2024-07-30 17:14:06 ET
Imerys S.A. (IMYSF)
Q2 2024 Results Conference Call
July 30, 2024 03:30 AM ET
Company Participants
Alessandro Dazza - Chief Executive Officer
Sebastien Rouge - Chief Financial Officer
Conference Call Participants
Sven Edelfelt - ODDO
Aron Ceccarelli - Berenberg
Ebrahim Homani - CIC
Laurent Runacher - LRESG Advisory
Auguste Deryckx - Kepler Cheuvreux
Mourad Lahmidi - BNP Paribas Exane
Presentation
Alessandro Dazza
Good morning to all of you. Thank you for joining us today to review Imerys H1 2024 results. With me this morning, Sebastien Rouge, our CFO. And, as usual, let me start by giving you some highlights for the semester we have just closed and in particular, on the second quarter. And, to say, it was a good one, very solid performance.
Demand was strong for Imerys Specialty Minerals, resulting in volume and revenue growth compared to last year. It's now the third quarter in a row of continuous growth. The good performance is mainly coming from the U.S. market holding up well and also finally, our European activities recovering gradually, particularly in consumer goods and which is good news, industrial and end markets as well. Asia performing also okay.
H1 prices were slightly down, approximately 1.2% on the first 6 months with a high comparable basis. I'd like to remember from last year, but stabilizing in Q2 with just a minus 0.6% difference to last year. Second important highlights, Imerys posted an adjusted EBITDA for the first semester 2024 of $384 million, up 11% versus last year, representing a solid 20% margin in line with Q1 '24 performance.
Positive price/cost balance, significant cost savings and a positive contribution of our JVs, all of these contributed to this solid performance and increased H1 profitability. Looking specifically at Q2, EBITDA, this was up almost 14% versus last year, thanks in particular to an increased contribution of our more traditional historical Performance Minerals and Refractory Minerals businesses.
From a cash point of view, the group generated €120 million of operational cash flow before strategic CapEx. Net debt remained stable at approximately €1.2 billion, representing a net financial debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio of approximately 1.7x. Finally, on a more strategic side, the group continued to execute on its road map. On the M&A side, we announced on July 5, the completion of the disposal of the assets serving the paper market. On the sustainability side, we disclosed our climate transition plan, demonstrating our engagement to address climate change.
Furthermore, Imerys renewed the scientific partnership with the National Museum of Natural History reaffirming Imerys commitment to biodiversity protection. So, all in all, a strong performance in Q2 and in H1 in an economic environment, which still remains overall uncertain. So, as I just mentioned, Q2 Imerys confirmed its sales recovery. This slide shows the rebound in revenue. Sales were up compared to the last 3 quarters and sequentially 7% plus versus Q1 and 1% plus versus Q2 of last year....
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Imerys S.A. (IMYSF) Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript