AQ Group AB (publ)

Okay, it's 9.30. I welcome you all to the AQ Group investor presentation after Q2. We start with a picture from a data center because I will talk a little bit about data centers today. What we deliver at the data center, you can see on the left. I will try to show these cubicles here. They are Part of our delivery to our customer, and then this is part of their delivery to the data center. And it's a transformer and an inductor inside. I think it's a really beautiful product. I hope you agree.

Is now exiting.

So normally I start with this slide, why to invest in AQ Group. As we see it, earnings per share CAGR 40% over the past 10 years. We made profit every quarter since the foundation in 94. We're exposed to industrial market segments with underlying growth, such as electrification, where we also include data centers, defense, and medtech. We have a long history of acquisitions. We acquire two to four factories per year. We have acquired two factories this year, and we have a strong balance sheet and a net cash position. On quick facts about AQ, we're 8,000 employees. We have roughly 9 billion sector turnover. We have 70 different business areas and more than 15 market segments where we deliver to. We are manufacturing in 17 countries with 4,000 customers globally. We made profit every quarter for the last 30 years. And then we talk about earnings per share, not something else. And then we have a 14% earnings per share category the last 10 years. And we make acquisitions. And then we are part of UN Global Compact since 2012, which is our sustainability initiative, which we think is really good. Now to some numbers, second quarter. We increased net sales with 10%, which is shy of our target of increasing with 15, to 2.5 billion sales.

Last quarter, we had 2.3 billion in sales.

Operating profit increased with 17%, 255 million in profit after financial items. increased with 13% to 256 million. Our profit margin before tax was 9.9% and profit after tax was 202 million. Cash flow from operating activities amounted to 23 million compared to 232 million last year. I will get into it a little bit later why there is a difference. And earnings per share before dilution amounted to 2.26 per share compared to 2.06 SEK last year. It's a good increase. And the first six months, January to June, we increased sales with 6% to 4.9 billion SEK. And operating profit increased with 11% to 480 million. Profit of the financial items increased by 11% to 480 million roughly. And profit margin before tax was 9.7%. and profit after tax was 382 million, a little bit higher than last year's 355. Cash flow from operating activities in the first six months was 362 million compared to 477 million last year. And earnings per share before dilution was 4.16 compared to 3.87 a year ago. And our equity ratio is very high, 67%, very high compared to our target of being above 40. So some highlights in the quarter. We have the highest net sales and result in a single quarter in AQ history. It's great. We grow in data centers and defense and it's accelerating. We have doubled our output in the quarter of transformers for data centers. The ones you saw on the first page from our sites in Hungary, Finland, US and Czech Republic compared to the previous quarter, meaning quarter one. Ramp up will continue and our capacity is now 70 systems per month. But we delivered 70 systems in the quarter. And we believe that we need to continue to increase the capacity also in 2027. Defense sales is strong from our sites, especially in Northern Europe, UK and Scandinavia. and we will believe that that will continue. We also see big productivity improvements in newly acquired sites in UK and Czech Republic where we have made them more profitable by reducing overheads mostly. We have also in the quarter high sales to construction equipment in Europe and then we also acquired Time24 in the UK that deliver systems for customers in the semiconductor and railway industry in the UK. And we delivered 20 million SEK of turnover from that acquisition in the second quarter, and we acquired them in mid-May. So it's like one and a half months. It's quite a good delivery there because they couldn't deliver out anything when we bought them because they had the cash problem, liquidity problem. So we're very happy that we could start the deliveries to their demanding industrial customers again in a very quick way. Not so many low lights in the quarter. The quarter is quite good, I think. So not so many low lights, but we still need to improve quality and productivity in our transformer factory in India. We're doing some things there to improve. Then we have low capacity utilization in Mexico and New York still. It's getting better, but it's still too low. We need to sell more. and then we want to do more acquisitions as well. Our earnings per share growth if you look on rolling 12 months after the second quarter we are at 14% CAGR the last 10 years as we have been and the dividend per share haven't changed anything but still 14%. And the target is to double this every five years, and it's natural if we grow 15% and the profit follows, then we will double the business in five years. So the net sales development in the quarter, we had organic growth of 9.1%, which is just below our target of 10. We had a quiet growth, time 24 of almost 1%, and we had a currency effect, which was almost nothing, which gave the net sales growth of 9.9%. And that gives us the best quarter in the company's history. Happy about that. We're going to close again. And as I've said, we see high demand in defense. customers and data center, which is really electrification. But we also see a good growth in construction equipment sales from our side, especially in Europe. Some more on sales, growth and investments. I've already talked about Time24 and they're working with very nice customers such as Supply Digital, Locksworld Instruments and Alstom. We believe that the growth here will continue and we can do a lot more to sell our Eastern European footprint into this factory, who then sell it to their customers. I think it will be very beneficial for those customers, because they will get a lower cost, but also we will sell more. And then inductive components, data centers, is now 6% of AQ Group total net sales. The share is expected to increase going forward. It is a good growth segment, and we are trying to sell more to more customers. And we are now having, I would say, five, six customers already that we are selling inductive components to data centers. And we can grow with all of them. We have several large RFQs for the different defense programs in Northern Europe in the pipeline. We expect nominations during or after summer. We hope that we will win something there. Nothing is certain, but we believe that we have a good chance. And then also power grids who have been a little bit weaker in the first half year will be growing again in the second half of the year. And then, as I said, construction equipment sales have been increasing. And we have, as I write in the report, invested in some machines for defense and identification customers in North Sweden. You can see some of the machines on the pictures. On the left is a welding cell. Then we have a laser cutting machine that can cut thick sheet metal. Then we have a machining center that can machine parts. And then we have on the right a big machining center that can machine really big parts for defense applications. And this is a shortage in Europe, I would say, to have really big size CNC machines that can do very complex parts. So this is something that we continue to invest in. The acquired growth is nothing to brag about. It's like 1% in the second quarter. We acquired 1024, as we have said. We need to do some things there on the productivity side, but I'm quite confident that we will get there by the end of the year. We are doing improvements in purchasing and utilizing our own manufacturing footprint to improve their margins. And then MDEX that we acquired roughly a year ago or a little bit more than a year ago. It's developing according to plan and we have big improvement compared to the second quarter last year also versus the first quarter in the results. We're increasing workshop utilization especially with this data center transformers where we have a great demand. and we are evaluating several targets and we are I think in working in a good way and we have several interesting things that we are working with let's hope we can close something now because we want to reach our target of five percent also this year margin development here normally we don't say so much and normally I get a question about the margin targets but now I hope this question is not there anymore because the board now took the decision to increase our target to 10 percent now just before the quarter ended and it is natural since we are increasing our products with more engineering content and more complexity and also we've had I mean EBT margins above our target now for 14 consecutive quarters if we count also quarter two Of course, now we're not above the target anymore because we increased it. I believe that cost control is very good. As I said, the margin has improved very well in quarter versus quarter in Amdex and Rockford, but also in the inductive components business area in general. We still have improvements to make in Bulgaria, Mexico, New York and India, This is normal. I mean, we always have companies where we need to improve. So we will continue to improve those companies to become even better. And it's good now. We have a new challenging target as well. Inventory turnover and inventory value. You can see that the inventory is going up a bit in 42. And it is because we are preparing to deliver out a lot of things in 43. Despite doing a lot of improvements in many sites, the KPI goes down. And it's interesting that it goes down because really how we are measuring this, you can see it in the small square below the chart. So it's rolling 12 months, raw material, goods for resale and change of inventory and products in process 12 months back. So meaning if we are growing the business going forward, acquiring some companies, then this KPI will go down for a while because they are not even 12 months back yet. So we believe that this KPI will improve and I don't see a big change really in our inventory turnover. And again, it is good that we have a net cash position because that means that we can actually grow with our customers and sometimes growth require us to increase our working capital. And the net cash flow in quarter two was quite poor. We have a lot of deliveries at the end of the quarter. So we have a lot of increase in accounts receivables, but those will be converted into cash. So the net debt has decreased a little bit, but still we have a very, very good position. So I'm not worried there. It's good to have cash when you're growing. Makes your life much easier. And this I went through before, so we'll not go through it again. And we head into Q&A. We have a question from Johnny. Can you unmute yourself or do I need to do it for you?

Yes. Good morning, James and Kristine. I hope you can hear me. Yes, we can. Good. I have a couple of questions. I want to start with the strong organic growth here in the quarter which is good to see and I understand that a large part of these deliveries took place at the end of the quarter but is it possible to say something how orders developed during this period and what sort of book to bill are you entering second half of the year with that's my first question and you will get a boring answer because we don't really comment on the order intake but I mean we are

We are confident that we will continue to develop well in the quarter. I mean, I don't see that the deliveries we have done to data centers as we write in the quarter. I mean, we are investing to increase the capacity and we don't do that if we don't believe that there will be more orders to deliver out.

Understood. Understood. Sounds like a positive book to be at least. That's my feeling. Besides the data center and defense then, was there anything else that drove this pickup in organic growth or what sort of the background to this large deliveries at the end? What is the background to that?

I think that we managed to get out a lot of things and especially to the defense sector and data centers, I believe. I think that is the main part of the explanation. As we comment also, I think construction equipment, meaning yellow machines, have a good development also in the whole quarter as a whole, but in the end of the quarter as well. So I think also there was quite a few working days actually in June. If you compare it to last year, I think it was two days more. So it also has an impact, of course.

Okay. And then on data center, and I see that Unductive Components data center, 6% here of the sales in the quarter. You said, I think that implies some, a little bit more than 150 million in revenues. My question is the capacity ramp up. How should we think about that going forward because I think you said in the last quarter 60 unit capacity in Q1 and now you aim to double it in Q2 here which it seems like you did so the outlook entering the second half of this year what should we think then is it fair to assume you can maybe increase let's say 50 capacity to some 180 units in Q3 or can we say something there no

I'm confident that we believe we will deliver out more products in Q2 than how many it will be. I mean, I know how much orders I have, but I think it will be more than what we delivered in Q3 than we delivered out in Q2. And as we have commented, we have increased the capacity, so we are able to do 70 pieces per month, but that will not be the pace in Q2. The pace will be lower than that, but we think it's good that we have a little bit extra capacity here because we see that the growth is coming going forward.

Okay, sounds great. Just one final from my side, so a lot of questions, but when you talk to your customers in general, I mean on the truck side, buses, yellow machines, in general industry and such, what do you hear now? Do you see any changes in customer forecasts on your end or can you say something there?

No, I don't see any difference, really. I think it is quite solid in most cases. And then we have commented a little bit on the growth that we have had and that we see. I think it will continue the same. The business doesn't change so quickly, I think. So I think we will continue to increase the sales with inductive components to data centers. We will continue to increase the sales to defense. And I think, yeah. I think that will be the main story for us also next quarter, I believe.

Understood. Sounds exciting. That was all for me. Thank you, James and Kristina. Have a great summer. Thanks, Johnny. Have a good summer.

Okay, we have Albin who wants to ask something. Can you unmute yourself?

Yes, good morning, James and Kristina. starting off with the data center sales or inductive components to data center six percent of sales i think you mentioned that you had some five to six customers in that space so can you uh maybe talk about the the size of those customers are they even or um yeah i i wouldn't say it even just yet i think we we have a few that are are a reason we have i i would say it is one which is

quite big and then there are some which are smaller. And the big one is that like 50% of that or more? No, I would say 50 is a good guess, I think.

Okay. Great. And then input prices and similar. How have you been affected by that?

Let me say one more thing. Even though it's 50% with one customer, it is not for the same type of segment within that customer, you can say. I mean, they are doing a lot of different things for data centers, and we are delivering into several different areas within them that deliver to data centers. So I think I just wanted to clarify that. Regarding input costs, we see some are increasing. Like normally, it is fluctuating copper prices and these kind of things. And I mean, in most cases, we have clauses about that in our contracts. And if there are big changes somewhere else, we need to negotiate with our customers, but we don't really see any huge differences. We see small increases, I think mostly increases, but it's not anything huge, at least not in quarter two.

All right, perfect. And then I don't know if you mentioned that on the working capital tie up, but the trade, receivables increased quite heavily and they used to in this quarter but even more now can you comment on that?

Yeah I mean we comment a little bit in the report I mean we deliver out a lot in June and in the end of June even and that gives and then growth also will increase our Accounts Receivables as well. So I think it's a little bit cut off that gives this effect and I think it will sort itself out. I'm not worried about it at all.

All right, perfect. That's all for me as well. So yeah, have a good summer.

Thank you, Albin. Have a good summer. We have Anton Ingves. You can unmute yourself.

Yes, hi and good morning. Congrats on the strong figures here. Just on the strong organic growth here, is it possible to sort of divide that into volume and price?

I would say that price is a small thing here. I mean, it is... I would say that we are in power Or maybe even a little bit lower than inflation. I mean, most of the thing is coming from volume, but we are utilizing our factories more. Also, the improvements that we have made in Emdex and Rockford also have a big impact. So, yeah. But price is very small here.

Yep. Perfect and on the MDex you mentioned that you see continued improvement but how if you compare the sort of the the margin level in Q1 to Q2 here is it like a big step up or kind of flat sequentially here?

No it is better but it's not so much better but if you compare Q2 versus Q2 then it's a big improvement. where we did a big loss last year and we are doing profit this year. So it gives a good improvement there. We are still not ready. I mean, we still have capacity to utilize in Amdex. We still have work to do there to improve the margin to become on the, so that it comes to a group level, but it is still, it is generating a profit and cash. It's good.

And sort of full year figures still, on MDEX, the margin is still a bit below the group level, then, I assume, or do you still expect this to sort of come up to group level on the full year?

We will see how far we can go, but I mean, the idea is that we will get to group level by the end of the year, but let's see how far we can come. If you look rolling 12 months back, we are not on group level yet, but I think going forward, we will see gradual improvement because we will continue to fill up that factory with more business.

Perfect. And then one final here from me. You mentioned also that the wiring systems factories in Mexico and US is picking up a bit, but how much left is it to do here and sort of the potential on margins from this lift up?

I mean, we still have work to do, especially in New York. I think there it is underutilized. Of course, we have reduced the manpower and so on, but we need to sell more. We have won some contracts, but it takes some time before it becomes into serial production. I think it will be quite okay, but we need to do a lot of work that I can say, especially on the business development side. Okay, that's perfect. That's all for me. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Then we have Marcus. Maybe you can mute yourself.

Yes. Hello, James. Congrats on a good report and a lot of good questions asked already. But I will ask two questions. The first one on Power Grid, you mentioned that you start to see that it's picking up again after maybe a little bit slower first half. Is there anything that impacted the slowdown in the first half? And if you could add some color on what to expect from the pickup?

No, I think that our big customers there have been growing so fast for several years. So they basically couldn't increase more. So they are working hard to increase their capacity. And now we see that the orders are increasing again. So that means we will deliver more. And of course, we are working hard to win more business with these customers as well. So I think that, I hope that the second half year will be better than the first.

Okay. And then on the good pipeline in the defense side, you expect some nominations after the summer. Could you quantify these? How material could they be? And maybe timeline also from nomination to revenue?

I mean, if we knew how much it would be, then we would maybe write it in the report. But it is very hard to say how much we will get. There are also other suppliers who are in the game. We will see how much we get. And when we know if it's material, then we will press release it. Okay. Those were my questions. Thank you very much, James.

Have a good summer. Thank you for good questions. Do we have any more questions?

There we have Jonny again. Hi, just one final story.

Just want to ask a little bit on the operating cost side. I mean, margin in the quarter looks good here back on strong growth, but the cost OPEC seems a little bit up here, both year over year and compared to your Q1 level here. So what is sort of driving that, would you say? And do you see any more need to sort of expand the operating cost base as you ramp up? Or how should we view that going forward?

I mean, It is natural for us that our costs follow the volume. If we get more business, we need to hire more people, more operators. I think that is the main reason why they are increasing. I still think that we are doing quite a good job in getting out the volume and not increasing more. That is why the margin is going up because the gross margin is not really improving that much. So it's really that we are getting out more bang for the buck, so to speak.

I understand. That's good.

Thank you. That was all for me.

Thank you. Any more questions? I cannot see any.

And that's great. I see there are a lot of AQ people also here on the call. So for those of you who are listening in, I want to thank all of you for a fantastic quarter. I'm very impressed about the delivery that we have done this year. So yeah, thank you so much for that. And then I think if there are no further questions, see any, And of course, if you're late on the call, you can always listen to it on quarter. It always publishes there. And with that, I wish all of you a really nice summer. Thank you so much for listening and have a good one.

Bye-bye.