Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Q3 2022 report of Nordic Paper. Throughout today's recorded presentation, all participants will be in a listen only mode. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, you may press star followed by one on your touchtone telephone. Please press the star key followed by zero for operator assistance. I would now like to turn the conference over to Henrik Essén. Please go ahead. Thank you very much. Good morning, and welcome to Nordic Paper and this presentation of our Q3 results. Today, our CEO, Anita Sjölander, will give you her view of the report, after which CFO Niclas Eriksson will present the financial performance more in detail. After that, we will, as usual, open up for a Q&A. With that, I give the word over to Anita. Thank you, Henrik. And I would also like to say welcome to you that are listening in today and to you who are listening in to the recording. Those of you that have followed Nordic Paper since our listing on the stock exchange two years ago are familiar with the company. As our number of shareholders have increased by an additional 13% from the last report, I would like to take a few minutes to introduce myself and the company before we start. I joined Nordic Paper four years ago, and for the last three years, I have had the pleasure of being CEO in Nordic Paper. My passion and journey with paper started a long time ago after a summer job while studying at university. I just fell in love with this industry of paper production, and what touched my heart was that paper is a product based on renewable resources. It is recyclable, and after several circulations, it is biologically degradable. That is part of my drive for being here, and now I am counting more than 27 years in the paper business. Over to Nordic Paper. Who are we? Nordic Paper is providing the market with specialty papers for food related end users and industrial end users. It's almost 60% of our turnover that is related to food applications. We have chosen niches with high demands on quality, where, for example, strength is important and where our local sourcing of pulpwood and our development of the production units are beneficial. We are a trusted supplier to a loyal customer base that appreciates high quality paper and service. Nordic Paper's specialty papers are divided into two segments: kraft paper and natural greaseproof. Combining these two segments with a strong long-term relationship with suppliers and customers, this gives stability of the performance of Nordic Paper and a long-term positive development of results. I'm sure that you've all had Nordic Paper products in your hands, either carrying home groceries from the shop in an unbleached paper bag or if you have been baking at home, protecting your oven tray using a baking paper. For Nordic Paper, sustainability is important, both as a strong driver for the growing demand for our products, and it is a part of our everyday work. One recent example on how Nordic Paper contributes to more sustainable solutions is the paper bag now available in the Swedish Systembolaget. We are the sole supplier of the paper to this bag, and it was recently introduced as the low carbon footprint alternative to plastic bags. Today, we're also announcing higher ambitions in our work to reduce our climate impact, and I will come back to that later in this presentation. Standing strong in turbulent times. We have during the last year had high pulp prices, increase in cost of energy, and now added to this, we also have fluctuating electricity price and general cost inflation. Altogether, this adds up to very turbulent times. The strength of the underlying growing demand for our specialty papers, both Kraft paper and natural greaseproof paper, combined with a very strong market situation the last years. With power to respond to the increases in our cost base, we are driving the product prices up, both for Kraft paper and for Natural Greaseproof, which has enabled us to defend our margins. The organization has been focused on finding ways to mitigate costs through negotiations, prioritizations, and finding new transport solutions. One proof of this good work is that we have been able to perform all our plant maintenance stops in quarter three at the plant cost level. The strength in our business model has also illustrated that we have the capacity to strengthen our balance sheet in these turbulent times. In this environment, I'm proud of the result we deliver. It is the strongest result ever in a quarter three with maintenance stops. With that, I will start sharing the results in quarter three, and I will start with the highlights. Standing strong in turbulent times. Compared to the same quarter last year, Nordic Paper is delivering a four times higher EBITDA. With the focus work on increasing product prices, we have been able to compensate for the cost inflation in this quarter. As planned, all the production units have performed their annual maintenance stops, which gives a seasonal impact compared to the previous quarter. Kraft paper continues to deliver a very strong result, while we are not satisfied with the performance of Natural Greaseproof. Our balance sheet has been further strengthened, where the ratio between Net Debt to EBITDA continues to improve, and we are now at a lower leverage compared to where we were before acquiring Canada Glassine. Let's look at the development for net sales and EBITDA margin and how the quarter three EBITDA result comes out. Net sales for the third quarter is SEK 1,037 million. As you can see in the graph, this is the third consecutive quarter with a net sales above SEK 1 billion. It is also an improvement by 46% compared to the last year. What you can also see in the graph is the typical pattern for our EBITDA margin with the seasonality effect from the planned maintenance stops in quarter three in all of our plants. For this quarter, the EBITDA margin is 7.4%. The EBITDA is SEK 77 million, which for a quarter three with maintenance stop is the best EBITDA ever. In quarter three, some of our customers also have lower activity, and that is one reason for the lower net sales Q3 compared to Q2. Another reason is that our production is closed during the maintenance stops, so there we have a slightly lower availability of paper. We do continue to serve and supply our customers with paper also during these months, partly from stock. That takes us to the next area, sales volumes. Nordic Paper's high exposure to the more stable food sector and the selected less volatile industrial end users gives stability and underlying growth. We are delivering new records for sales volumes both in Q1 and Q2 this year because of the strong market demand and the addition of sales volume from the acquisition of Nordic Paper Québec. This quarter does not provide a new record as we have a slightly lower production volumes due to somewhat lower production efficiency in Bäckhammar and Säffle. As I mentioned before, we have two business segments in Nordic Paper, Kraft paper and Natural Greaseproof. These segments have highly different sales volumes, where Kraft paper has more than twice as high sales volume compared to Natural Greaseproof. When it comes to net sales, the sizes are almost equal. I would like to start to share the performance of Kraft paper for quarter three. From the Kraft paper segment, we are supplying our customers with unbleached Kraft paper from two production sites in Sweden, and all paper is based on our own unbleached pulp. Our customers are converters producing unbleached paper bags, sacks, and packaging for food and other applications for industrial end uses. We have continued to see a strong demand for Kraft paper, and we have also seen some signs of a return to more balanced market conditions. For one of our product groups in this segment, absorbents, which is corresponding to 5% of our total net sales, the demand has cooled down slightly. Some of our absorbent customers tell us that they lack other components, such as birchwood, for their production of floor laminates. In the graph of net sales and EBITDA margin, you recognize the seasonality pattern I mentioned before on the group level, and this comes from the costs for the planned maintenance activities and the lower production as the mills are shut during the maintenance stops. In addition to these planned maintenance stops, we also had a somewhat lower production volume in one of our Kraft paper production units, and that is Bäckhammar, which lowers the available sales volumes in quarter three. Compared to quarter three last year, the net sales have increased by 39% as we have continued to increase our product prices. Compared to quarter three last year, they are up 34% in local currency. The EBITDA margin is 19.5% compared to the 31% on the rolling twelve months. Let's move over to the other segment, Natural Greaseproof. From this segment, we are supplying Natural Greaseproof papers for applications where paper is in close contact with food. This paper is used both by professionals in bakeries, restaurants, and coffee shops and by self-makers and bakers at home. We have three production units, one each in Sweden, Norway, and Canada. For the Greaseproof papers, we have continued strong demand, but we also see some signs of normalizing market conditions in this segment. In the graph, you can see that our new asset, Nordic Paper Québec, is included in all three quarters this year. All production units are performing their annual maintenance stops affecting quarter three, which then gives this pattern for the net sales and the EBITDA margin in the third quarters. Compared to quarter three last year, higher product prices and Nordic Paper Québec are contributing with equal size to the increased net sales. We deliver a total improvement of 58% in the net sales. The cost inflation is mainly mitigated by product price increases and energy surcharges. Still, the planned cost for the annual maintenance stops takes the margin below zero. With that, I would like to hand over to my colleague, Niclas Eriksson, CFO at Nordic Paper. He will take you in more detail through the quarterly numbers, year-to-date figures, and our financial status. Over to you, Niclas. Thank you, Anita. I will give you an in-depth analysis of the financial development for Q3 and year to date compared to the same periods in 2021. You will see how our strong pricing power and the cost development have impacted the financial results. Nordic Paper Québec is included in our profit and loss statement as from January 1, and to make it easier to compare the underlying development, we disclose Québec separately. Net sales have increased 46% compared to Q3 last year, and the key drivers are volume and product mix that has had a negative impact of SEK 40 million. This is mainly due to slightly lower sales volume, while the mix effect is largely neutral. Energy costs have increased significantly towards the end of the quarter, and to mitigate that, we have implemented energy surcharges, especially in the Natural Greaseproof segment. The market trends have been strong and further price increases have been implemented in both segments. Total price increases are strong also this quarter. In Natural Greaseproof, we see that the price increases and energy surcharges have given a total increase of 27% compared to the same period last year. In Kraft, the increase is 34%. Our invoicing currencies, Euro, US dollar, and British pounds, have all strengthened against the krona compared to last year, which has positively affected the net sales. Finally, Nordic Paper Québec have had net sales of SEK 86 million in the quarter, contributing to total net sales of SEK 1.04 billion for the group. Let's move to the EBITDA bridge. In the report, we disclose the EBITDA for the two segments, and Nordic Paper Québec is included in Natural Greaseproof. The effects from Québec are therefore included in volume and mix, variable costs and fixed costs. The increase in EBITDA is SEK 62 million compared to last year from SEK 15 million to SEK 77 million. Volume and mix include the net sales from Québec of SEK 86 million, offset by a negative effect of SEK 24 million. The implemented price increases, SEK 221 million, gives the same effect on EBITDA level. Variable costs have increased significantly also in Q3. The variable cost in Québec is included in the increase of SEK 207 million. The deviations to last year includes the effect from increased energy costs, increased prices of pulp, and effects from increased consumption of pulp after the closing of the pulp mill in Säffle. We also see increased costs from wood and freights. The larger part of the cost inflation hits Natural Greaseproof. The increased fixed cost is to a large part related to Québec. In Q3 2021, Nordic Paper, like many other Swedish companies, received a reimbursement from personnel insurances which led to a positive bonus effect of SEK 11 million. The currency effect we saw on sales is at EBITDA level to a large extent set off by variable cost in other currencies. For example, pulp, energy, chemicals, and freight. From the quarterly analysis, we now move on to the year to date figures, and Nordic Paper Québec is, as I mentioned earlier, disclosed separately. The market conditions have been strong across the year, and the implemented price increases has contributed to the increase of net sales of 42% to SEK 3.2 billion. Volume and product mix gives a negative effect of SEK 39 million, which is related to both Kraft paper and Natural Greaseproof. The markets have been strong and price increases together with energy surcharges summarized to SEK 600 million for the group. In Natural Greaseproof, we have seen an increase of over SEK 200 million, and in Kraft paper, close to SEK 400 million. Our invoicing currencies has strengthened towards the krona, which gives a positive effect of SEK 161. Nordic Paper Québec have had net sales of SEK 239 year to date. Let's move on to the year-to-date EBITDA bridge. In the report, we disclose the EBITDA for the two segments, and as I described earlier, Nordic Paper Québec is included in Natural Greaseproof. In the EBITDA bridge for January to September, we compare with the adjusted EBITDA of 2021. In Q2 2021, we made a provision related to the decision to close the pulp mill in Säffle plant, and in the adjusted EBITDA, we have adjusted for this provision. Volume and mix include the net sales from Québec of SEK 239 million, which is offset by negative effects of 35 related to volume and mix in both segments. The implemented price increases, SEK 601 million, gives the same effect on EBITDA. Variable costs have increased SEK 485 million compared to last year, including the variable cost in Québec. The cost increases we see are mainly from energy and pulp, and we also see increased cost for wood and freights. The larger part of the cost inflation hits Natural Greaseproof. Nordic Paper Québec is the key reason for the increase in fixed costs. The currency effect on sales are at the EBITDA level to a large extent offset by variable costs in other currencies, and the net effect is limited. Reported EBITDA year-to-date is SEK 562 million, an increase of SEK 252 million, or 81% compared to last year. In the first two quarters of 2022, the increase of working capital is to a large extent related to increase of net sales and corresponding increase of accounts receivables. We have remained disciplined in only producing against customer order. In Q3, we have reduced the working capital and, as a result, reached a very good cash flow from operating activities of SEK 257 million. The cash flow has supported a large decrease of the net debt, which we will see in the coming slide. The development of the EBITDA and the cash flow during the first nine months of the year have had a very positive effect on our financial situation, our financial strength. In the second quarter, we paid out the dividend of SEK 134 million, which likely increased the net debt. In the third quarter, we have seen that the strong cash flow has resulted in a significant decrease of the net debt. The increased EBITDA, including the addition of Nordic Paper Québec, have reduced the net debt to EBITDA ratio from 3.7 at the end of December 2021 to 1.6 at the end of Q3, even lower than the ratio before the acquisition. This development means that we have a very strong financial position in these turbulent times and gives us strategic flexibility. Finally, I would like to give a description of the electricity hedging we have in Nordic Paper. Nordic Paper has an annual consumption of electricity of approximately 520 gigawatt-hours. We are a producer of electricity, as we in Kraft Paper segment have a turbine that generates approximately a quarter of the total need in the company. The rest of the electricity need is sourced externally and to a large extent under long-term price arrangements. As you all know, energy prices have been increasing, and the daily spot price for electricity in Sweden and Norway has been highly volatile during the last year. In the picture on the left-hand side, we can see how the daily spot prices have developed during the year. The gray and orange lines show how the spot prices in the areas where we are located, SE3 in Sweden and NO1 in Norway, for the last four quarters. In the same graph, you can also see in the blue line the actual average price that Nordic Paper have paid during the same period. During some days, end of August and beginning of September, with extreme spot prices in Norway, we decided to take a three-day stop in our production unit in Greåker to protect our profitability. With the background of this development in electricity prices, we have developed energy surcharges in Natural Greaseproof to mitigate the increased costs. On the right-hand side, you can see how our price arrangements for the next quarter and coming years look. We have approximately 70% of our external consumption in contracts for Q4 and 2023. The level of contracted electricity is then stepwise reduced for the coming years. We have also entered into a new long-term energy agreement for our Kraft Paper mill, Åmotfors, which will give us a stable and predictable cost of energy for the coming years. That is the current electricity situation for Nordic Paper. When it comes to energy in general, the majority of our energy comes from bio-based sources, which is one strength in our sustainability performance. Sustainability is an important part of our strategy and value creation. Let me now hand over to Anita, and let her describe this further and also give an outlook for the near-term future. Thank you, Niclas. Sustainability is key for Nordic Paper, as our products are based on renewable resources, supporting the shift to a more sustainable society. Our papers can replace fossil-based materials, and we know that we as end consumers want to make more and more sustainable choices and base more and more of our decisions on sustainability performance. So this is an important driver for our business. Sustainability is also a part of our daily work, and we continuously focus on reducing the carbon footprint from our activities. To communicate how we can continue to improve our sustainability performance, we have updated our focus areas and targets. Within the focus area Reduce Climate Impact, we are happy to tell that we have now increased our long-term commitment to decrease our carbon footprint, Scope one, two and three, by 50% in 2030 compared to 2020. If we then just switch to a shorter timeframe in the future, I want to share how we see the development and give an outlook for quarter four. Our market is still strong, but there are some signs of a return to more balanced market conditions. We expect the current energy shortage in the world to continue and to impact the electricity price. Going into the winter, we expect the electricity price to increase. Product price increases will continue in Natural Greaseproof, and electricity price energy surcharges have been added. As you have also seen maybe, the recent pulp price movements have been flat or somewhat reduced. Small steps so far, but we do not rule out that the prices will continue down. The price for pulpwood, i.e., the raw material for Kraft paper, is expected to increase. It's time for Q&A, and I would like to give the word back to Henrik Essén. Yes, I ask operator if there are any questions. Well, yes. Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we will begin the Q&A session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star followed by one on their touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star followed by two. If you are using speaker equipment today, please lift the handset before making your selections. Anyone who has a question may press star followed by one at this time. One moment for the first question, please. It seems like we have no questions, so I hand back to Anita Sjölander. Mm-hmm. We can add, we have received a written question here during the morning: Anita, Niclas, what impact do you see of the planned Swedish government proposal for electricity payback that was announced yesterday? Niclas. Yes. We are very happy to see that there are government contribution coming up, but we saw this news today, late last evening, and we haven't been able to get into the details yet. Another question that also came in written was, we mentioned that we have a electricity consumption of about 520 gigawatt-hours. Could you comment on the distribution by mill? Where is this? Mm-hmm. It is in Bäckhammar, it is in the Kraft paper segment that we have our own turbine. Like Niklas said, it's approximately a quarter of the total demand in the company. The other mills in Säffle, Åmotfors, in Greåker, and in Québec, Canada, are sourcing externally their need of electricity. All of the Swedish mills are in SE3, and Greåker in Norway is in NO1. Yes ...the electricity price area. Yes. If no further questions, we will conclude with a summary, Anita. Thank you. I just want to emphasize our key messages in this report with a short summary of quarter three and our outlook for quarter four. In quarter three, the market for both our segments have continued to be strong, and we have increased the EBITDA by more than 400% compared to Q3 last year. From a super strong market situation, there are some signs of a return to more balanced market conditions. We have, in quarter three, mitigated the increased costs for energy and wood through increased product prices, and this work will continue also during the coming quarters to compensate for increased prices for energy and pulpwood. For Natural Greaseproof segment, the raw material cost for pulp is expected to level out or start to decline. Thank you for listening in, and with that, I will hand over to Henrik for final words. Yes. We thank you for listening today for this Q3 report. We look forward to talking to you again after our Q4 report, which will be due on in the end of January. We look forward to talking to you again at that time. Thank you and goodbye. Over to operator. Ladies and gentlemen, the conference is now concluded, and you may disconnect your telephone. Thank you for joining, and have a pleasant day. Goodbye.
Loading workspace