Accsys Technologies PLC

Welcome everyone to Axis Technologies PLC Interim Results Presentation for the six months ended September 30th, 2025. Today's speakers are Dr. Jelena Arcek Van Os, Chief Executive Officer of Axis Technologies and Samit Vora, the company's Chief Financial Officer. Jelena and Sam will take you through an overview of the business and financial performance for the year before we open the floor to questions. Please note that we will prioritize in questions from analysts. We will be showing some video during the presentation. You have the option to click on the enlarge button to make the video larger. With this, I would like to pass over to our speakers.

Good morning, everybody, and welcome to AXIS interim results presentation for the six months ended September 30th, 2025. I am very pleased to report that we have delivered an excellent first half with a significant improvement in profitability. Our growth across all regions is beating the underlying market trends, showing our focus strategy is effective and that the company is delivering on its promises. Akoya has seen strong growth across its sales regions with a 22% increase in total sales volumes, gaining market share from competitive and alternative materials. Our premium market positioning is proving resilient against continuing macroeconomic challenges. Group revenues increased by 23% on a like-for-like basis compared to the prior year. This comparison adjusts for the transfer of North American sales from the group to Akoya USA, our joint venture with Eastman Chemicals. after it commenced operations toward the end of 8.1 last year. Akoya USA has had an excellent 8.1 performance. It has shown rapid volume growth with North American sales up 61% and positive momentum throughout the period. This demonstrates the strength of our technology, the Akoya brand, and our customer relationships in the sizable North American market. Joint Venture reported close to breakeven EBITDA for 8-1. This translates to Axis Joint Venture Equity Accounted modest EBITDA loss of 0.3 million. This marks substantial progress compared to the equity accounted losses of 4.3 million last year, and we are all excited about what's to come. Axis maintained gross margin above our target of 30%, maintaining pricing discipline. We also continue to maintain cost discipline and have retained 2.3 million in benefits from the business transformation program that we began in FY24. We increased adjusted EBITDA for the half year by 160% to 10.4 million. This is just slightly lower than the 10.8 million we reported for the full financial year 2025. With our EBITDA margin at 11.6%, Axis is almost at the level of our phase one focus strategy target. Crucially, we have made solid progress on the leveraging the balance sheet, a key strategic priority. Net depth has decreased by 2.8 million since 31st March 2025, driven by improved operating cash flow and we have improved our leverage ratio from 2.5 times to 2.1 times at September 30th, 2025. During the period, we achieved operating cash flow of 8 million euros. In October 2025, outside of this reporting period, we successfully negotiated new improved terms for financing our debt with ABN AMRO and HSBC. This refinancing strengthens our capital structure and further de-risks our profile, positioning us to execute our strategy with greater confidence. Our good performance is a clear signal of our continuous progress. Access is delivering on its commitments and is laying a solid foundation for further growth. I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the entire team across Access and Nakoya USA as well as our customers and partners. Thank you for your dedication. Your efforts continue to drive our success and position us very well for the future. We are progressing our focus strategy, transforming Axis into a fundamentally strong, operationally efficient, customer-centric, united, safe, and sustainable business. Together, these efforts are creating a strong and lasting platform for growth. Compared to the first half last year, we have significantly de-risked the company, having no exposure to large unfinished CapEx projects, and significantly improved financial performance. The company now operates three production sites, Arnhem, Barrie, and the Akoya USA, and has secured future growth funding on improved terms with the extended maturity to October 2029. We are operationally more efficient, with like-for-like gross margin improvement of 1.1% compared to the prior period. Driven by efficiency measures, amongst them improved utilization of acetic anhydride in production. In addition, we have retained 2.3 million euros of benefits from the business transformation program. As a growth company, we nevertheless continue to invest in volume expansion. We are investing in a new acetyl storage in Arnhem and have more than doubled aqua color capacity in Bari from six to 14,000 cubic meters. Axis aligns all its initiatives, investments, and growth plans around maximizing customer value. With our fantastic products, we have customer centricity at our core and we continue expanding ACOIA availability, adding three new distribution partners in the period, and ACOIA projects continue winning awards, like a recent DNA Paris Design 2025 Award for Casa Angra Coastal Home in Brazil. ACOIA is gaining market share globally, despite relatively soft overall market sentiment in the building material industry. An organization is only as strong as its talent. We are strengthening our workforce across sites through ongoing investment in revenue-generating commercial headcount and in strengthening our site teams. Last, but certainly not least, in the first half, we invested in health and safety and environment, improving working conditions in our stocker hall in Arnhem. We also established our sustainability strategy, staying true to our purpose and values, and reaffirmed our commitment to building a better, more sustainable future. Access Care's sustainability plan introduced our first decarbonization commitments and targets, enhancing the already strong sustainability credentials of our products and our business. Before I hand over to Sam to discuss our financials, I wanted to share a short video of one of our project highlights from this period. Akkoja being used for the new roof and public space at the landmark Nimo Museum building in Amsterdam.

We're standing on the roof of the Nemo Science Museum, in the centre of Amsterdam. It's an incredibly special building, beautifully designed by Renzo Piano. It's on top of the egg tunnel, in the middle of the water. It was actually all concrete. To restore the leaking roof, everything had to be removed. And then we thought, if you do such a big operation, let's see how we can make it even better. We chose acoya because it is very sustainable. That is the advantage of this wood. In the place where normally only one hardwood tree grows, you can grow five of these trees. This makes it much better for the environment. We had the proof that it worked, because on the slope next to it it is in the water. If it can be in the water there, then we know for sure that it will also work on our roof. It works very well, so everything fits together very well. We also had a very good builder, I have to say. We were actually attended to by Renzo Piano himself. And he thought it was a very interesting product. People really like it. It's a roof that's going to get more and more beautiful. We had the municipality here at the opening. They think it's a very added value in Amsterdam. It is also accessible to the public. In the future, we hope to make the roof even more beautiful by using the benches in Akkoja. It's a pity that you have so many different types of wood on the roof, while it is much more beautiful to do it all uniformly.

A truly remarkable project. Thank you, Jelena. Over the next few slides, I'm going to talk you through the financial results for the half year in more detail. This slide summarizes the strong financial performance for the first half of the financial year. I'll go into more detail on the financial performance in the next couple of slides, but highlighting some of them now. Group sales volumes were up 1% to 30,575 cubic meters compared to the prior period. However, when you exclude the 3,802 cubic meters of sales made by the group to North America in the prior period before the Accoya USA joint venture commenced operations, the group sales volumes were up by 15% with strong demand in all regions. Total sales volumes, which includes all of the sales volumes from the JV and more clearly global demand for Akoya increased by 22% to 38,618 cubic meters, with 8,043 cubic meters coming from the JV. Group revenue increased by 5% to 76.1 million euros for the first half of the year. However, like-for-like revenue, which adjusts for the Group North America sales made in the prior periods, increased by 23% year-on-year. Aggregated revenue, which includes 60% of the revenue of the JV, was up 21% to €89.9 million. Gross profit was €1 million higher than the prior period at €23.2 million, and the gross profit margin remained above our target level of 30%. Underlying EBITDA, which excludes the results of the joint venture, increased by 29% to €10.7 million, compared to $8.3 million in the prior period, with a 260 basis points increase in the underlying EBITDA margin to 14.1%. This reflects a strong sales volume and revenue growth, maintaining a gross margin above 30% and the tight cost control discipline we have over operating costs. It was really pleasing to see that the AccorUSA JV was close to EBITDA break-even for the first half of the year, compared to a loss of €4.3 million in the prior period. Sales are accelerating in North America, and we expect the joint venture to be EBITDA positive for the financial year. Adjusted EBITDA, our main profitability performance measure, was up by 160% to €10.4 million, with an impressive 620 basis points increase in the margin to 11.6%, which is just below the target that we set for the end of Phase 1 of our 10.4 million adjusted EBITDA is also slightly lower than the 10.8 million that we reported for the whole of the last financial year. Net debt at 30th of September 2025 stood at 39.8 million euros, lower than the prior period and the figure at the end of March 2025. The leverage ratio improved to 2.1 times. I'll discuss the changes in revenue, profitability and net debt in more detail in the coming slides. Going into more detail on our revenue performance for the year. As I previously mentioned, group revenue increased by 5% to 76.1 million. In the prior period, excluding the 10.3 million of revenue from sales made to North America before the joint venture started operations, like-for-like revenue growth was 23%. The sales growth we've seen in H1 across all regions has fully replaced the North America volumes transferred to the JV. Despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, we have maintained strong pricing discipline with a 1.7% increase in average Akoya sales price for the period. As Jelena previously mentioned, we doubled capacity in our Barry colouring facility during the period due to increased demand for our colour products. We saw a favourable product mix effect from this, with Akoya Colour now making up a higher proportion of group sales volumes than the prior period. Akoya Colour also undertakes tolling for the JV, and sales in the period increased by €2.8 million from this. Licency and royalty income from the JV was €1.6 million higher than the prior period, as the group receives a royalty based on sales made by the JV. The final licensee payment was also received during the period, following successful completion of the performances of the Kingsport plant, thereby granting exclusivity for the North American market to the joint venture. Other represents trichoid panel sales and sales of acetic acid, which are broadly in line with the prior period. Aggregated revenue, which includes 60% of the joint venture's revenue, increased by 21% to 89.9 million. On a constant currency basis, aggregated revenue grew by 23%, given the weakness of the US dollar against the euro. On the face of it, the gross margin decreased by 20 basis points to 30.5% for the period, However, the prior period includes sales that were made to North America prior to the joint venture commencing operations. These sales amounted to 3,802 cubic metres, which represented 13% of group sales volume in the prior period. They contributed €4 million of gross margin in the prior period and €2.9 million of EBITDA, as the average sales price in North America is higher than all other regions. Therefore, a more representative way to look at gross margin progression in the first half of this financial year is to exclude the €4 million from the comparator, resulting in the like-for-like gross margin improving by €5 million to €23.2 million and 110 basis points to 30.5%. This €4 million gross margin reduction has been offset by sales volume growth, favourable sales makes, and higher average sales price from other regions, together with the receipt of royalties and license fees from the joint venture. Our main production costs relate to raw materials spent on raw wood and net acetyls. Raw wood costs are in line with the prior period, as higher appearance grade raw wood costs have been offset by lower wood chip grade costs. We saw an improvement in gross margin arising on net acetyls process, changing the supply mix and favourable effects as the US dollar weakens against the euro. The increase in other costs reflects the investment in talent and headcount in operations to support sales growth, the effect of the annual salary increase and higher inventory handling costs. The gross margin at 30.5% continues to remain above our strategic level of 30%. This slide shows the adjusted EBITDA progression during the year, reflecting the strong financial performance. From an overall perspective, we saw a 160% increase in adjusted EBITDA from €4 million to €10.4 million, and a 620 basis points increase in the adjusted EBITDA margin to 11.6%. This is already very close to the 12% target that we set for the end of Phase 1 of our focus strategy. and it's very encouraging to see. The gross margin benefit to EBITDA amounted to €1 million, or €5 million on a life-or-life basis, and we tightly controlled operating costs, which only increased by €0.2 million compared to the prior period. €2.3 million of the benefits from the business transformation programme in FY24 have been retained, even after the investments we've made in sales and marketing and operational headcount and strengthening local management teams in key areas. There are no further costs associated with Hull after the business was placed into liquidation in December 2024. The joint venture is close to EBITDA breakeven for the period, with our 60% share of the EBITDA loss amounting to only 0.3 million as the Kingsport plant ramps up with accelerating North American sales growth. This is an improvement of 4 million in the prior period. From a segmental perspective, EBITDA for Mark Akoya's segment increased from €10.7 million to €12.7 million, with a healthy margin of 16.7%, up from 14.8% in the prior period. This growth is primarily due to the strong sales growth, the improvement in gross margin, and tight cost control discipline on operating costs. Corporate costs amounted to €2 million and were €0.4 million lower than the prior period. Therefore, underlying EBITDA, excluding the joint venture, increased by 28% from €8.3 million to €10.7 million. The margin improved by 260 basis points to 14.1%, reflecting the strong underlying profitability of the group. As I mentioned before, adjusted EBITDA increased by 160% from €4 million to €10.4 million. This slide shows the evolution of net debt during the year. Net debt at the end of September 2025 stood at 39.8 million, a decrease of 2.8 million compared to the start of the financial year. Debt reduction and deleverage in the balance sheet remains a key priority for us, and net leverage reduced from 2.5 times to 2.1 times at the end of September 2025. We experienced an increase in net working capital of 4.2 million in the period. which is primarily related to higher inventory levels. This increase in inventory was planned to ensure product availability to support strong demand and customer service, as well as building up inventory ahead of the annual maintenance stock, which took place in Arnhem in October. Accordingly, operating cash flow conversion was 75% in line with our phase one target. Tight working capital management remains a key area of focus for us. CAPEX was €2.9 million during the period, and this included expansionary growth CAPEX on increasing our acetal storage and making health, safety and environmental improvements in the stacker hall in Arnhem. Interest paid and accrued amounted to €2.3 million, of which €1.1 million relates to accrued interest on the convertible loan notes. Tax received was €0.7 million in respect of previous tax years. We recently completed the refinancing of our debt facility with a new 55 million euro facility with ABN AMRO and HSBC on improved financial terms. The refinancing strengthens our capital structure, enhances financial flexibility, and further de-rips our profile, positioning us to execute our focus strategy and growth plans with greater confidence and resilience. The refinancing demonstrates continued strong support from ABN AMRO, and we are delighted to partner with HSBC, a bank of significant strength and reputation. So in summary, we've had an excellent first half of the year with a significant improvement in profitability. We saw strong total sales volume growth of 22% with accelerating sales in North America, which increased by 61%. The joint venture was close to break even EBITDA, in H1. Adjusted EBITDA was 10.4 million euros with a 11.6% margin close to our phase one target of 12%. We will continue to focus on deleveraging the balance sheet with net leverage decreasing to 2.1 times. And the recently completed refinancing strengthens our capital structure and enhances financial flexibility on improved terms. I'd like to now hand you back to Jelena, who will take you through the business review.

Thank you, Sam. In January 2025, we set out our focus strategy, which will be delivered in three phases. The first phase, FY27, focuses on resetting operationally, maximizing returns and cash flow from our existing operations, and reinforcing the fundamentals, including reducing the debt and optimizing our capital structure. Our half-year results demonstrate good progress against our phase one targets. Our strong sales growth put us on a good trajectory to meet run rate target of 100,000 cubic meters by the end of FY27. We have also significantly improved profitability, moving from 5.4% in adjusted EBITDA margin from last year to 11.6%. we are very close to our adjusted EBITDA margin target of 12%. We are also in line with our operating cash flow conversion at 75%. Importantly, we are deleveraging and de-risking the business, placing the company in a stronger position for growth. Our successful October refinancing gives us more favorable payment terms with a reduction in quarterly repayments going forward. Global demand for our products has been strong. We had outstanding growth in the US, which I will provide more details on in the coming slides. We saw very good growth in our key European markets, despite continued macroeconomic uncertainty. The European market landscape reflects a mix of cautious recovery signals and ongoing challenges across key regions, shaped by economic pressures, regulatory challenges, and involving demand in the construction and timber industries. Europe grew 22% in the reporting period. We saw growth in Germany, driven primarily by strong demand in the outdoor living market. High energy costs and slowing housing permits weigh on German outlook, but commercial and renovation segments remain more resilient. European growth was also supported by a good performance in Benelux, where we had positive momentum in Belgium after onboarding a recent distributor. Government initiatives for energy-efficient building materials continues to favor sustainable timber products. We achieved 40% growth in the UK and Ireland, our most established market, as we continue to build our strong reputation for joinery applications and gain more facade specifications. The software market in the UK remains weak, with subdued import volumes and merchants limiting stock positions pending market clarity with the UK budget approaching. The UK budget is being announced tomorrow with uncertainty of governmental measures to address the fiscal gap that is estimated between 20 and 50 billion pounds. Across the rest of the world, we saw 28% growth with bright spots in Australia and New Zealand as our partnerships with our distributors continue to develop and expand our presence. ACOIA for Trecoia sales grew at a more moderate pace, with sales waiting towards the start of the period. Finally, we will be launching a new finished decking product in the second half with a phased market rollout. This will be the first time that we offer a finished product to the market and is an exciting new development for Axis. We also continue to see ACOIA specified for incredible projects worldwide. The startup of Akoya USA last year was a significant milestone for Axis, and I am very proud to share that it has got off to an excellent start. In North America, the joint venture grew sales volumes by an impressive 61%, with sales acceleration across the period driven predominantly by our existing distributors, many of whom we have a longstanding relationship with. The local availability and production provide them with the confidence to run faster. While a 10% tariff was announced in October on imported lumber, we have taken proactive steps to manage the impact of this going forward. Let's look at the more detail at the U.S. market developments. Our sales in the U.S. are outpacing overall market growth, allowing us to gain share from competitors. With forecasts indicating strong and sustained demand for modified wood over alternative materials, we are confident that Akoya USA will continue to expand its presence in the growing market. Our main drivers in the U.S. are cladding and decking. These markets both have strong growth rates for modified wood with double-digit growth forecasts for decking. Traditional timber products are seeing sharp declines in demand as customers opt for higher performance modified and engineered solutions. Furthermore, increased regulation on the import of hardwoods Ipe and Kumaro from Brazil has had a positive benefit for ACOIA in the USA, and it has limited the supply of those woods. As you can see in the table, the hardwood market for Deccan is expected to contract. Our growth in the U.S. predominantly came from our existing distributors. In addition, we have added three new distributors in the period, including one of the largest in the U.S., Hardwood Specialty Products, GMX Group, a wholesale distributor with a focus on retail customer, and our first Mexican direct distributor, Clean Eye, and expect to see these new channels contribute strongly in H2. We continue to strengthen our relationship both with the direct distributors and our approved manufacturing partners. Our products are extremely well regarded in the marketplace as this testimonial from Delta Meal Works featuring the owner and the CEO, Robbie Davis, and a Baker Donnelly regional sales manager, one of our longstanding Akoya manufacturing customers testifies.

Why do we like Akoya? Nothing performs as well as it. It's really, really consistent as far as its dimensions and how it holds up. Everybody calls me and says, oh, where I live is the harshest climate. It's terrible. Nothing holds up here. Every time somebody says that to me, I reach for Akoya, because I know it's going to let me sleep better at night. It's a blonde wood, so it's a great blank canvas. We weren't able to offer as many finishes on Akoya than we can on anything else. The other thing that makes this so sustainable is the tree that they used to make this product can regrow about twice, while this piece of wood is still under warranty. So it's just an amazingly renewable product, and... is just year after year our best best seller by far.

This fantastic Delta video highlights value that resonates strongly with us. Quality, performance and the long term reliability. These principles are at the core of how we strive to build and maintain our customer relationship. And they are something I'm incredibly proud of. A big part of our focus strategy is to maximize the returns from our existing assets, driving sustainable, profitable growth from our core sites in Arnhem and Bari. During this period, we have invested 2.5 million euros in Arnhem to expand our asset storage capacity. From December 2025 onwards, we will gain improved logistical flexibility and increased uptime, enabling us to complete more batches per month. Furthermore, our logistical costs will reduce as we can now unload more acetyls during the week rather than in the weekend. On top of that, we are less vulnerable to interruptions in the chemical supply chain. In Bari, in response to strong demand for aqua color globally, we have taken steps to double our capacity. This includes introducing a second shift, expanding our own storage capacity and outsourcing some external drying. This builds on the planning facilities we added last December to be able to produce finished decking boards. We expect Akoya Color and finished decking boards to continue to be important demand drivers. Growth for this product range, including volume sold out to the joint venture, showed an increase of 56% year-on-year. We are very proud today to launch Axis Cares, our first sustainability plan, which aims to deliver long-term value from all of our stakeholders. The plan highlights our commitments across four key pillars, people, planet, profit, and governance. It introduces our first decarbonization commitments and targets, further enhancing the already strong sustainability credentials of our products and our business. Finally, Wrapping up today's messaging, we have delivered a strong H1, and we entered the second half of the year from a position of strength. Our trading remains robust going into H2, supported by sustained global demand for our premium differentiated products. We expect continued sales acceleration in North America, and notwithstanding the impact of the recently announced tariffs, we expect the joint venture to be every positive for the financial year. While noting continuous macroeconomic challenges, the board is confident the company will continue to deliver further growth and profitability improvements for the year ahead, consistent with expectations and to make further progress towards our strategic targets. Looking ahead, we remain confident in the long-term potential of our technology and strategy. We have a clear roadmap, market-leading products in attractive growth markets, and a fully funded manufacturing base that position us to deliver significant shareholder value. I continue to be very excited by the prospects for our business. We are transforming, we are delivering, and we are growing. Thank you all for your attention. With this, I will hand over to our operator now for the Q&A session.

To ask a question, please press star 1 1 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To answer your question, please press star 1 1 again. We will now take the first question from the line of Martin Then Trevor from ABN AMRO, please go ahead.

Yes, thank you, operator. Good morning, Jelena. Good morning, Sam. I have four questions, and I'll take them one by one, if I may. To start off on the US, just to give us a bit of a sense on where the existing, so not the three new ones that you mentioned, but existing distributors are. Can you give some color on where they stand in terms of ordering levels versus assumed potential? Just to give us a sense of what, with the existing distributors, what type of growth lays ahead?

Well, Martijn, our existing distributors are already active in the U.S. for a very long time. And as we know, the Akoya sales are pretty technical sales. So you need to pursue the market that you do have by far the best product in terms of performance, stability, and long-term durability. We are seeing in this period significant growth. Most of the U.S. growth that you are seeing in this result is actually coming from our existing distribution partners. They are today placed on the east coast of the U.S., west coast, and in Texas. We are working on increasing our presence in the Texas area because there we do have big OEMs like Delta Millworks that you just saw the video about. They are located in Texas. but we do believe that that area could provide us some more opportunity to grow. So new distributors that we put in place in this half of the year, they are all starting to take the inventories and to push the market, predominantly gaining the market share and not fighting for the same business that our existing distributors are already having. So there is a lot of effort from our side going into education, specification selling, and helping the new distributors predominantly to actually focus on the new business generated and creating the Akoya pie to be bigger in this very sizable and profitable North American market.

Just one follow-up, Jelena. Total distributors now, how much do you think you need more in terms of distributors to have the full national coverage, perhaps both in the US and in Mexico?

I think in Mexico this Plina is quite a large player, so I believe we are going to give them an opportunity to deliver what we think that they can deliver. In the US, we do believe that today we have quite a good mix of large regional players, and they have also quite a good network of secondary distributors that are working with them. So we do not expect that we will be adding a large amount of new distributors in the US. We would like the distributors that we already now appointed to actually prove that they can deliver on the expectations. And so we have a quite defined KPIs in place that we follow very, very clearly. So for the next half of the year, we are going to give the existing and the new ones trends to fully deliver.

Got it, got it. Then the second question on the US for Sam, the break even has been achieved faster than expected. You're now guiding for profitable EBITDA levels for the full year. Does this have an impact on the plan slash forecast equity injections from the group into the JV? I seem to remember that where guidance was still for $4 million in fiscal 2026. Does that still stand, or should we assume a different amount now?

As you saw, the JV was very close to breakeven for the first half of the year and we do fully expect it to be profitable for the full year. Our initial expectations were, in terms of what your modelling has in terms of capital injections going into the JV, all to do with growth. The business needs wood and it needs a high level of working capital to meet that significant level of growth that we're seeing, not just for this financial year but also the coming financial year because really our strategy is about filling up that plant and having it operating at full capacity within the five years of our strategy, so by the end of phase two. So any additional capital injections that we may need to put into the business will be all to do with providing it with additional working capital to fund growth.

So it might actually end up a little bit higher than the initial guidance? No, I don't think it'll be any more than the $4 million that you've already got fattened in. All right, thank you. Then moving on to Europe, I was just wondering, you mentioned good developments in the Benelux, Germany, already very strong in the UK and Ireland, but you mentioned plans to support France. Can you elaborate a little bit on your plans in France and perhaps on Germany? Where does Germany stand relative to prior sales levels? Are they approaching it or are they still far away from it?

Well, as I told you, the levels in Germany are increasing. Of course, if you look from the period of a couple of years ago, we still have a space to develop. But if you look at the previous year, we do have quite a significant growth. And this is coming predominantly from the demand coming from outdoor living markets. And with the outdoor living markets, that is really decking what we are seeing, that it is taking off with our Koya Color range being available in Germany. So we are continuing to work with our existing – we have a very large distributor in Germany. We are continuing to work with them, but we are also working on expanding that distribution network as we go into H2. Looking at France, we are predominantly now looking to strengthen our team in France, and we need to add a commercial headcount to help us to cover this quite large and still unexplored market for Akoya. We had a couple of very nice projects that we delivered in the country, but certainly with the size of France, there is quite a large opportunity to grow there. So we have good distributors in place, but we are adding a headcount, a commercial headcount in the region to help us grow this market share.

Great. Then one final question on color. Can you shed some light on what you produced in H1 in color, given the capacity expansions that would probably help us to understand what could be expected going forward?

Well, what we said, we actually increased almost more than a double capacity of color in berry, starting from 6,000 what we had last year, and now we should be having certainly capacity of, we could be able to produce up to 14,000. We do believe that in the Given the good strong demand for Koya Kala, we certainly could be doubling what we actually produce, so $6,000 to up to $12,000 in this financial year. Of course, decking season is seasonal, so demand is quite seasonal. We do see that the season starts in spring, and our distributors are starting to build inventories starting from the beginning of our Q4. So that's why also our Q4 is one of the largest quarters that we have as a company due to this specific effect.

All right. And my really final question is on your EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, close to your focus one target already. If I look at Bloomberg consensus, it's considerably higher for fiscal 26, 27, around the 16% level. Is that something you feel comfortable with, given these very positive developments, both in Europe and the U.S.? ?

So can you just repeat that percentage that Bloomberg is showing?

Yeah, Bloomberg is, I think it says, it's not quite clear whether that is now grouped or adjusted, but it's 16% level.

Yeah, I mean, that's probably around group. I mean, we're already at group level. We are already, I mean, as you saw for H1 at 14% underlying margin with a group at, well, adjusted being just below the 12% target. So, I mean, we are, you know, we're very confident and we firmly believe that we're on track to deliver the margin targets that we laid out in our investor strategy date earlier this year by the end of phase one of our strategy.

All right, I have a couple more questions, but I'll move back into the Q&A now. All right, thank you.

Thanks, Martin. Thank you. We will now take the next question. from the line of Johan van den Hoeven from Edison Group. Please go ahead.

Good morning, Jelena and Sam. Good morning, Jan. Only three questions for me for now. If you look at the volume growth, it was, of course, strong. We already talked about USA. Looking at the volume growth of Arcoia for Tracoia, that is, well, only 6%. Is there a special reason that there's a bit of a slowdown? Is it just a mixed effect or a different focus on the U.S.? That's the first question, and we'll do the others later.

Yes, you are absolutely right, Johan. As we reported, ACOIA for Trecoia volume grew 6.4%. This is also lower than percentage-wise what we also put in our market update in September, where we saw at the time 25% growth of ACOIA for Trecoia. The reason for it is basically slower demand from our customers for tricoya that is also linked to the season, but also overall subdued soft market sentiment. They all operate in that MDF space. So we are seeing this demand increasing and starting to pick up end of December this year, so they were really running through the inventory reduction going towards the end of the calendar year and now we are seeing the order book for Tricoya starting to fill in as we go into December.

Another question about your sort of of guidance for ABDI. ABDI for the full year is in line with your expectations, but I seem to remember that previously sometimes you refer to consensus, or in different words, is it too simple to just double the ABDI of the first half for the full year, I mean?

seasonality in terms of our business quarter four is our largest quarter by sales volumes really because from a decadent perspective a lot of sales take place ahead of that spring season so quarter four being our largest by volume quarter three ultimately being our smallest because you've got the effect of December our our customers have actually stopped ordering and taking collections just after mid-December, the Christmas shutdown. And then, in fact, in October, we have the annual maintenance stop in Arnhem, where we're actually selling out of finished goods. So you can think profit, despite that revenue and volume I mean, profitability is going to be very similar to 50-50 between H1 and HT, and that's why we're saying in line with our expectations.

Okay, so we can look at doubling, but in the first half, of course, you had 2 million license income, which might not reoccur in the second half, which also then not helps EBDR.

No, I mean, you've got, I mean, it's not just licensing companies, you also get the royalty. The largest part of that $2 million is actually the royalty that we get from AccorUSA sales. So we get a big percentage on their revenue. So as you've seen, as their sales are accelerating, we're getting a higher royalty fee from them. Yeah.

Last question for now, just about the import tariffs. It's only 10% and you've said you've taken some actions, but can you tell us a bit more? Is it just raising prices, lowering costs or a mix?

Well, it is predominantly raising the prices, Johan. We already put it in place and we didn't receive too much of the pushbacks from our customers. I think everybody in the US market is now getting accommodated to the tariffs having impact on the price inflation of overall materials, if you like. So we put a price increase in place starting from 1st of November and we also have a Of course ongoing dialogue with the sawmills where we are actively tracking What is the sentiment in the US market? And also looking with them how we can if you like share the pain if that became the same become become larger first, but for so so for so far and With the 10%, we do believe that we can manage this quite well. Okay, thank you very much.

Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star 1 and 1. Our next question comes from the line of Alastair Stewart from Progressive Equity Research. Please go ahead.

Good morning. Two or three questions. First, on the USA, given that you've now got what seems to be a very solid distributor base and enthusiastic uptake by customers, can you give us any sort of guidance when you could be looking at server reactors from the U.S. facility. So that's the first question. Secondly, interested to see a new distributor in Mexico. But what sort of size do you think that, what proportion of U.S. output could Mexico be and is it in the similar sort of mainly decking and cladding markets and looking above the border, any plans for Canada? Or any indications of how Canadian uptake could develop?

Yes. Thank you, Alistair. Thank you very much. Good questions. So, So if you look at our distribution base in the US, we do believe that with the capacity of the plant today, 43,000 cubic meters, we do have enough capacity for at least next two years to feed demand and growth in this region. We are focusing the organization and we are focusing basically everybody to get more returns from the existing assets in the next year or two. So this was a part of our phase one of the focus strategy, so we just continue working on it. Now, we are going to see in the next half of the financial year and also in the beginning of the financial year 27, which is a key year for the company because this marks end of our phase one of focus strategy, how things are developing. And in order to start talking about second reactor, you need at least 12 to 16 or 18 months from the design to basically ordering the equipment and putting it in place. Today, we have enough space in the U.S. and already a foundation is put in place for the next reactor, so that should speed up that process when the time comes. So we do have enough space in the U.S. to put additional six reactors if that is necessary. But I would like to really spend next year, year and a half, next 18 months utilizing what we already have. And we do believe that we have enough capacity to meet the demand from a broader North American market, not only U.S., but also talking about Canada and Mexico as well. Now, your comment, does this answer your question?

Sorry, I was asking about Mexico, the potential growth there. Is it the same sort of end market decking and cladding and while I'm on also it was interesting to hear about France as well they seem to be slightly late to the party as it were what's driving the uptick in demand from France and that will be all my questions

Okay, so let me go back to Mexico and Canada because I think that those were the other two questions. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the Kleeneye is quite a large distributor that also have a significant million capacity. So they are also capable of making some of the end products. So they will be focusing on the flooding and decking predominantly. and the market in Mexico is large. We also are supporting the Caribbean region from the U.S., and we do have already a couple of very nice projects that are happening there. Is Mexico going to be bigger than the U.S.? I don't think so.

I don't think I was suggesting that, but how big could it be as part of the U.S. output?

Well, we do have quite ambitious expectations from them, but, you know, we just signed off that agreement with Clean Ivory. I would like to give them at least half a year to see what they can deliver in order to start shaping an expectation and certainly communicating those expectations internally. They are quite capable professional company with the milling capacity. They could be important for us. But for us, U.S. markets, is by far the fastest growing, the most profitable, and certainly more than 90% of the Akoya USA sales should come from the U.S. itself. Looking at the Canada, we do have one of our largest, well, actually, the largest distributor we have in the U.S. is a U.S.-Canadian company with a roots in Canada. So we do sell Akoya in Canada already for some years. With the tariffs, import tariffs from Canada and – between Canada and the US, some of the trade is being – slowing down. But nevertheless, we also have an opportunity, if necessary, to ship smaller amounts from Europe directly to Canada, if that is going to serve customers better. So as said, we do expect U.S. plant predominantly to serve U.S. market, but we do have now today established partners in Canada, Mexico, and Caribbean as well.

Great. Thanks very much.

So in France, also decking and clubbing market, we had a couple of good projects that were done in the country. And we also have a good collaboration with the architects in France. But, you know, it is a huge country. And with Aquacolor now being more available, Also coming with the new decking collection, we do need more feet on the ground to educate and push growth to the faster pace. So predominantly, cladding and decking and aqua color is one of the most wanted products we see in France.

Great. Thanks very much indeed. Of course. Thank you.

We will now take the next question. From the line of Adrian Kersey from Palmeiro Liberum, please go ahead.

Good morning. Well done on a good set of results, guys. A couple of questions for me, although I had some more, but most of them have been asked already. Could you perhaps give us a bit more colour in terms of the pricing environment across different territories? Are we seeing greater pricing in certain territories rather than the others. And then to go back to the question on distributive relationships, would you be able to give some indication about how conversations are progressing in certain territories with signing additional distributive clients?

Yes. So pricing, as we already reported today, The average sales price in the reporting period went up with 1.7%. We are not reporting specifically per country or per region, but in average, this was the good, I would say, marker for you to look across both across Europe and the US. Very, very similar price increase. Of course, we are very careful and we know that what we are selling is a value. So we are very careful of keeping that premium placed in the building materials. So we are reacting on the tariffs in the US. We are reacting on the inflationary pressures in Europe and UK. And we will continue to do that. And it looks to us that the market is actually accepting that as well. Looking at the distributors, adding new distributors across the region. As I already mentioned, we are talking with the distribution partners in Germany. We are also talking with the new distribution partners in Central and Eastern Europe. I'm not ready to announce anything yet, but we do expect that we will be expanding our distribution base predominantly in the next half a year in the markets where access is providing ACOYA and we do believe that as of today the number of distributors and coverage in the US is good and we want to give our new distribution partners a chance to actually deliver on the expectations that we have for them. I hope this answer your question Adrian.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. I would now like to turn the conference back to Dr. Jelena Arsic van Aert for closing remarks.

So thank you very much. As I said in the last page of our presentation, we are remaining confident in the long-term potential of our technology and strategy. company is transforming, we are growing and we are delivering and we have a very clear roadmap in front of us with the market leading products in very attractive growth markets. So we will continue to do what we are doing and then hopefully next half a year when we hear each other we will just confirm the expectations that we all have. So thank you very much. And with this we will close our result call for today This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating you may now