Maven Wireless Sweden AB (Publ)

Hello and welcome to this live broadcast with Maven Wireless and their Q3 report. Here to tell you more about how things have gone during the quarter is the CEO, Fredrik Ekström. Hello! For those of you who don't know me, I am a stock analyst and follow Maven Wireless. Upplägget på den här sändningen, det är att Fredrik kommer inleda med att berätta lite övergripande om vilka Maven är, hur det har gått under kvartalet och så kommer vi avsluta med en Q&A. Och där har ni också möjlighet att ställa frågor i chattfunktionen till videon. Så utnyttja gärna den. And with that, I hand over the floor to you, Fredrik.

Thank you, Hugo. It's always nice to be here and nice to have your listeners here. I'm going to start with, before we go into numbers and Highlights Q3, just make a short summary about the company. Vi är ett produktbolag som utvecklar och säljer produkter för inomhus och tunneltäckning. And they are products for mobile telephony. They are for 2G to 5G systems. And the finesse with these is that they establish coverage for all operators through the same units. We also have products for blue light radio. And we have special products for train coverage. So this is a very effective way to establish coverage. We started Maven Wireless in 2016. We went out on the stock exchange to Nasdaq First North Growth Market about three years ago. Vi tog in kapital då för att satsa vidare i vår expansion. Vi började i Norden, vi har vårt R&D Center i Stockholm, Kista, där vi utvecklar våra produkter. Vi började också sälja i Norden och expandera ner i Europa. Som vi ser på den här kartan då så har vi en del säljkontor utspridda i Europa. We also have European production, where we have produced products from the start in Estonia. We have now connected a new factory in Jönköping, where we now also produce products. This is also a way of having more capacity for our further expansion. We have then expanded further to the east, so to speak, because the products we have developed and started to sell in Europe have the frequencies and the types that also work in the Middle East and, above all, Southeast Asia. So it has been natural for us to expand in that direction. So now we have a regional office in Dubai that covers the Middle East, Africa, but also Turkey is included in the responsibility area from our Dubai office. In Singapore we have another regional office for APAC. Vi har också etablerat ett dotterbolag för Nordamerika där vi nu har hållit på med affärsutvecklingen ett par år. Vi har också expanderat och har nu en specifik säljare på östkusten i Atlanta. What has also happened during the quarter is that we have strengthened our presence in Australia. So in Australia we now have two people. We have one pure commercial seller. and a sales technician, that is, a person who can help the customer to dimension the system and even do simulations on projects so that we can optimize a Maven system, come up with a boom list that we can offer and win the project. So here we have now established a good setup to move forward on the Australian market. And the whole game plan that we have talked about earlier this quarter is that we are now aiming to grow, expand, scale up Maven Wireless. We have established a good footprint on blue light radio systems. And we also sell it on a cellular basis. But if we look at our sales, if we go back to the whole of 2023, then we sell more than half of the revenue comes from blue light radio. And less than half is then cellular systems. But the market looks different. Marknaden representeras av ungefär 83 procent cellulärt. Därför ser vi att det är viktigt för oss att satsa än mer på cellulärt nu för att kunna skala upp snabbare och större. Därför är cellulär marknaden väldigt viktig för oss. As I said, we are talking about the products here. This is just a mapping of the different families. Then we have different product variants under respective categories here. Different effect levels are used for different applications. So again, cellular. We have these fiber-mated larger systems. We have individual so-called repeaters, which is a box that takes macro-draining signals from outside, filters and into buildings, or in other places, smaller coverage areas. But basically the same function for all operators. Vi har ju våran specialprodukt Tor och det är en enhet som installeras på tåg för att ge mobiltelefoniteckning. Under kvartalet har vi också pressmeddelat en ny affär. På ungefär 17 miljoner har vi en ny order. Det är för en order där vi bygger in de här produkterna redan i tågfabriken. När tågsätten byggs så installeras de här. Just den här affären har varit... have been triggered by the end customer in Norway, so Norwegian trains. So we took it in during the quarter, it will be delivered next year, so 2025, that product will be delivered. Vi ska göra så här. Vi går tillbaka till huvudöversikten. Här har vi snapshot på vad vi levererar under kvartalet. Jag är väldigt glad över att orderingången nu har markant gått upp under kvartalet. Jämfört mot föregående år så ökar orderingången med 170 %. Det är en markant skillnad. Man ska bläddra fram till grafen. den ser vi här på höger sida då, så att åringången isolerat under Q3, 65 miljoner kronor, alltså en ökning med 170 procent. Och ni som har lyssnat på mig tidigare under året har ju hört mig då prata om, om vi tittar på grafen på den här sidan, about this order book that we are now delivering on, the one that we have brought with us from large frame agreements, orders that have been ordered in perhaps five quarters in the future, that we have delivered on, that we are now turning in and here we now see the quota that we are now timing up again and this is now normalized. So that's what we're happy about. But then it's not without the fact that there is a lot of macroeconomic impact earlier this quarter this year. I don't think anyone has mentioned the low-conjuncture interest rate. And that has of course also affected our business somewhat. What I think is very cool, apart from the fact that we deliver a strong progress in the quarter, is that we also see that the activity level after the semester period now in Europe is higher. after the summer. So that we see more drive on our market. We now see that decisions are beginning to be made. Earlier we have seen a lot of slides in both budgets and decisions where the project does not really get started in the pace we have wanted. Now we have seen signals that it is nu mer energi i de här processerna och det är ju väldigt glädjande att se så det är en glädjande parameter att se. Och det har vi väl också sett och hört lite från branschkollegor och angränsande företag att det ser något ljusare ut just nu då. when we look forward. Order entry 65, which results in an order book at the end of the quarter of 83 million. In addition to this press release that we also have on this side about the train business, the orders that are here and come in are What should we call it? Ordinary projects. It is not such gigantic projects that we share with the press. We do not go out to the market for individual projects and businesses. It is of course if it is a MAR project or MAR businesses that are very large or if it is strategic businesses like this one with the train factory and the Norwegian train. Så det som bygger upp orderingången här, förutom den här affären, så är det då mer normala projekt som fyller på, så det är en bredd av affärer. What we have also done in these businesses during the quarter, if we talk more about highlights, we have now also gone into two new countries. Vi har nu gjort affär i Azerbaijan, det är för blåljusradio, där vi då har tagit in order för att etablera blåljustäckning i regeringsbyggnaden i Baku. Det är flera olika byggnader som vi då fått uppdrag att leverera produkter för den blåljustäckningen. So it's fun with a new country. Another new country that we have entered is Italy. And it's also super fun. Italy is, if we look at the European market, an interesting country because it has a lot of tunnels. They need a lot of our types of products. So we have now made our first business in Italy. Vi har nu levererat de produkterna, verkligen en snabb leverans. Vi har lyckats få ihop den, för slutkunden ville ha leverans så fort som möjligt. Vi har nu levererat de här produkterna för GSM Rail täckning i Valvosta tunnlarna i norra Italien. So this is actually our first project we are establishing in Italy. And it is important for us. It is an important country in Europe. And now we have a reference in the country. som vi kan bygga vidare på. Det finns ju nu också möjlighet i de här tunnlarna att gå vidare och erbjuda cellulär täckning. Så det är en strategi som vi tänker följa upp på. If we talk further about Europe, what has happened during the quarter, then we have the three largest sharecroppers in Europe, that is Great Britain, It is France and it is Germany. It is the top three largest markets in Europe. Italy is then in the top five. If we start from the UK, which has a daily market of somewhere between 400 and 450 million euros. There we have now, as we have announced earlier, we have won the first cellular project there, this tunnel in London, Silvertown Tunnel. What has happened now during the quarter is that it is now fully installed and running and now you can have coverage from operators in England in this tunnel. So now is our first real project for cellular technology in the UK live. We have the reference in place, which of course is super important for our further expansion to the largest share market in Europe. Angränsande till England, Storbritannien och Irland. Där har vi också kommit in med vårt första riktiga projekt där vi också har ett driftsatt cellulärsystem i en galleria i Dublin, Dundrum Galleria. Där har vi också uppkopplat med operatörerna i Irland. Det är Vodafone, EIR och Free. Om vi då tittar vidare så att det är ett bra steg framåt under kvartalet för den delmarknaden. Vi fortsätter där. Gameplanet has also moved on to Neutral Host. Neutral operators that do not own the spectrum but invest in in-house coverage and sell the service coverage to the end customer on an OPEX model. Då bygger vi tillsammans med de aktörerna. Det är de aktörerna i Storbritannien som gör de flesta av sådana inomhusprojekt. Det är väldigt viktiga partner för oss att ha. Tidigare har vi levererat mycket blåljusradio till Storbritannien. Det har vi som en run rate, grundplatå så att säga. Men nu cellulär för vidare expansion. Där har vi kommit vidare. Om vi tittar på Frankrike då. Moving on to the leading sub-markets, we have now also brought home a business for a first cellular project together with a partner called Efiage. Vi har precis nu i september levererat produkterna för den här cellulärtäckningen och planen är nu tillsammans med FIH att installera och driftsätta det här första cellulärprojektet i Frankrike under slutet på året. Så de aktiviteterna pågår. So it is also a pleasure to have a Maven reference in France. France is a bit similar as well. We have done blue light radio projects for several years in France that are also working on it. But the essential thing is that we break in with cellular products now, get a first reference, establish on the market, so we can also bring in new customers and show that it actually works really well now with the French operators from a French perspective. And that's what we want to achieve in these main markets. And that's what we're establishing here during the quarter. Så det är vi såklart mycket nöjda med, viktiga milstolpar för vår vidare expansion. Vi ska också ta några ord om Nordamerika såklart. Nordamerika, highlight, vad som händer där är att vi, som jag visade på den geografiska kartan tidigare, så har vi också nu vår säljansvariga som sitter i Los Angeles. And we have yet another direct sale Maven employee in Atlanta. And we also have a sales network with sales representatives spread out in different states across the United States that we have had for basically two years. What we do now is that we put more priority in our sales activities on direct sales based on our own sales resources and strengthen with technical pre-sales from our head office. to strengthen our offers, because there is an inherent weakness with sales representatives, because they represent other types of companies and do not have as deep a competence as all products. We sell systems, we do not sell on catalog only components, but to sell our systems, more presence of technical personnel is required, i.e. the pre-sales personnel that we have in our organization. So we reform and strengthen that function so that we can highlight all our offers to the customers. Like the UK, many of the indoor heating projects take place in North America by neutral host. In the US, we talk about three POs, third party operators. But it's the same thing, just different terms that are used in different countries. So we work with so-called free POs in North America. There are many such types of organizations that have a broad focus, the big ones, and some with a specific focus. We are now working with some of the largest. To name a few names, we are looking at specific projects now, including Boingo and Boldin. We also have project discussions with one of the big ones called Crone Castle. Där tittar vi nu och dimensionerar projekt för dem för att komma vidare- kommersiellt och vinna projektaffärer helt enkelt. Det är ju nästa steg för oss i de 3PO-diskussionerna. Nu ska vi bläddra tillbaka. I'd like to mention the turnover figure of 36 million that we deliver. We can look at the graph that we see here. So the result during the quarter is 36 million. And that is affected by... We have a cyclical effect that we have every year, which is that it's a semester period. Both our factories, both in Estonia and Sweden, have been closed for parts of the month of July. So if you look at isolated July, very little delivery and invoicing during that month. But we have that cyclically. In general, we have a smaller order book earlier this year to deliver on. We have had large out-deliveries on our large frame agreements. And the effect of that is that the frame rate customers have been very busy this year with taking care of the deliveries, getting them installed and running in these projects. So it becomes a rubber band effect. We have the order book that we had from Q2. That's the one we have to play with to deliver in the coming quarter. And there we have a normalized process that we also mention here. It's two to four months. It generally takes from the fact that we have an order to the fact that we can deliver to the customer. And it still applies, and it's a normal delivery time from orders. So the normalization happened earlier, as we have reported, and it still applies. Vi ligger i en normal operationsmiljö med våra fabriker. Vi har haft en del igångstartningseffekter på den nya fabriken här i Sverige där vi har behövt stötta extra mycket från våra the technology team and R&D. We have been on site a lot in the factory during construction periods and testing periods to optimize these construction and testing processes. Vad vi ser nu är att det har blivit bättre och bättre och nu i slutet på kvartalet tycker jag att vi har fått igång ett bättre flöde genom den här fabriken. Så det har blivit klart förbättringar här de sista månaderna måste jag säga. In general, I would also like to comment that there are further effects. I talked earlier about macroeconomics, interest rates, low-income conditions and so on, which have affected backwards. There is actually another effect that I would like to highlight that we can see in concrete terms. here in Europe specifically, is that there are now in several countries and for our customers requirements that one should now terminate the purification of Chinese technology in the network. Och vad innebär det då? Jo, som ett konkret exempel, om vi tar ett av våra ramavtal Telenor, som vi traditionellt levererar en hel del utrustning varje år till, har nu på sig till slutet på året, alltså innan 31 december, måste de ha slutfört, alltså utbyte av all And that's basically Huawei equipment, in this case, which they have had installed a lot. There they need to clean everything up, complete the work and make sure that they don't have these types of equipment and technology left in their network. If they don't do that by December 31, then quite severe fines are expected. And in the worst case, they can lose their license on their spectrum. So this is, as you can understand, top priority, to be done with this. Otherwise, it can go very, very badly from these operators. And the effect on us locally this year, on just that framework agreement, is that they have tied up a lot of resources and money to get this completed. And it has an effect on us that they do not have time to carry out as many indoor and tunnel projects as they would normally do. If we look at 2023, our revenue there, only on that account, was a bit over 15% of the annual volume. This year, so far, the relationship is much lower. De har bara hunnit göra vissa få projekt så det ligger på några få enstaka procent i relation. Så där ser vi en tydlig effekt av det här regelverket att man inte då får nyttja kinesisk teknologi längre. Men det är en isolerad effekt här och nu som kommer vara över om några månader. Men det kan också vara bra att förstå att det finns sådana effekter som påverkar oss här och nu också. I would also like to mention that we have made a small adjustment when it comes to our cheque credit. We have had a cheque credit of 15 million kronor for several years. We operate and do business in euros and pay the factory in euros. So when we do need to use the cheque credit, it is in euros we need and not Swedish kronor. So that has made it so that when we take advantage of the Czech credit, we need to keep up with currency trading and exchanges and so on. So therefore, it was completely unthinkable to just change the credit limit to Euro instead on our Euro account. And when we did that transformation, we made a transformation to 1.5 million Euro, which correlates to 17 million kronor. So therefore, the cheque rate has increased by about 2 million, but that is because we have changed the currency and how we take up that cheque, quite simply. So just an explanation there, if there is someone who has just got stuck in their head and did not get the numbers together. In general, we have an extremely low reward rate in the company. We continuously amortize it. We have just under a million total loans left in the company, which are now on the way to disappear completely, probably by next year. So it's a very small post. However, worth noting, we have a lot of capital bundles in the balance sheet. This is a warehouse of components and finished modules. If we break it down, there are a lot of tailings left of the pandemic effects, where we also bought up so-called strategic storage of These more advanced IC components such as FPGAs and so on. We still have them, we use them in rolling production now so that we own them, have them in stock and deliver them or sell them to the factories in production. So they fall down from the balance, down in the checkout after we produce. Vi har också en del förstärkarmoduler som precis på samma sätt används i produktion. Vi har dem och säljer ut dem till fabrikerna vartefter. Så vi ser ju nu att vi har den här nivån på lager. Vi ser inte något behov att öka lagret snarare att det här lagret kommer att minskas. Det här är ett ganska It is a large layer if you compare it with the turnover we have. And that is precisely because we have a lot of tailings left of pandemic effects. We have done a lot of activities with reinforced modules when we did activities to get control and repair the gross margin. Nu kommer det här lagret att framöver användas. Så vi ser ju att det här ska ha en sjunkande trend framöver. Ja, jag ska inte bli... Väldigt mycket mer långrandig än så. Här finns alla detaljerna. Jag tänkte att det skulle vara intressant att komma över till frågeställningar.

Ja, självklart. Det finns många, både för mig och investerare. Om vi börjar lite rent allmänt. Hur tycker du att inledningen av 2024 har varit för Maven?