VBG Group Q1 2025, Summary

VBG Group, a decentralized divisional organization comprising Truck and Trailer Equipment, Mobile Thermal Solutions, and Ringfeder Power Transmission, reported its Q1 2025 results. Despite facing headwinds in the business cycle, notably in North America and Europe due to the escalating trade war, the group demonstrated resilience and strategic agility.

Revenue declined by 12% compared to Q1 2024, with the reduction concentrated in three key segments: the compact segment within Mobile Thermal Solutions' off-road business in North America, a major bus customer phasing out production in the US transit bus segment, and the semi-trailer business in Europe. These three areas accounted for over 80% of the total decline. However, sales outside Europe and North America increased by 25%, offsetting some of the decline and providing a more balanced geographic footprint.

The group managed to maintain its gross margin through strong cost control and favorable changes in product mix. The strengthening of the Swedish krona had a negative impact of 8 million euro on results, but VBG Group delivered a solid EBITDA margin of 13.1% (13.7% excluding currency differences).

VBG Group made two strategic acquisitions during the quarter: Italitec, a leading Brazilian supplier of HVAC systems for off-road vehicles, strengthening its position in South America; and LEDSON LIGHT AB, a company specializing in sustainable vehicle lighting for B2B and B2C markets, broadening its offering in the accessories and aftermarket business.

Looking ahead, VBG Group remains cautiously optimistic about navigating market volatility and geopolitical tensions. With a stable order book, strong cash flow, and solid balance sheet, the group is well-positioned for sustainable and profitable growth. Its dual approach focuses on complementary acquisitions to expand reach and capabilities, as well as investing in organic growth, particularly in markets outside Europe and North America.

While facing challenges, VBG Group has taken meaningful steps to stabilize its position, diversify its footprint, and invest in future growth. Sustainable profitability is deeply embedded in the group's DNA, ensuring it is well-prepared for what lies ahead.


This summary was written by our AI Analyst Tim! If you find something that does not seem right let us know and we will correct him

Very, very welcome to the VBDU group presentation on the Q1 report 2025. Just a short recap of our decentralized divisional organization from left to right. We have division truck and trailer equipment, mainly active in the, as you know, the truck and trailer segment and the European market. We have in the middle our largest division, Mobile Thermal Solutions, active in the HVAC applications for mobile applications and with the main market in North America. Last but not least, our third division, Ringfield Power Transmission, acting in mechanical power transmission, motion control in several industrial applications. If we step into the quarter one report and I will give you a brief summary how we see highlights of the quarter one report. As we look back at the first quarter of 2025, we have experienced some headwinds in the business cycle, most notably in North America and Europe. the escalating trade war has introduced a layer of uncertainty and unpredictability to the market. Overall, as you can see, Revenue declined by 12 compared to the first quarter of 2024, which is a tough comp since it was all time high, with a reduction concentrated into three key segments First, the compact segment within mobile thermal solutions off-road business in North America. Secondly, a major bus customer that has phased out production in the US in the transit bus segment. And third, the semi-trailer business in Europe. These three areas alone accounted for more than 80% of the total decline. Outside of these, the rest of the sales have remained largely in line with quarter one of last year. However, there is a bright spot worth highlighting that sales outside Europe and North America increased by 25%. This growth not only offsets some of the decline but also gives us a more balanced and stable geographic footprint. if we look at the quarter by month to month, we can say that the start of the quarter was challenging, primarily due to supply chain issues affecting some of the bus customers and this postponement of certain project orders within Ringfeder power transmission. However, I'm pleased to report that the sales picked up gradually as the quarter progressed. Despite the weaker demand, we have managed to maintain our gross margin. And this is a really strong effort by the organization, thanks to strong cost control and favorable changes in our product mix. The strengthening of the Swedish krona at the end of the quarter had a negative impact of 8 million on our results. Nevertheless, the group delivered a solid EBITDA margin of 13.1% and if we exclude the 8 million in currency differences, it would have been 13.7. We also made two strategic acquisitions this year that support our long-term growth. In January, we acquired Italitec, the leading domestic supplier of HVAC systems for off-road vehicles in Brazil. This acquisition, a perfect complement to our mobile thermal solution division, strengthen our position in South America, expands our customer base, and opens up new segments, including in agriculture and construction. In April, we further broaden our offering with the acquisition of LEDSON LIGHT AB, a company specializing in modern sustainable vehicle lighting for both B2B and B2C markets. This move strengthens our presence in the accessories and aftermarket business. In summary, While the quarter began with challenges, we have taken meaningful steps to stabilize our position, diversify our footprint, and invest in future growth. So, Frederik, could you give us the details, please? Yes, like Andrew said, despite the headwind in the business cycles and lower sales volume, especially in North America, we can see a resistance in our gross margin due to our ability to adopt our production capacity. Our EBIT margin declined from 16.9%, which is the best quarter ever in BBG Group history in the first quarter of 2024, down to 13.1% in the first quarter of 2025. In the end of the quarter, CEE started to strengthen and have an impact on the group, especially in truck and trailer equipment, but also on financial items where we reevaluate our loans, etc., etc. We'll now go through the first quarter with some touchdowns on each division. Track and trailer equipment to start with, sales for the division decreased by 1% compared to the same quarter last year. As announced in previous quarters, it's the European cement trailer market that has declined and causing the division's sales decline. After eight consecutive quarters of decline, we now can see that it's bottomed out and the sales trend is positive at the end of the quarter. Strong sales in Australia and New Zealand in combination with the slow European market gives a favorable product mix and the division delivers a strong margin for the quarter. The effect from the strengthening of the SEK, especially towards Euro, at the end of the quarter affects the profit and loss with 6.4 million negatively compared to the first quarter last year. This is relating to the evaluation of the balance sheet items like inventory and accounts receivables. Moving to mobile thermal solutions, sales decreased by 18% in the quarter, and this is mainly due to two reasons. The decline in the companding segment and a slow start for the ATRAC system to the transit bus market. Customers in the compact segment still experience a slow market, and the bus producers in the US had a supply chain issues mainly related to lack of seats in the beginning of the quarter, which decreased the sales for us in the beginning of the quarter. Sales pick up in the end of the quarter and will continue to pick up during quarter two. Moving to ring fitted power transmission. The division sales decreased during the quarter by 11%, adjusted for FX and acquired sales of 11% and 10%. First quarter started not so favorable way where some project orders were postponed mainly for the German and European market. The quarter had a not favorable product mix that contributed to a weaker EBIT margin compared to the first quarter. quarter in 2024. We can see an increased order book compared to the first quarter 24, which will have a positive impact on sales at the end of the second quarter and Beyond. Given the market development in North America for our products and the proportion on North American sales has decreased over the Q3 last quarter and now amounts to 50% of total sales. Sales outside Europe and North America increased by 25%. The acquisition of Itaipu in Brazil is a large portion of this growth. This growth not only offsets some of the decline, but also gives us a more balanced and stable geographical footprint. Note that we have a off-the-market business of approximately 23% of the of the group sales on average. And despite the lower volumes the first quarter, we are glad to see that our activities to reduce capacity in production has been successful with which shows in our resistance in gross margins for the first quarter of 2024, five, the cash flow came in lower than the comparable quarter last year. The result is a mainly reason for that, but also higher working capital tied up in especially in accounts receivables due to the pickup of sales in the end of the quarter. After the first quarter, we have a net debt position if we adjust for pension liabilities and leasing commitments of 163 million. During the first quarter, we acquired Italicom, BBG Group has still a strong financial position that can be used to develop the group going forward. And like Andrew said, in the beginning of the second quarter, we acquired Let's Light and strengthen our position of safety on road products. Our KPI Rock has decreased from a level of almost 40% in first quarter 24 down to 34.1. The acquisition of the land in Toronto in October 24 is the larger explanation for this decrease together with somewhat lower EBITDA compared to 2024. This KPI is not a pro forma, which means that Italtel has contributed with two out of 12 months in the rolling 12 months EBITDA. Over to you, Anders. Thank you, Frederik. If we look at our future focus, we can say as we navigate through the second quarter of 2025, global developments continue to pose challenges. Geopolitical uncertainty and the trade wars, particularly linked to the ongoing US tariffs, remain a top concern for us. These factors are shaping the market landscape and influences our strategic response. It's clear, like many other companies, that the topic of US tariffs have been front and center this quarter, especially given that over 40% of our sales are generated in the United States. Fortunately, we are well positioned with three production facilities located in the US, which gives us a solid foundation to manage these headwinds. When it comes to impact, our off-road product segment will see minimal tariff impact as these air conditions systems are USMCA qualified. And you probably remember the old NAFTA agreement, and this is the new one, USMCA that will or in practice until 1st of July 2026. To counter these effects of increased cost in steel and aluminum, we will implement a modest price increase in the low signal digit range starting May 1st. The bus segment in the U.S. will have a more a larger impact mainly due to import of some Chinese components. To mitigate this, we will introduce price increases in the mid single digit range, also affected May 1st. And the organization has really taken good initiatives around this. We have started to write letters already in March to our customers. and this has gone out, the majority of the customers will have a single line on the invoice. Some customers will have it included in the price and there are one customer who wants a monthly invoice. So everything is prepared for the 1st of May pricing increase. Overall, while tariffs remain a challenge, their net impact on our operations will be marginal, as you see all these consequences. Looking ahead, I do anticipate continued market volatility and geopolitical tension. However, we remain cautiously optimistic Our stable order book going forward, coupled with our strong cash flow and solid balance sheet, provides a robust platform for long-term sustainable and profitable growth. We will maintain our dual approach to growth. On one hand, we are committed to complementary acquisitions strategically expanding our reach and capabilities. And as we have announced in previous quarters, we aim to make one to three acquisitions per year. And as you have seen, we have done two, but we continue our search in this area. On the other hand, we are investing in organic growth, which remains a key priority. A clear example of this is our performance in the first quarter where we achieved, as Frederico said, 25% growth outside Europe and North America. This was, of course, largely driven by our broadened solution offering and the acquisition of ItaLitec in Brazil, which continues to attract new customers and open new market segments. In closing, as a summary, our financial strength, customer focused innovation and strategically flexibility ensure we are well prepared for what lies ahead. Sustainable profitability is just not a goal, it's really embedded in our DNA. By that, we end the presentation and we are open for questions and answers. If you wish to ask a question, please dial 5 on your telephone keypad, to enter the queue, if you wish to withdraw your question, please dial 6 on your telephone keypad. The next question comes from Gustav Berna-Blad from Nordia, please go ahead. Yes, good morning, it's Gustav here from Nordia. If we start off in truck and trailer, more specifically the latter, you comment on seeing the semi-trailer market, some signs of demand having bottomed out, you've talked about in a while here, but now actually picking up slightly. Can you give more flavor on that? No, I mean, thank you, Jostein, for the question, but as we see, we have had eight consecutive quarters of decline. and, and it's, we can see signs now in, in the end of the quarter, beginning of, of the quarter two that it's picking up. But of course, from low volumes, as we have indicated before, this will not be a quick ramp up. I, I more see it as a, as a gradual increase over time, but it's of course, connected also to what Volvo is indicating with its increase in production capacity, that tractors and semi-trailers will continuously increase in Europe over the coming quarters. And I think Volvo is the best business intelligence that we have that they foresee and they stands with the forecast of improvement over the coming quarters. And we can see that gradually by the order book and by the sales. Yeah, okay, that's very clear. And then when it comes to the sort of compact off-road segment and the weakness you are seeing there, is it still related to sort of the inventories in the distribution chains or has something else happened? Why sort to continue to see the weaker demand. Our conclusion is that the slow inventory cuts that have been done in the distribution chain has now sort of finalized. And it's more that it takes some time for demand to pick up. That is I'll review it with that, the inventory reduction in the chains finalized. Yeah, okay, perfect. On MTS here, are you seeing any signs of pre-buying from customers, would you say, in the quarter? No, we can't see that. And as Frederick mentioned, we had a really tough start of the quarter basically on supply chain issues by some customers related to seeds. And we have a really strong order book going forward in this area. But again, I think it's, I repeat myself and as many have done, I mean, it's the two words, uncertainty and unpredictability when it comes to the US market at the moment. But with our visibility in the next coming months, we see a good and stable order book coming forward. Yeah, okay, clear. And then just continue on the price hikes you are making now. What are you hearing? What's the general response from customers when you now have announced the price hikes? I mean, it's, I would say, bad experience expression, maybe, but it's flying under the radar. All customers in the US are well aware of what's going on and the impact of tariffs. and we have been calculated on product level and we are also fairly transparent with our customers. So at the moment, the response is understanding that is the... And as we can see on the off-road side, I think it's very marginal price increases that we do. And on top of that, we are selling from our Toronto facility free on board or ex works delivery terms. So it will have a marginal impact. The larger impact is on the bus side. And then we are talking about mid single digit price increases. But of course, looking forward, I mean, we are part of this and it's hard to say what the indirect effect will be on the demand side. It's clear from our perspective that it will drive, it's not just us, it's I think everyone will try to offset the terrorists with price increase and what will happen with the customer demand. That is something that we have, it's hard to explain. And as I use the word unpredictability, I think, of course, we have the 10% terrorists now, but what will happen after July 9th? when this is done. It's hard to say. Yeah, it makes sense. And then just sorry, the last question also here on ring further power transmissions. You comment on a slow start here, but the increased orders during the quarter. And can you give any more comments on that? And also the weaker mix, is that something we should extrapolate also here in the short term or no, no, no. As, as, if you follow Ring feeder power transmission in, in over some, some years, it's ups and downs related to, to project orders and so on and, and also Pro product mix. And if we go back to, to quarter four, it was the strongest quarter ever in the, in this division, and now we had a really slow start. But order intake is strong and it's a lot of project orders in the pipe. So it will be up and down for ring feeder power transmission, but we see it positively. Okay, perfect. That was all for me. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay, then we have some written questions. There are no more questions at this time, so I hand the conference back to the speakers for any written questions and closing comments. Okay, thank you. Now we have some written questions to start with. Are you aiming for more acquisitions during 2025? I know that already one and a half year ago you announced that you struggle with organic growth. and that you need acquisition driven growth. Like Andrew said, we have a goal to make one to three acquisitions a year. We need to add around 500-600 million SEK to the group each year. And this is what we work intensively with all the time. To start with this first quarter, we have made to acquisitions in Italtel and, and Ledso. And we are focusing on the growth target for VBG Group. Question number two, are the plans to diversify into markets other than Europe and North America? Yes, we have an a target for us to grow outside these markets. which means for us in Brazil, in India and so on. And relating to that, we made an acquisition in 2023 where we purchased Rathe Transpower in India. And now we also made an acquisition in Brazil with the Talitac. So we have focusing on outside Europe and North America. And in the quarter we grow by 25% outside North America and Europe. The last question, are you aiming for more which are the main initiative to increase the off-the-sale position? Is there a long-term percentage compared to new sales? I think this is a strategic, really important question for us, and we are working intensively with the aftermarket or after-sales position, both when it comes to product development, but also it's highlighted in our acquisition funnel as well. I have hard to explain our target, but at least it should be somewhere between 25 and 30% over time. By that, we have no further questions and we thank you for the participation and And we end the conference call now. Thank you very much. Thank you.

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