Earnings call transcript: Valmet’s Q2 2025 sees stock surge 10.7% amid strategic shifts

Valmet’s recent earnings call for the second quarter of 2025 revealed strategic shifts and financial performance that resonated positively with investors, as evidenced by a 10.7% surge in the company’s stock price. According to InvestingPro analysis, Valmet maintains a "GOOD" overall financial health score of 2.76, with particularly strong profitability metrics. The company’s new strategic initiatives, coupled with strong order growth, seem to have bolstered market confidence despite some financial challenges. Based on InvestingPro’s Fair Value model, the stock currently appears slightly undervalued.

Key Takeaways

• Valmet’s stock price rose by 10.7%, reflecting investor optimism.
• Q2 orders increased by 21% organically, reaching €1,500 million.
• The company launched a new "Lead the Way" strategy and operating model.
• Net sales declined to €1,200 million, while EBITDA margin improved to 11.5%.
• Order backlog grew by 20% year-over-year, reaching €4,700 million.

Company Performance

Valmet’s performance in Q2 2025 showcased a mix of strategic advancements and financial challenges. The company reported a significant increase in orders and an improved EBITDA margin, indicating operational efficiency. However, net sales saw a decline, and cash flow from operating activities decreased, highlighting areas of concern. The new strategic initiatives and operating model are expected to streamline operations and enhance growth prospects.

Financial Highlights

• Revenue: €1,200 million, a decline from previous periods.
• Orders: €1,500 million, a 21% organic growth.
• Comparable EBITDA: €143 million, with a margin of 11.5%.
• Cash flow from operating activities: €79 million, a decrease from prior levels.
• Order backlog: €4,700 million, up 20% year-over-year.

Market Reaction

Valmet’s stock experienced a significant increase of 10.7% following the earnings call, with the last closing value at 26.46. This positive movement suggests investor confidence in the company’s strategic direction and growth potential. According to InvestingPro data, analysts maintain a moderate buy consensus, with price targets ranging from €21.12 to €38.73. The stock’s performance remains strong within its 52-week range of €24.64 to €35.34, indicating robust market support. The stock has delivered a 16.31% return year-to-date, demonstrating strong momentum.

Outlook & Guidance

Valmet reaffirmed its full-year 2025 guidance, anticipating flat net sales and EBITDA. The company remains focused on achieving its 2030 financial targets, which include 5% organic growth, a 15% comparable EBITA, and a 20% return on capital employed. Strategic initiatives such as the "Lead the Way" strategy underscore Valmet’s commitment to innovation and market expansion.

Executive Commentary

CEO Thomas Hineskov emphasized the company’s strategic focus, stating, "We are building on strong fundamentals," and highlighted the transformative potential of the new strategy: "Our new strategy is more focused, bolder, and more executable." These statements reflect Valmet’s confidence in its growth trajectory and operational enhancements.

Risks and Challenges

• Decline in net sales presents a challenge to revenue growth.
• Decreased cash flow from operating activities may impact financial flexibility.
• Restructuring costs of €61 million in Q2 could weigh on short-term profitability.
• Slightly cautious market environment in biomaterial services.
• Supply chain optimization efforts are ongoing, presenting potential risks.

Q&A

During the earnings call, analysts inquired about potential pulp projects in Latin America, cost-saving measures, and strategic investments. Valmet addressed market uncertainties and emphasized its robust order backlog, underscoring the company’s strategic priorities and growth plans.

Full transcript - Valmet Oyj (VALMT) Q2 2025:

Pekka Rojenen, Investor Relations, Valmet: Good morning, and welcome to Valmed’s Second Quarter twenty twenty ’5 Results Publication and Webcast. Valmed’s second quarter highlight was definitely the Capital Markets Day in which we launched our new strategy and 2,030 financial targets. We were delighted to see a full room attending in Tampere in our event and over 1,000 people through the live webcast as well. So thank you again for the participation everybody and for the good discussions. Operationally, Vamed’s second quarter highlight was the strong organic growth in orders received.

I’m Pekka Rojenen from IR. And with me today are Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO as well as Katri Hockenen, CFO. Today, Thomas will first go through the highlights of the quarter and discuss some key topics of the new strategy. After that, Kathri will go through the financial development in more detail, also from the perspective of our new segments. And Thomas will then conclude on the guidance and short term market outlook.

It’s worth mentioning that this quarter is a bit special in terms of our financial reporting as both the kind of the old and the new reporting segments will be visible in the presentation. We have tried to ensure that the reporting is easy to follow also during this transitional quarter, let’s say. But with that, I hand over to the presenters. Thomas, the floor is yours.

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Thank you very much, Pekka. Yes, let’s go through and look at the second quarter highlights. Clearly, as Pekka mentioned, the launch of our new strategy lead the way and our ambitious 2030 financial targets at our Capital Market Day back in Tampere definitely were a highlight of this quarter. A major milestone was also the implementation of our new operating model that went live here on July 1. A lot of work gone in during Q2 for actually designing and implementing that.

It simplifies our structure, reinforces local accountability and enables faster decision making. So the key point in preparing us for the strategy execution phase that we now enter into. Going forward, we will operate through two segments, each with a distinct strategic mission, aligned financial reporting. The segments are Biomaterial Solutions and Services and Process Performance Solutions. Like Pekka said, our Q2 numbers are already reported aligned with the new operating model and we will be discussing the development from that standpoint in this presentation together of course with the previous segment structure as well.

Operationally, second quarter was strong in terms of orders received like Pekka said. Comparable EBITDA margin increased 90 basis points, very happy with that, But net sales decreased and therefore comparable EBITDA stayed flat. Customer activity overall remained stable quarter on quarter more or less in line with our early expectation and we’ll get back to that a bit later in this presentation as well. Automation segment, the new Process Performance Solutions segment delivered across the board both in orders, net sales, profitability, all KPIs pointing in the right direction and we were pleased to see another strong quarter, especially after a good Q1. Process technology and service segment, which is now combined into our new operating model into the Biomaterial Solutions and Service segment.

This segment will provide integrated expertise and services and technology across the whole life cycle like we talked a lot about back in the Capital Market Day. The new biomaterial segment achieved strong growth in orders, including a 10% organic growth or increase in the service orders. However, on the flip profitability in Process Technologies declined due to lower net sales. Let’s take a closer look at the orders received. Orders grew to DKK 1,500,000,000.0 in Q2, which translate into 21% organic growth without FX or M and A impact.

Last twelve months orders intake was €6,300,000,000 of course supported by the large pulp mill order that we received and reported back in Q4 last year. Orders grew 11% organically in Process Performance Solutions, a very good achievement in the current macroeconomic environment and I think another sign of our strong position in that market. Biomaterial Solutions and Services also grew very nicely. In the capital side, we won several mid sized orders during the quarter and also the Biomaterial Services grew 10% organically. Our strategic mission in our new biomaterial solutions and services segment is advancing circularity.

Here we on the slide we have two Q2 customer cases, which bring that mission truly to life. We secured two similar Bayer based combined heat and power plants, one in Sweden with Krafring and Innery and another one in Spain with Sika Group. Both include Valme’s boiler plants, flue glass cleaning system and our future ready design features. Good to ask sort of, so why did we win these customers? Both customers highlighted the energy certainty as well as a key priority and chose Velma based on our strong track record in delivering reliable large scale energy infrastructure.

These orders, I would say, are also a strong endorsement of our pulp energy and circularity business area and basically our strategy in action. So what then make these deliveries especially relevant is their future readiness. And this is also something we discussed when a few weeks ago visited Saican was actually on the site where this biomass boiler is going to be put up. Both systems are carbon capture ready with design features that allow a seamless integration of carbon capture technology later on. This means that the customer aren’t just complying with today’s standard, they’re investing into a flexible long term solution for a low carbon future.

Great example of how we combine immediate environmental performance with a life cycle adaptability. So I just want to thank both customers for choosing Valmet and looking forward to the future partnership there. Now let’s turn to the bigger picture, our new lead the way strategy and our ambitious 2030 financial target. As you know, we introduced our renewed strategy at the Capital Market Day in June at Tampere and it clearly builds on Valmet’s core strength, but it also raises the bar for the next phase value creation, really putting it up there. Let’s briefly recap on the strategic direction.

Our new strategy Lead the Way is guided by a clear new purpose: to transform industries towards a regenerative tomorrow. This means reusing raw materials smarter and using less raw material, something we enable through two focused mission: the advanced circularity in biomaterial solutions and services, which we just talked about two customer cases on, and then unlocking resource efficiency in the process performance solution. These priorities already are shaping sort of how we work with customers, how we innovate, and also how we allocate resources into the business. Personally, I’ve had the opportunity to meet several customers both here in Europe, also in North America since the strategy launch and the feedback has been really encouraging, I have to say. Our purpose to transform industries towards a regenerative tomorrow, our life cycle approach, the co creation with customers have all resonated very well with our customers.

We also updated the 2,030 financial targets that we first shared at the Capital Market Day. As you recall, we’re clearly raising the bar compared to previously. Now we aim to deliver 5% organic growth across the cycle, 15% comparable EBITA, and 20% return on capital employed, and also adding a balance sheet target with having a gearing below 50%. So why are we confident that we can achieve these targets? As I said at the CMD, it starts with our new Lead the Way strategy.

It is more focused. It is bolder. It is more executable before because we got fewer but bigger initiative. We are building on strong fundamentals. Many of you actually saw that in action in Tampere.

And we already have instrumented the new operating model that went live July 1, which is also a key milestone in getting to the execution of the new strategy. So these are solid foundations that gives us confidence in our direction and our ability to deliver on these ambitions. Furthermore, I would say these targets are already being used internally as part of the discussion about future initiatives, so when I talk with the organization I can always say, so how is that going to bring us closer to five plus 15 equals 20? And really easy to remember also for the organization and therefore easy to implement into the organization as well. So I’m very happy with those.

Let’s now focus on one of the key investor questions after the Capital Market Day. So how will Valmed accelerate service growth in the biomaterial, basically doubling it compared to what we’ve seen historically? So one of the things is of course, as we said also earlier, we’re to increase our market share from the current 21 to 25% by 02/1930. That will drive growth. This is not just an ambition.

We have a clear five lever plan to deliver on it. First and foremost, life cycle approach. We’re embedding services early in capital projects not just as an afterthought, but clearly built in part of the everyday delivery or every delivery we are making. This ensures that we monetize the installed base more, we’re consistently with a strong service relationship that begins already sort of day one and then takes it into the next couple of decades. We’re focusing our investment.

We’re directing investment to high potential categories and regions. We’ve pinpointed high potential opportunities in selecting or selected product categories, and also regions during the strategy phase that we just went through. By investing in these areas, we aim to unlock significant growth, but also strengthening our market position and drive sustainable long term growth within the service business. One example of this investment we’ve done for example in Macao in India, we strengthened our capabilities in cost competitive sourcing, consumables, spare parts, manufacturing, but also adds to our pre assembly capacity for our capital projects and that then support our growth ambition, cost competitiveness and our ability to deliver and manage during these geopolitical risk situation that we are facing right now more effectively. Cost competitiveness.

Through our new global supply unit, we’re driving more efficient sourcing, particularly in spare parts, but also in the consumables. This expands our competitive edge and supports profitable growth without sort of compromising on quality. Digital and data leverage, clearly lots. Are an engineering company with lots of data. We have a strong installed base, one of the largest in the pulp and paper industry that does give us a unique advantage and we’re now putting that installed base really or the data to work, predicting maintenance needs, reducing lead time and it’s improved the customer experience as well as increasing our own commercial effectiveness.

Then lastly, the fifth point, empowered frontline. This is a big ticket item not to be underestimated. Our new operating model forced a closer collaboration, faster decision making because we take now complexity and a more direct approach. We’re decentralizing the authority to our service teams on the ground where the problems are, where the springs need to be solved, and it does enable faster decision making, faster quotation, stronger local accountability and ownership. And clearly this will help us capture more opportunities and deliver also more value to our customers without any bottlenecks.

So these are some of the highlights in our new strategy. I hope it clarifies a bit and also how we’re going to plan to grow the service. Now I’ll hand over to Katri and she will walk you through the financial performance of the second quarter.

Katri Hockenen, CFO, Valmet: Thanks, Thomas, and thank you everyone in Valmet and my team for the efforts in the Q2 closing and also the renewal with the renewal of operating model. Good job done there. Let’s look at the financials next. As has been said already today, the highlight of the quarter was the strong order intake, and the orders increased to €1,500,000,000 Order backlog remained also solid, rising to €4,700,000,000 And then net sales declined to €1,200,000,000 And this was below expectations, particularly in Services, and this was partly due to the foreign exchange impact and timing and also in Paper, where the quarterly net sales were the lowest since pre COVID and a disappointment. Also, it is typical that there are variations between the quarters based on the development on the projects.

That’s fair to say. Comparable EBITA remained flat year over year at €143,000,000 However, the margin improved to 11.5%, and that was driven by a higher share of Automation segment in the sales mix and its improved profitability. Cash flow from operating activities decreased to €79,000,000 and this was mainly due to a less favorable change in the net working capital compared to the same period last year. Comparable ROCE was 13.1%, which was the same level than what we had in the first quarter this year. Adjusted EPS declined to €0.23 and this was primarily due to restructuring expenses, which were related to the renewal of our operating model.

And it’s very important to note that both reported and adjusted EPS include items affecting comparability. Let’s then take a closer look at the key financial figures for the second quarter and the first half of this year. Orders received increased by 19% year over year in the Q2, reaching €1,500,000,000 as said. And for the first half, the increase was actually 22%, totaling to close to €2,900,000,000 Order backlog grew significantly and stood at €4,700,000,000 at the end of the quarter, and it was 20% up from last year. And this reflects the growth in orders received in ’25 and also the Arauco order from Q4 last year.

Net sales declined by 6% in the second quarter and 4% in the first half, and this was mainly due to the lower volume in Services and Process Technologies. Comparable EBITA was flat at €143,000,000 in Q2 with a margin of 11.5%, and it was up from the 10.5% last 10.6% last year. And for the first half, EBITDA was €265,000,000 with a margin of 10.9%. EBITA and operating profit declined, and this was due to the restructuring costs. EBITA was €81,000,000 in Q2, down by 39%.

And operating profit was €57,000,000 down 45%. Items affecting comparability were €62,000,000 and they were mainly related to the operating model renewal. Cash flow from operating activities was €79,000,000 in Q2, down from €128,000,000 last year. But actually, for the first half, it has improved to €297,000,000 compared to €267,000,000 last year. Our order backlog continued to grow and reached €4,700,000,000 at the end of the second quarter, and this is actually €259,000,000 higher than at the end of last year, and it is reflecting the strong order intake during the first half of this year.

Approximately €2,300,000,000 of the backlog is currently expected to be delivered as net sales during the second half of this year. The revenue recognition from the big Arauco pulp project, which we sold last year, amounted to roughly €100,000,000 in the first half, and this was mostly taking place in the second quarter. And we expect roughly €200,000,000 more to be booked as revenue this year for the project. And I would say that this level of backlog provides very good visibility for the remainder of this year, and it supports our confidence to deliver in line with our full year guidance. And as always, good to remember that the timing of deliveries can vary somewhat between the quarters, but we expect that the full year net sales outcome is going to be consistent with our expectations.

Cash flow from operating activities was €79,000,000 in the second quarter, and this was clearly lower than in the comparison period when it was €128,000,000 And the main reason for the decline was a less favorable change in the net working capital compared to last year. And in the second quarter, the cash conversion ratio was 55%. And for the first half, it was 112%. And as we highlighted at our Capital Markets Day, Valmet has a strong track record of cash conversion. And typically, we have been in the range of 90% to 100% over the longer term.

When it comes to net working capital, it stood at minus €139,000,000 at the end of the second quarter. That equals minus 2% of the last twelve months’ orders received. And good to note that the figure include a €123,000,000 dividend liability. The first dividend installment was paid in April, and the second will be paid in October. CapEx in the quarter was €33,000,000 It was slightly higher than last year.

But when we look at the year to date CapEx, it was at the same level. And for the full year this year, we expect the CapEx to be in line with last year, meaning close to €110,000,000 level. Net debt and gearing increased from the previous quarter, and this was mainly due to the dividend payment of €125,000,000 in April. And at the end of the second quarter, net debt to EBITDA ratio was 1.6 euros and gearing stood at 42%, which remains well within our financial target of below 50%. Average interest rate of our total debt was 3.6% at the end of the quarter, down from 4% at the end of Q1 and 4.5% at the end of Q2 last year.

And interest rates have gone down compared to last year. And also, our gross debt is lower than what we had a year ago. So as a result, our Q2 interest expenses decreased year over year to €16,000,000 and we expect the coming quarters to be close to this level. Capital employed decreased to €3,900,000,000 at the end of the second quarter, and it was down from €4,200,000,000 at the end of last year, meaning €285,000,000 decrease. And the main drivers for the decrease were dividends and change in the interest bearing liabilities and the fact that the net profit decreased mainly due to items affecting comparability.

Gutsi also mentioned that we have repaid €127,000,000 in loans during the first half, and FX translation differences had a negative impact on the equity. So these were only partially offset by the profit generated in the first half. Comparable ROCE for the last twelve months was 13.1%, and that was slightly below last year’s level, 13.6%, but stable when we compare it to the first quarter. Adjusted earnings per share was €1.72 on last twelve months basis. And actually, the decline from last year was mainly due to restructuring expenses related to the operating model renewal.

Let’s then take a closer look at the segment structure we had in place in the second quarter. And actually, all three segments, Services, Automation and Process Technologies, showed growth in orders received. In comparable FX, the numbers were even a bit higher. In Services, we saw continued strength with orders up by 7% and a solid comparable EBITA margin of 18.1%. This is reflecting improved execution and commercial effectiveness in this business.

Automation also delivered a very strong quarter with orders up by 7%. And comparable EBITA margin rose to 17.8%, and that was supported by higher net sales. However, in Process Technologies, while orders were increasing strongly, profitability declined, and this was due to lower net sales. And it resulted in a comparable EBITA of just 1%. In the Other, comparable EBITA amounted to minus 10,000,000 and year to date to minus €26,000,000 And the expenses in other have been roughly €50,000,000 in the last year, and we expect similar or slightly higher level this year as well.

Let’s now turn on to Valomed’s second quarter performance through the lens of our new operating reporting structure, and this became effective on July 1. As a reminder, we now operate through two reporting segments, Biomaterial Solutions and Services and Process Performance Solutions. And in the second quarter, Biomaterial Solutions and Services was the larger of the two in terms of both orders received and net sales. However, when looking at the comparable EBITDA, the contribution was more evenly distributed between the two segments. And this reflects the strong profitability of Process Performance Solutions despite its smaller top line.

And on the next slides, I will walk you through the performance of each segment in more detail. Starting with Biomaterial Solutions and Services, which is our largest segment in terms of orders and net sales. There, orders received increased to €1,100,000,000 in the second quarter, and this was supported by strong organic growth in Services. And this was particularly in mill improvements and field services and several midsized capital orders, especially in Tissue and Energy. However, the net sales declined to $869,000,000 and this was mainly due to lower volumes in the CapEx driven business.

And as a result, comparable EBITA decreased to €87,000,000 and the margin was 10%. And this is clearly below our long term ambition. And as you may recall, at the Capital Markets Day, we set a 14% comparable EBITA margin target for this segment to be delivered by 02/1930. And the key enabler for reaching that ambition is growing our market share, especially in Services, as Thomas said, with the new strategy and life cycle approach. And this remains our top priority.

And then as services continue to grow, we expect the margin improvement to follow over time as well. Turning then into Process Performance Solutions. The segment delivered a very strong performance in the second quarter. Orders received increased to EUR $376,000,000 with 11% organic growth. And growth was broad based, so 12% in Automation Solutions and 10% in Flow Control.

We also saw good momentum in Analyzer Products and Integration business, or API, as we call it, and that contributed to €37,000,000 in the orders. Net sales grew to €372,000,000 with 9% organic growth, and this was driven especially by strong execution in Automation Solutions. Profitability was again a highlight. Comparable EBITDA increased to €66,000,000 and the margin improved clearly to 17.8%. And at our Capital Markets Day, we set an ambition for this segment to accelerate growth to more than double the market rate and to reach a 20% comparable EBITDA margin by 02/1930.

And actually, this quarter’s performance shows that we are on the right track, both in terms of growth and profitability. So good job done there as well. Let me now briefly touch on the progress of our new operating model renewal, which is, of course, a key enabler of our new strategy. And as you know, the new operating model became effective on July 1. And of course, it’s designed to simplify our structure, improve our global cost competitiveness and then reinforce the local accountability.

Renewal is progressing well. Change negotiations have been concluded in most countries, covering over 90% of our white collar employees. And the estimated annual cost savings from the new model are around €80,000,000 with the full run rate expected by the beginning of twenty twenty six. And in the second quarter, we booked €61,000,000 in restructuring and strategy renewal costs as items affecting comparability. Some savings will already start to materialize in the second half of this year, mostly in the fourth quarter.

So the transformation is well underway, and it will support our strategic execution and financial performance going forward. With that, I will now hand back to Thomas to conclude with the guidance and short term market outlook.

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Thanks, Katri. So let’s wrap up the whole thing with our guidance for 2025 and then also the short term market outlook as we see it right now. We are reiterating our full year 2025 guidance, which was first issued back in February. We continue to expect like Katri also said that our net sales and also comparable EBITDA for the full year of 2025 will remain on the previous year’s level. Let’s now look at the short term market outlook and if we start with the Biomaterial Solutions and Services where we are seeing a slightly more cautious environment emerging.

So for Biomaterial Services, we estimate that the customer activity will decrease slightly. The main reason is the economic or increased economic uncertainty, particularly related to The U. S. Tariff situations, which clearly is weighing in on our customers’ sentiment. We’ve also seen cautious or some cautious comments from some of our customers.

While it’s important that we to remember that we serve hundreds of customers globally, But still these signals do add to the overall slightly more cautious tone. Specific area of concern is consumables and performance parts. After a very strong Q1, orders flattened in Q2, we saw the potential sign of reduced activities, especially in this part of the business. On a positive note though, we did see a good development in mill improvements and field service including larger individual order, but overall the slowing momentum in the transactional part of the service is something we’re watching carefully. In the CapEx driven business, the picture is more stable overall.

In tissue, the customer activity is relatively high and we see good momentum continuing this market. As you know, the market can be quite sort of binary depending on when the big ticket items materialize. So overall, mixed picture in biomaterials were servicing softening, CapEx stable and some areas of strength. That said, it is important to emphasize that the long term growth prospect for biomaterial solutions and services do remain strong. We expect to see continued global growth in pulp demand, packaging board and tissue consumption over the coming years.

All of which will sort of support our strategic direction and service growth ambition towards the 2030 goal. In Process Performance Solutions, the outlook remains more stable. Q2 was again a strong quarter. We saw 12% organic growth in automation, like Cartier said, 10% in flow control, both contributing to the segment’s solid performance. That said, we are staying alert to early signs in flow control.

We’ve observed some signs of pre buying in North America a bit ahead of The U. S. Tariff decisions, which may impact order volumes in the coming quarters. And while the segment benefit from sort of a broader industrial customer base, the global uncertainty and the still sort of softness in the pulp and paper market as discussed in the context of biomaterial services are also relevant here. So but with that, I’ll be handing over to Pekka for Q and A.

Pekka Rojenen, Investor Relations, Valmet: Thank you, Thomas and Katri, for the presentations, and we’ll now be moving on to Q and A. So we will be taking questions over the phone lines and then also the digital platform, so utilize either one of those. But with that, I hand now over to the operator, please.

Conference Operator: The next question comes from Sven Wyre from UBS. Please go ahead.

Sven Wyre, Analyst, UBS: Yes. Good morning and thanks for taking my questions and doing the call. I got two, please. The first one is just on the top line guidance where you still guide flat. I was just wondering mechanically, you were like swaps and behind in the first half, your backlog for delivery is kind of flat against last year.

So is that you expect to catch up from in for out orders in the second half or what’s driving that one? And I’ll come then afterwards with the second question. Thank you.

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: All right. Thanks, Sven. Thanks for also joining the call. Yes, good observation of course. We were slightly low in Q1 and also in Q2.

We do still expect that if you look at our order backlog, but also the service business across the board and the faster rotation of that, that we will be keeping our and that’s why we’re sort of confident of keeping our guidance of flat net sales and EBITDA compared to last year. Of course, there’s some seasonality in it as well. You think in orders and generally Q3 is a little bit soft and then we’ve got a strong Q4 when it comes to the biomaterial piece whereas the process performance is sort of no seasonality. But we still stay confident on the guidance.

Sven Wyre, Analyst, UBS: Does it bake in also or what kind of currency impact are you baking in? Because obviously that has changed quite a bit since you first guided in February.

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Yeah. I mean, of course, this assumes that we don’t see big impact from a currency or FX perspective. We have managed it very well during this first half year as you can see in the results as well. So, we are generally hedging the operational piece, but of course also the translation of profit from different countries there we don’t see. But of course, can impact top line if we have big changes in the FX.

Sven Wyre, Analyst, UBS: The other question I had was just on how you accounted for this big pulp order you had from China because I was surprised to see when I look at pulp orders and paper orders individually in the quarter, you had an even stronger uptick in paper. So did you book part of the order also in paper or what was driving the paper strength? And then also were part of the order maybe also booked in services and in the automation line?

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Yes, maybe I can

Katri Hockenen, CFO, Valmet: start and I can complement. So we have publicized some of the projects that we have booked, and China had a very strong quarter in the second quarter. So of course, there are other cases that we have booked as well. But overall, performance in the second quarter was very solid.

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Yes. And maybe a bit more Sorry, Frank, go ahead.

Sven Wyre, Analyst, UBS: I was just wondering, so this Chinese pulp project specifically was only booked in the pulp and energy business line, nowhere else?

Katri Hockenen, CFO, Valmet: This was in pulp and energy business lines, but we did have other orders as well.

Sven Wyre, Analyst, UBS: Okay. Okay. That makes sense.

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: But it’s a good observation in terms of see the China activity on the order side. I think what we’ve ended last year, what was it €418,000,000 or something around that. We are now last twelve months slightly above the €600,000,000 mark. So clearly China has picked up and so we’ve done a good job in China in this last half year.

Sven Wyre, Analyst, UBS: Understood. Thank you both.

Katri Hockenen, CFO, Valmet: Thank you. Thanks.

Conference Operator: The next question comes from Antti Kansanen from SEB. Please go ahead.

Antti Kansanen, Analyst, SEB: Yes. Hi, guys. It’s Antti from SEB. A couple of questions from me as well. The first one is for Q2 orders and the demand guidance for, let’s say, Paper Packaging and Tissue.

I mean and there’s a quite nice uptick on both Packaging and Tissue orders on the second quarter compared to a year ago and first quarter this year. And I mean, it’s rather surprising given what we see in the marketplace generally that it appears quite weak right now. So could you maybe open up a little bit more? Was this a combination of a lot of midsized orders? Was there something very big that maybe we haven’t seen the announcement yet?

I mean, generally, are these projects that you have been kind of working for a long time and now kind of coming from the pipeline? I just wanted to understand maybe how the pipeline going into second half and next year looks versus what you have now converted to orders very recently?

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Thanks, Santi, and also thanks for joining. Good question. Overall, it’s of course these things do come a bit binary from quarter to quarter, so there can be timing there. But it is generally several midsized orders that actually shows up to be a significant good order uptick in the business. Pipeline wise, I mean, I think we are we’re generally also I think that is reflected in our guidance as well how we see the pipeline.

Antti Kansanen, Analyst, SEB: Yeah. I guess on the outlook really, I mean, you mentioned that there’s a bit of a slowing momentum on the transactional services. But if I understood correctly, the CapEx side looks more stable. So is that slightly declining demand outlook on the Biomaterials side more comment on the aftermarket or more comment on expected timing of capital orders?

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Sorry, just say that once again. Sorry, missed the first part.

Antti Kansanen, Analyst, SEB: So I mean, if I understood correctly, as you guide for a slightly slowing demand on the biomaterial side and you are flagging a bit weaker momentum on the transactional services, but the CapEx looks quite stable. So I wanted to understand if the guidance is a reflection on weaker aftermarket or let’s say timing of deals in second half on the capital side?

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Yeah. So if you think about the service side, that’s a bit of reflection about operational rates, profitability with our current our customer base is sort of weak in certain parts of the business as well. Whereas on the capital side, we do see a sort of relatively as we’re saying quite stable. Of course, it can be very bit from quarter to quarter, but it is a more stable outlook and Okay.

Antti Kansanen, Analyst, SEB: And then the last question from me is on the profitability of the Pulp and Paper capital business. And I guess this is the last time that we see this number. So I mean your book to bill is now above one, I guess, for the first half of this year. So kind of you should at some point get a little bit more stabilization on the sales decline. And one should maybe expect Arauco deal also start to contribute positively on earnings going into next year.

So should we be confident that we’re starting to kind of find a floor in a sense that the capital business is not anymore a tailwind for your margins that it actually starts to contribute positively, even excluding any kind of a bigger savings programs that we are now expecting for next year?

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Yeah. I think I mean as Katri said as well, we’re not happy with the capital the capital net sales. It is low. I think it probably is the lowest we’ve seen since Q1 twenty twenty or something like that. So that and that volume clearly impacts the profitability a lot with the leverage that we have in our global supply.

We are of course taking sort of short term action in terms of temporary layoffs. It is also clear that with the global supply and how we’re going to structure that going forward, we’ll have a better we’ll have impact on us managing volume ups and downs in a better way, right? So with that, there is also, I have to say in the Q2, a little bit of timing effect on some of the sales as well. Anything to add, Katri?

Katri Hockenen, CFO, Valmet: Yes. And I think maybe one thing to highlight is operating model. So now we have brought the equipment business and the services together, so looking at the total life cycle approach. So of course, that’s also then going to support this strategy execution. And our target with this new segment is to be at 14% profitability.

So there is some work to be done and room for improvement clearly.

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Yes. Now we’re at 10%, so

Antti Kansanen, Analyst, SEB: Yes. For sure. And I understand the savings and the operation model stuff. But if we just look at purely from the volume impact, I mean, orders on first half are now better than the sales. So when should we if you look at the timing of your backlog, when should we start to see the negative top line impact stabilizing?

Katri Hockenen, CFO, Valmet: It will come through the revenue recognition. So we need orders, and then, of course, the rest will follow. So giving exact timing for the Arauco, we will recognize 200,000,000 more still. And we have been saying that it’s roughly split equally between the years. So that, of course, then is going to contribute as well.

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Of course, that if you see some of the orders we got a lot of the orders we got in Q2 were the midsized ones,

Katri Hockenen, CFO, Valmet: they

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: will tend to churn a bit faster than the very large ones, right?

Katri Hockenen, CFO, Valmet: That’s a good point.

Antti Kansanen, Analyst, SEB: All right. Fair enough. Thanks. Thank you for the answers.

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Thanks, Antti.

Conference Operator: The next question comes from Mikhail Doppel from Nordea. Please go ahead.

Mikhail Doppel, Analyst, Nordea: Thank you. Good morning, everybody, and thanks for taking my questions. So firstly, on the services outlook, which you see slightly weaker now. I think you mentioned in your commented earlier that just Logan mentioned in the transactional parts of the business. Maybe you could talk a bit more about that.

I mean, that the only place where you see some weakness? Are other segments within services doing still well? Are there any big regional differences? Maybe just a bit more color on what you’re seeing in that business heading into the second half? Thanks.

Let’s start there.

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Thanks, Michael. I think really nice to see that despite sort of dynamic world situation, economic outlook and so on, customers are investing into mill improvement projects. So we want to make it have a more efficient mill. So that’s really good to see. So that sort of gives that’s clearly good to see that they’re starting to invest in the installed base for the future for with a bigger effect than before.

Then as we said, we did have a good Q1. We had sort of a flattish Q2 when it comes to the more consumable part, the performance part, the fabrics, the rolls in Q2, which is of course a bit sort of maybe indicating slight softerness in terms of the actual operational rates that we see currently. And that’s I wouldn’t say compared to previously. Geographically, it’s a little bit like unchanged sort of soft in Europe, which we also saw previously. Generally okay in The U.

S. In the high 80s, early 90s, different on where you are. China being a bit the same, Asia the same as previously. So not big no bigger changes there, but just a sort of a slight softening in it as well. We’re just being a bit cautious about and very being sort of very focused on making sure that we support our customers to the best extent possible during the next coming quarters.

Mikhail Doppel, Analyst, Nordea: Okay. Well, that’s helpful. Thank you. And then just a question on the pulp project pipeline, which you see in Latin America. I think you have previously talked about this and mentioning active discussions.

Just wondering where we are now on this topic.

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Yes. Maybe I should just add to the previous question. It is good to see when you talk about services that in the Performance Solutions, there we are actually seeing quite good service business and very stable and good outlook on that as well. So I’m very pleased on that side of the business as well. Then in terms of these big projects in South America, like we said last time, are of course certain players who are looking into investing further into South America because attractive market to invest in when it comes to the pulp business.

Very difficult to say anything about the timing, but of course our customers are looking into it. They are of course also not taking a few year horizon on this. So what the world looks like right now maybe impacts that a little bit less because it’s a longer term investment into a very competitive pulp production.

Mikhail Doppel, Analyst, Nordea: Okay. No, that’s clear. And then just finally, on the cost related to the operating model renewal, we aim at the SEK 80,000,000 cost savings. You booked, I think, one off costs of SEK 61,000,000 for this project in or this program in Q2. Was this all or will you see more cost being booked in the quarters ahead?

And also in terms of the phasing of the savings, how much should we expect for 2025?

Katri Hockenen, CFO, Valmet: If I say, yes, this is our best estimate of the total program. So that’s answer to your first question. And then the impact for this year, so we will see some savings materializing already this year. I would maybe go with the double digit statement here because we are still kind of in the process of the change negotiations in five countries. So we cannot give exact comments yet, within that ballpark.

Mikhail Doppel, Analyst, Nordea: Okay. That’s very clear. Thank you very much, both.

Conference Operator: The next question comes from Ponu Leitenmarki from Danske Bank. I

Ponu Leitenmarki, Analyst, Danske Bank: had two questions. First one is on the service outlook and order intake development. So if I understood correctly, you had like a slowdown or flattening of the spare parts and consumables and then good orders were more about the mill improvements and so on. So does this mean that it’s like the service sales mix is a burden for the margin going forward because I assume that the ones the spares and consumables are more profitable?

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: I think that is very sort of now we’re into the finessing in terms of the modeling or the comment on that or I mean, I think overall it is about driving the overall service business that is a better margin business for us. So that’s what we’re focusing on. But of course also like we discussed a lot, the Capital Market Day is really about how do we help drive our customers’ outcome in the best possible way because that will deliver value for them, then they will actually do business with us as well. So, I wouldn’t be too focused on the mix between those things from a profitability perspective.

Ponu Leitenmarki, Analyst, Danske Bank: Okay. That’s clear. Then secondly, on the outlook for Board specifically. So now you gave the outlook for the whole business, but previously you used to be more specific on the end market. So I mean, how does the board, I think, market look for you going forward?

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: JOSE Yeah. I mean, I guess, if you think about it, there is of course you can go to a very granular level in terms of how you look at the market. And of course, do that when we’re looking at our pipeline and in the sales forecast discussions or order forecast or is sales from an orders perspective forecast discussion. It is of course a bit of I want to say difficult in this forum to really go to that level of detail because it also depends on where are you actually in the world. You’ve seen capacity being coming online in Europe.

Therefore utilization rates probably come a bit down in the European business impacting the service business there compared to what you would the sort of the number of mills would indicate. There’s also a closure in the board. We’ve seen one here in Finland being announced. So but overall you have to sort of look at it quite granular also from a geographical perspective. We have seen orders also on the capital side there.

Katri Hockenen, CFO, Valmet: Maybe in big picture no changes in the

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: overall view.

Ponu Leitenmarki, Analyst, Danske Bank: Okay. I actually have a third one, if I may. So on the guidance, so you are a bit ahead of last year, like in the first half in terms of comparable EBITA. And you said that you will get double digit million of cost savings for the second half. So is the guidance conservative given the cost savings?

Or what are the kind of headwinds that we will still see?

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: I mean, it’s clear that the savings program underlines and supports our guidance. And that’s also why we’re reiterating with confidence, right?

Katri Hockenen, CFO, Valmet: Yes. And maybe fair to say that we need book and bill in every business So there is work to be done still. And of course, now backlog for this year is €2,300,000,000 same level than last year. It’s all about getting the orders in managing the cost and then delivering the volume.

So no updates on the bottom line either.

Conference Operator: The next question comes from Tom Skogman from Carnegie. Please go ahead.

Tom Skogman, Analyst, DNB Carnegie: Yes. Hello, this is Tom Skogman from DNB Carnegie. I can see that the order backlog beyond the current year is up almost 60%. But can you reveal how much it is up for kind of the next year, in this case for 2026?

Katri Hockenen, CFO, Valmet: Backlog is up. And of course, one big ticket item there is the Arauco project. So that is visible. So if you look at the overall backlog, that’s the main driver there.

Tom Skogman, Analyst, DNB Carnegie: Yes, of course. But the problem is you don’t know how the backlog looks for 2026. Is it up double digits? If it’s in total beyond

Antti Kansanen, Analyst, SEB: the current year, it’s

Tom Skogman, Analyst, DNB Carnegie: up now close to 60%.

Katri Hockenen, CFO, Valmet: I think we go into the quite, I would say, level of details here. So really cannot comment 26%. But what I can say is that Arauco, of course, is mainly delivered in three years, so that is visible in that backlog. Otherwise, order intake has been solid.

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: And we expect that the Raukoo would have €300,000,000 will come to sales this year, right?

Mikhail Doppel, Analyst, Nordea: Yes.

Katri Hockenen, CFO, Valmet: So

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: that will give you an indication, Tom.

Tom Skogman, Analyst, DNB Carnegie: Okay. And then I wonder about the balance in the order backlog. We have a very kind of special environment for your company. Is it do you have like challenges with low utilization level outlook in some segments? Or is it okay across the board now?

Guess in paper in Europe, should not be that good, but perhaps it’s good in paper in China as an example. Could you give a bit more granularity just about the outlook for utilization levels for factories?

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Yes. I mean, good question Tom. I think it really boils down to when you think of or how to sort of really think about is that you saw net sales and where we were not really happy was the lowest in the board and paper business since twenty twenty Q1. But I mean, if you think about overall, you also need to sort of and think from a profitability perspective, you need to think about this both the biomaterial business, let’s not only think about that, but it’s actually more or less close to half the business is actually on the bottom line. It’s also coming from the Performance Solutions business.

There that utilization rate is of course also important, but the leverage is on the other side and that gives a lot of a little bit of swing. But overall very strong business in both parts, but then also very strong foundational part no matter what happens in terms of the Performance Solutions.

Tom Skogman, Analyst, DNB Carnegie: Okay. And then about pricing, I have not heard any comments about pricing. When you have booked these great orders, have you used the price weapon to secure a good backlog in challenging times? Or is the sales margin more or less what it has used to be? And of course, this discussion is difficult when you have these cost cutting.

So basically, what I’m trying to figure out is will this cost cutting of €80,000,000 really hit the bottom line if you would have flat sales?

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: I couldn’t really sorry, Tom, I couldn’t hear what you you hadn’t heard anything about what?

Tom Skogman, Analyst, DNB Carnegie: About pricing in orders booked. So I mean, are you kind of I think it’s just important for the market to understand will this €80,000,000 of savings in the P and L, will they hit the bottom line or are you kind of using part of these savings to cut prices to gain market share basically in a tough market?

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Yes. Good question, Tom. Like we talked a lot about at the Capital Market Day back in Tampere, June 5, there is the you have the €80,000,000 which relates to the whole operating model change. Some of that is also being fueled into funding the strategic journey, the investment into growing the business, growing the service business, growing the flow control business, so actually capturing that commercial excellence there. So that’s one part.

Then the €100,000,000 from the global supply, what we said there was also some of that will be used to actually be more competitive in the market and therefore capture growth and install base going forward. Then the question that I haven’t heard about global supply so far, but I think it’s important question, is that sort of because you also talked about timing and it basically comes from two levers, right? There’s the procurement savings and then there’s a footprint. Footprint going about both the manufacturing footprint, facilities footprint, how do we actually optimize that also with the current geographical or geopolitical situation. So it’s a good time to look into how to really how you want to structure that supply chain going forward.

Of course, the procurement savings can come up well or will come faster than the actual footprint. That is a bit of a longer thing, but with something we need to attack and we need to address. Then also to drive that, we are clearly opting the game. We are investing into new capabilities. So four new team members in the global supply chain has been recruited and will be joining in the second half of this year, all with international background.

So a very international team where we’ve upped the capability significantly in order to make sure we drive the €100,000,000 savings target, which will both expand the margin, but it will also drive cost competitiveness and therefore more sales.

Tom Skogman, Analyst, DNB Carnegie: So just to understand this a bit better, should we think so that this kind of supply chain savings of 100,000,000 on a part of that can be used to cut prices to win orders, but this EUR 80,000,000 in a white collar cost saving, that is a real saving that you will not use in pricing discussions with customers?

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Like I said, €80,000,000 has nothing to do with pricing or cost competitiveness, but it’s about having an efficient organizational structure that of course will impact the SG and A, but it is also to fund some of the expensive investments that actually is in the strategy plan so that we can deliver the EUR 5.15 equals EUR 20.

Katri Hockenen, CFO, Valmet: And maybe just to add to the EUR 80,000,000, Tom, if I may. So it’s not only SG and A. So of course, there is a COGS bar, and it’s somewhat a bit more on the SG and A side. But maybe just to give a flavor that how this €80,000,000

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: is Good point. Exactly.

Tom Skogman, Analyst, DNB Carnegie: Okay. Thank you. A final question for me. When you have these tariffs and so on, could it open opportunity for you to go into the fabric business in The U. S.

If a lot of fabrics are imported to The U. S. Market? There is a big competitor there with local production, but I guess otherwise there is some imports as well. Is it?

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Yes. Of course, the fabrics market in The U. S. Is a mix of imported fabrics, but also locally produced fabrics.

Tom Skogman, Analyst, DNB Carnegie: Yes. But could you end to only have production in Europe in this business? Could this be like an opportunity to go into The U. S. Fabrics business if some other one will face challenges with tariffs?

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: I think that’s a bit too detailed Tom to go into at a Q2 meeting right now. But we’ll let you know if we do.

Ponu Leitenmarki, Analyst, Danske Bank: Okay.

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Thanks. Thanks Tom. Thanks Tom. Have a good summer.

Conference Operator: There are no more questions at this time. So I hand the conference back to the speakers.

Pekka Rojenen, Investor Relations, Valmet: All right. Thank you so much for the Q and A. There are no questions here on the platform either. It’s now time to start to conclude this event.

Thomas Hineskov, President and CEO, Valmet: Thank you very much everyone for having joined the webcast. I was sort of really happy that you spent your warm summer day on this. So have a great summer. And then of course, I want to thank all the Valmaterials who’ve delivered a good Q2 result that we can all be proud of. So thank you very much to everyone and have a great summer.

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