Freemelt Holding AB (publ)

STO:FREEM

Earnings Call Transcript

[Operator]

Hello, and welcome to today's Finwire broadcast presentation with Freemelt. [Operator Instructions] With that said, I'll hand the floor to you, Daniel and Martin. Please go ahead.

[Daniel Gidlund, executive]

Thank you, and welcome, everyone, to our Q4 and full year 2025 webcast. Let me start by summarizing Q4 and the full year 2025 and then just say a few words on how we see the year ahead as well. So 2025 was a record year for Freemelt. We delivered SEK 54.5 million in net sales, which is up 172% year-over-year. We have also expanded our installed base by 40%, and we have now 40 machines in operation.

In Q4, we posted SEK 15.6 million in revenue, which is an increase by 91% versus last year. On the order intake, it was softer than previous quarters, but it also reflects longer decision cycles, so not a slowdown in interest. The activity levels and customer engagement remained high. We started 12 new paid customer projects during the year and ended the year with 9 active projects. So the underlying commercial performance remains strong.

Operationally, we took an important step by outsourcing production to Scanfil. This gives us a scalable supply chain aligned with future increased demand. So looking forward, the outlook is strong. We entered 2026 with a mature pipeline, more industrial relationships and the supply chain ready to support serial production customers.

So the macro trend in metal AM and especially high performance materials are accelerating and E-PBF is positioned exactly where the demand is growing fast. So with our strategic moves now in Fusion, MedTech, Energy and China, we have put the company now in a much stronger position to convert project activity into long-term industrial business.

So all in all, I'm very pleased with 2025. And I'm excited as well about Freemelt now moving into 2026 with a good momentum with a technology platform aligned where the market is heading. So we expect continued commercial progress, continued industrial traction and continued shift toward larger, more strategic opportunities.

Let me put the broader market into perspective. The metal AM market is large. It's growing quickly. And importantly, it's still early in its industrial adoption. Today, metal AM represents only a small share of total high-value metal production but the adoption curve is deepening as more companies transition from traditional processes to additive manufacturing. And I think a great example is Apple, which has already shifted its watch casing to AM using laser powder bed fusion. And this is a major validation of powder bed fusion as a scalable industrial technology. And this is exactly the type of shift we expect to see across multiple industries.

Within powder bed fusion, laser is currently the dominated technology, roughly 90%, I would say, which means that in E-PBF, it's having 10%. But I think the important part is that E-PBF now is positioned to grow significantly faster because it enables application that laser cannot address like refractory metals, reactive materials and high-temperature components, all of which are increasingly important in energy, defense, aerospace and advanced medtech.

So while today's adoption is still coming from relatively low levels, the direction is clear. The market is moving. Large players are committing to AM and the highest value segments are leaning toward exactly the areas where Freemelt is strongest. So in short, the opportunity is big. The transition is underway and Freemelt is positioned in the part of the market, which is expanding fast.

So before we move on, I want to zoom in on what our customer products really represent because for us, they are not only short-term revenue, which, of course, also is positive, but they are actually signals, signals that the market is shifting, that industrial customers are leaning in and that E-PBF is becoming a part of the solutions for the most demanding applications in metals. And what we see here is the early phase of a much larger transition.

These projects you see on the screen here, I mean, with Fusion for Energy, UKAEA, with Saab and leading medtech OEMs, they are all examples of companies that are preparing for something bigger. I mean, where AM is not just like a niche capability, but the core part of critical components, how they should be designed, how they should be qualified and in the end produced.

So I think it's important to remember as well that the adoption of additive manufacturing is different for those different industries. Let's start with MedTech. I mean, they have already adopted to additive manufacturing and even powder bed fusion as well, but it's a regulatory industry. They -- which means it's a high entry barrier as well, but where the reward is big in the relatively short to medium term because a medtech OEM, they will invest for production line, which means multiple machines, not single machine purchases.

If we then take defense, for instance, I mean, here, money is not an issue. I mean, funding is available, but the industry requires redesign of products really to design for additive manufacturing, requalification, and this takes longer time before the larger volumes will be demanded. So the big reward is more on the medium to long term.

And then lastly, if you take fusion energy, for instance, here, it's in its design phase. And here, we actually have a good possibility to influence on manufacturing technology towards E-PBF. So here, I would say, a relatively big reward in short to medium period of time.

In 2025, as I mentioned, I mean, we added 12 new paid projects. And when we closed the year, we had 9 active projects. And it's important to keep in mind that these are funded application-driven projects, so where customers are moving through the full industrialization workflow, as you can see here on the screen as well. So these projects are strong forward indicators of machine demand. Each one moves the customer closer to locking in E-PBF as their platform. So for us, I mean, paid projects, as I said, they are leading signals. They show commitment, they validate the readiness of our technology and really important, they build a pipeline for long-term industrial customers.

So just a short update on those projects that you see on the screen as well. So Fusion for Energy, I mean, these are [ targets and tiles ] for plasma-facing wall for fusion reactors. I mean we're making really strong and good progress here, have a really good relationship and collaboration with Fusion for Energy.

Saab, here, it's two projects, different stages, one in qualification and then the other one in application testing. Both are progressing well and according to plan. And then the medtech OEMs, which is in more the proof of concept, also good progress and to be continued during 2026.

Now given everything we just walked through, I mean, the acceleration in metal AM market, the shift we're seeing from major players like Apple and the clear industrial traction reflected now in paid customer projects, we reached an important conclusion during 2025, and that's to scale with the market. Freemelt must scale now as an industrial company as well. And this is why we made a strategic decision to outsource the manufacturing of our machine assembly to Scanfil.

So I mean, if we talk about the industrial customers, they want a partner who can support them not just in the technology development, but in a consistent high-volume manufacturing way as well. And this is exactly what Scanfil can provide. So now we have access to an industrial production platform, even with a global reach as well and established quality system, so with the ability to scale up capacity when the demand increase. It also actually reduces our capital need, lowers our operational risk and it gives us a supply chain that can keep the pace with the transition we see unfolding in the market.

So this decision is directly connected to the trends we saw on Slide 3 and 4. The market is moving faster, larger players are adopting to AM and E-PBF is positioned for above-market growth. And during Q4, we managed to transfer the production to Scanfil, which was a key milestone for the quarter.

Let's turn to China because if we talk about where metal AM is scaling the fastest right now, this is the market you simply cannot ignore. I mean China is moving extremely quickly in general, I would say, for additive manufacturing and especially in sectors where high-performance metal matters. So for a company like Freemelt, operating in E-PBF and where end applications are highly demanding, being present in China, I mean, it's not a nice to have this is essential for us. But entering China, I mean, in the right way is even more important. And that's why our partnership with Jiuli stands out. I mean, Jiuli is not, call it, a typical OEM reseller or equipment reseller. I mean they are a large publicly listed engineering company with a global footprint and deep expertise in high-quality metal applications and particularly in the energy sector, which is one of the strongest long-term fits for E-PBF as well.

So this is not a, let's say, transactional distribution setup. It's a strategic partnership with a partner who understands both materials and the industrial requirements that we are targeting. So this partnership positions Freemelt inside the fastest-growing additive manufacturing market in the world with a company that already has the customer relationship and the application knowledge and the industrial credibility needed to scale E-PBF into reproduction.

So delivering our first industrial machine eMELT to Jiuli in Q4, that's the first step in this strategic journey. And before I hand over to Martin for the financials, I want to briefly zoom in on Fusion because this is also an area where Freemelt has built a strong position over the past years and where we continue to see a very solid traction. We are already deeply embedded, I would say, in the European Fusion ecosystem through our work with ITER via Fusion for Energy and our long-standing collaboration with UKAEA, so the U.K. Atomic Energy Authorities. And these are some of the world's most advanced programs in high-temperature metal applications and E-PBF is proving to be a very strong fit for these type of refractory metals and component design that Fusion requires.

So now I mean, we're taking an important next step. We have entered an intended partnership with Novatron Fusion Group, which is the only private fusion initiative in the Nordic region. And what's significant here is not just the collaboration itself, but how we intend to work together. I mean this is not a single product relationship. This is a strategic partnership where we combine our strength from early stages component design all the way toward building a broader Nordic ecosystem around Fusion.

So for Freemelt, this means two things. I mean, first of all, we continue to validate E-PBF in one of the most demanding application areas. Secondly, we position ourselves right in the center of what could become a key [indiscernible] for fusion technologies. So I think the message on this slide is really that Fusion is moving. The demand for advanced materials is rising and E-PBF is well positioned. And together with Novatron now, we have a partner to drive development forward here in the Nordics as well.

So with that said, I want to hand over to our CFO, who will take you through the financials for the quarter and the full year. Please, Martin.

[Martin Granlund, executive]

Thank you, Daniel. So the fourth quarter was characterized by strong sales, modest order intake and good cost control, I would say. And if we start to look at the -- on the left side on the order book, we ended the year with an order book of SEK 11.5 million. This is down 7% from the same quarter the previous year. The order intake in the quarter was modest, like we said, less than SEK 1 million. This is coming from a much higher order intake in the second and third quarters of SEK 20 million and SEK 23 million each. But as Daniel alluded to in the beginning, there are -- the order intake over quarters does vary. There are prolonged customer dialogues, and there are sort of -- that's the background to the temporary dip.

If we then turn to the right side, we look at the net sales. In the quarter, we booked SEK 15.6 million, which is up 91% from same quarter previous year. This includes 2 machine sales, but we actually had 3 deliveries, but one of those machines is a rental machine standing with the customer, but 2 machine sales booked. 82% is from machine sales, 10% is aftermarket. We expect this over the longer term to grow, of course, as part of overall sales. And the projects were 8% of net sales in the quarter.

Full year, Daniel already mentioned, SEK 54.5 million. This is an all-time high ever for the company. The second best year was 2022, which was SEK 37 million, so quite a jump. We also want to highlight the jump in other operating income in the quarter. So we have -- as we have outsourced production to the suppliers Scanfil. We have sold production inventory to them for SEK 4.6 million, and you will see those bookings under other income and other operating expenses, and these were done without the margin. So same amounts on both lines.

They will also be looking to the first quarter. There will be more inventory sales to our production partner, Scanfil in the first quarter with the same sort of terms, but we'll come back to that when we report for the first quarter. So on the next slide, we look at the cash flow for the quarter. Operating cash flow, negative SEK 6.9 million. This is 23% better than the same period last year. It's down from the previous quarter where we had a breakeven result for the operating cash flow. Cash at bank quarter end, SEK 32.1 million. And what we also want to highlight is that after quarter end, we have managed to receive debt financing from ALMI, but also from one of the leading Nordic banks where there is additional debt and guarantee financing from a bank. And this is the first time in Freemelt's history where we have received this kind of financing. So that's good news.

Then finally, I want to talk about the warrants again as we did the last quarter. So looking at our financing strategy going forward, I just mentioned the debt financing that we now have in place, but the listed warrant is, of course, an important part of the funding strategy going forward. So as you probably remember, we -- in the rights issue beginning of 2025, there was also a warrant as part of the package, and this warrant expires in June this year.

Holders of the warrant will be able to purchase shares at the market discount. So the structure of the warrant is very favorable for the holders. So I just want to really underline the importance of taking action to subscribe or taking action to sell the warrants, if that's the case, so that they don't end up worthless in people's portfolios.

I'll stop there and then take it to the Q&A session. Thank you very much.

[Operator]

Thank you for your presentation. Now we open up for questions. First question is, a major reason for the recent share price decline apart from the lack of news or other price driving activities such as insider trades is investors' concern about the potential rights issue. Could you once and for all clarify and confirm that no such issue will take place before the redemption of [ T02 ] in June? Thanks and best of luck.

[Martin Granlund, executive]

Okay. So -- well, thank you for the question. I just spoke a little bit about it. But I mean, we are -- the company has a very positive momentum coming out from 2025. We have financing arrangement in place to finance the growth in terms of debt funding. We do have the warrant coming up. And this is, of course, all part of the overall funding strategy. And as of today, there is no other plan. So these are the plans. We work with the debt financing. We work with the proceeds from the warrants.

[Operator]

Next question is, will your work with ITER result in any concrete orders in the near future?

[Daniel Gidlund, executive]

I mean that's a good question. And of course, I mean, as I mentioned also during the presentation, I mean, we have a very good relationship with Fusion for Energy, which is the European part of ITER. And we are still in development, so in what we call TDP or technical development projects, which is progressing well. And of course, I mean, intention with those -- these are, of course, I mean, to in the end, get to final products that should also be possible to manufacture in larger volumes. So of course, I mean, that's the intention.

Then this is an area where additive manufacturing just recently has been, let's say, identified and also proven. So I definitely expect to see more and more opportunities coming up in the near future.

[Operator]

How is everything going with UKAEA and Saab? Can we expect to start hearing anything soon?

[Daniel Gidlund, executive]

Yes, that's also a good question. So I'm not sure what we expect to hear. But I mean, when it comes to UKAEA, I mean, UKAEA, they've been through the whole kind of process. They purchased the machine. They have now started on their own to get further application development. But as I just -- I mean, it's pretty much the same as for Fusion for Energy or ITER. It is an industry that has just recently, let's say, identified the opportunities with AM and the adoption is now increasing.

So we continue to support UKAEA and hopefully, we'll see some more business in the future. When it comes to Saab, as I also mentioned during the product update. And unfortunately, I can't say more than what we have shared publicly already. But there are 2 different projects, one that is together with Linköping University as well. And I would say -- and one that we have direct with Saab Dynamics. Both projects are running according to the plan. And I can understand it's perceived it takes time. But as I described before as well, I mean, defense is a sector where it's not about, let's say, funding, money is available, but it's an industry where you need to redesign parts, et cetera. And it takes some time to do it. So yes, I think that's what I can comment at this moment.

[Operator]

And have you stopped selling Freemelt ONE and only focus on larger sales?

[Daniel Gidlund, executive]

No. I mean, when it comes to Freemelt ONE, this -- I mean, I must say that that's a product that is really well positioned in the academia for research. It's price position is perfect. But the thing when it comes to the academia or the research, it's a really transactional, let's say, industry and transactional business. It's a long sales process. And unfortunately, they don't really have the same sense of urgency like an industry.

If you take a medtech company, if they, let's say, are preparing for purchase, then I mean, they have it for a need of making money. When it comes to research, the sense of urgency is a bit slower. So it's a bit unpredictable to really know when you get orders of Freemelt ONE, and it becomes in between quarters, it can be big fluctuations as well. But we have definitely not stopped selling. We -- our sales guys are working on a daily basis to finding new opportunities and negotiating with ongoing customers as well.

[Operator]

Are machine leasing revenues included in machine sales, the 82% of net sales for Q4?

[Martin Granlund, executive]

So yes, that's correct. It's included in that. And I also see another question following to this. So how much of the order book relates to leasing contracts? And I don't have the figure at hand, but we have a few machine leases out there. And we, of course, book those revenues equally over the months for the leasing period. But some part of the order book does refer to leasing contracts going forward. And these are typically long leases, and we haven't had any stopped leases yet.

[Operator]

You wrote in the report that Jiuli received their machine already in December. Is it fair to assume that the eMELT order from Germany Aalen has not been delivered yet?

[Martin Granlund, executive]

Well, it's actually the case that the 2 machine bookings in Q4 was related to Jiuli and to Aalen. So those are the two that we booked in the Q4.

[Operator]

And is it fair to assume that the gross margins were significantly negatively impacted by the Jiuli order, which was sold as a discounted price?

[Martin Granlund, executive]

Yes, this is a good reflection. So this was sold at a discounted price. I also think there's another explanation to what we see in the gross margins. And it's the fact that we have moved -- outsourced our production to Scanfil, a third party. So what happens then is that instead of some of the costs of building machines was previously booked as personnel costs for Freemelt and other operating expenses. These are now lifted up to the trade goods part where we actually purchased the machines from Scanfil.

So there is a reclassification effect of where the costs are recognized. I can also note that there are going to be efficiencies over time where Scanfil will be more and more efficient to build the machines, where we will see an improvement in the gross margin sort of over time. And of course, in the short term, it's slightly more expensive to build, whereas this will improve over time.

[Operator]

Next question is, in the CEO statement, you say that Freemelt has strengthened its position across the focus area, which of these areas do you see as having the greatest potential?

[Daniel Gidlund, executive]

Yes. I think I'd refer back to what I highlighted during the slide of the projects. I mean, all these 3 verticals, so defense, medtech and energy, I mean, they have different kind of adoption. Again, medtech, they have already adopted -- so which means they have decided that new applications go for additive manufacturing, even powder bed fusion as well.

Having that said, I mean, when it comes to medtech, which is seen as the, I think, the vertical with the highest adoption rate for serial production through additive manufacturing, it's only 5% of the total implants that are manufactured with AM. So the opportunity is big. I think the industry -- medtech industry says that it should be more than 20% by 2032. So they have an aggressive growth expectation in there. And also, as I said as well, I mean, when it comes to medtech OEMs, they will not purchase single machines. I mean they will set it up for production line.

So again, short to medium term, I think medtech can definitely drive some big volumes. Defense, yes, again, money is available, so that's not the issue. But it's an industry that has been traditionally manufacturing parts for a long time, and it requires a bigger change before they have redesigned, requalified parts and so forth. But yes, again, I think additive manufacturing for defense is adding really a lot of values, especially when it comes to take ownership of your supply chain to have regional manufacturing, so [indiscernible] manufacturing parts where it's needed. And also now with a lot of new type of defense applications, high-temperature applications, then it also requires new type of materials and new type of technology, which will require AM.

So once again, I think in defense, the big opportunities when they release the demand [indiscernible] will come medium to longer term. And then lastly, energy, I think here as well, I mean, fusion energy, just the research fusion industry is massive. I mean it's a lot of commercial money that is pumping in, not just in China, U.S., but now also in Europe as well. And if fusion is being commercialized, I think it will become the world's largest industry as well. So of course, if we continue to be well positioned in defense, energy and in medtech, I think we will, in different phases, get, let's say, a big opportunity.

[Operator]

Could you update us on the 2 customer projects within medtech? What is the approximate time line before you can reach a commercial phase?

[Daniel Gidlund, executive]

Yes. Unfortunately, I mean, this is -- I mean, what we have communicated is agreed with us 2 medtech companies in the past. So of course, I can't share any, let's say, further information about that. But we are -- if we remember, go back to the slide about the projects, we are in a proof-of-concept which means that they are now validating different kind of KPIs with the machines.

So yes, so that's, I think, what I can comment at this moment. We're going according to the plan. And of course, I mean, we started these projects by end of last year. So yes, that's what I think I can comment here.

[Operator]

And what do you see as the main risks going forward?

[Martin Granlund, executive]

I can jump in here. I think there's always a risk with technology adoption, right? It takes time. And I think it's fair to say that over the -- you tend to overestimate what -- how fast the transformation is short term, but underestimate how fast it is in the long term. And I think that can probably [ settle ] with the E-PBF technology as well. But we see a strong transformation focus. We see it from geopolitics. We see it from structural trends. So we are in the right spot.

Then maybe I can also comment on the U.S. situation, which is difficult to predict. I think we would like to see some kind of stabilization because right now, when things change very often and fast, it can have an impact on customer investment decisions. And of course, the fact with the tariffs does make our machines slightly more expensive in the U.S. On the positive side, we have seen a move with the currency. So that will, of course, take away some of the effect for our customers for the -- how expensive the machines are.

[Operator]

Is there surface work to be done on a tungsten 3D printer square after it's been printed or is in the [ surface mood ] enough?

[Daniel Gidlund, executive]

That's a great question. And I think this is also I need to, let's say, make a generalized answer. I mean it's really depending on the application. But I would say in most of the times, it would require some sort of, let's say, surface or, let's say, post processing of the part.

[Operator]

You say that academia remains important, while Freemelt is clearly moving toward the industrialization. Can you briefly elaborate?

[Daniel Gidlund, executive]

Sure. I think one of the DNAs of Freemelt, I mean, it is really about collaboration. It's about open source. And I mean, as I mentioned before as well, I mean, the market opportunity or business opportunity for metal manufacturing is massive. So if we're going to -- and it's about customers now to change to adopt from a traditional manufacturing to additive manufacturing. So it's about educating the market. So this part still academia is extremely important for us.

We will continue to really work closely with academia, both on -- to help customers, industrial customers on material process development, on application development. It will also be great, I mean, to have PhD students from the academia moving out to the industry, thinking how to design parts from an additive manufacturing. And so this is why -- it's a key enabler, I would say, over a long time to -- in this industrialization or in this transformation from traditional manufacturing to additive manufacturing.

And it's a good margin business for us as well. It's a transaction business, as I mentioned before, but we have a good margin on the product. So we definitely will continue to focus on this as well moving forward.

[Operator]

Next question is, Apple has started manufacturing its watches using PBF technology, which has attracted a lot of attention. Why L-PBF and not E-PBF?

[Daniel Gidlund, executive]

Okay. I can answer that. So I don't know why Apple made the decision. But I mean, when it comes to laser powder bed fusion and electron beam powder bed fusion, so the 2 different power fusion technologies, they are -- they have strength in different areas. If you take laser powder bed fusion, it's -- a laser can -- it's more precise. It can -- you can print much finer kind of walls, finer structure, fine a surface.

E-PBF, I mean, we have a hot process. We have a vacuum process. So -- and that's why we, for instance, I mean, work with demanding applications that is typical in defense, energy and in medtech as well, where really material properties is crucial. So in this case, I would assume that the rationale for Apple was the, let's say, really the fine surface, nice surface and the thin structure part that is needed here. Yes.

[Operator]

Okay. Thank you. There are no more questions at this time. So I give the word to you for some closing remarks.

[Daniel Gidlund, executive]

Okay. No, thanks, everyone, for listening in. Thanks for the support. And yes, thanks for joining us in 2026 as well. So thank you, and goodbye.

[Martin Granlund, executive]

Thank you, everyone.