QleanAir AB (publ)

Welcome to the Clean Air Investor presentation for Q3 2024. My name is Sebastian Lindström. I'm the CEO of Clean Air and joining me in today's call is Henrik Riasmajk, our CFO at Clean Air. Henrik and I will go through the presentation and then open up for Q&A towards the end. Starting off with the numbers for Q3. We closed a challenging quarter, clear indications of a weaker economy in EMEA, especially Germany, which is our biggest market in EMEA. And beyond our control, postponement of a big project in Americas with Curexo. Positive in the quarter was the stable performance of Japan in local currency and the launch of six new products targeting EMEA and APEC. In the quarter, We also had to deal with handling the final accounting adjustments of the clean room projects from 2021 in the Nordics. All these projects have now been fully delivered and approved by our clients. We also have had made a thorough review of inventory accounts and made a one-time write-off of inventories relating back to some COVID-related purchases in 2021 and 2022. Together, these two one-off items amount to $7 million in the quarter. We delivered $113 million in sales, which was 8.9% behind last year, and currency adjusted 5.9% behind last year. The main reason of the decline was the lower sales in EMEA and Americas and, of course, the weak Japanese yen, which affected top line with 2.5 million in the quarter. Our recurring revenues remain stable at 73 million, amounting to 301 million on a rolling 12-month basis by the end of September. The slight decline of 4% versus last year is fully attributed to the cancellation of school orders we have reported on previous in the year. Our gross margin and EBIT were hurt, of course, due to lower sales, the FX effect, but specifically due to the two one-off items totaling 7 million that I mentioned. On an adjusted basis, it is a clear sequential improvement over Q2 2024. Our adjusted EBIT landed on 11.3 million versus 16.8 last year. Cash flow was weak because of the weak operating profit and summoning up the quarter, we still have work to do and we'll keep our focus on the three objectives towards long-term profitable growth. Now looking at the quarter from a regional perspective, When it comes to APEC, they delivered satisfactory growth in the quarter in local currency. The momentum in both cabin solutions and air cleaners remains strong. Air cleaner sales in Japan are up 41% for the year. In EMEA, we're seeing signs of a slower economy, harder to book meetings, longer sales cycles, especially in Germany that represents half of our EMEA business. But we are launching six products to support the sales in EMEA, targeting more critical must-have needs of the customers. This will help us in combating the tougher market conditions. Our development market, France, is developing well, up 17% so far this year. When it comes to Americas, we're currently reviewing our distribution strategy and looking at ways to get in front of more clients other than through our own direct sales force. We have great product and very satisfied customers of the hundred plus clean rooms that we have built across the country. The regulation is there, but we've not managed to have a continuous inflow of orders, which hurts our efficiency. For 2024, The setback of the very promising agreement with Curexa Pharmacy affects us in a negative way for both Q3 and Q4. We have, in my view, a solid contract and are currently in discussions with the client's management on compensation. When it comes to our focus, we're moving on as planned. We stick to our three prioritized objectives. cost control, sales efficiency and customer focus. The cost improvement projects launched back in Q2 are delivering to plan. The consolidation of supply chain and carbon filter production in Europe has been completed. Our actions relating to improving service setup for Germany is on track. When it comes to sales efficiency, Our strengthening and replacement of sales resources in both Germany and Sweden are coming along fine. And we start seeing the result of the new sales reps getting up to speed. Our investment in France, like I mentioned before, is yielding results and show growth of 17% for the year. And we already have the first orders of the just launched Oilmyth solution. both in Germany, Sweden, and Austria. We've been able to further the measurement-led solution with a key food service brand within air cleaning to two more geographies, Belgium and the UK. The installed base with this client is now exceeding 80 units, including orders on the newly launched FS70 food grade with all its new accessories. Our systematic approach to product development, the Clean Air Wheel, delivers no less than six new products across all our product categories in 24. In the background, we continue our further explorations to continue to address more critical application areas within the industry. We stick to... We stick to our plan of developing our company operationally and strategically. And as we keep doing the right things, following a very structured approach, we're convinced financial results will follow. Now, a few words on the six new products, which are addressing both the primary and secondary filtration layers in indoor air cleaning for our clients. On the primary side, We have the new outdoor lounge for smokers, the Clean Air SL12, a new outdoor smoking lounge safeguarding people in the outdoor environment from secondary smoke exposure. More and more clients are asking smokers to go outside, and there is really a need to handle this in a better way. The new addition to our cabin solution range has dramatically improved capacity for the outdoor environment. Staying on the primary side, we have the Clean Air QS5, which is part of our clean space product category. Developed as part of the projects we've done successfully with the space industry over the past two years, we can, through this launch, make this technology available to a much broader industrial base. On the secondary filtration side, we have four new additions to the range. Starting with the smallest, our FS30 Industrial, which fills the gap in the industry where our workhorse, the FS70, is a bit too large. So smaller areas within the production site or production hall, where there is a need of powerful air filtration. We also launched a new and improved FS70 food grade with improved hygienic design, acid-proof stainless steel for the toughest environments within the food and beverage sector, and with a range of unique accessories specifically developed for the needs in this sector. We also launched for indoor smoking room environment the new FS70 SRE, Smoking Room Edition, which serves as both a powerful engine of the previous mentioned Clean Air SL12, but as well is offered on a standalone basis, able to improve all indoor smoking room environments that are out there in the world. And finally, we launched the FS70 Oil Mist, addressing a whole new area at both existing and new customers, where there is a very evident demand to protect people and processes from oil mist. But more on that product later. All of these products are the result of our Clean Air Wheel and those annual detailed workshops that we do with our sales teams Our focus is to address more critical must-have application areas of our existing and future customers. And to exemplify what I mean by addressing more critical must-have application areas, I want to talk a little bit about Oilmist and the recently launched FS70 Oilmist. In our first workshops with our country's sales and service teams back in 2023, Oil mist was highlighted as a key problem area of our customers across all countries in Europe, as well as Japan. Our product teams took on the challenge and started explorations. We conducted multiple tests over an eight to 10 month period in the toughest environments we could find, evaluating both known and new technologies. And now, Less than a year and a half later, we have a solution to bring to the market. The addressable market for oil mist is huge. All metalworking industries, plastic and rubber manufacturers, chemical and petrochemical, pulp and paper, and of course, further down the line, as we expand to the handling of animal and vegetable oils, the very large food processing industry. Sorry. All these industries have issues relating to those tiny droplets of oil in the air. The pain points of the customers are very apparent. Employee health, workplace health and safety, maintenance costs, operational efficiency, and more importantly, the solutions that are out there today, primary solutions, clearly cannot cope with the problem. And I can tell you, when we had completed the tests, I can tell you that there was no way to remove the solution from the test site. Neither the workers nor management would allow it. So long story short, we now launched the FS70 oil mist, the first real viable secondary filtration complement to existing primary point suction solutions. The FS70 oil mist features a patent-pending metal mesh filter that effectively separates oil mist and particles from the air in these environments. The first versions are targeting the metalworking industry, but we are, of course, as part of our three further exploration projects, looking deep into how to best arrive at the version that targets the large food processing industry. And I can tell you, we already have orders on this product, both from Austria, Germany, and Sweden, and we've just started talking about it. So to sum it up, to sum up the points, we start with EMEA. We'll continue our focus on sales efficiency, focuses on Germany, Sweden, and France, and of course, the successful introduction of our six new products just launched. We already today actually have orders on all of the six new products in the region. And as I've said before, we've just started talking about them. For APAC, we'll just keep up that momentum and of course, push five of the six new product launch that are certified for their market. With the US, we work to expand the distribution strategy to increase our reach and cast a larger net to capture the regulatory demand. And overall, we keep turning those stones to operationally improve and keep costs under control. And in the background of all this, we'll keep our explorations for the next must-have solutions. And to sum it up before I hand over to Henrik and the financials, we deliver great value to our clients. We operate across three regions and our three top geographies, Japan, Germany, and the US, all rank in the top global economies of the world. We have three product categories. We have very low customer dependency, serving over 3,500 customers around the world. Our regional supply chains have provided us protection against logistics disturbances in the world and allow us to respond quickly to market needs. We have a strong base of recurring revenues, over 300 million, on a rolling 12-month basis as we close the third quarter. And to add maybe the most important, we're a team on a journey. We have a structured and systematic approach. And as we keep our focus on the right things, we're convinced it will yield financial results in the long term. So with that, I hand it over to Henrik to take you through the financial update.

Thanks, Sebastian. Moving into a financial summary. We are present in three geographies with three different product categories. In Clean Air Group, both EMEA and APEC are strong contributors to sales, representing approximately 90% of total sales. EMEA accounts for approximately 45% of Clean Air Group revenues. There is a solid performance in the third quarter, even though Germany is not reaching our targets. Other European markets are contributing to a higher extent. APEC accounted for approximately 46% of the total revenues. There is a clear demand for our solutions, and we are gaining more and more traction with air cleaners through focused work on chosen customer segments. Americas represent 9% of total revenues. We are hurt by the postponed delayed Corexa contract in the quarter, and we continue to experience longer sales cycles. Slow net sales. We had a negative growth of 6% currency adjusted in the third quarter, reached a sales of 113 million SEK versus 124 million SEK a year ago. The recurring revenue accounts for 64% of total revenues and amounts to 73 million SEK. It's a relatively stable quarter. The gross margin was 62%, down from 67%. The operating profit was 11 million SEK adjusted in the third quarter versus 17 million SEK one year ago. In the third quarter, we reached an operating margin of 10% adjusted. That's a sequential improvement versus second quarter 2024 of 1%. Stable rental revenues. This slide illustrates the relation between the book values of units in Clean Air Balance Sheet and the revenue stemming from such units, including service, the recurring revenues. The recurring revenues of 301 million SEK on a rolling 12-month basis. The recurring revenues are a solid base of revenues that to a larger extent are predictable in the future. The book value is relatively low, 50 million SEK, compared to the recurring revenues, and this is a contributor to our long-term margins. To break these recurring revenues down per unit on an average, the revenue is approximately 64,000 SEK with a book value of 11,000 SEK. We experience a high profitability on renting out the units over time. Revenue split and installed base. In the third quarter, we saw a decline in the installed base. School orders of air cleaners in Germany were not prolonged, resulting in fewer installed units. However, going forward, we see a growth in air cleaners in both EMEA and APAC. We have three different revenue streams. The mix of recurring revenues, sale to finance companies, and product sale to end customers. The main drop is product sale in America, down by approximately 8 million SEC in the quarter. The nature of our business is that we have recurring revenues as a foundation of the total revenues. On top, we have product sales, and that is customers that do not want to have a rental setup. We offer them to buy the units, and that is to a large part in the U.S. And we are also having revenue stemming from sale to finance companies. That is long-term rental contracts that are sold to finance companies. And that is primarily in Japan. Balance sheet and cash flow. The cash flow was weak due to the decline in operating profit and changing in working capital couldn't compensate in this quarter. We continue to amortize according to plan every quarter, and the net debt equity ratio is 0.8. In the quarter, we have a waiver on one covenant from Swedbank. The reason for the need for the waiver is the one-off costs for clean room in the Nordics and the inventory write-downs, in total 7 million SEK. Excluding the one-off costs, we have managed the original covenant. handing over to Sebastian for a summary.

Thanks, Henrik. What we do at Clean Air is really important. We dedicate our work to improve the health of people, the quality of products, and the performance of processes. And we do so throughout our three product categories, cabin solutions, air cleaners, and clean rooms. Looking at the amount of clean air that is delivered through our solutions, we estimate that we clean 7.2 billion cubic meters of indoor air by end of Q3. And that matters because air pollution is a key challenge for human health. People die prematurely from exposure to polluted air. We spend an important part of our lives in indoor air environments. And indoor air can often be more polluted than outdoor air. And before opening up for the Q&A, I want to reiterate, a number of measures have been initiated that we expect to yield results. We stick to our plan with a very systematic approach to both operational and strategic development. We have our three clear priorities, customer focus, sales efficiency, and cost control. And we continue our focused product development that just brought a record amount of new products, six new products to the market, and there are more to follow. With that, I would like to open for questions. Please.

If you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key five on your telephone keypad to enter the queue. If you wish to withdraw your question, please dial pound key six on your telephone keypad. The next question comes from Anders Rosland from Pareto Securites. Please go ahead.

Okay, good morning.

Morning.

Yeah, I would like to start off with the cleanroom business. I'm just curious, is the Corexa order cancelled? And now you were sort of talking about compensation. Or is it still possible that you may deliver the order because you don't specifically mention that the order is canceled?

No, and that's true. There is a postponement. I was myself over in the U.S. last week and met with the chairman, CEO, and CFO of Curexa discussing this. And there is still a possibility that we will be building a clean room for them or multiple clean room for them. But we are already, of course, for the initial project, as that was thought, we've already built sort of that or ordered and everything, the customized material for it. So there still needs to be a settlement before we can move on and see whether we will build something in the end. And as we are in these discussions, of course, I cannot be too wordy about it. But we have an open and straight discussion.

Yeah, but I just mean that could it be that you get a compensation of those costs already in your present cost base and you get compensation and then later on you will deliver or how should it be regarded as compensation issues?

The compensation is totally focused on the project that we bidded for and all the work that had been done up until the point we communicated the postponement. And we've been very prudent in how we've handled our income relating to this and our costs. When we do these clean rooms, we ask for a 55% upfront payment, right? So we're not in a really bad position, but of course, we've been very prudent in how we've handled that over our P&L. And just to mention, I was part of the negotiation and the buildup of the contract. We actually took in new legal advice that were really experienced in the project type construction business. So we have a very solid contract in this and we have acted to the last millimeter according to the contract through the whole process. So I don't feel good about the fact that the original project is not going. We would have loved to build that clean room, but I'm very positive on the way we've approached it from all the way from the contract to our performance up until the postponement time.

Okay, but then continuing with clean rooms, you are not satisfied with the order intake, so you are taking some measures to, one, increase your distribution network, but at the same time you have to adapt to lower, to maybe cost as well. So how should you launch new initiatives at the same time as reducing costs for the lower order intake you have in the U.S.?

So I think we've done significant investments since the start back in 2013 and 14, right? And we've tried several avenues to improve profitability, but always with the view that we delivered the room, including the entire project, right? And in 2023, we took the decision to increase our direct sales force to see if we could drive that order intake required to leverage the structure that you need to do this kind of project business. And clearly, we're now, I think when you look at it, our clean room product is great. We have over a hundred client installations to prove it. The challenge is the way we sell it as a project, which I agree is really different from what's in our DNA for the past 30 years. So when I say that we are revisiting our distribution strategy, it's about being more focused around the product itself and see how we, to a greater extent, can leverage others' project organization or partners to take that product to the market. And there are, for sure, companies which are in a big way in towards the health sector in the U.S. that could really benefit from having a defined product like our Clean Space product is. and to offer that as part of their solution.

Okay. So what you mean is that you will shift from direct sales to use partners instead?

So, you know, when you look at this kind of distribution strategy move, you're always going to be a little bit of both, right? Before you transition. But I think that that approach... is more part of the core of our company. We are extremely good at developing products that really address customer needs. I mean, through my entire professional career, I've never been with a company that have so little issues around product quality and performance. So I think that part we are really strong at. The difficulty with this business is that Because you need that structure, you need to have more volume to leverage. And to get that more volume, I think we need to look beyond a direct sales force. And just as an example, in the Nordics, where we just cleaned, I almost said cleaned, closed off the last clean room projects. In the Nordics, we didn't build that structure, and that's not an avenue either, right? And then I have the write-downs and all that to prove it, right? So I think we've had the right approach in the U.S., having that structure, but we're just going to have to see if we can work more with partners in a distribution strategy, so to say.

Mm-hmm. But that means that you will take down costs for direct sales and you will then let partners take over more of the sales process or distributors. Yes, for sure.

But it's not only that, right? It's also the actual costs associated with the installations and so forth. know usually in if you look at any of our developments especially towards you know hospital pharmacies when they do a new clean room it's seldom just a clean room it's a new wing it's a new department that they're building so there's usually someone else also in there doing a bigger project and and i think that if we can partner up with some of those companies will come in front of more client situation for clean rooms. But we'll be more of the product specialist scoping out, understanding the pharmacy standard operating procedures and sort of designing the room. But the actual delivery of it would happen through a partner.

And have you set up such a partnership already, or is it something you plan to do now?

So we've had some discussions, and of course in certain projects we've already been, you know, towards the hospital working very closely together with some general contractors, right, that are doing other things around the perimeter of the clean room. So I think we have some relations already, but we still have work to do to build that business model forward.

Okay. Going to the cabin solutions, at least my estimates, you saw a sequential uptick in Japan of sales of cabin solutions. And What to expect in the fourth quarter? You have mentioned you had a weak fourth quarter 2021, and that means three years after there will be less contracts up for renewal. So how should we look upon cabin solution sales in Japan? Is it a new higher level or should we come down in the fourth quarter again?

So we don't make forward-looking statements, right, Anders? But you're quite right in making your analysis back to 2021 and the sequential, you know, specifically the finance company business that we had back in those days. And as we've said before, we know that 2024 really sticks out as a low point for these important renewals to finance companies. So I probably let it stay with that, not to make any forward-looking statements. But I think you're understanding the cyclicality of our renewal contract base.

Okay. But you're doing fairly well with the air cleaners in Japan. As you mentioned here, up 40%. And that I expect is a positive trend going forward.

So unfortunately, of course, due to the FX effects, we don't see enough of it on a group level, right? That's the unfortunate part. But if you look at the business, I mean, we're growing 41% this year on air cleaners in Japan. and and these products that i've been talking about right they are really relevant for the market it's it's really only the food grade product that is not certified yet for the japanese market but that's of course in our plans yeah excellent and then coming back to europe here where you see a weaker german and and also swedish market in the uh

air cleaner segment. And that I expect not to change very much in the short term, at least.

No, but I think one should, you know, look at the products that we are launching, right? We're fueling, it's a tougher economic environment, clear, but we're fueling the sales force with six new products, which is really record breaking within our company. And if you look closely on the air cleaner side, it's really bespoke products. So they have a very clear purpose at the customer site. And I think that very focused product development towards more must have applications will help us be more resilient to through the effect economic environment.

I'm a little bit curious here because air cleaner is a very different technology from the cabin solutions or clean rooms business. So those oil mist filter you talk about, which is a new area for you as it is more in metalworking, heavy industries, etc., That's also based on an air cleaner, the same type of technology that it takes in the air, cleans the air and get it out.

Yes, yes.

So this will be 100% air cleaner, but it's more for heavy, heavy oil related.

It's a quite difficult area. And we did serious exploration in this. And we tested... you know, all known technologies. We used, you know, the same technology that primary solutions like Absolent and so forth are using. So we tried a variety of things. And it's not just the mesh filter that is the thing here. But that's the thing I pointed out. I think overall, we're good at really getting in to the real environment. So there are lots of things around this product that really makes it very practical use for the customer. And this is a huge issue, and across really the entire industry, I would say.

But there are new market segments. You are going from light manufacturing, logistics, retail, etc., now into more heavy industries. You have the sales force to do this.

The wheel has one clear benefit. As we do these workshops with our own sales and service organization, we get products that are very close to the demand that they feel in their existing customer relationships. That's also the reason why almost before we start talking about the products, we're already have orders on them, right? So we don't need to branch off with a new sales team to address a new market segment. These are our existing customers. It's just that we have not been able to have solutions. And frankly, no one else has secondary filtration solutions for this part of our customer's business. So it's really on a tangent of what we do.

And those new products will be launched not only in Germany, other parts of Europe as well?

Absolutely.

But you target Germany more than other markets here in Europe?

No, I mean, Germany is a very large portion of our EMEA market. So therefore, of course, we have a lot of focus on that market. But when we went through the workshops, this was one of, I should say, three areas that came from each and every country, right? And from Japan. So it was really, all markets have this issue.

Okay.

So I think the first orders were actually from Austria.

Okay. Then finally, something you are not talking about in this report, and that was the elevated cost level for services when you change your service supplier in Germany, in the cabin solutions area. How do you see, have you gradually raised the rental rates or how long... will it take before restoring those margins again? I guess it's a gradual process.

Yeah. So when it comes to the service agreements that are part of our renting contracts when we sell our product as a service, we have little possibility to move on those that are made in the past, right? So that is a challenge, but we are taking actions, right? We're consolidating the supply chain and the production of cold filter across Europe. We communicated that in Q2, the project's been finished. It has an improvement of our cost of filters of about 10% and our logistics costs of eight. So it's not like we cannot address it, right? But I think when it comes to Germany, we have really a challenge with that new service partner we took on back in 2022. And we are well underway now in a transition of that partnership. In a very positive way. But as we are completely through, I do not want to elaborate too much.

No, but I guess the new service supplier has a higher cost level versus the old one. And then you have gradually, that's what I mean, in every new contract you sell, you have to raise prices for those services costs. And what I mean is it will gradually improve.

It will gradually improve. But I should also point out that you can actually see a sequential improvement, I think, of our service cost if you look closely in the P&L. And that has to do with because the challenges with the existing service supplier, we had to double up on, you know, taking in support from some other partners and spending more money than that contract really required, so to say. So we are not setting that high level that you saw in the first half in that new relationship that we're building.

Okay. Now because longer term it's interesting to see when you expected to be within the target range of 15 to 20%. I mean it's good enough not that you are up to 10% now,

i guess that's a longer term uh so i mean this year is is uh what would i say an extraordinary year in in many terms right with the with the fx the lower renewals for for in japan towards finance companies and so forth so there's a lot of things coming together in this year so

Excellent. And the cash flow situation, will that improve then in the fourth quarter?

I mean, we're not guiding on the next quarter, but obviously we had a very weak cash flow in the third quarter and primarily due to lower operating income. During the second quarter, we had also poor operating income, but then the cash, the movement in working capital Yeah, that's what I think. Exactly. But in the third quarter, we didn't manage to do that. So obviously, the goal is to deliver long-term strong cash flows. That's top of the agenda. But we're not promising anything for the fourth quarter, but we are working on that constantly and hopefully.

And I mean... No, I was talking about the working capital here. I mean, the cash earnings are what they are, but... Yeah. the working capital improvement must be better in the fourth quarter. That's what I mean.

Yes, we are looking to achieve that.

And I think when you look at our longer term financial goals and so forth, and so our ambition hasn't changed. All our operational and strategic actions are aiming at putting us back on a profitable growth track, right? And I think it's important to see on an adjusted EBIT margin basis, right? We are showing a clear sequential progress as we deliver an adjusted EBIT of 10%.

That's good. No, that was all questions for me. Thank you.

Okay. Thanks, Anders.

Yeah, excellent.

There are no more questions at this time. So I hand the conference back to the speakers for any written questions and closing comments.

We actually have some questions through the webcast. So I will read the questions and then we will answer them. Can you please elaborate on how Clean Air is conducting the clean room projects in Americas? Are the projects carried out with an own project organization in Americas? Or are the services needed to carry out the projects in Americas bought on the market?

So when it comes to the approach on the clean room projects in the US, we have our own installation team. So we have a project organization with people on operations, you know, planning the whole supply chain and delivery of the actual equipment to the site. We also have our own, at least a minimal team of own installation professionals. that actually build the room on site. And then, of course, when we have a lot of projects at the same time, we double up sort of with external contractors to support it. And this is where we want to be much more open in the future to have others building our clean space product on site.

And the second question through the webcast is, are there any plans to establish clean air in new countries like India or China?

So specifically India and China is not on our radar at the moment, but we see even within Europe, we see a couple of really interesting larger markets. You can think of our focus today within Europe is really on Germany, Sweden, and as a new market, France, because we see a lot of similarities between the success that we've had in Germany and the type of industries that are in France. And clearly, when we look at the growth of France, that's really yielding results. And there are further markets closer to us within Europe that we will focus on before we focus on China or India.

And there is the third and last question through the webcast. Can you please give some color on how the other markets besides Germany in EMEA are developing? As an example, how is the situation in Poland?

So overall, as I tried to highlight in the presentation, we see a weaker economy across Europe. So I think when you look at all the European markets, we see more carefulness on the customer side, longer sales cycles, harder to book meetings and so forth. And I think our approach to that is to be much more specialized in the solutions that we provide i mean if you have an oil mist problem regardless of economic situation from pure employee health work health and safety and and your maintenance and operational efficiency you're going to make investments in this area Okay, so I hope we've answered all the questions. And let me see. Sorry. So if there are no further questions, I would like to reiterate our communicated financial targets remain delivering 7% to 13% organic growth annually and building up our EBIT margin into the range of 15% to 20% in the medium to long term. Taking our company to new levels is a journey. We have a very structured and systematic approach in this that we stick to. And we're convinced that this is the right way and that it will yield financial results and allow us to meet our communicated financial objectives in the mid to long term. Thank you all for your participation and interest in clean air. And we wish you a great continuation of the day. Thanks.