Arjo (Stockholm:ARJO B) Q1 2026 Earnings Call

0:00 Welcome to the Arjo Q1 Presentation for 2026. Now I will hand the conference over to President and CEO, Andreas Eldgaard and CFO, Christopher Carlson. Please go ahead. Thanks a lot and thanks everybody for dialing in and listening to Arjo's first quarter of twenty twenty six. So we believe we have been able to pull together a stable first quarter and we're happy to share that with you and also we will talk a little bit on how we are progressing the work with shaping the future Arjo.

0:46 So just to begin a little bit from my side and to remind everybody of who we are and what we do because we are really very purpose led in everything we do. This is something that is very strong in Arjo. We exist and are present at people's most vulnerable moments and we help them to keep their integrity and dignity and really make sure that they have the best possible situation when they need it the most. As you know, we work across several product segments and categories, so from patient handling and hygiene to medical beds, the mattresses that goes on top often focused on helping to relieve pressure injuries.

1:35 We work with VT prevention, diagnostics and disinfection. So these are our product categories. We are about 7,000 people and with an annual turnover of approximately 11,000,000,000 and we are truly a global company with sales to more than 100 countries. So let me just start by a flyover summary of the first quarter of twenty twenty six. So we delivered solid growth in Q1, 3.8% is within our guidance and it's really driven this year by positive trend in U. S. In capital sales and strong sales in rest of the world. And also this year, as you saw in Q4, the flu season was not as strong as it usually is for us in U. S. And that has continued. So this is despite somewhat weak flu season.

2:34 So we think this is really a stable result that we deliver. The gross margin is slightly below last year and we are of course put under continued pressure when it comes to currency and the tariffs in U. S. We are working with trying to compensate this through efficiencies and also to manage our costs in a good way and looking into price adjustments, especially considering the situation that is in West Asia. So still uncertain how this will affect us but we are preparing for making sure that we manage those effects. So just to also highlight, we had healthy cash flow in the quarter compared to last year, it's an improvement and it follows the seasonal pattern.

3:28 So this is also something to mention. The adjusted EBITDA came in at SEK456 million and maybe one thing to highlight is that we started in the quarter to work on our future strategy and we've had very intense work and a lot of engagement across the company and we are progressing in a really good way. I'll come back to this a little bit more towards the end. So if I zoom in a little bit on sales in North America, We had both in Canada and U. S. Really strong end to the quarter, so month of March was really strong. But in total, I would say that U. S.

4:15 Continues to grow in the quarter and Canada came in slightly below last year but they really met some very strong comparable numbers. So all in all, strong performance is what we have seen, meeting very strong comparable numbers. Of course, when you meet stronger numbers, the percentage growth is of course affected. And as I mentioned before, for The US the flu season was not as strong as it usually is but we compensated that through capital sales in patient handling. If you look at the rest of our sales beyond North America, in Western Europe we were struggling a little bit and it's mainly UK that is helping us with it not helping us but that stands for the decline and most other markets are performing in a good way and especially France and Italy have had really good performance in the quarter. Rest of the world beyond Europe then and North America was really, really strong and the growth was really carried through several markets performing but the shout out especially to South Africa that delivered a large medical beds order in their region and I just want to hang on that topic just because it gives some flavor to what we're doing.

5:42 So we have modernized the 36 healthcare facilities in South Africa. This was a special product tailored for their needs. So 2,300 new, more than 2,300 new beds and mattresses and this was not just, you know, it's a logistic exercise, it's an installation exercise, it needs to be done when it suits the hospital and it needs to be done with good margin and good cash conversion and all of this came to life through really good strong teamwork from customer to back in supply chain. So by that I hand over to Christofo.

6:30 Thank you Andreas. As Andreas stated we had a stable start of the year. Overall, our gross margin came in at 42.6% compared to last year's 43.7%. Looking at the drivers, the growth in patient handling improved group margins, driven by strong development for our floor lift maximum height and ceiling lifts. Also our diagnostic business improved margins, driven by higher volumes and a favorable sales mix. The rental business gross margin slightly increased driven by France, UK and Australia, while US had a negative development due to weaker flu season and some capital conversion among customers. However, the main part of the gap came from an unfavorable product in country mix impacting the gross margin by minus one percentage point mainly related to a large medical bed order in South Africa.

7:30 At the same time, U. S. Tariffs had a negative impact of SEK10 million year over year, representing a 0.4 percentage point decline in gross margin. In addition FX had a minor negative impact on gross margin but in absolute numbers the gross profit had negative FX effects of SEK123 million. Finally, our resource business margin were in line with last year when excluding US tariffs. If we now move on to the EBIT slide. As you can see adjusted EBIT in Q1 came in at SEK190 million compared to SEK208 million last year.

8:16 However, when excluding U. S. Tariffs and FX the result is in line with last year. Looking at the costs, OpEx declined in the quarter due to FX effects. At the same time the organic OpEx increase was 2.8%. In addition, we had a positive effect from revaluation of accounts receivable and accounts payable of SEK3 million in the quarter reported under other income and expenses. Last year the equivalent amount was minus SEK34 million resulting in a delta of plus SEK37 million year over year. So overall the total FX impact on adjusted EBIT amounts therefore to a minor amount of minus SEK7 million in the quarter.

9:06 Moving to EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was SEK $456,000,000 compared to SEK $486,000,000 last year and adjusted EBITDA margin was in line with last year and came in at 16.9% versus 17.0% last year. The EBIT margin increased to 6.8% versus 5.9% last year. This improvement was supported by lower restructuring costs that came in at minus SEK6 million in the quarter versus SEK40 million last year. Now we move over to working capital and cash flow. Operating cash flow improved in the quarter amounting to million.

9:53 This was million higher year over year mainly due to improved cash flow from working capital. Following a normal seasonal pattern, the change in working capital were SEK142 million versus minus SEK180 million. Working capital days increased to 83 up from 81 in Q1 twenty twenty five. Cash conversion in the quarter improved to 52.7% compared to forty one point three last year. For reference, our cash flow from investing activities was minus compared to -215 million in Q1 twenty twenty five. The decrease is mainly due to SEK48 million lower investment in rental assets.

10:40 If we now move over to the net debt and leverage. Next slide please. The decrease in net debt this quarter is driven by improved operating cash flow, lower investments and positive FX effects. Our financial net came in at minus SEK 36,000,000 compared to minus SEK 43,000,000 in Q1 twenty twenty five. The improvement relates to some positive FX effects. Our cash position remains strong. Net debt to adjusted EBITDA stayed flat versus year end and came in at 2.2. Our equity ratio stood at 50.5%, up from 49.8% at year end twenty twenty five, mainly due to positive FX effects in equity.

11:27 With that I will now hand it back to you Andreas. Thank you, Sofel. So I thought that it would be good maybe to just share a little bit on how the work of shaping the future of Arjo is going it's too early to reveal anything but I can still try to give you a flavor on what we're doing and we put the headline here that it will be a story of untapped potential because being new now into Arjo soon four months into the role, I see a lot of potential in the people, in our relationships with our suppliers and in the relationships with our customers. It's not just an industry that has healthy growth expectations but it's also Arjo as an organization that's really filled with potential.

12:17 But in order to be able to unpack that, we really need to have clarity on where we're going and make sure that we build the capability to execute as well. So one way of doing that is by inviting leaders from across the organization to make sure that build common ground, we create alignment, we create understanding on where we are and where we need to be in the future. And by doing that, you don't just get the strategy that comes from the top, you get the strategy that is well anchored across the organization and that really helps you when it's time for execution. So our ambition is to go from strategizing straight into execution. That is the ambition. And creating a clarity on where we're going is really important for everything from product development to supplier relationship development and to product development.

13:12 But it's also very important if we want to continue to grow also in new product segments or if we want to open new segments where care is moving. It will also be something that will guide us if we need to accelerate our growth or our strategic movement through acquisitions in the future. But strategy and talking too much about the future sometimes can dilute the focus on here and now and I for one is super focused on that we need to deliver two things. We need to deliver clarity for the future so we know how to execute and build the future audio but we also need to deliver results short term. So what you can expect from us is a strategy that will focus both on here and now and how we lay the foundation for the future So you will have both and so to say. And our ambition is to get this strategy approved during summer and that we will be able to communicate that to you after the summer.

14:14 That means the second half of twenty twenty six. So that's a little bit the status on where we are in the work of creating the future Arjo. And by that, we hand over to the Q and A section. The next question comes from Philip Wetterquist from SB one Meter. I have a couple. First, can you quantify a little bit more on the contribution from the 36 facilities in South Africa to global sales organic growth? Like what would the underlying organic rate have been ex this order and how does this inform into the ex year run rate into Q2?

15:11 That's the first one. Okay. Thank you for your question. I don't think we have communicated the size of the single order and I do think that when we have orders of materiality, we will do press release and specify those things. So we have not done that, so we are not giving guidance on that because that would reveal information competitors that we don't want to reveal. But more than 2,300 beds to 36 care facilities, It is a substantial order, but we don't judge it being material. Okay, thank you. My second question, you mentioned The Middle East cost pressure from energy and transportation as a fresh headwind here in the report?

16:01 Did you see any impact already here in Q1 or do you anticipate it in Q2? And what is the current run rate assumption for '26? Yeah, thanks for the question. So we have seen a minor effect in Q1 but of course we and everybody else in the world are very much aware of how much oil affects not just the energy sector but every, I would say, every process industry and every food production farm in the world through the production of fertilizers. So of course, this will have effects but are preparing to try to mitigate that in the ways that we can.

16:47 We don't give forecasts on what that might be because and I don't think Arjo is the best equipped to give forecast on the financial consequences of the crisis that is ongoing right now. But given that, of course, we are preparing us for the scenarios that we see internally. So I hope that answers your question enough and I mean if this conflict becomes short term hopefully there will still be effects that's for sure but if it becomes short term I also think it will be something that the world will be able to manage and this is something that affects Arjo in the same way as it affects everybody else.

17:35 Alright. Thank you. Those were all my questions for now. I'll jump back in the queue. There are no more questions at this time. So I hand the conference back to the speakers for any closing comments. Okay. Thank you very much. So today is the Annual General Meeting. So we are super excited. There will be more than 120 shareholders that will come and listen to us and we will give a similar message to them but of course we will focus on 2025. We'll give a short highlight of the first quarter this year and we will also give some flavor on the strategy work. So we'll share a movie where different leaders from ARJO is talking about that.

18:31 So we are really excited about that and by that we say thank you for this call and we remain at your disposal. Bye bye. Bye, Mai. Thank you.