OC Oerlikon Corporation AG

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Ehrlichon's 2021 results presentation. My name is Stefan Gick, Head of Investor Relations, and I have here with me Roland Fischer, CEO, and Philipp Müller, CFO of Ehrlichon. Roland will start the presentation with a business update, then Philipp will highlight the financials and the outlook. We will then take questions in the end. With that, I would like to open up our presentation and hand over to Roland. The floor is yours.

Thanks a lot. Thanks a lot, Stefan. Good afternoon to everyone and welcome to our 2021 results presentation. 2021 was a strong year for our company, a good one. Besides profitable financial growth, we demonstrated technology leadership, executed two accretive acquisitions and further drove sustainability progress to our customers and to our employees. And let's go into some more details on the year with a short summary on page three. Sales of 2.6 billion CHF were up 17% and order intake at 2.8 billion CHF increased by 25% year-over-year. This represents the highest sales and orders since we refocused our business on two divisions in the year 2018. Growth was driven by strong performance in both of our divisions. In service solution, we executed on market recovery of shorter cycle business, demand from general industries, automotive and tooling was robust, impact from supply chain shortages were in line with our expectations. We also saw trends in aviation improving in the second half, at least, of the year. And in polymer processing solutions, we achieved record order intake and sales. And we continue to deliver on our strategic goal to diversify into non-filament and are currently starting filling up order books already for the year 2024. Our group operational EBITDA of 447 million Swiss francs increased by almost 40% compared to last year. This actually represents the highest operational EBITDA since the year of 2015, when drive systems were still part of Erlikon. Looking at our refocused business, the 2021 EBITDA represents a record. Continued cost containment and operating leverage supported margin expansion year over year. Summing up, we as a team have delivered a robust 2021 supported by our solid operational execution. Therefore, we are proposing a dividend of 35 Rappen per share. We will continue to drive profitable growth in the year 2022 and guide for 2.9 billion Swiss franc sales and an improved EBITDA margin of around 17.5%. And all in all, 2021 is a clear proof point that early corn is in a strong shape. And after six years as CEO at Erlikon, I have therefore decided that this is a very good moment to move on. I have focused the company on two divisions. Both have been transformed and are ready to benefit from structural growth drivers in the future. Team Erlikon is well positioned to take advantage of the solid foundation we have put in place in the past years. Early Call will introduce an executive chair model as per July 2022. This will allow for faster decision-making. We will allocate more responsibility and autonomy to the revisions and so that they can better meet the distinct requirements they have. This will strengthen our organizational agility. At the same time, EarlyCoin will strengthen its corporate governance by introducing on a board level a new governance committee in order to ensure adequate control mechanisms. On the next few slides, I will give you a business update before Philip goes into financial details of the year 2021. And now, let's move on to the market update on page four. Our end markets recovered at different speeds in 2021. In polymer processing solutions, we achieved a record oil intake. Demand in the filament market is very strong, driven by the underlying market growth and key players in China continuing their vertical integration. Larger integrated systems combined with our latest technologies save significant energy and our strategic priority for China. We continue to make good progress in our strategic goal to grow our non-filament business. We see strong demand for plant engineering solutions such as polycondensation plants. We also see a positive market development for our BCF technology carpets. especially in the US. The acquisition of InGlass opened up polymer processing markets in automotive and general industries. The integration is well on track and the performance of InGlass is actually better than our assumptions at the time we signed the deal were. Overall, we expect the polymer processing solution division to continue its growth trajectory in 2022 and beyond. Our order books are almost full for 2023, and we begin to build into 2024. In the service solution division, we are operating across the tooling, automotive, aviation, and general industries and markets. The recovery continues to differ by end markets. We achieved combined 80% order growth in 2021. The general industries and markets saw shorter cycle services recovering well. So recovery in general industries is broad-based, including strong demand in luxury, semiconductors, and energy. In automotive and tooling, we saw a strong recovery of shorter cycle business in the first half of the year. However, the second half of the year was impacted by supply chain interruptions due to semiconductor and other commodity shortages. As such, we were indirectly affected by temporary shutdowns of major customers. We do see supply chain interruptions as transitory. The strong demand environment alongside sustainable megatrends give us confidence for underlying medium-term growth. We also see a strong development in forming tools, where we have a common customer base and synergies within glass. And finally, in aviation, sales started to recover in the second half of the year. Aviation remains still substantially below pre-pandemic levels. The initial recovery is mainly driven by demand in MRO, that means service and overhaul. But even on a low level, the beginning of the recovery is positive. It will be a growth driver for Erlikon for some time to come. And in addition to structural growth, this is very positive for us. Looking into 2022, the division is well positioned for growth in tooling, general industry and automotive beyond transitory supply chain interruptions. And so, summing up, we see a strong market environment in both divisions. In service solution, we are closely monitoring and mitigating the impacts of transitory supply chain bottlenecks, which we expect to last until mid 2022. This strong demand environment across our end markets is a very positive indication for medium-term growth. And now let's move on to page 5, where we highlight our strategic priorities. Our strategy to drive profitable growth, extend addressable markets, and gain market share is unchanged. As a result, we are focusing our strategic priorities on growth, diversification, profitability and sustainability. In terms of growth, we continue to drive technology leadership and innovation in 2021. For instance, we launched thin-film coatings for machining of high-performance ceramics. In e-mobility, we are successfully pioneering coating solutions for e-gearing and differential shafts. We also launched coating powders for fuel cell applications, just to mention a few. We diversified our business organically and with M&A in 2021. The acquisition of InGlass opened up adjacent polymer processing markets in automotive and general industries. Our Coeur d'Or acquisition will allow us to leverage our coating technologies into luxury markets. And last but not least, we continue to execute on our organic growth initiatives in non-filament. This led to around 12% organic sales growth in non-filament last year. You can see in our latest sales guidance that we are truly transforming polymer processing solutions into a growth platform. And you might remember, we used to talk about the limitations of the man-made fiber business earlier on. Based on the transformation we have driven in this division, we are now positioned for continued structural growth in 2022 and beyond. And in terms of profitability, we achieved around 260 basis points expansion in operation and BDA margin driven by both divisions. Our ROSI further improved and our balance sheet is solid with a leverage ratio of 0.7 times. And finally, sustainability has been a key priority for Erlikon since many years. While we launched our first sustainability report last year, our starting point from an operational point of view was much earlier at around 2015. At that time, we defined that new products must cover sustainability criteria and reduce emissions. We also started to implement energy management systems at our largest sites. And last but not least, coatings per se, improving the sustainability footprint of our customers. They reduce weight and increase efficiency and lifetime. As such, our solutions have customers to match their own greenhouse gas and energy reduction objectives. Summing up, Team EarlyCoin consistently executed on its strategic priorities. This is driving top and bottom line growth. We focus on top line growth on the next slide. We achieved 17% sales growth in 2021 and are guiding for around 10% growth in the year 2022. Our compound annual sales growth between 15 and 21 amounted to solid 5% per year. Growth at Erlikon is supported equally by both divisions. That is important. As you see on the top left, our product portfolio and service solution is set up to outgrow GDP. Before the global pandemic, the division has been growing with a compound annual sales growth of 5%, which was well above global GDP growth of about 3%. In 2021, we have seen our shorter cycle business recovering from the pandemic and we expect the longer cycle business to recover in 2022. Beyond 2022, we see upside from aviation recovery, market growth and us outperforming the market. Market outperformance is supported by sustainability megatrends, technology leadership, and expansion into new applications, industries, and geographies. On the bottom left, we highlight our growth expectation in polymer processing solutions. In here between 2015 and 2021, the division grew with an 8% compound annual growth rate, which was equally driven by filament and non-filament. This also includes the transition year of 2016. In Filament, Erlecoin is very well positioned as we are the market leader with a broad integrated offering and cutting edge technology. While Filament had a transition year in 2016, we have experienced very strong demands since then. We are currently filling order books in 2023 and 2024. Demand for filament is driven by man-made fiber, outgrowing natural fibers, and the need of customers for more efficient and sustainable machines. In the last few years, we initiated various growth initiatives to diversify our business into non-filament. Non-filament end markets are growing with a mid-single-digit percentage number annually. We are expanding our non-filament offering by addressing adjacent growth and niche markets with innovative, high-quality products. Success stories include our world-leading equipment for the production of nonwoven fabrics, and here we have been growing sales of nonwoven with a compound annual growth of about 30% since 2015. This was supported by the momentum for applications such as wet wipes and filters. Another success example is our increased focus on customer service, where we achieved an 8% compound annual sales growth since 2015. The customer service business is closely linked to the production levels and OPEX decisions of customers. It therefore adds to the robustness of polymer processing solutions. Overall, the Ehrlichon team is well on track to transform the division into a growth platform with market-leading returns. Our target is to reach a diversified 50-50 sales split between filament and non-filament. And we are additionally focusing our R&D on textile polymer recycling, where we do see strong growth potential in the mid to long term. And looking at the right side of the slide, you see that we reached more than 2.6 billion Swiss francs of sales in 2021. We see us well positioned to reach 2.9 billion Swiss franc sales in this year, 2022. Let's move on to the next slide where we focus on profitability. We have strongly improved our profitability compared to pre-pandemic levels. We actually achieved last year the highest operation APDA since the year 2015. This is a solid performance, keeping in mind that 2015 APDA also included our drive system division, which we divested in the meantime. As such, 2021 represents the record APDA of our refocused business. And it is a clear proof point that our strategy of simplifying the company is paying off. As you see at the top left of the slide, we achieved an ABDA margin in service solutions above 2019 levels. This was driven by our structural cost-out program, which we executed in 2020. The performance is even stronger when considering that our 2021 service solution sales have not yet reached the 2019 levels. And hence, we expect further operating leverage driven by the recovery of our longer cycle businesses and deviations. In polymer processing solutions, we steadily improved profitability. This was mainly supported by operating leverage and our in-class acquisition, which yields above group average margins. Adding up both divisions, we have reached a solid 16.9% operational EBITDA margin in the year 2021. This is well above the 15.2% we reached in the year 2019. And we are guiding for an EBITDA margin of around 17.5% in the year 2022, which implies roughly 40% EBITDA growth year over year. And with that, let's focus on capital return, which is also a key strategic priority for us. We have communicated earlier on that we have a clear target to deliver double-digit ROSI on a sustainable basis. Despite 2021 still being a transition year for Service Solutions, we were very close to the 10% when excluding the impact from an M&A. A key action point was that we have further increased our internal focus on managing capital investment and return. We strengthened our capital allocation framework with capital return and growth perspectives representing key investment criteria. Based on defined hurdle rates, we raised the focus on allocating CapEx and R&D investments to high return and growth areas. And this is complemented by introduction of server-based budgeting in order to intensify the internal competition for capital, especially for investments in growth and innovation. We also introduced standardized review processes to better monitor the achievement of investment targets, including capital returns. And last but not least, we introduced ROSI as a key metric in our long-term management intensification program. We are convinced that these measures will help us to position our companies to sustainably generate a double-digit ROSI over time. Upside will also come from recovering end markets and continued cost containment. All in all, our strength and focus on capital return should position us well for profitable growth. Let me conclude the business review with an update on our sustainability progress on the next slide. I'm pleased to see that external agencies recognize our progress in sustainability. we had positive momentum with several rating upgrades in the year 2021. This was partly supported by our improved disclosure related to the first sustainability report. Our internal starting point with sustainability was already back in the year 2015. At that point in time, we started to launch various sustainability initiatives within Erdekon. As a result, our largest production sites, which account for 50% of our total energy consumption, had energy management systems implemented by the end of year 2021. And we will further strive to roll out in 2022. We also launched a project to define the calculation of scope three emissions in 2021. And this will provide us with a base to formulate an action plan for future emission reduction. Other 2021 sustainability highlights were our first internal diversity conference, a global health and safety and environment day, as well as a refreshed code of conduct. And going forward, we have a clear sustainability roadmap for the year 2030. Our ambition is to become climate neutral on Scope 1 and 2. And furthermore, R&D investments in new products must cover ESG criteria. We will provide an update on our roadmap in our refreshed sustainability report, which will be published by the end of March. Besides improving our ESG footprint, we want to help customers to meet their own greenhouse gas and energy reduction objectives. In polymer processing solutions, our new equipment allows for up to 40% energy saving. More than 80% of recycled carpets are produced by employing early corn machines. And furthermore, our flow control solutions enable lightweight materials which are used in immobility. Although important, manmade fibers enables water saving as they are much less resource intensive than natural fibers. And in service solutions, our coatings are improving the sustainability footprint of our customers. They reduce weight and increase efficiency and lifetime. For instance, they can enable two lifetime extension of up to 160 times. They can also extend lifetime of high load immobility components, just as an example. And last but not least, coatings per se improve fuel efficiency in cars and planes by around 3% and 5% respectively. Summing up, both divisions help our customers in reaching their sustainability objectives. As such, we are well positioned to benefit from sustainability megatrends, and this, alongside improving commercial activity and strong operational execution, provides a positive backdrop for our mid-term outlook and profitable growth. Team Erlikon has done a fantastic job in preparing the organization for the next stage of structural growth. With that, I will now hand over to Philipp, who will take you through the financials in much more detail. Thanks a lot, and Philipp, it's yours.

Thank you, Roland. As usual, I will start with group results and then provide more details on the divisions. At the group level, orders were 2.8 billion Swiss francs, up 25%, driven by strong demand in polymer processing solutions and the partial market recovery in surface solutions. 2021 sales were 2.6 billion, up 17%. Both divisions contributed to the sales increase. Our group book-to-bill ratio was 1.1 for the full year. Operational EBITDA was 447 million Swiss francs, a 39% increase versus the prior year. Our margin rate increased by around 260 basis points to 16.9%, driven by operating leverage and tight cost management. With that, let me go through some more details on Surface Solutions. As Roland highlighted, Surface Solutions and markets continue their post-pandemic recovery, albeit at differing rates. 2021 orders were 1.35 billion Swiss francs, up 18%, while sales increased 7% to 1.28 billion Swiss francs. In the fourth quarter, sales increased year over year, despite shortages in the automotive industry and the restocking effects last year. We saw strong demand in general industries. We also saw aviation continuing its recovery in Q4. 2021 operational EBITDA was 230 million Swiss francs, up 30% versus the prior year. This represents around 320 basis points of margin expansion, mainly driven by operating leverage and the benefits of our structural cost reduction program. In the fourth quarter, margins were impacted by negative business mix. These mixed effects were driven by significantly lower revenue in some of our high margin businesses like thin film and PVD solutions. The lack of activity was due to the transitory disruptions of our customer supply chains. We expect these effects to normalize in 2022 as activity in these high margin businesses returns to normal levels. Next on polymer processing solutions. Orders in polymer processing solutions were 1.45 billion Swiss francs. As Roland mentioned, this represents a record order intake for our business and is up 32% versus the prior year. Polymer processing solutions is a growth platform for us. Filament and non-filament are growing. We expect this growth to continue in the future. Record sales of 1.37 billion Swiss francs were up 29%. On the one hand, this was supported by strong organic market demand. On the other hand, InGlass contributed with seven months of revenue and supported our diversification into non-filament. Organically, sales were up 18% at constant exchange rates. Operational EBITDA increased 41% to 213 million Swiss francs. Margins were up 140 basis points to 15.6%, supported by operating leverage, the in-glass acquisition, and cost efficiencies. We have not experienced any significant impact from the supply chain bottlenecks we described, logistics, or power shortages. We continue to manage the situation very closely, and we have various mitigation measures in place in order to successfully deliver on our business plans. With that, let me move on to cash flow. 2021 cash flow from operating activities was 324 million Swiss francs. Networking capital was impacted by the strong sales increase. Certain safety stock, which we built in light of existing supply chain challenges, and by the two acquisitions we executed in June last year. Taxes and capex were in line with our expectations. Altogether, we delivered solid operating free cash flow of just under 200 million Swiss francs. Next, return on capital employed, which is, as you know, the primary compensation component in our long-term incentive plans. Organically, we improved grossly to 9.7%. So we're close to the minimum target we have set ourselves, but not there yet. Including last year's M&A transactions, ROSI was at 7.6%. As you know, this calculation includes the full increase in operating assets, but not the full 12 months of the earnings from the acquisitions yet. ROSI is already above 2019 levels. And as Roland also described, this gives you a strong indication that our improved cost management and highly focused approach to capital allocation are bearing the first fruits. Our clear goal is to reach double-digit ROSI on a sustainable basis. With that, let me move to the balance sheet on the next slide. As per the end of 2021, our company has a solid 34% equity ratio. Our net debt to EBITDA ratio was 0.7. This is in line with our commitment to run the company with a strong balance sheet. The ratio includes the impact of our two acquisitions last year and already shows a solid improvement compared to 1.1 times net leverage, which we had right after completing the two acquisitions. In order to finance these acquisitions, we successfully placed senior unsecured bonds in May 2021 with a total value of 575 million Swiss francs. The interest rates on those bonds range from 0 to 0.8%. And with that, let me conclude 2021 on the next slide before we move on to the outlook. The continued focus on executing our strategy has positioned Erlikon well for profitable and sustainable growth. The company is set up to deliver strong sales growth in both divisions in 2022 and the medium-term future. We are laser-focused on margins and returns. We achieved an operational EBITDA margin of 16.9%, 170 basis points above 2019. We expect further profitability improvements in 2022. ROSI showed solid progress last year, and we're on track to reach our target of double-digit returns. And last but not least, we are delivering on our sustainability targets and helping our customers to reach their objectives. We've positioned the company to benefit from sustainability megatrends. Our profitable and sustainable growth results in the opportunity to pay a stable dividend, execute on M&A, and share buybacks. As Roland mentioned, we are proposing a dividend of 35 Rappen per share, which represents a 3.7% yield on the stock prices for end of 2021. We did execute two accretive acquisitions last year and bought back shares in the amount of 32 million Swiss francs. With that conclusion of 2021, let me move to the 2022 outlook. We expect group sales of around 2.9 billion Swiss francs and group operational EBITDA margin to be approximately 17.5%. Profitable growth will be driven by both divisions. In surface solutions, we are expecting 1.4 to 1.45 billion Swiss francs of sales. The growth is driven by the recovery of our longer cycle business and continued market growth for our short cycle businesses. We foresee a stronger second half of the year, supported by fading impacts from supply chain shortages. We are focused on continued margin improvement, and for 2022, we expect EBITDA margins to be between 18.5 and 19.5%. The improvement is driven by operating leverage and continued cost efficiencies. In polymer processing solutions, we expect sales of around 1.5 billion Swiss francs. The growth is supported by strong momentum in filament and non-filament. InGlass is also contributing, as it will be consolidated for a full 12 months. You can see in our latest sales guidance that we're truly transforming polymer processing solutions into a growth platform. Based on the transformation we have driven in this division since 2017, we are now positioned for continued structural growth in 2022 and the future. For the year 2022, we expect EBITDA margins in polymer processing solutions to be around 16%. Now, before we hand it over to Q&A, I would also like to make an early announcement at this point. We plan to host Capital Markets Day in May of this year. We will use that opportunity to deepen the understanding of early cons businesses and their growth drivers. We also want to extend that dialogue between the investor community and our divisional leadership team. And naturally, you will receive additional details on timing and logistics of this event in due course. With that, let me hand it over to Stefan for Q&A.

Thank you, Roland. Thank you, Philipp, for the presentation. Now it is time for Q&A. For investors participating via phone, please dial the number shown in the webcast and press star and one. We will now start with questions in the room. Please first introduce yourself and the institute you're representing. Please talk into the microphone.

Yes, thank you, Michael von Tobel. Three questions. The first one would be, could you comment on the intrinsic growth of InGlass and CURDOR and how much they grew actually independently of Ehrlichon? And the second question is, can you mention the return on capital employed targets that you have in the long-term incentive plans for management? And the third question would be if you could comment on the impact of rising energy costs and rising raw material costs. Thank you.

I'll maybe start with the – I think the intrinsic growth of the both acquisitions is similar. We said mid-single-digit growth actually in line with the overall group. I think Cordor is probably closer to high single-digit growth just given the underlying market growth of the luxury goods and market. And then that is obviously separate from how much they contributed in terms of growth for the year. That was not your question, Michael, right? ROSI target, you would have seen that in our annual statements, 10%. Our remuneration is aligned with that target. And then on the last one, I think it's probably a bigger one, but maybe start on that.

I think you touched the material topic and the labor topic. And here we have a mixed picture. On the one hand side, we are in a lucky position to have a part of our business, especially in the material area, which is subject to a surcharge model. That means we are handing over the fluctuation in material price to our customers. By the way, it works in both directions, right? On the other hand side, we do see this effect, yes, and we play it smart. We work on the pricing element, make use of the situation in favor for us, but to a certain extent, we are facing material increases, especially in those areas where we don't have the surcharge effect and where we didn't hedge, for instance, elements like energy. Right.

For the next year, we're expecting sort of what we're able to transition on to customers in terms of pricing and the input inflation we're seeing across the board, not just energy, but everything we're seeing to be similar, but also be able to generate a few basis points, maybe 50 basis points of positive value gap So I think that gives you an indication. It's not huge amounts that we're talking about, but that's basically how we're trying to offset it.

Yes. Good afternoon. Just coming back on this margin, maybe you have this slide on the detailed slide on the guidance. And the margin target on a surface solution for next year is a bit wide, not super wide, but what should happen for you to reach or undercut the bottom? Or what should happen for you to hit or surpass the top range? That would be the first question.

I think a percentage point is probably not that big of a driver. I think the biggest factor that you're going to see in the business for next year is going to be the mix. We have a couple of different mix drivers. As you know, Alessandro, it's both the business lines and the products, but it's also a geographical mix. And so I think, you know, to the extent that the higher margin businesses are performing better, we're going to be towards the higher end of the margin range and vice versa. Very importantly, I don't think operationally underneath that there's any difference. I don't think we're going to do anything different in terms of structural cost or in terms of price. So I really think it's just a business mix question.

Great. And if I can stay on the business mix, maybe then on the materials, let's say what belonged to Medco before. Can you give an indication how they are faring today? I don't know, maybe A-level.

how they're faring. No, I mean, as you know, we don't disclose the margins at the subdivisional level. The materials business, as you know, has some parts that are highly differentiated, very specialized and advanced materials. It also has some parts of the portfolio that are less differentiated. Overall, you can think about the materials business as being not quite at the average margin of the division. But I think we're obviously working on a number of different plans to also advance that. We're restructuring the product portfolio, which we have in our materials business. basically discontinuing less profitable products. And so I think it's a material and important business for us.

But as far as I know, we are pretty far from the rest. So is it possible at all to reach the average on that side of the business?

Probably excluding additive, right? I think additive is a completely separate topic. But I think on the materials business, absolutely. I think there is, on the abradable side, there are on the ceramic side and so on, there's a very differentiated set of products that we have. I think it's possible.

Can I have one last one? Just come back to this 10% target would have been my question as well. And I have to say I was a little bit disappointed when I heard it. It seems a little bit low, if you ask me. Shouldn't it be like 15%?

I mean, or is it just look, I think it's you obviously set the target always for the next three years. Right. And I think from where we're coming from, you know, the right now set for the next three years to set a 15 percent target. I think where the you know, the transformation is really one that happens over time as you work more efficiently with the capital that you employ, employ. you know, is maybe also not the right form of incentivization, but clearly over time you would expect to see that target increasing.

But if you take your numbers, 9.7% for 2021, I mean, if you make a pro forma calculation, including corridor and in-glass for the full year, you are clearly above 10% already now.

No, I think, like we said, in the current year, it would have been 9.7%, excluding the impact from those.

It's already the performer calculation.

Correct.

Ah, okay. Well, let's say you're there.

No, look, I mean, I think it's very clearly we're not there. We're also internally holding us to that, and I think our standard, I think we've said this a couple of times, is really to deliver double-digit ROSI on a sustainable basis.

That means not only in good years.

The intention is really to be sustainable in a double-digit range, also in less good years, right? So we are on our way towards this target, and 2021 was already reasonably good, but not where we want and will be in future.

Thank you.

Hello, here's Sebastian from UBS. First one on polymer processing. You mentioned in your slide deck that you were not really impacted by supply chain constraints, logistics, etc. there, not year-to-date and also not 2021. I was just wondering what is your expectation there for the full year of 2021? That would be my first question. The second one would be on the sales guidance. If I was looking in the past at your sales guidance, I felt that there is some certain level of conservatism being built in. I was wondering how much sort of level of conservatism you see at your current guidance for 2021 on the group sales. That would be my second question. And then the last one, it's a follow-up question to one of my predecessors. How much of your business has no surcharge mechanisms been on the operational side included?

Let's start with the supply chain topic. I think, you know, we are facing the challenges everybody is facing. So semiconductor is just one buzzword. And here it's more, you know, we are more affected on the OPP side. It's a headache, but we are able to manage it, including shipping equipment without inverter on a vessel, and then at a later point of time, a few weeks later, send the inverters via air freight. That means it's a logistical headache. It's additional work. There is a certain amount of additional cost here. But knocking on wood so far, it's doable, right? And all the rest is minor issues. So that's from today's perspective how we see it, and we expect that at least these supply chain topics are going to fade out in the second half of the year. That means we will see it in Q1. We see it in Q1. We expect it to a certain extent in Q2. But then we expect the topic to be better. I think the sales guidance, when you see it or perceive it as conservative, yeah, it... i have a slightly different view right if we did a comprehensive evaluation of the markets what we expect when it comes you know in our different to our different business lines and what we showed here is clearly above the market growth and that makes us confident that we can do that and you know the 10 percent indicated or guided, I think is a reasonable value.

I would also say, you know, I think conservatives, I think we've always been, you know, set the external expectations in a way where we feel confident that we can really fulfill those, even if smaller adverse external events are happening. And so I think that's the same thing this time again. We feel very confident with the sales guidance that we're giving for both divisions. And I think, importantly, to Roland's point, we also feel like we're, you know, what we're flagging here is quite significantly ahead of where we see sort of immediate competitors performing. So... And your third question was a little bit, so what part of the business does not have a surcharge mechanism? The surcharge mechanism is really only relevant in the materials business within Surface Solutions. Think about that as being roughly 20% of the Surface Solutions portfolio. In large parts of the rest of Surface Solutions, the most important part cost input is kind of labor. And so naturally, you know, a surcharge mechanism wouldn't make sense. It's really just in that part of the business. In all other parts of our company, it's really more indirect that we're, you know, working on pricing with our customers wherever we can and thereby offsetting whatever and more than offsetting whatever we're seeing in terms of input cost inflation.

Good afternoon. Edward Rivers at KB. Just a very short question. I understand you don't want to give numbers about that, but could you give a quick brush up of what's happening at the additive manufacturing segment and if this is still a drag on the profitability? Thank you.

Yeah, I mean, I think not the specific numbers. I'll let you give the operational update. But I think additive, we said at the beginning of last year that we're expecting it to be about 150 bits dilutive. We came in right at that point. We're expecting to be less dilutive in the future. And I think strategically nothing's changed.

Not strategically, but what we see on the industrialization side, additive is becoming a normal, in brackets, a normal business. Today we talk about, you know, water intakes contracts in the space area of millions. in the subsea oil and gas application of millions or even in the defense business. That means we are obviously, we have reached a stage where we still have some smaller prototyping applications in order to make use of the speed and the capability of this technology on the one hand side. But on the other hand side, there are, and this is not a project to be worked on. I'm talking about contracts which are right now being delivered, have been delivered already. It's becoming a normal business.

Christian Adenholz-Dievel, on your 10% guidance, how much is volume, how much is pricing?

We're expecting, we're doing it old school. We are expecting sort of low to mid-single digit price growth in polymer processing solutions and probably closer to mid-single digit price growth in surface solutions. And so when you put it all together, it's probably in the 3% to 4%. price growth that we're expecting for the total group, and then the rest really being the market.

And then the situation with your major shareholder. I mean, do you have already an assessment? What does it mean, the current situation? I mean, does he still have every freedom he has, or do we already have a type of Sulzer situation where he does not receive dividends from you anymore? Does he cannot sell his stake or reduce his stake? What's your view on that?

I think nothing has changed here. We are in the same situation since 2018. And the sheer fact is very simple. We as Erlikon are not on a sanction list, and our shareholder leverage is not on a sanction list. And even for the person you mentioned, to our understanding and what we know, also nothing has changed. I think the problem is actually a different one. We are facing a brutal situation, having a war in Europe, and not knowing what will be the outcome. And that is concerning. Thank you.

further questions in the room. Then we now move to questions from the phone. Operator, can you please connect?

The first question from the telephone comes from the line of Christian Obst with Badr Helvia. Please go ahead, sir. Yes, hello. Thank you for taking the question. Two more strategic ones. One is on polymer processing, the current strategy. Is there any thought of divestment currently in the board of directors or is diversification and growth the new strategy for all the strategy for polymer processing? And do you have any indication that the filament cycle might end? This is the first question. The second one is you have streamlined the organization and entire surface solutions. Are you fine with the current structure here? And the third one and the last one is a little bit on, you added approximately 400 million on intangible assets, of which 130 million is other immaterial assets. Can you elaborate a little bit on that? And do you see any kind of risk on that kind of goodwill? Because the increase of PPA is only 16 million while you added 400 million on intangibles. Thank you.

I take the first one, then you take the last one. OPP divestment, clear, no. We don't consider that. as we didn't do that in the past. And we do feel extremely comfortable with this business because we have been able to develop additional adjacent market segments. And you all know that the traditional filament business was in the range between 500 million and 1 billion. And today we talk about 1.5 billion business. And that is amazing. This is great. And not only the volume is growing, but also the profitability is growing. And from that perspective, clear positioning, this is core today. And the filament cycle is not foreseeable. I indicated it, or I was open and clear that right now, The team is working on contracts with delivery dates into 2024, to be more specific. For the filament business, 2022, we are fully booked. 2023, we are almost full. We always keep a small capacity for short-term requests and to be flexible to serve customers maybe for a special fee. And we are filling up 2024. And from that perspective, this is an extremely positive market environment driven by the consolidation of the Chinese, the main Chinese customers here. And the OSS structure, the question was,

Mine with the structure now, and I think in terms of cost standpoint, yes, absolutely. I think we've performed the cost actions that we had to take. As you know, we have really changed the setup of the division and how we approach the market to a much more regional structure, which we expect will give us significant advantages both from a market standpoint adoption standpoint, but also from a continued cost basis standpoint. And then your last question was around the intangible assets. You're right. The increase from last year was obviously driven by the acquisitions, predominantly by the InGlass acquisition. I think the split between Goodwill and other intangible assets was is obviously based on our own evaluation but also an externally confirmed valuation of what the different assets are that we have acquired. I think the split between those was quite customary. We're depreciating, we're amortizing those that are not goodwill, and goodwill remains on the books. And, no, we don't see any impairment risk at all. You know, as Roland mentioned, especially the InGlass acquisition is – performing better than our expectations. And we see not just in the current year but also in the future that this acquisition will be very, very successful for us.

Okay. Thank you for these answers. I have one additional. It's concerning the redefinition, I would say, of the role of the CEO. So going forward, who will decide for any kind of M&A? And what is the role of the, I would say, the new holding, more or less? And last but not least, of course, Roland, all the best for your future. Thank you.

I think you raised two questions. I think maybe start with myself. Based on what you hear today, you share, hopefully, my view that Erlicon is in a pretty good shape, and the financials, the figures 2021 are good, and it's not a one-day fly. We are, you know, we have achieved a lot the last few years, repositioned the company, and I believe Erlicon is very positioned for the coming years, and that's the right moment. to think about that, and on top, it's the sheer fact that I'm going to turn 60 in August this year. And at a certain point of time, the question comes up and what to do, and in total, I think it's the right moment. And then, We discussed it heavily internally how to solve it. Just look for a successor or go a different way. And what we are proposing is to replace the current traditional system or model of a board of directors, which per definition is in charge for the strategy of a company. This is the Swiss governance, right? And a CEO model where we today, yes, we have an executive committee, but at the end, the decision is with me. And we are discussing a lot, but the final decision is with me. In future, it will be different. We will have a model where a lot of power will be transferred to the divisions, to make the divisions more independent and giving more power and responsibility to the divisions. And the remaining overarching topics relevant for the group will be covered by the executive committee, which is not an advisory board or executive committee, but has more power and will decide. not only the CEO. And then on top of that, in order to fulfill the Swiss governance, there will be a lead director in the board of directors, an independent one, and a new governance committee which has the pure and only duty and job to control and to check that the balance of power here is maintained. And why we are doing that? We believe that, you know, the... Two divisions, both divisions, being both on a strong growth trajectory and serving more or less independent markets, it's a smart move to make them faster, more agile, and make them more reactive and responsive into this difficult, challenging market environment. And this is not coming out of the blue. You might recall that when we installed the OSS division CO, it was in 20 when Markus joined. That was, you know, the first step, which didn't tell you the whole story. Then we introduced, by 1st of January, the regional organization for the OSS division, putting P&I responsibility away from, well, into the regional organization. into the countries, key countries, and not focusing everything in the headquarter here in Switzerland. And now this is the last logical move to complete the game. Does it help?

Okay. Thank you. Yeah, very much. Thank you very much for this explanation and all the best.

There are no more questions from the telephone.

Great. Thank you, everybody. This concludes today's presentation. We will be on Roadshow next week. Do not hesitate to contact us if you would like to participate. Thank you for your attention today, and goodbye.