situation, because we know that with higher amounts, there's risk considering liquidity. The risk connected with the inflow of our receivables matters. Until now, we have not had any problems, but these are areas we have to focus on in the third quarter. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for the presentation. Now I would like to invite everyone to ask questions. We have received the first series already now. In what scale the levels of EBITDA and net profit in the first half exceed the assumptions in the forecast for 2026? For this period.
This is more or less 5% annually of EBITDA, because the forecast for the first and the second half of the year was not the same. We can say that definitely the first quarter was 2%, 3% above the budget. The second one, the deviation, obviously, because of the results, as we mentioned, is slightly higher. We estimate it's about 5% of EBITDA and six on the net profit level. Thank you so much.
How does the company see the EBITDA in the second half as related to the first half of the year?
For now, we assume the implementation of the budget. I would like to remind that the budget for this year was very ambitious. In fact, we assume that the results that occurred in the second half and that we managed to use the difficult situation, they led to exceptionally good results the second quarter. We assume that the situation would normalize for the third and the fourth quarter, so that we'll implement the budget level. It will bring the results in the form of the 5% exceeding of the EBITDA, if we implement the second half as assumed. Thank you so much.
In what scope the factors that had positive impact on the Flexible Packaging Segment, especially in the second quarter, do you think they will maintain in the next quarter of 2026?
We do not predict such impact. It's worthwhile to have a look at the petrochemical products behavior. The dynamic of the growth of the petrochemical raw materials was even more bigger than the dynamics of the aluminum growth. That's why we had this efficient purchase policies. We were going ahead. That's why we had this exceptional market situation, and we were able to benefit from it. The end of the second quarter, beginning of the third quarter, we saw the opposite trend.
The prices were going down. They were normalized. For the second quarter, they are higher than in the first one. As of today, they come close to our budget assumptions, and they are close to the prices from the first quarter. That's why we assume that the segment will get back to the implementation of the standard budget assumptions, where we're making, by quarter, about PLN 70 million of EBITDA. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to add one sentence, and I'll get back to what Rafał said before during the presentation. The situation that we see in the Flexible Packaging Segment, one thing is external, geopolitical and macro consequences on the prices of the raw materials.
There is, and I would like to underline this and use this opportunity to thank the whole team of the Flexible Packaging Segment with Rafał Hadyś, that this way of operating allows to very efficiently use this type of situations from the purchase side by operations and then to translate into the sales market in such a situation that we had in the second quarter. Alupol manages to efficiently use such situation. We do not want to speculate if there are going to be any follow-up of the situation. We assume that we'll get back to normal. Thank you so much.
Do we observe any changes in the trends concerning the stoppages of our customers during the holiday season? Or is the situation any geopolitical trouble? Do they have any impact on the situation, on the decisions that maybe the I mean the automotive sector or other sectors, because you know that even the food manufacturers, they use the stoppages at work for holidays. Has it changed somehow in relation to the previous year?
Ladies and gentlemen, I would say I don't think so. I cannot say that we see some clear result in this scope, but I am aware and we have to be aware that those factors that have impact on the potential purchase decisions of the customers, there are a lot of them. Starting from the geopolitical situation. The price of the raw materials and the anticipated movements of the prices or price lists in the segments where we work. This all causes that the customers sometimes buy ahead of time.
Sometimes they wait, hoping that the price will go down. You see if there's more political dynamics or the war dynamics, then we sort of hold our breath, and then the situation stabilizes, so then we're more optimistic. There are lots of factors that have impact. The automotive mentioned before here, you all know that this sector as a whole is not really doing well, and that's why it dynamically adjusts to the development of the situation on the demand side. We see a mix of a number of factors, and this is reflected in the orders that we had in between the months and quarters. On an average and mid and long-term perspective, it sort of equalizes. This particular factor, as you mentioned, this particular result, we do not see this. Thank you so much.
In the next question, we have the request just to remind what price list adjustments were made this year in the Architectural Systems Segment and the housing or the Sun Shadings. Do we plan any adjustments in the second half?
Yes, in fact, the situation was so dynamic that we sort of reflected the price of the raw materials in the Architectural Systems. It was two increases, 5% and 7%, so above 10% altogether. In the segment of the Sun Shadings, these were two rounds with a little bit of a shift. They were lower, but they worked more selectively. This was not the update of the whole price list. This was a situation signaled. We see some limits of the markets and this automatic translation of the prices, that was not possible everywhere. We had to decide about the proportion, the volume, and the price volume.
We managed to adjust, stabilize the volume year-to-year so that the increases were slightly smaller. Thank you so much.
The question concerning the Extruded Products Segment. What is the scale of the FIFO effect? What scale was noted in the second quarter of the year?
It's about PLN 10 million, PLN 12 million . Thank you so much.
How does the company see now the prospect of implementing the investment plans for 2026? Can we already define some range of the investment plans for 2027, for the following year?
When we're talking about 2026, we signaled the quarter before on the slide. I think we analyzed the project on an ongoing basis. Between PLN 40 million and PLN 50 million will be spent, I mean, less than planned. In part, these are the shifts for the following periods.
In part, we resigned from some things, or we optimized the expenditure. Our expenses would be between PLN 250 million-PLN 260 million . After the third quarter, we'll be more precise. When we're talking about 2027, it's difficult to give something else than the things that we have in the strategy. These were the amounts only relevant in the Flexible Packaging Segment. Maybe as of today, we can use the strategic guidelines. About PLN 300 million, I think. I don't remember exactly the amount. The number of the development, this will concern the Flexible Packaging Segment build, because until the end of the year, we'll try to finish the construction of the third line. This year, PLN 90 million, PLN 100 million. In total, PLN 300 million . Next year, probably there will be higher expenditures.
This is also linked with the next question concerning the need to finance, or at least the investment projects. What needs are seen in the financing?
All the investment projects recently that we mentioned, that extension of building the new presses of the Extruded Products Segment and building the third line of the Flexible Packaging Segment. Each of the investments is financed by the investment credit. We had concluded the bank agreement for the third line in the Flexible Packaging Segment. This is how we do, depending on the We may say that all the processes for development investment that we have ongoing, or the ones that were completed, they are financed by the dedicated investment credits. We do not see the problem of limitations of the development due to the financing. Thank you very much.
Now we have a question referring to the Sun Shadings segment. What is the Asian competition situation of the Asian players in this market, be it domestic or the European market?
The Asian competition in this segment is not especially important in this segment. It is limited to a low level or entry level of the market for some products. Standard solutions, the cheapest ones available in the DIY chains, like pergolas and [Two-Colors].
It is just a small part of the market where we are not moving at all. In the areas that we are moving in, so dedicated solutions and many variants, products, colors, sizes, et cetera. Here we are facing really a competitive market and multiple manufacturers, but mostly European producers. We have Turkish competition and now we are stopping to see competition from Belarus on the other hand, and Asia is not that very important. Thank you very much.
The question referring to the Flexible Packaging Segment, because the volumes presented in the second quarter were by a few points, percentage points, lower compared to the second quarter of 2025. Now we have a question for a comment. What could this result from?
Here also, we cannot be 100% certain, but undoubtedly we can see here this expectation of customers for the development of the situations. They were waiting. The uncertainty was very high. The prices have increased very fast and very high. We know that part, or we assume, or from discussions we know that for part of the customers, that may have meant, let's say, delaying the purchase decisions, and therefore perhaps we have some limitation in terms of purchase in this period of very high prices. Thank you very much.
The next question refers to the Extruded Products Segment. In the following quarters, can we expect to see maintaining the level of EBITDA margin?
Maybe not margin, but EBITDA per ton that the segment has achieved in the second quarter. Here, I would use the previous question because we estimate that PLN 10 million, PLN 12 million, actually PLN 12 million we could say, I can be precise, of the FIFO effect we have observed, noticed.
I believe this kind of amount would have to be taken off of the result of this quarter, have the effect of the stock to purify the stock effect result. Therefore, depending on the volume, the results of the second half of the year will be depending mainly on the volume, but also this profitability of Q2 was a bit exaggerated. I think this purified result would be about PLN 64 million, you could say, more or less. I would say with no impact of, let's say, one-time effect. Thank you so much.
I have stopped for a moment because that was actually the last question that I have received. Therefore, I think that everything must be clear. The message was precise enough that we don't have more question this time, which is a surprise. If we don't have more questions, thank you very much, gentlemen, for your comment. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your participation. As a standard, we invite you to meet once again in three months in the next conference. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.