Borregaard Asa (BRRDF) Q1 2026 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Good morning and welcome to Borgard's first quarter 2026 presentation. My name is Tom-Erik Foss-Jakobsen. I'm the CEO of the company and I'll be joined today by our CFO, Per-Bjørn Lyngstad. Together we will take you through this agenda. I'll start with the key highlights for the quarter and then give an update on the market situation across our business segments. I'll then summarize the outlook before handing over to Per Bjarne who will walk you through the financial performance in more detail. Before we begin, just a quick reminder for those of you watching the webcast live that you're welcome to submit your questions at any time during the presentation and we will address them at the end of the presentation. Let's begin with the highlights for the first quarter. EBITDA came in at 428 million Norwegian kroner compared with 511 million in the same quarter last year. In bio solutions, we saw lower sales volumes within specialties compared with a very strong quarter last year. In biomaterials, we delivered higher volumes but this was offset by lower sales prices and a weaker product mix. Fine chemicals delivered a strong result, supporting the overall performance in the quarter. On the cost side, the higher energy costs and general cost inflation were partly offset by lower wood costs, and we had an insignificant net currency effect in the quarter. Okay, then let's turn to biosolutions. Within specialties, lower sales volume was partly compensated by higher sales prices. Deliveries to agriculture and batteries were lower, compared again with a very strong Q1 last year. At this stage, we have no indication of a structural change in demand. But we see this rather as a temporary delay in the value chain, driven by geopolitical factors, broader uncertainty, and customer de...