Q2 2026 Elopak ASA Earnings Call
Christian Gjerde: My name is Christian Gjerde. I am Head of Treasury and Investor Relations. Today's presentation will be held by our CEO, Bent K. Axelsen, and our CFO, Ola Buarøy. The presentation will last for around 30 minutes, followed by a Q&A session where the people here in the audience and the people joining online can ask questions. With that short introduction, welcome, Bent.
Christian Gjerde: My name is Christian Gjerde. I am Head of Treasury and Investor Relations. Today's presentation will be held by our CEO, Bent K. Axelsen, and our CFO, Ola Buarøy. The presentation will last for around 30 minutes, followed by a Q&A session where the people here in the audience and the people joining online can ask questions. With that short introduction, welcome, Bent.
Speaker #1: My name is Cristian Nerde. I'm Head of Treasury and Investor Relations. Today's presentation will be given by our CEO, Bent Axelsen, and our CFO, Ola Børre.
Speaker #1: The presentation will last for around 30 minutes, followed by a Q&A session where people here in the audience and those joining online can ask questions.
Speaker #1: So, with that short introduction, welcome, Bent.
Speaker #2: Thank you, Cristian, and good morning, everybody in the room and online. Nice to be back after the summer. I'm going to just jump straight into the quarter, and this quarter really is marked by the geopolitical uncertainty, the higher raw material costs, and changes in consumer behavior.
Bent K. Axelsen: Thank you, Christian, and good morning everybody in the room and online. Nice to be back after the summer. I am going to just jump straight into the quarter. This quarter really is marked by the geopolitical uncertainty, the higher raw material costs, and changes in the consumer behavior. I think against this backdrop, we have stayed focused, implementing our strategy, but also keeping a tight control of our cost base. This quarter is an improvement compared to the softer start of the year. We grew our revenues to EUR 304 million. This is a growth of 4.9%, or 5.7% on a constant currency basis. We delivered 8.7% growth on a constant currency basis in America, despite the tragic and serious incidents with one of our suppliers, which I will come back to later in the presentation.
Bent K. Axelsen: Thank you, Christian, and good morning everybody in the room and online. Nice to be back after the summer. I am going to just jump straight into the quarter. This quarter really is marked by the geopolitical uncertainty, the higher raw material costs, and changes in the consumer behavior. I think against this backdrop, we have stayed focused, implementing our strategy, but also keeping a tight control of our cost base. This quarter is an improvement compared to the softer start of the year. We grew our revenues to EUR 304 million. This is a growth of 4.9%, or 5.7% on a constant currency basis. We delivered 8.7% growth on a constant currency basis in America, despite the tragic and serious incidents with one of our suppliers, which I will come back to later in the presentation.
Speaker #2: But I think, against this backdrop, we have stayed focused—implementing our strategy, but also keeping tight control of our cost base. So, this quarter is an improvement compared to the soft restart of the year.
Speaker #2: We grew our revenues to €304 million. This is a growth of 4.9%, or 5.7% on a constant currency basis. We delivered 8.7% growth on a constant currency basis in America, despite the tragic and serious incident with one of our suppliers, which I'll come back to later in the presentation.
Bent K. Axelsen: The revenue growth in EMEA looks to be low, 3.3%, but actually fundamentally is higher because carton and closure grew by 8%. EMEA is really delivering on the top line this quarter. Altogether that gives us an adjusted EBITDA of EUR 45 million with a margin of 14.8%. in Q1, we started to point out the increasing raw material prices following the Middle East conflict, and customer surcharges have been implemented to mitigate this. These surcharges were implemented during the second quarter. Based on this performance and our strong balance sheet, the board has declared a dividend of EUR 0.065 per share for the H1 2026, which is close to 53% of our normalized net profits and also in line with our dividend policy.
Bent K. Axelsen: The revenue growth in EMEA looks to be low, 3.3%, but actually fundamentally is higher because carton and closure grew by 8%. EMEA is really delivering on the top line this quarter. Altogether that gives us an adjusted EBITDA of EUR 45 million with a margin of 14.8%. in Q1, we started to point out the increasing raw material prices following the Middle East conflict, and customer surcharges have been implemented to mitigate this. These surcharges were implemented during the second quarter. Based on this performance and our strong balance sheet, the board has declared a dividend of EUR 0.065 per share for the H1 2026, which is close to 53% of our normalized net profits and also in line with our dividend policy.
Speaker #2: The revenue growth in EMEA looks to be low, at 3.3%, but actually, fundamentally, it is higher because carton enclosures grew by 8%. So, EMEA is really delivering on the top line this quarter.
Speaker #2: Altogether, that gives us an adjusted EBITDA of €45 million, with a margin of 14.8%. In Q1, we started to point out the increasing raw material prices following the Middle East conflict, and customer surcharges have been implemented to mitigate this.
Speaker #2: And these surcharges were implemented during the second quarter. Based on this performance and our own balance sheet, the Board has declared a dividend of €0.
Speaker #2: Sorry, €0.065 per share for the first half of 2026, which is close to 53% of our normalized net profits and also in line with our dividend policy.
Speaker #2: And not the least, in this quarter we also announced Håkan Vålvall—Håkan Vålvall as our new CEO—and his start-up will be no later than 1st of January 2027.
Bent K. Axelsen: Not least, in this quarter we also announced Håkon Volldal as our new CEO, and his start will be no later than 1 January 2027. Let us take a deeper look at the figures. We mentioned the 5% growth. The main driver of this growth was the continued ramp-up in Americas, but at a slower rate than desired. If we look at the carton and closure revenue alone in the group, it is 8.4% reported. We are also happy to report the growth from EMEA with the 8% growth for carton and closures. This was supported by an, I would say, impressive 16% growth in the Roll Fed business coming from onboarding of customers in Poland. What is relevant to add is that this strong top-line performance in EMEA is also supported by attractive phasing in the quarter.
Bent K. Axelsen: Not least, in this quarter we also announced Håkon Volldal as our new CEO, and his start will be no later than 1 January 2027. Let us take a deeper look at the figures. We mentioned the 5% growth. The main driver of this growth was the continued ramp-up in Americas, but at a slower rate than desired. If we look at the carton and closure revenue alone in the group, it is 8.4% reported. We are also happy to report the growth from EMEA with the 8% growth for carton and closures. This was supported by an, I would say, impressive 16% growth in the Roll Fed business coming from onboarding of customers in Poland. What is relevant to add is that this strong top-line performance in EMEA is also supported by attractive phasing in the quarter.
Speaker #2: Let's take a deeper look at the figures. So, we mentioned the 5% growth. The main driver of this growth was the continued ramp-up in America, but at a slower rate than desired.
Speaker #2: If we look at the carton enclosure revenue alone in the group, it's 8.4% reported. And we are also happy to report the growth from EMEA, with 8% growth for carton enclosures.
Speaker #2: And this was supported by an, I would say, impressive 16% growth in the roasted business, coming from onboarding of customers in Poland. I think what is relevant to add is that this strong top line performance in EMEA is also supported by attractive phasing in the quarter.
Speaker #2: Now, if we look at the year-to-date figures, with the soft restart of the year, that is a growth of 0.4%, or close to 3%, or 2.9% on a constant currency basis.
Bent K. Axelsen: Now, if you look at the year-to-date figures with a softer start of the year, that is a growth of 0.4% or close to 3%, or 3.9%, on a constant currency basis. If we move to EBITDA, the EBITDA is impacted by higher raw material costs following the Middle East conflict. These raw material prices, the price increases, they impacted our P&L sooner than the impact of the customer surcharges. We expect when we get the surcharges on a run rate basis, a recovery in the H2 of the year. I think the highlight I would say of this quarter is that if you look at the Q2, it is actually 1 percentage point better than Q1 this quarter. So we really demonstrated that we have the ability to deliver this gradual improvement that we communicated in our Q1 earnings call.
Bent K. Axelsen: Now, if you look at the year-to-date figures with a softer start of the year, that is a growth of 0.4% or close to 3%, or 3.9%, on a constant currency basis. If we move to EBITDA, the EBITDA is impacted by higher raw material costs following the Middle East conflict. These raw material prices, the price increases, they impacted our P&L sooner than the impact of the customer surcharges. We expect when we get the surcharges on a run rate basis, a recovery in the H2 of the year. I think the highlight I would say of this quarter is that if you look at the Q2, it is actually 1 percentage point better than Q1 this quarter. So we really demonstrated that we have the ability to deliver this gradual improvement that we communicated in our Q1 earnings call.
Speaker #2: If we move to EBITDA, the EBITDA is impacted by higher raw material costs following the Middle East conflict. Because of these raw material price increases, they impacted our P&L sooner than the impact of the customer surcharges.
Speaker #2: So we expect, when we get the surcharges on a run-rate basis, a recovery in the second half of the year. I think the highlight I would say of this quarter is that, if you look at the second quarter, it's actually 1 percentage point better than Q1 this quarter.
Speaker #2: So we really demonstrated that we had the ability to deliver this gradual improvement that we communicated in our Q1 earnings call. And this uptick does not come mainly from the price increases in Euro, but it really comes from the margin equity growth in America.
Bent K. Axelsen: This uptick does not come mainly from the price increases in EUR, but it really comes from the margin accretive growth in America. Now, if you look at the strategy slide we always show, I think when we look at the world today with the geopolitical and market backdrop, the strategy, Repackaging Tomorrow, remains firm with the three priorities: realize global growth, strengthen leadership in core, and leverage plastic to carton. The largest top-line growth comes from the global growth priority. Within global growth, America is by far the most important growth priority. America represents 50% of the targeted growth, organic growth between 2023 and 2028. Hence, we think it is important to use this opportunity to give you an update of the tragic accident that happened with one of our suppliers. We will use this section to do a deep dive of that in this quarter.
Bent K. Axelsen: This uptick does not come mainly from the price increases in EUR, but it really comes from the margin accretive growth in America. Now, if you look at the strategy slide we always show, I think when we look at the world today with the geopolitical and market backdrop, the strategy, Repackaging Tomorrow, remains firm with the three priorities: realize global growth, strengthen leadership in core, and leverage plastic to carton. The largest top-line growth comes from the global growth priority. Within global growth, America is by far the most important growth priority. America represents 50% of the targeted growth, organic growth between 2023 and 2028. Hence, we think it is important to use this opportunity to give you an update of the tragic accident that happened with one of our suppliers. We will use this section to do a deep dive of that in this quarter.
Speaker #2: Now, if we look at the strategy—the strategy slide we always show—and I think, when we look at the world today with the geopolitical and market backdrop, the strategy for repackaging tomorrow remains firm.
Speaker #2: With the three priorities—realized global growth, strengthened leadership in core, and leverage plastic to carton—the largest top-line growth comes from global growth.
Speaker #2: Priority. And within global growth, America is by far the most important growth priority. America represents 50% of the targeted organic growth between 2023 and 2028.
Speaker #2: Hence, we think it's important to use this opportunity to give you an update on an accident that happened with one of our suppliers. We'll use this section to do a deep dive on that in this quarter.
Speaker #2: Now, as many of you know, this tragic incident occurred on May 26 at Nippon Dynawave's paper mill in Longview, Washington. This is one of our major suppliers of liquid packaging board in Elopak.
Bent K. Axelsen: Now, as many of you know, this tragic incident occurred 26 May at Nippon Dynawave's paper mill in Longview, Washington. This is one of our major suppliers of liquid packaging board in Elopak. The incident has resulted in supply chain constraints in America, and we worked very decisively to secure supply continuity and minimize the impact in the short term. The lacking pulp production at Nippon will constrain board supply to the market. The board mill operation is currently suspended. However, there are no direct damages to the board machine nor the coating line. We are taking continuous measures, so our supply to our existing customers are secured through Elopak's network of strategic suppliers. We also do tactical inventory management that will be used to manage shorter and temporary shortfalls. If you look at the longer term, the board capacity remains supported for growth.
Bent K. Axelsen: Now, as many of you know, this tragic incident occurred 26 May at Nippon Dynawave's paper mill in Longview, Washington. This is one of our major suppliers of liquid packaging board in Elopak. The incident has resulted in supply chain constraints in America, and we worked very decisively to secure supply continuity and minimize the impact in the short term. The lacking pulp production at Nippon will constrain board supply to the market. The board mill operation is currently suspended. However, there are no direct damages to the board machine nor the coating line. We are taking continuous measures, so our supply to our existing customers are secured through Elopak's network of strategic suppliers. We also do tactical inventory management that will be used to manage shorter and temporary shortfalls. If you look at the longer term, the board capacity remains supported for growth.
Speaker #2: The incident has resulted in supply chain constraints in America, and we worked very decisively to secure supply continuity and minimize the impact in the short term.
Speaker #2: Now, the lack of power production at Nippon will constrain board supply to the market. The board mill operation is currently suspended; however, there are no direct damages to the board machine or the coating line.
Speaker #2: We are taking continuous measures to ensure our supply to existing customers is secured through Elopak's network of strategic suppliers. We also do tactical inventory management, which will be used to address shorter and temporary shortfalls.
Speaker #2: If we look at the longer term, the board capacity remains supportive for growth. I think that's a very important point. We remain confident in fulfilling supply commitments to our customers.
Bent K. Axelsen: I think it is a very important point, and we remain confident in fulfilling supply commitments to our customers. However, the incident has further affected the regional market dynamics in America, and in combination with factors that we talked about in the Q1 in Americas related to plant-based, it will impact the growth in the year ahead in America. Insurance and the commercial agreements are expected to cover most of the costs to Elopak. We will continue to work actively with suppliers, customers to manage this situation. I believe that our growing role as a trusted partner in the American market will help us in navigating through this challenge. I now have the pleasure to introduce Ola Buarøy, our CFO, and the debut. He will guide you through the financial section. Welcome, Ola.
Bent K. Axelsen: I think it is a very important point, and we remain confident in fulfilling supply commitments to our customers. However, the incident has further affected the regional market dynamics in America, and in combination with factors that we talked about in the Q1 in Americas related to plant-based, it will impact the growth in the year ahead in America. Insurance and the commercial agreements are expected to cover most of the costs to Elopak. We will continue to work actively with suppliers, customers to manage this situation. I believe that our growing role as a trusted partner in the American market will help us in navigating through this challenge. I now have the pleasure to introduce Ola Buarøy, our CFO, and the debut. He will guide you through the financial section. Welcome, Ola.
Speaker #2: However, the incident has further affected the regional market dynamics in America, and in combination with factors that we talked about in the first quarter in America related to plant-based, it will impact the growth in the year ahead in America.
Speaker #2: Now, insurance and commercial agreements are expected to cover most of the costs to Elopak. We will continue to work actively with suppliers and customers to manage this situation.
Speaker #2: And I believe that our growing role as a trusted partner in the American market will help us navigate through this challenge. I now have the pleasure to introduce Ola Vuorey, our CEO, for the debut.
Speaker #2: So, he will guide you through the financial section. So, welcome, Ola.
Speaker #1: Thank you very much, Bent, and good morning to everyone. I'll start by giving some more color on the raw material impact following the Middle East conflict.
Ola Buarøy: Thank you very much, Bent, and good morning to everyone. I will start giving some more color on the raw material impacts following the Middle East conflict. As previously reported, the conflict has led to higher raw material prices on our unhedged positions. We have seen increases on LP, we have seen increases on ALU, and the same with plate. In Q2, we implemented customer surcharges to offset the increased input prices. However, due to the time lag from when we started to see the increased raw material prices to when the customer surcharges came into effect, the EMEA profitability is impacted in the second quarter. However, we expect to see the full benefit of the surcharges from Q3 and onwards, which will lead to a recovery. Moving on to the more underlying performance.
Ola Buarøy: Thank you very much, Bent, and good morning to everyone. I will start giving some more color on the raw material impacts following the Middle East conflict. As previously reported, the conflict has led to higher raw material prices on our unhedged positions. We have seen increases on LP, we have seen increases on ALU, and the same with plate. In Q2, we implemented customer surcharges to offset the increased input prices. However, due to the time lag from when we started to see the increased raw material prices to when the customer surcharges came into effect, the EMEA profitability is impacted in the second quarter. However, we expect to see the full benefit of the surcharges from Q3 and onwards, which will lead to a recovery. Moving on to the more underlying performance.
Speaker #1: So, as previously reported, the conflict has led to higher raw material prices on our unhedged positions. We have seen increases on LDP, we have seen increases on ALU, and the same with freight.
Speaker #1: In Q2, we implemented customer surcharges to offset the increased input prices. However, due to the time lag from when we started to see the increased raw material prices to when the customer surcharges came into effect, the EMEA profitability is impacted in the second quarter.
Speaker #1: However, we expect to see the full benefit of the surcharges from Q3 and onwards, which will lead to a recovery. So, moving on to the more underlying performance.
Speaker #1: EMEA delivered satisfactory top-line growth in the quarter, with revenue increasing both year over year and quarter over quarter. If we look at carton and closure revenue in isolation, we saw growth of almost 8% in the quarter.
Ola Buarøy: EMEA delivered satisfactory top-line growth in the quarter, with revenue increasing both year-over-year but also quarter-over-quarter. If we look at carton and closure revenue in isolation, we saw a growth of almost 8% in the quarter, and that was mainly driven by higher volumes in both Pure-Pak but also Roll Fed. In addition to the surcharges already implemented in the second quarter, we continued to see the positive development within the UHT dairy category in the second quarter. That was a development we started to see also in the Q1 presentation, and I think we also reported that in Q4 2025 presentation. We are pleased to see that that is continuing, and we are growing in our core markets in EMEA, in particular in Germany and Hungary. On the other hand, the somewhat soft ambient juice market continued also in the second quarter.
Ola Buarøy: EMEA delivered satisfactory top-line growth in the quarter, with revenue increasing both year-over-year but also quarter-over-quarter. If we look at carton and closure revenue in isolation, we saw a growth of almost 8% in the quarter, and that was mainly driven by higher volumes in both Pure-Pak but also Roll Fed. In addition to the surcharges already implemented in the second quarter, we continued to see the positive development within the UHT dairy category in the second quarter. That was a development we started to see also in the Q1 presentation, and I think we also reported that in Q4 2025 presentation. We are pleased to see that that is continuing, and we are growing in our core markets in EMEA, in particular in Germany and Hungary. On the other hand, the somewhat soft ambient juice market continued also in the second quarter.
Speaker #1: And that was mainly driven by higher volumes in both Pure-Pak, but also WorldFed, in addition to the surcharges already implemented in the second quarter.
Speaker #1: We continued to see the positive development within the UHT dairy category in the second quarter. That was a development we started to see also in the Q1 presentation.
Speaker #1: And I think we also reported on that in the Q4 2025 presentation, so we're pleased to see that that is continuing. And we are growing in our core markets in EMEA.
Speaker #1: In particular, in Germany and Hungary. On the other hand, the somewhat soft ambient juice market continued also in the second quarter. That's a trend we have seen for a while.
Ola Buarøy: That is a trend we have seen for a while. However, the impact was less severe in the second quarter than what we saw in the first quarter. That is partly a timing thing, but it is also due to the fact that juice consumption is typically picking up around summer season. On Roll Fed, we are pleased to see that we still have the recovery in the second quarter. We reported the recovery in the first quarter after an extended period of Roll Fed volume decline in Europe. We are pleased to see that recovery, and it came through, in particular, our new customers in Poland and also Ukraine. Moving on to the equipment side, which typically fluctuates somewhat between the quarters. We are reporting a decline on equipment this quarter. That is partly a timing thing as we commissioned fewer machines this quarter.
Ola Buarøy: That is a trend we have seen for a while. However, the impact was less severe in the second quarter than what we saw in the first quarter. That is partly a timing thing, but it is also due to the fact that juice consumption is typically picking up around summer season. On Roll Fed, we are pleased to see that we still have the recovery in the second quarter. We reported the recovery in the first quarter after an extended period of Roll Fed volume decline in Europe. We are pleased to see that recovery, and it came through, in particular, our new customers in Poland and also Ukraine. Moving on to the equipment side, which typically fluctuates somewhat between the quarters. We are reporting a decline on equipment this quarter. That is partly a timing thing as we commissioned fewer machines this quarter.
Speaker #1: However, the impact was less severe in the second quarter than what we saw in the first quarter. That's partly a timing thing, but it's also due to the fact that juice consumption typically picks up around the summer season.
Speaker #1: On WorldFed, we're pleased to see that we still have the recovery in the second quarter. We reported a recovery in the first quarter, after an extended period of WorldFed volume decline in Europe.
Speaker #1: So we're pleased to see that recovery, and it came through in particular with our new customers in Poland and also Ukraine. So, moving on to the equipment side, which typically fluctuates somewhat between the quarters.
Speaker #1: We are reporting a decline on equipment this quarter. That's partly a timing thing, as we commissioned fewer machines this quarter. But we also have to remember that we reported a very strong quarter in the second quarter of 2025 on the equipment side.
Ola Buarøy: But it is also, we have to remember that we reported a very strong quarter in the second quarter in 2025 on the equipment side. That is also an important part of the explanation. And the equipment revenue is also the main explanation for why the year-to-date revenue in the segment is declining. If we summarize the revenue development in EMEA in the quarter, we grew with almost 8%, looking at carton and closure. Equipment revenue declined, while aftermarket revenue was almost flattish, leading to 3.3% revenue growth in EMEA in the quarter. Turning to margins, we saw the impact of the timing effect on the Middle East or the raw material price increases following the Middle East conflict, and that led to almost a 1% margin decline to 17.8% in the quarter.
Ola Buarøy: But it is also, we have to remember that we reported a very strong quarter in the second quarter in 2025 on the equipment side. That is also an important part of the explanation. And the equipment revenue is also the main explanation for why the year-to-date revenue in the segment is declining. If we summarize the revenue development in EMEA in the quarter, we grew with almost 8%, looking at carton and closure. Equipment revenue declined, while aftermarket revenue was almost flattish, leading to 3.3% revenue growth in EMEA in the quarter. Turning to margins, we saw the impact of the timing effect on the Middle East or the raw material price increases following the Middle East conflict, and that led to almost a 1% margin decline to 17.8% in the quarter.
Speaker #1: So that's also an important part of the explanation. And the equipment revenue is also the main explanation for why the year-to-date revenue in the segment is declining.
Speaker #1: So, if we summarize the revenue development in EMEA in the quarter, we grew by almost 8% when looking at carton enclosure. Equipment revenue declined, while aftermarket revenue was almost flattish.
Speaker #1: ...leading to 3.3% revenue growth in EMEA in the quarter. Turning to margins, we saw the impact of the timing effect on the Middle East, or the raw material price increases following the Middle East conflict.
Speaker #1: And that led to almost a 1% margin decline, to 17.8% in the quarter. But as expected, or as mentioned, we expect this to pick up and be fully recovered in the second half of the year.
Ola Buarøy: But as expected or as mentioned, we expect this to pick up and be fully recovered in H2 of the year. When it comes to India, we know that India is a more volatile market by nature with different tender mechanisms. We reported margin pressure in that geography in Q1. We have implemented targeted margin management measures in this quarter, and we have started to see the result of it, especially on the costing side, which has led to improved margins in India in the quarter. However, India is still margin dilutive for the group. Overall, to conclude on EMEA, the margin has improved since the beginning of the year. We reported a margin of 17.4% in Q1, while now it has improved to 17.8%, despite the time lag impact following the raw material elevation. Crossing the Atlantics, turning to Americas.
Ola Buarøy: But as expected or as mentioned, we expect this to pick up and be fully recovered in H2 of the year. When it comes to India, we know that India is a more volatile market by nature with different tender mechanisms. We reported margin pressure in that geography in Q1. We have implemented targeted margin management measures in this quarter, and we have started to see the result of it, especially on the costing side, which has led to improved margins in India in the quarter. However, India is still margin dilutive for the group. Overall, to conclude on EMEA, the margin has improved since the beginning of the year. We reported a margin of 17.4% in Q1, while now it has improved to 17.8%, despite the time lag impact following the raw material elevation. Crossing the Atlantics, turning to Americas.
Speaker #1: When it comes to India, we know that India is a more volatile market by nature, with different tender mechanisms. We reported margin pressure in that geography in the first quarter.
Speaker #1: We have implemented targeted margin management measures this quarter, and we have started to see the results from these measures, especially on the costing side, which has led to improved margins in India during the quarter.
Speaker #1: However, India is still margin dilutive for the group. Overall, to conclude on EMEA, the margin has improved since the beginning of the year. We reported a margin of 17.4% in Q1, while now it has improved to 17.8%.
Speaker #1: Despite the time lag impact following the raw material elevation, crossing the Atlantic and turning to the Americas, in the Americas we delivered revenue growth and improved margins, despite the somewhat challenging market conditions.
Ola Buarøy: In Americas, we delivered revenue growth and improved margins, despite the somewhat challenging market conditions and also the Nippon incident occurred end of May. If we look at carton and closure revenue in isolation, we grew by almost 10% in Americas on a constant currency basis. We continued to grow market share in Americas. We had new business with our existing long-standing customer relationships, but we also gained new business or business with new clients in the quarter. And it was both enabled by the investments we have done into increased production capacity in the US. If we have a look at the market side in Americas, and also as we reported during Q1, we continue to see the softer than previously expected demand within the plant-based category. While within, call it, the more traditional dairy market and demand remained stable.
Ola Buarøy: In Americas, we delivered revenue growth and improved margins, despite the somewhat challenging market conditions and also the Nippon incident occurred end of May. If we look at carton and closure revenue in isolation, we grew by almost 10% in Americas on a constant currency basis. We continued to grow market share in Americas. We had new business with our existing long-standing customer relationships, but we also gained new business or business with new clients in the quarter. And it was both enabled by the investments we have done into increased production capacity in the US. If we have a look at the market side in Americas, and also as we reported during Q1, we continue to see the softer than previously expected demand within the plant-based category. While within, call it, the more traditional dairy market and demand remained stable.
Speaker #1: And also, the Nippon incident occurred at the end of May. If we look at carton enclosure revenue in isolation, we grew by almost 12% in the Americas, on a constant currency basis.
Speaker #1: We continue to grow market share in the Americas. We had new business with our existing long-standing customer relationships, but we also gained new business, or business with new clients, in the quarter.
Speaker #1: And it was both enabled by the investments we have made into increased production capacity in the US. If you have a look at the market side, in the Americas, and also as we reported during the first quarter, we continue to see softer than previously expected demand within the plant-based category.
Speaker #1: While within, call it the more traditional dairy market and demand remained stable. Looking at the equipment side, in the Americas, we commissioned fewer machines in the Americas.
Ola Buarøy: Looking at the equipment side in Americas, we commissioned fewer machines in Americas. However, if we are looking at the strong order backlog in Americas and in particular within the school milk segment, we are confident that it will pick up again, and it is also supporting the investment in our third production line in the US, which is dedicated to a large extent to school milk. Turning to margins. The margins in Americas improved by more than one percentage point to 22.9% in the quarter. As Bent pointed out, it is driven by increased operational leverage and production output in the US as the plant was in a ramp of pace during H1 of 2025, as we remember. So that was as expected.
Ola Buarøy: Looking at the equipment side in Americas, we commissioned fewer machines in Americas. However, if we are looking at the strong order backlog in Americas and in particular within the school milk segment, we are confident that it will pick up again, and it is also supporting the investment in our third production line in the US, which is dedicated to a large extent to school milk. Turning to margins. The margins in Americas improved by more than one percentage point to 22.9% in the quarter. As Bent pointed out, it is driven by increased operational leverage and production output in the US as the plant was in a ramp of pace during H1 of 2025, as we remember. So that was as expected.
Speaker #1: However, if we are looking at the strong order backlog in the Americas, and in particular within the school milk segment, we are confident that it will pick up again.
Speaker #1: And it's also supporting the investment in our third production line in the US, which is dedicated to a large extent to school milk. Turning to margins, the margins in Americas improved by more than 1 percentage point to 22.9% in the quarter.
Speaker #1: As Bent pointed out, it's driven by increased operational leverage and production output in the US, as the plant was in a ramp-up phase during the first half of 2025, as we remember.
Speaker #1: So that was as expected. The Nippon incident led to some production inefficiencies in Americas in the quarter that had a slight negative impact on the margins in Americas in the quarter.
Ola Buarøy: The Nippon incident led to some production inefficiencies in Americas in the quarter that had a slight negative impact on the margins in Americas in the quarter. Not super significant, but it had a slight negative impact. We assume that will be covered later by commercial agreements and also insurance coverage, but there is a time lag impact. And when it comes to Nippon, and I am also reiterating what Bent said, our priority is now to fulfill our supply commitments to our customers. And a bit depending on how the situation develops, it could potentially have an impact on the short-term growth trajectory in that segment. To summarize the EBITDA development in the group in the quarter, it went from EUR 44.2 million to EUR 45 million, and it had a margin decline of 0.5 percentage points in the quarter.
Ola Buarøy: The Nippon incident led to some production inefficiencies in Americas in the quarter that had a slight negative impact on the margins in Americas in the quarter. Not super significant, but it had a slight negative impact. We assume that will be covered later by commercial agreements and also insurance coverage, but there is a time lag impact. And when it comes to Nippon, and I am also reiterating what Bent said, our priority is now to fulfill our supply commitments to our customers. And a bit depending on how the situation develops, it could potentially have an impact on the short-term growth trajectory in that segment. To summarize the EBITDA development in the group in the quarter, it went from EUR 44.2 million to EUR 45 million, and it had a margin decline of 0.5 percentage points in the quarter.
Speaker #1: Not super significant, but it had a slight negative impact. We assume that we'll be covered later by commercial agreements and also insurance coverage, but there's a time lag impact.
Speaker #1: And when it comes to Nippon, and also reiterating what Bent said, our priority is now to fulfill our supply commitments to our customers, and a bit depending on how the situation develops, it could potentially have an impact on the short-term growth trajectory in that segment.
Speaker #1: So to summarize the EBITDA development in the group in the quarter, it went from €42.2–44.2 million to €45 million. And it had a margin decline of 0.5 percentage points in the quarter.
Speaker #1: Without the timing impact from the Middle East conflict, the margin would have been—the effect you see on the net revenue mix is driven by increased volumes in Americas, but also in EMEA.
Ola Buarøy: Without the timing impact from the Middle East conflict, the margin would have been stable. The positive effect you see on the net revenue mix is driven by increased volumes in Americas, but also in EMEA, and also to some extent, the surcharges implemented already in Q2. While the raw materials is impacted by the elevated raw material prices we started or that we saw during Q2. The level of 4.3 should not be seen as a sustained level where the raw material prices will be going forward as it consists of a few elements. It will depend on how the raw material situation develops during the H2 of the year. We have seen that the prices have softened somewhat, even though still at an elevated level. But Q2 also had an element of inventory turn impacting the figure.
Ola Buarøy: Without the timing impact from the Middle East conflict, the margin would have been stable. The positive effect you see on the net revenue mix is driven by increased volumes in Americas, but also in EMEA, and also to some extent, the surcharges implemented already in Q2. While the raw materials is impacted by the elevated raw material prices we started or that we saw during Q2. The level of 4.3 should not be seen as a sustained level where the raw material prices will be going forward as it consists of a few elements. It will depend on how the raw material situation develops during the H2 of the year. We have seen that the prices have softened somewhat, even though still at an elevated level. But Q2 also had an element of inventory turn impacting the figure.
Speaker #1: And also, to some extent, the surcharges implemented already in Q2. While raw materials are impacted by the elevated raw material prices we have started, or that we saw, during Q2.
Speaker #1: The 4.3—the level of 4.3—should not be seen as a sustained level where the raw material prices will be going forward, as it consists of a few elements.
Speaker #1: So, it will depend on how the raw material situation develops. During the second half of the year, we have seen that the prices have softened somewhat, even though they are still at an elevated level.
Speaker #1: But Q2 also had an element of inventory turn impacting the figure. We are pleased to see that we are reporting strong cash flow generation in the quarter.
Ola Buarøy: We are pleased to see that we are reporting a strong cash flow generation in the quarter. Despite the CapEx investment of EUR 28 and the dividend payment of EUR 27, our net debt remains fairly stable. Looking at cash flow from operations on top of the EBITDA, we are freeing up around EUR 16 million, caused by reduced net working capital. That is partially explained by reduced inventory in the Americas following the Nippon incident, and we had to withdraw on the stock in Americas. We also have some phasing items on the net working capital, but it is also a result of our systematic work to improve the company's net working capital position. If we are looking at cash flow to investment, where the majority relates to equipment replacement and maintenance program in Europe as previously announced.
Ola Buarøy: We are pleased to see that we are reporting a strong cash flow generation in the quarter. Despite the CapEx investment of EUR 28 and the dividend payment of EUR 27, our net debt remains fairly stable. Looking at cash flow from operations on top of the EBITDA, we are freeing up around EUR 16 million, caused by reduced net working capital. That is partially explained by reduced inventory in the Americas following the Nippon incident, and we had to withdraw on the stock in Americas. We also have some phasing items on the net working capital, but it is also a result of our systematic work to improve the company's net working capital position. If we are looking at cash flow to investment, where the majority relates to equipment replacement and maintenance program in Europe as previously announced.
Speaker #1: Despite the capex investment of €28 million and the dividend payment of €27 million, our net debt remains fairly stable. Looking at cash flows, cash flow from operations, on top of the EBITDA, we are freeing up around €16 million caused by reduced net working capital.
Speaker #1: That's partially explained by reduced inventory in the Americas, following the Nippon incident. And we had to withdraw on the stock in the Americas. But we also have some phasing items on the net working capital.
Speaker #1: But it's also a result of our systematic work to improve the company's net working capital position. If we're looking at cash flow to investments, the majority relates to equipment replacement and the maintenance program in Europe. As previously announced, we also have some capex on the US plant still.
Ola Buarøy: We also have some CapEx on the US plant still, and it also consists of filling machine investments. During the quarter, we also received the final installment related to the divestment of the Russian plant we did back in 2022. So that transaction is now fully settled. Moving to cash flow to financing activities. The key driver was the dividend payouts to our shareholders related to the H2 of 2025 that took place during the Q2 this year. While interest paid and lease payments were at normal levels. That brings our net debt to EUR 293 end of the Q2. Looking at our financial position to remain solid, we are still at the leverage ratio at 2.2, also after the CapEx investment in the quarter and also after the dividend payout.
Ola Buarøy: We also have some CapEx on the US plant still, and it also consists of filling machine investments. During the quarter, we also received the final installment related to the divestment of the Russian plant we did back in 2022. So that transaction is now fully settled. Moving to cash flow to financing activities. The key driver was the dividend payouts to our shareholders related to the H2 of 2025 that took place during the Q2 this year. While interest paid and lease payments were at normal levels. That brings our net debt to EUR 293 end of the Q2. Looking at our financial position to remain solid, we are still at the leverage ratio at 2.2, also after the CapEx investment in the quarter and also after the dividend payout.
Speaker #1: It also consists of filling machine investments. During the quarter, we received the final installment related to the divestment of the Russian plant.
Speaker #1: We did back in 2022, so that transaction is now fully settled. Moving to cash flow to financing activities, the key driver was the dividend payout to our shareholders related to the second half of 2025, which took place during the second quarter this year.
Speaker #1: While interest paid and lease payments were at normal levels. That brings our net debt to 290.293 at the end of the second quarter. Looking at our financial position, it remains solid. We are still at a leverage ratio of 2.2, even after the capex investment in the quarter and also after the dividend payout.
Speaker #1: When it comes to return on our capital employed, it's fairly stable around 15%, reflecting a consistent relationship between earnings and our capital base. Maybe most importantly, we continue to make progress on the US plant investment.
Ola Buarøy: When it comes to return on our capital employed, it is fairly stable, around 15%, reflecting a consistent relationship between earnings and our capital base. Maybe most importantly, we continue to make progress on the US plant investment. We have year to date invested EUR 109 million, and we expect additional EUR 19 million before we have completed the three production lines. There are no changes from what we have reported previously, meaning that the overall investment budget remains unchanged. For the summary and outlook, I give the word back to you, Bent.
Ola Buarøy: When it comes to return on our capital employed, it is fairly stable, around 15%, reflecting a consistent relationship between earnings and our capital base. Maybe most importantly, we continue to make progress on the US plant investment. We have year to date invested EUR 109 million, and we expect additional EUR 19 million before we have completed the three production lines. There are no changes from what we have reported previously, meaning that the overall investment budget remains unchanged. For the summary and outlook, I give the word back to you, Bent.
Speaker #1: We have, year to date, invested €109 million, and we expect an additional €19 million before we have completed the three production lines. There are no changes from what we have reported previously.
Speaker #1: Meaning that the overall investment budget remains unchanged. So, for the summary and outlook, I give the word back to you, Bent.
Speaker #2: Thank you, Roland.
Bent K. Axelsen: Thank you, Ola. Thank you. Let me summarize. The Q2 2026 demonstrated an annual improvement from the softer start of the year. Based on the performance and a solid balance sheet, the board has declared a dividend of EUR 0.065 a share for the H1, corresponding to 52.5% of net adjusted normalized net profit. Gradual improvements are expected to continue through the H2 2026, but this is subject to raw material prices and foreign exchange volatility. Finally, a challenging operating environment in America and global market and geopolitical headwinds are expected to impact growth in the year ahead. That summarizes our presentation, and we are now ready to take your questions.
Bent K. Axelsen: Thank you, Ola. Thank you. Let me summarize. The Q2 2026 demonstrated an annual improvement from the softer start of the year. Based on the performance and a solid balance sheet, the board has declared a dividend of EUR 0.065 a share for the H1, corresponding to 52.5% of net adjusted normalized net profit. Gradual improvements are expected to continue through the H2 2026, but this is subject to raw material prices and foreign exchange volatility. Finally, a challenging operating environment in America and global market and geopolitical headwinds are expected to impact growth in the year ahead. That summarizes our presentation, and we are now ready to take your questions.
Speaker #1: Thank you. So let me summarize. The second quarter of 2026 demonstrated an improvement from the softer start of the year. Based on the performance and a solid balance sheet, the Board has declared a dividend of €0.065 per share for the first half, corresponding to 52.5% of net adjusted normalized net profits.
Speaker #1: Gradle improvements are expected to continue through the second half of 2026, but this is subject to raw material prices and foreign exchange volatility.
Speaker #1: And finally, a challenging operating environment in America and global market and geopolitical headwinds are expected to impact growth in the year ahead. That summarizes our presentation.
Speaker #1: And we are now ready to take your questions.
Speaker #2: Perfect. Thank you, Bent. Thank you, Ola. So, we will now be moving to the Q&A session, starting with questions from people here in the audience.
Christian Gjerde: Perfect. Thank you, Bent. Thank you, Ola. We will now be moving to the Q&A session, starting with questions from people here in the audience. When I hand you the mic, please state your full name and the company that you represent, and make sure to speak into the microphone.
Christian Gjerde: Perfect. Thank you, Bent. Thank you, Ola. We will now be moving to the Q&A session, starting with questions from people here in the audience. When I hand you the mic, please state your full name and the company that you represent, and make sure to speak into the microphone.
Speaker #2: So when I hand you the mic, please state your full name and the company that you represent, and make sure to speak into the microphone.
Speaker #1: Thank you. Marcus Cavalli from Prado Securities. So, at your CMD in 2024, you outlined asset growth and India as one of the key margin drivers within the EMEA business.
Marcus Gavelli: Thank you. Marcus Gavelli from Paratus Securities. At your CMD in 2024, you outlined the aseptic growth, and India as one of the key margin drivers within the EMEA business. The aseptic market is certainly not very good at the moment. I assume also you are doing some cost measures in India, but the rollout there, it also looks maybe a bit delayed. Do you feel that you are behind on that margin trajectory for EMEA with the current state, or do you feel with the measures taken in India that we are getting in there?
Marcus Gavelli: Thank you. Marcus Gavelli from Paratus Securities. At your CMD in 2024, you outlined the aseptic growth, and India as one of the key margin drivers within the EMEA business. The aseptic market is certainly not very good at the moment. I assume also you are doing some cost measures in India, but the rollout there, it also looks maybe a bit delayed. Do you feel that you are behind on that margin trajectory for EMEA with the current state, or do you feel with the measures taken in India that we are getting in there?
Speaker #1: The asset market is certainly not very good at the moment. And also, you're doing some cost measures in India, but the rollout there also looks maybe a bit delayed.
Speaker #1: Do you feel that you are behind on that margin trajectory for EMEA with the current state, or do you feel with the measures taken in India that’s, you know, where we're getting in there?
Speaker #2: Thanks. So I think it's less of a separation between the Europe trajectory and the India trajectory. I think if you start with the role of business, that business is more saturated with supply compared to what we believed to be the case during Capital Markets Day.
Bent K. Axelsen: Thanks. I think it is less than separate between the Europe trajectory and the India trajectory. I think if you start with the Roll Fed business, that business is more saturated with supply compared to what we believe to be the case during Capital Markets Day. It is a crowded space. There is an overcapacity of Roll Fed product that we expect to continue in years ahead. When they will reach the balance, it is difficult to say because the lead time to invest in new capacity is not so long in India. I think it is fair to say that the Middle East conflict is not helping our plans related to Pure-Pak introduction in there because the logistics costs are almost prohibitive to start the growth based on import. It is possible, but it is far from an optimal solution.
Bent K. Axelsen: Thanks. I think it is less than separate between the Europe trajectory and the India trajectory. I think if you start with the Roll Fed business, that business is more saturated with supply compared to what we believe to be the case during Capital Markets Day. It is a crowded space. There is an overcapacity of Roll Fed product that we expect to continue in years ahead. When they will reach the balance, it is difficult to say because the lead time to invest in new capacity is not so long in India. I think it is fair to say that the Middle East conflict is not helping our plans related to Pure-Pak introduction in there because the logistics costs are almost prohibitive to start the growth based on import. It is possible, but it is far from an optimal solution.
Speaker #2: So it's a crowded space. So there is an overcapacity of roll-fed product that we expect to continue in the years ahead. When we will reach the balance, it's difficult to say because the lead time to invest in new capacity is not so long.
Speaker #2: In India, I think it's fair to say that the Middle East conflict is not helping our plans related to Pure-Pak introduction there, because the logistics costs are almost prohibitive.
Speaker #2: To start the growth based on import it's it's possible but it's far from an optimal solution. So my take on India is that the growth rate the growth in India is is slower than what we we need to be in order to deliver on the top line as we talked about in 2028 rural and it's very difficult to say because you know when things start to fly in India it starts to fly very quickly but it's very important that the factors that we cannot control really are stabilizing.
Bent K. Axelsen: My take on India is that the growth in India is lower than where we need to be in order to deliver on the top line, as we talked about in 2028. Where we will end is very difficult to say because when things start to fly in India, it starts to fly very quickly. But it is very important that the factors that we cannot control really are stabilizing. When it comes to, I would say, aseptic in Europe, I think we are demonstrating ability to grow in that segment. I think overall, the trajectory in what we call core Europe is quite in line with what we talked about back then, but the drivers behind that growth have varied. Plastic to carton shift have been somewhat softer. Consumption decline may be a little bit sharper.
Bent K. Axelsen: My take on India is that the growth in India is lower than where we need to be in order to deliver on the top line, as we talked about in 2028. Where we will end is very difficult to say because when things start to fly in India, it starts to fly very quickly. But it is very important that the factors that we cannot control really are stabilizing. When it comes to, I would say, aseptic in Europe, I think we are demonstrating ability to grow in that segment.
Speaker #2: Now, when it comes to, I would say, aseptic in Europe, I think we are demonstrating ability to grow in that segment. I think overall, the trajectory in what we call core Europe is quite in line with what we talked about back then, but the drivers behind that growth have varied.
Bent K. Axelsen: I think overall, the trajectory in what we call core Europe is quite in line with what we talked about back then, but the drivers behind that growth have varied. Plastic to carton shift have been somewhat softer. Consumption decline may be a little bit sharper. Our market share growth also higher netwise aligned with what we talked about in Capital Markets Day.
Speaker #2: The plastic-to-carton shift has been somewhat softer. Consumption decline may be a little bit sharper. Our market share growth is also higher, net-wise aligned with what we talked about at the Capital Markets Day.
Bent K. Axelsen: Our market share growth also higher netwise aligned with what we talked about in Capital Markets Day.
Speaker #1: Thank you. And and just one on on the America's understanding that the operational environment is a bit tough right now but could you try to remind us of where you are currently with line two in terms of utilization and also again visibility is low but at the moment do you plan to to slow that utilization or sorry ramp up of utilization down or or is that still very much up in the air what you decide to do just also because you said line two and line three will be in parallel so we would assume some.
Marcus Gavelli: Thank you. Just one on the Americas, understanding that the operational environment is a bit tough right now, but could you try to remind us of where you are currently with line 2 in terms of utilization? Also, again, visibility is low, but at the moment, do you plan to slow that utilization or ramp up of utilization down? Is that still very much up in the air what you decide to do? Just also because you said line 2 and line 3 will be in parallel.
Marcus Gavelli: Thank you. Just one on the Americas, understanding that the operational environment is a bit tough right now, but could you try to remind us of where you are currently with line 2 in terms of utilization? Also, again, visibility is low, but at the moment, do you plan to slow that utilization or ramp up of utilization down? Is that still very much up in the air what you decide to do? Just also because you said line 2 and line 3 will be in parallel.
Bent K. Axelsen: Yeah.
Bent K. Axelsen: Yeah.
Marcus Gavelli: We will assume some stability.
Marcus Gavelli: We will assume some stability.
Bent K. Axelsen: Exactly. So I think the way we talk about America now is more how are we going to deliver the total top line for America. The ambition remains, which is to deliver EUR 480 million based on the currency back in September 2024 for the Sobek group. How we are going to deliver that growth will be to utilize the capabilities of the three different lines. Different lines have different capabilities producing different products. So I think how we are ramping up line 1, line 2, and line 3 really depends on the product mix that are desired and demanded from our customer base. We have started with line 2 going according to plan, and line 2 has the capability to deliver formats that we do not produce at line 1.
Bent K. Axelsen: Exactly. So I think the way we talk about America now is more how are we going to deliver the total top line for America. The ambition remains, which is to deliver EUR 480 million based on the currency back in September 2024 for the Sobek group. How we are going to deliver that growth will be to utilize the capabilities of the three different lines. Different lines have different capabilities producing different products. So I think how we are ramping up line 1, line 2, and line 3 really depends on the product mix that are desired and demanded from our customer base.
Speaker #2: Exactly. So I think the way we talk about America now is more how are we going to deliver the total top line for America and the ambition remains which is to deliver 480 million euro based on the currency back in September 2024 for the top group.
Speaker #2: Now how are we going to deliver that growth will be to utilize the capabilities of the three different lines so different lines have different capabilities producing different products so I think how we are ramping up line one line two and line three really depends on the product mix that are desired and demanded from our customer base we have started with with line two going according to plan and line two has the capability to deliver formats that we do not produce at line one so the ramp up plan in terms of getting the lines you know installed get them commissions is going according to plan and the growth will be more in as you pointed out yourself a more parallel approach reflecting the needs of the markets from a portfolio perspective.
Bent K. Axelsen: We have started with line 2 going according to plan, and line 2 has the capability to deliver formats that we do not produce at line 1. The ramp plan in terms of getting the lines installed, get them commissions is going according to plan. The growth will be more in a, as you pointed out yourself, a more parallel approach reflecting the needs of the markets from a portfolio perspective.
Bent K. Axelsen: The ramp plan in terms of getting the lines installed, get them commissions is going according to plan. The growth will be more in a, as you pointed out yourself, a more parallel approach reflecting the needs of the markets from a portfolio perspective.
Speaker #1: Great, thanks. That was all from me.
Marcus Gavelli: Great. Thanks. That was all for me.
Marcus Gavelli: Great. Thanks. That was all for me.
Christian Gjerde: Thank you. Any further questions from the people in the audience? No. Okay. Then we also have a couple of questions coming in online. Starting with first one from Jeppe Bordset, Arctic Securities. Could potentially higher board prices in the Americas due to the Nippon situation be captured through our pass-through contracts? Do these contracts provide a dollar for dollar pass through on cost increases, or do they also allow you to maintain margins?
Christian Gjerde: Thank you. Any further questions from the people in the audience? No. Okay. Then we also have a couple of questions coming in online. Starting with first one from Jeppe Bordset, Arctic Securities. Could potentially higher board prices in the Americas due to the Nippon situation be captured through our pass-through contracts? Do these contracts provide a dollar for dollar pass through on cost increases, or do they also allow you to maintain margins?
Speaker #2: Thank you. Any further questions from the people in the audience? No? Okay. Then we also have a couple of questions coming in online. So, starting with the first one from Arctic Securities.
Speaker #2: Could potentially higher board prices in the Americas, due to the Nippon situation, be captured through our pass-through contracts? And do these contracts provide a dollar-for-dollar pass-through on cost increases, or do they also allow you to maintain margins?
Speaker #1: That sounds like a CFO question.
Bent K. Axelsen: That sounds like a CFO question, Ola.
Bent K. Axelsen: That sounds like a CFO question, Ola.
Speaker #2: Yeah, I think the situation in America is still somewhat unclear, right. So now our focus is to supply our customers according to what we have agreed and also support their needs.
Ola Buarøy: Well, I think the situation in Americas is still somewhat unclear, right? So now our focus is to supply our customers according to what we have agreed and also supporting their needs. When it comes to the supply prices or the board prices in the future, I think it is a bit early to say. We have a good collaboration with all our suppliers. We have a network of suppliers in Americas. We have the usual rounds with them, and I think it is fair to say that we will come back to that later on when we are seeing how this situation develops.
Ola Buarøy: Well, I think the situation in Americas is still somewhat unclear, right? So now our focus is to supply our customers according to what we have agreed and also supporting their needs. When it comes to the supply prices or the board prices in the future, I think it is a bit early to say. We have a good collaboration with all our suppliers. We have a network of suppliers in Americas. We have the usual rounds with them, and I think it is fair to say that we will come back to that later on when we are seeing how this situation develops.
Speaker #2: When it comes to the supply prices or the board prices in the future, I think it is a bit early to say. We have a good collaboration with all our suppliers.
Speaker #2: We have a network of suppliers in America's and we we have the usual rounds with them and and we will I think it's fair to to to say that we will come come back to that later on when we are seeing how this this situation develops.
Speaker #1: I know also, do you have—you know, we will have commercial arrangements, we have insurance coverage, which will protect in this intermediate period. There could be a timing effect in terms of when we can acknowledge, you know, that settlement.
Bent K. Axelsen: We will have commercial arrangements. We have insurance coverage which will protect in this intermediate period. There could be timing effects in terms of when we can acknowledge that settlement. As we have also pointed that out in the second quarterly report.
Bent K. Axelsen: We will have commercial arrangements. We have insurance coverage which will protect in this intermediate period. There could be timing effects in terms of when we can acknowledge that settlement. As we have also pointed that out in the second quarterly report.
Speaker #1: As we've also pointed out in the second quarter report.
Speaker #2: Thank you, Oda and Bent. So, one more question from Jeppe: when were the customer-heard charges implemented, and when do you expect to see the financial effect?
Christian Gjerde: Thank you, Ola and Bent. One more question from Jeppe. When were the customer surcharges implemented, and when do you expect to see the full financial effect? He has a few more follow-ups, but I will leave it at that first.
Christian Gjerde: Thank you, Ola and Bent. One more question from Jeppe. When were the customer surcharges implemented, and when do you expect to see the full financial effect? He has a few more follow-ups, but I will leave it at that first.
Speaker #2: Yes, a few more follow-ups, but I'll leave it at that for now.
Speaker #1: Thank you. That matches our capacity to remember. So, the surcharges that were implemented in the middle of the second quarter—which means that our expectation is that we are on the run rate starting Q3.
Bent K. Axelsen: Thank you. That matches our capacity to remember. The surcharges were implemented middle of Q2, which means that our expectation is that we are on the run rate starting Q3.
Bent K. Axelsen: Thank you. That matches our capacity to remember. The surcharges were implemented middle of Q2, which means that our expectation is that we are on the run rate starting Q3.
Speaker #2: Thank you, Bent. Do the surcharges apply across the entire customer base in EMEA, or to only certain customers or contracts?
Christian Gjerde: Thank you, Bent. Do the surcharges apply across the entire customer base in EMEA or to only certain customers or contracts?
Christian Gjerde: Thank you, Bent. Do the surcharges apply across the entire customer base in EMEA or to only certain customers or contracts?
Speaker #1: So they apply to most customers, and it depends a little bit on the contract structure, but in general, I would say all customers will get the surcharges more or less.
Bent K. Axelsen: They apply to most customers, and it depends a little bit on the contract structure. But in general, I would say all customers will get the surcharges more or less.
Bent K. Axelsen: They apply to most customers, and it depends a little bit on the contract structure. But in general, I would say all customers will get the surcharges more or less.
Speaker #2: Thank you. And then the last part of Jeppe's question: Are the competitors implementing similar surcharges, or could this potentially have an impact on your market share development?
Christian Gjerde: Thank you. The last part of Jeppe's questions. Are the competitors implementing similar surcharges, or could this potentially have an impact on your market share development?
Christian Gjerde: Thank you. The last part of Jeppe's questions. Are the competitors implementing similar surcharges, or could this potentially have an impact on your market share development?
Speaker #2: Yeah, so we are of course also monitoring what our competitors are doing. So, I would say to a very large extent this is an industry thing.
Ola Buarøy: Yeah. We are, of course, monitoring also what our competitors are doing. I would say to a very large extent, this is an industry thing, so we are not alone.
Ola Buarøy: Yeah. We are, of course, monitoring also what our competitors are doing. I would say to a very large extent, this is an industry thing, so we are not alone.
Speaker #2: So we are not alone. Thank you. That was the last one from Jeppe. Then we also have one from Elliot Jones Myklebust at Danske Bank.
Christian Gjerde: Thank you. That was the last one from Jeppe. Then we also have one from Elliott Jones Myklebust in Danske Bank. Given potential board availability issues in Americas, is it too optimistic to assume medium-term targets are hit in 2027? I think he probably refers to 2028, but mid-term targets Americas.
Christian Gjerde: Thank you. That was the last one from Jeppe. Then we also have one from Elliott Jones Myklebust in Danske Bank. Given potential board availability issues in Americas, is it too optimistic to assume medium-term targets are hit in 2027? I think he probably refers to 2028, but mid-term targets Americas.
Speaker #2: Given potential board availability issues in the Americas, is it too optimistic to assume medium-term targets are hit? In '27, I think he probably refers to '28, but midterm targets in the Americas.
Speaker #1: Yeah, I can take that question. So, when it comes to 2028, we are reconfirming the ambition to deliver €480 million based on the currency in September 2024. But also, what we write in the report is that the board constraints and the following dynamics, which come on top of the plant-based consumption decline, will impact the growth in the year ahead.
Bent K. Axelsen: Yeah, I can take that question. When it comes to 2028, we are reconfirming the ambition to deliver EUR 480 million based on the currency in September 2024. But also what we write in the report is that the board constraints and the following dynamics which comes on top of the plant-based consumption decline will impact the growth in the year ahead. Consequently, that means that the growth is not going to be as linear as we assumed in the Capital Markets Day.
Bent K. Axelsen: Yeah, I can take that question. When it comes to 2028, we are reconfirming the ambition to deliver EUR 480 million based on the currency in September 2024. But also what we write in the report is that the board constraints and the following dynamics which comes on top of the plant-based consumption decline will impact the growth in the year ahead. Consequently, that means that the growth is not going to be as linear as we assumed in the Capital Markets Day.
Speaker #1: Consequently, that means that the growth is not going to be as linear as we assumed in the Capital Markets Day.
Speaker #2: Thank you, Bent. That was the last question that I had received online today. So, if there are no further questions from the people here in the audience, we will round off today's quarterly results presentation.
Christian Gjerde: Thank you, Bent. That was the last question that I had received online today. If there are no further questions from the people here in the audience, we will round off today's quarterly results presentation.
Christian Gjerde: Thank you, Bent. That was the last question that I had received online today. If there are no further questions from the people here in the audience, we will round off today's quarterly results presentation.
Bent K. Axelsen: Thank you very much.
Bent K. Axelsen: Thank you very much.
Speaker #2: Thank you everyone.
Christian Gjerde: Thank you, everyone.
Christian Gjerde: Thank you, everyone.
Ola Buarøy: Thank you.
Ola Buarøy: Thank you.
