Vesuvius plc (CKSNY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Patrick André
CEO & Executive Director

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Vesuvius Half Year 2026 Results Presentation. My name is Patrick Andre, Chief Executive of Vesuvius. And with me this morning is Mark Collis, our Chief Financial Officer.

I will start with some updates on our performance during the half year. Then Mark will give you more details on our financials. I will conclude at the end of the meeting with some perspectives for the full year 2026 and beyond before opening the floor for questions.

Our performance for the half year was resilient and in line with last year’s, driven by self-help actions offsetting temporary operational disruptions. Our revenues slightly increased by 1.5% on a constant currency basis. Our trading profit at GBP 74 million was similar to last year’s, also on a constant currency basis. Our return on sales decreased marginally by 10 basis points as compared to last year on a constant currency basis. As expected, our free cash flow generation increased significantly by GBP 41.4 million year-on-year to a total of GBP 27.5 million, driven by improved working capital discipline and stronger operating cash generation.

Working capital intensity declined from 23.6% to 23.1% and is expected to improve further in the second half. Our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio improved to 1.9 on a pro forma basis and is expected to improve further in the second half. These positive trends in cash generation made the board confidence to