Zumtobel Group AG

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the earnings call of Zumtobel Group on Q1 2026-27. I would like to welcome the company's CEO, Alfred Felder, designated CEO, Heiner Lang, CFO, Thomas Erath, and head of investor relations, Eric Schmiedchen. The gentleman will guide you through the figures in a moment, followed by a Q&A session via audio line. And with that, I hand over to you, Mr. Schmiedchen.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, warm welcome to Zumtobel Group's conference call on the Q1 results for the financial year 2026-27. Joining me today as said is Alfred Felder, our CEO Thomas Erath, our CFO, and for the first time, Heiner Lang, our designated CEO. Alfred will cover the highlights of the quarter, followed by Thomas with the financial performance. Afterwards, Thomas, Alfred and Heiner will be available to answer your questions. The report and the presentation are available on our website, where a recording of this call will also be provided afterwards. And with that, I hand over to Alfred.

Thank you, Eric. Good morning and welcome, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you again for joining us today. Before we move into the project highlights as Eric announced and the financial results for the first quarter, I would first warmly welcome Heiner Lang, our designated CEO and my successor. Heiner is joining our analyst and investor call for the first time today. As it was announced on August 17, Heiner has been appointed as the future CEO of the Zumtobel Group. He has been a member of the management board since September 1st and will take over the CEO on October 1st. Heiner, I would like to give you the floor to introduce yourself before we continue with our presentation.

Yeah, thank you, Alfred. And good morning to everybody. I'm very pleased that I have joined Zumtobel just 48 hours ago. I'm 50 years old, 23 years of thereof. I'm married with my wife, Julia. We have a son who is turning 16 in a couple of days. And I'm very happy that I could join Zumtobel in a very interesting period of time where we have great, let's say, challenges, but also endeavors in front of us. to create a new chapter for the company. Of course, it's much too early to say anything in detail today. So I'm starting my, let's say, 100 days tour to listen, to understand, but also to recognize where we have probably the shortfalls and where we have the potential, how we could develop the company into the future and then get back to profitable growth, what is our main goal and my personal ambition. I would say I would leave it like this today. I have more to say in a couple of weeks and then we see again.

Thank you, Heiner. As is clear, Heiner will then conduct the half year results in December. I think then he will be able to tell you much more already. So Heiner will stay with us for the rest of the call. So please also feel free to ask any questions to him during the Q&A session. And with that, as usual, I would again guide you to a couple of highlights indicating that we are gaining traction on those strategic pillars, what we have. First one, this Blackman Distribution Center in UK, what we did. where we provided the complete lighting solution for an Amazon distribution center here in Lutterworth. The project covered the supply of the products, typically our high runners, the Tecton 2 and the Craft 2, plus the lighting system, along with the complete installation and the project management service. And here I'm proud to say that we supported this project from the initial planning through the whole execution. Second, Vatican, as you know, we are the light partner of the Vatican. Again, another highlight, the Vatican necropolis beneath the St. Peter Basilica, what we did, demonstrating its expertise on the lighting. Here the challenge is that's an underground location, isolated from the outside, and the humidity levels here are between 98 and 100%, which is particularly demanding conditions also for lighting fixtures. Then a very far away project, Auckland in New Zealand, that's the largest infrastructure project, the Auckland City Rail Link installation, where here we have equipped three stations with different type of luminaires, also including the drivers on DALI 2 from Tridonic. Again, as I indicated a couple of times before, we make progress again in stadium here. This time, an example in Austria, the Graz Liebenau Stadium, what we did, the home of Sportclub Sturm Graz since 1902. And this was upgraded into the new floodlighting using our Altis G5 LED luminaires. And it's now wafer level A standardized. Then again a framework agreement with Consum in Zagreb, Croatia. That's here the customer is operating one of the largest retail networks in the Adria region and here we are doing both renovation projects as well as new projects across Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Herzegovina and Serbia again with our flagship product The Tecton continuous raw lighting system. Also in the next couple of years, also up to 10 new stores are planned next to the refurbishment. So and last but not least, I would just give you an update. We are currently not allowed to share the pictures here openly from the customers data center update. Here this is really emerging as one of the key growth engines for our business. Here we have, for example, one example in quarter one for the Nordics. Here we have secured two major projects and typically these projects are between 1 and 1.5 million. where we equipped the entire light for this data center and in addition to the project volume these opportunities will also provide attractive recurring revenues with long-term service agreements creating really a profitable grow in the future. Let me now give you an overview before I hand over to Thomas on the financial performance of our first quarter. Again, especially here in the European market, we are facing the continuous challenging business environment. Market conditions are remaining difficult. At the Group level, revenues declined slightly by 0.9% to €264.1 million. Here, the Lighting segment generated €211 slightly above the prior year value. The revenues, especially in the Component segment, amounted to €67.5 or 4.8% below last year. The Adjusted Group EBIT increased to €8.2 million. corresponding to an adjusted EBIT margin currently of 3.1%. These figures are in line with our guidance clearly show that the challenges facing our company remain but they also demonstrate that the measures we have been initiated we are having a positive impact. This I think we have discussed with you in the last call when we did the year end the progress what we made with our efficiency program. And with this, I would like to hand over to Thomas, who now will explain these results in more detail.

Thank you, Alfred. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Let me start with the lighting segment. Q1 revenues in the lighting segment amounted to 211.1 million euros and were 0.2% above the previous year. Revenue increases in the northern and western Europe and overseas regions were able to compensate revenue declines in the DACH, southern and eastern Europe regions and the pricing pressure in this segment. Adjusted EBIT in the lighting segment increased from €11.4 million to €12.2 million. Our adjusted EBIT margin rose to 5.9%. Cost saving and higher revenues contributed to these results. Let's move to the component segment. Revenues in the component segment declined by 4.8% to 67.5 million euros in the first quarter. With the exception of Asia-Pacific, all other regions recorded declining revenues to the difficult economic and market environment. Adjusted EBIT in the component segment was slightly above the prior year at 1.4 million euros in the quarter. The adjusted EBIT margin stood at 2.1%. Lower material costs were able to offset the decline in the revenues. Slide 7 shows the Q1 results for the Group. Revenues in the first quarter fell by 0.9% to €264.1 million as a result of the decline in the component segment. Adjusted EBIT increased to €8.2 million compared with €6.6 million in the first quarter last year. Despite the revenue decline in the component segment, the adjusted EBIT margin improved to 3.1% thanks to lower material costs in both segments and the ongoing efficiency measures. Slide 8 provides you with information on our income statement. As I mentioned, our adjusted EBIT increased to 8.2 million euros. Special effects were negative at 0.7 million euros and were related to the efficiency program. After the deduction of these special effects, our EBIT totaled 7.5 million euros. Our financial result amounted to minus 2.8 million euros and net financing costs amounted to minus 2.3 million euros. Other financial income and expenses totaled minus 0.5 million euros and included the interest expense for pension obligations, FX and hedging valuation. Profit before tax totaled 4.8 million euros compared to minus 3.9 million euros last year. Income taxes amounted to minus 0.6 million euros. As a consequence, net profit increased significantly to 4.2 million euros. Earnings per share equaled 11 euro cents. Let's move to the next slide, the cash flow statement. Cash flow from operating results increased year on year from 12.8 million euros to 20.8 million euros, mainly due to improved profitability. The change in other operating items amounted to minus 10 million euros, mainly due to the reduction in provisions for variable remuneration components. Cash flow from operating activities stood at minus 4.2 million euros versus 1.3 million euros last year. Cash flow from investing activities amounted to minus 12.2 million euros. As a result, free cash flow equaled minus 16.4 million euros versus minus 10.6 million euros last year. Cash flow from financing activities amounted to 4 million euros versus 12 million euros last year. Compared with the prior year period, borrowings were 10 million euros lower. Let me finish with slide 10 and some comments on our balance sheet. The balance sheet structure remains stable. The equity ratio is with 43% on prior year level. Net debt rose in comparison with the year end close to 148 million euros. Our debt coverage ratio equals 1.64. And with this, I hand back to Alfred.

So before turning to our outlook, let me briefly revisit the market outlook slide from July. You know this already for Europe. The underlying Euro construct data from June has not changed since that time. What we have seen confirms the previously committed and communicated trend. 2026 remains in line with our expectations, while the outlook especially for 2027 continues to point towards stabilization and the gradual recovery in other words the sector is gradually coming out of the recession the cycle appears to have turned even though the pace of recovery remains moderate especially in key countries like Germany and the broader market environment is still challenging with this recovery We continue to expect new build growth will take the lead from 2027 onwards which was for many years not the case while the renovation remains a structural pillar especially in the non-residential construction. and will be supported by regulatory and environmental requirements. Again, this backdrop, our strategic priorities remain unchanged. We are focused on capturing renovation opportunities and positioning the Zumtobel Group to benefit from the anticipated upturn in non-residential, especially new construction. But as you all know, the lighting industry typically lags behind in the construction cycle. We expected any sustained market recovery to translate into an increased demand for solution in a certain time delay. And that brings me directly to the outlook slide. The overall market environment, as we said several times, remains challenging, but with the measures we have taken in the efficiency program in place, we have set a clear course to position the company for sustainable growth and continued innovation. With the reference of these factors, we expect our revenue to be at the previous year's level. On the margins, we expect an adjusted EBIT margin between 3 and 5% for the entire year. Plant Capex remains at approximately 50 million Euro. Before we take your questions, I would like to add a personal note. As this will be my final conference call as the CEO of the Zumtobel Group, I would like to thank you for your trust, for your interest in the constructive dialogue over the past years. I have appreciated the many valuable discussions that we have. over the years and I'm confident that the company is well positioned for the future and I wish Heiner, the management board and the entire Zumtobel Group team every success in the years ahead. And with this, we are ready for taking your questions. Thank you for listening.

Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, we are opening the Q&A session now and you're invited to place your questions via the audio line. To do so, please click on the raise hand button. And if you're dialing in by phone, you can use the key combination star key nine to raise your hand and star key six to unmute yourself. And we have the first question coming in from Patrick Steiner.

Jeff, can you hear me? Yes. All right. Congratulations on the improved results. Mr. Felder, thank you very much. It was an absolute pleasure to join all these conference calls and conferences together with you. All the best. Mr. Lange, congrats on the new position. Also, all the best for this new position. From my side, just two questions for now. Firstly, Could you maybe give us your view on the rather significant differences in the regional developments in this quarter? And secondly, how should we think about volume development and pricing by division for the rest of the year and what's embedded in the current guidance? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Stein. It was also a pleasure always from my end to talk to you and exchange the views. Let me maybe start with the second question first, especially on the prices. I think we have mentioned it in the last quarters, we do see quite significant price increase. Not only in the raw material, be it steel, be it copper, be it aluminum, but recently also on semiconductor due to the shortage of the semiconductor what we have and obviously that will lead us that also we have to increase our prices. That's already the case on the component level. Interestingly here, especially those Chinese competitors of us have done this already a couple of months back before the summer time. and when it comes to the volume development we are seeing in some of the products a higher volume development but this is partly the fact that due to the higher efficiency now what the drivers do have the customers needs to can use lower power drivers but are also more in volume but less in price. on the regional development. I think Thomas has already mentioned it on the components level. We are seeing some We have a good mix of growth countries, be it Italy for example, be it UK but also beat some overseas countries in China as well as in South Asia. What remains challenging is the DACH territory, especially upfront Germany and with the flat development in Switzerland and in Austria on the illumination side.

That's very helpful. Thank you very much and all the best. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Steiner. And we will move on to the questions from Michael Marschallinger. The stage is yours. Please unmute yourself in the left corner on the microphone.

Yes. Good morning, everybody. Thanks for taking my questions. Firstly, coming back to Patrick's question also on volume and pricing. Did I get this correct that improvement in components now in the first quarter was due to better volumes, pricing still weak, but this should gradually improve then?

No. Maybe if I jump into that, what I wanted to say is we are not really seeing An improvement across the regions in volume, otherwise we would see a better growth in the DFC. We have still a negative development on our top line and that's a result of still extreme prices under pressure. with a rather stable volume and also with the fact that for a lot of applications not the higher value drivers are used but the mid-value drivers because they are good enough to drive these efficiency levels of LEDs.

Okay understood and then our second question could you give us a number for the cost savings you realized on the first quarter and is it possible to split it in the divisions?

in the cost savings based on our program.

Compared to what? To the previous, to the year end or?

Exactly. I think last year you realized it's 10 million. You got another 40, 50 million. And how much of these cost savings you realize now in this first quarter? Is this possible to quantify?

Well, it's very difficult to quantify, but we are, you know, still in the progress of this efficiency program and we expect another significant saving this year, which will be also in the region between 7 and 10 million.

Okay, understood. And Tanja, also lastly from my side, thanks, Mr. Felder, for the great communication and everything in the past and wish you all the best for the future.

Thank you. Maybe just if I may add qualitatively, we have, I think, mentioned that there are a couple of phases in this program. We are currently in the phase that we have built up resources in our global business centers. This is up and running. This last In the next two quarters, we will train these people in the different functions, be it lighting planning, be it in the oil administration, in the finance and Thomas Erath orbit. And once this is ready, we need to see that they are well trained. Then we will shift the competence completely there and that would automatically then result in reduction of cost in high cost countries. And obviously it depends a little bit how fast all these people are up and running. But the target is again, what Thomas said, a high single digit additional savings, what we plan for this year. Thank you.

Thank you very much. And ladies and gentlemen, please be reminded that this is the place for your questions If you'd like to ask a question via audio line, please click on the raise hand button. And if you're dialing in via phone, please use the key combination star key nine to raise your hand and star key six to unmute yourself like Emmanuel Satori did. And this is the stage for you, Mr. Satori.

Hi, everyone. Thank you for the time and good morning. First off, thank you, Mr. Felder, for for all the earnings calls and it was a pleasure to meet you lately as well at the Leiden Building and welcome to Dr. Heiner. I have two questions, please, just to follow up, maybe three. The first one is on gross margin improvement, actually, which is points to 37.4%. Just if you could help us, how much of that improvement should we consider structure versus any benefit that might have arise in Q1? And if I may add here, also, how much of the gross savings are actually dropping through EBIT as well? Thank you. That's the first one.

The gross margin improvement, I think a lot has to do that we are still continuing to aggressively try to save costs on the materials on one side. And here we have made, despite the fact that costs are increasing, Thank you very much. Frantz from China are extremely highly under pressure. I'm pretty sure you have studied their balance sheets. They are deeply negative and that's a result that the whole market has been able to push this price increases through.

With your question regarding savings, Drop into EBIT, our savings are stated gross, as you know. And we have material shifts in our material ratio and we need to increase the prices in order to keep our margin stable. But if you look only at our savings program, I would say the savings coming to the PLNL are below 5 million, but very close to 5 million.

That's very helpful, thank you. Then I had a follow-up on the regional mix. Obviously, Asia and America have grown particularly well in Q1. I'm just trying to go back. So you mentioned Asia was particularly impacted by components. So I'm just trying to understand, is America's performance due to, let's say, a weaker Q1 comparator, or are you seeing any main, let's say, project-led applications such as the data center, sports and infrastructure that could help you grow throughout the year in Americas as well. Thank you.

As you know, we should not over evaluate the Americas and as well as some parts of Asia because in the US our revenue is relatively little compared with the total revenue. That's true for both the components business as well as for the lighting business. But the good news is that we have been able to stabilize the business there. When it comes to Asia, we have a significant growth in both segments. Lighting and Components in China. But when we talk about larger countries, we are very proud on the progress what we do both again in components and lighting on Italy. Also in some of the Eastern European countries, I would name one like Romania, where we have a high double digit and obviously, as we have indicated, we have continued to invest in the Middle East territory despite the war. We have been able to gain traction here and have a growth. But on the other hand, I don't want to hide that especially the DACH territory on components level here, first of all, Germany is remaining extremely weak.

Thank you so much. I just have a quick third one, if I may, on working capital. I think it rose to 22.2% of rolling sales and it contributed to a weaker free cash flow. So I just wanted to get a sense if this is seasonal and should we expect to normalize throughout the year. Thank you.

You are fully right, this is a seasonal effect and this should flat out throughout the year.

Thank you so much and again congratulations.

Thank you very much, Emanuel. And we'll move back to Michael Marschallinger for some follow-up questions.

Yes, thanks. Just a quick follow-up question on the high-performance transformator you talked about in the past with the use case for these data centers. Is there any update you could provide us on this topic or a timeline would be helpful. Thank you.

are on the data center from the components level. Yeah, we are intensively working on the power conversion. It's still too early to communicate, but we are with the key customer having good discussions on progress. All the indicators, what we do have, signalize that we have here a clear differentiation and obviously Between middle of 2027 and end of 2027, we would see the first momentum and then I think Heiner in this case will be able to share this with you. All in all, it's looking very promising.

Okay, sounds promising. Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Maschalinger. And ladies and gentlemen, I will hold the room another moment in case there should be any questions left. And with that, I will wrap up the call with a message coming in in the queue. from Marks & John Webb. Well done, Alfred, for your good work on the streamline of the company, which has enabled Zumtobel to improve profitability despite weekend markets. A positive legacy. Congrats. And with that, we have come to the end of today's earnings call. Thank you very much for your interest in Zumtobel Group. A big thank you also to the management board for your presentation and your time. Should you have any further questions at a later date, ladies and gentlemen, please feel free to contact investor relations Eric Schmiedchen. I wish you all a successful day and handing back over to you, Alfred, once again for your closing remarks.

Yeah, thank you again for listening. Just last statement from my side, please. extend the same support what you did to me also to the new team led by Heiner and Heiner will then conduct together with Thomas the Q2 or the half year call beginning of December. Have a great day. Thank you.