Hello all. Honora reported their Q2 this morning and we have here for interview CEO and CFO Stein Eriksen as usual. Hi. Hello. Hello. Hi. So let's start with the usual question. I think maybe with how did Q2 go from the company's perspective? We were very pleased.

With the Q2. And I think most importantly, the fact that our mid-term strategy fit, fix and focus, which we launched and communicated last year in November in our capital Markets Day, is starting to show its power at the moment. And from the numbers perspective, uh, the parameter that is the most important for us is the comparable EBITDA. And that rose by 14.6%, resulting in €16 million, which was in fact 2 million better than last year. And secondly, the gross profit percentage, which was also at a very strong level at 46.7%. And what makes us really glad is that this improvement in profitability is throughout all our segments. Uh, spirits, wine and industrial, which in fact makes the first half year of, uh, of 2026 the strongest in the history of Aurora. So that of course, makes us really happy. If you then move away, uh, from, uh, from the PNL to the balance, uh, site. Also, the net debt decreased to the €177 million. And as we promised with the Capital Markets Day that we're aiming at leverage being below 2.5. So that's what we did. Uh, the leverage was 2.4. And then our continuous work on the inventory reductions, which continued very strongly. But having said that, in all transparency, of course, the one element that we're still working hard on is the it's a top line. And net sales was, uh, -3%, although it was slightly it was, uh, it was, uh, less decline than it has been in the past, uh, quarters. But still, that is definitely something that we need to focus on. That is growth and it is winning market share from the from the competition. So that's something that we still need to work on. But overall we are very, very pleased with the quad.

Yeah. Good. Then maybe it's time to take the next one. The market was still going down quite quite a bit actually. And now how do you see it now after H1 we had some Easter impacts in between the quarters. But if you look to H1 in totality has been in line with your expectations or even weaker, or how would you describe.

I think, what we communicated to the in the Capital Markets Day, the 5th of November last year, is that we we expected spirits to be down 3.3% and wind down 2.3%. Uh, that being said, we see now that spirits is a little bit better. Wine is a little bit worse, but I think overall it's pretty aligned with our expectations. Yeah.

Okay. Okay. Uh, then regarding the Q2 numbers, uh, at least to me, the industrial segment was kind of the clear surprise with quite strong earnings. So how would you describe that? Is it a kind of structurally getting to a greater profitability compared to what it has been? Or is it is it some kind of quarterly variation which we are seeing?

No, I think right now we see very good progress in the industrial era. Of course, it is dependent on several factors. First of all, as you know, we have a big contract manufacturing contract. Of course partly dependent on that. But if you look at underlying, uh, improvements in the industrial era in our factories and also in our logistics business in, uh, in Norway, I would say that it's a sustainable, uh, level. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's good.

Uh, then in wine, maybe the, uh, the, you have commented that you have gained market share in, in Sweden, but then you have lost volumes. And I think market shares also in Finland and Norway. So how is the overall market share in wine in the Nordics developing now? Yeah. If you look at.

All the segments wine, spirits and industrial, you can basically describe Q2 As industrial and spirits being the winners of the of the quarter. And we are still struggling with wine, uh, maturity of the decline coming from Denmark. Uh, and the total net sales, uh, maturity of the net sales decline coming from wines in Denmark. And then of course, the earlier lost, uh, business volumes in wines and then the spirits partner business. But market share wise, yes, we are strengthening our number two position in Sweden. So that's where we are gaining market share. But yes, as you can see from the monopoly reports, we are losing a little bit of market share in in Finland and Norway still. So those other areas where we are working on trying to find innovations to, to fill the white gaps that we still have in the portfolio. So that's something that the teams are now working really hard on. Yes.

All right. And then continuing on wine, the IPA was down in Q2, although you had a quite nice improvement in the gross profit. So so it seems you are not able to adapt the fixed cost to the lower volumes. Well, the work continues.

Obviously we are. Wine is probably one of the key areas of improvement in the EF as well. And. And we have a new SVP who started a few months ago now, Anna Muller in Sweden, who's working really hard with her team to, to work on different aspects of the wine. So it takes a little bit more time, but obviously the ambition is high and we want to improve not only the profitability but also the market share and top line with with wine. Sure.

Okay. Then maybe the next one to Stine. Stine again, you didn't really comment the the cost inflation pressure or impacts of that in the report. So I would assume that it didn't have any material impact in Q2. But how do you see going forward the kind of oil price impact to the logistics, right. And then packaging and what have you will that have? It's an extremely good question.

If I can comment. Of course, we are very happy with the gross margin improving in that case I mentioned. But that being said, in first half we have seen inflation in two areas and that's mainly transportation logistics costs. as. As well as. Energy cost. Thank you. Exactly. Those those two areas, uh, going forward with everything that is happening in the red. We still believe that we will have some cost inflation in the second half. But maybe I'm a little bit less worried now than what I was, uh, after, after Q1. And then of course, uh, as you know, we are the, we are buying one third of all finished barley that comes out for sale. So of course, we are very exposed towards finished barley. So far it looks fairly okay. But then again, you have the wheat transportation that is blocked now from from Ukraine in the Black Sea. And then also you have the African swine fever that potentially can affect the prices going forward. So I would still say it's, uh, we are vulnerable, but so far, I would say we, we, we are in control of it. Yeah, yeah.

So some increase in pressure, but nothing material.

No. And we have managed to absorb it also in the industrial era very nicely I would say. Yes.

That's very clear. Uh, then we had in the summer in Finland, some changes in the alcohol legislation. A couple of things actually actually changed. So can you maybe describe the how that will impact the business?

Sure. I mean, indeed, uh, the government now ratified the new alcohol law. And there are basically four elements. One is the home delivery. So now, uh, uh, basically the retail channels are allowed to start, um, delivering home alcohol beverages, which are under 8% of alcohol, ABV. Uh, second element was the distance sales, which has been legal up until now, but now the law was clarified a little bit. Uh, then thirdly, alcohol as they have, uh, as they have communicated themselves, uh, there's an expanded, uh, opening hours, expanded opening hours. You can open up Sundays and until 9:00. And then the fourth element is, uh, liberalization of the alcohol. Sorry. Marketing, uh, regulation, regulation. And none of them are really breaking the bank for us. I mean, we've been on top of all these changes all along, but on the short term, in the short term, I think it's a marketing legislation which is affecting us the most. So we can now finally communicate about our beautiful brands such as Koskenkorva and Yellabinna. Also for the Finnish audiences in social media channels, which or the competition has been able to do already up until now. So we feel that now we are on a level field with our competition. So that's something in the short term that affects us the most.

Yeah. You don't see any of this or this combined having any material impact on the market or any kind of competitive situation. First of all.

I mean, the law will come into effect only 1st of January next year. And we are closely observing how the consumers are reacting. It obviously depends on the price point where the where the price prices will land. We have the capabilities. We have a channel in Estonia, for example. So if needed, we can ramp up the the webshop immediately. So that's not a problem at all. But we're not going to make any massive changes because of that. We'll we'll see how the consumer reacts. Yeah, sure.

Uh, then you also announced today a pretty big partner deal or intent of that at this point with Bacardi in Sweden and Norway. So can you describe a bit that did.

Well, it was exactly as you said. It was only a letter of intent. So of course we're we're we're very happy about that. Uh, we have been in close dialogue, um, with Bacardi team for a while already. And of course, uh, we hope to be able to sign the contract eventually, but right now it is only a letter of intent for Sweden and Norway, as mentioned in all channels. Expect except the ready to drink, i.e. freezer in Norway. Yeah.

And then how should investors think about that deal? It's a fairly sizable increase in net sales. Obviously the profitability is is limited in distribution. But how how it kind of fits your business. Do you need to increase some cost when you take a big deal like that, or is it kind of a easy to just kind of do with the current organization?

Well, all I can say, of course, the portfolio is absolutely fantastic. And that would further strengthen our position as the number one wine and spirits player in the Nordics. So of course, it's an incredible portfolio. And the brands that Bacardi represent are perfectly fitting the white spots that we have at the moment. So it's a, it's a it's a beautiful portfolio. But still, as I said, we are still in a negotiation process. So we don't comment anything on people, people's side. And that remains to be seen. And we will communicate as as soon as we know more. Okay, okay.

That's clear. Then finally, maybe you take the last one on on outlook, you maintain the guidance, you are a few millions ahead for H1 and kind of guiding, guiding, maybe something similar to H2, but can you just say if there's some changes in the underlying assumptions or what are you seeing? We talked about the cost a bit, but.

Yeah, no, we kept we kept the guidance of 71, 74 to 79 million. Uh, is like you said, we are a little bit above, uh, last year or 2.8 million to be specific. But also then remember that, uh, H1 is only one third of the, the full full year, uh, annual EBITDA. So, so we still have two third left. And given also the uncertainty, like we just talked about with, you know, potential input cost increases, we still, we still keep the guidance level. Yeah. I don't know if you have any.

No, exactly that. I think one has to remember that markets are still fairly soft and we don't see any changes in them in the upcoming months. So and the bracket that we're guiding is quite wide anyway. So we strongly believe that it's somewhere there. No need to change that just yet.

Yeah, that's quite clear. Thank you very much for the interview and all the best for the rest of the year. Thank you. Thank you.