Boliden AB Q2 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Liam Fitzpatrick - Deutsche Bank AG - Analyst : Good morning. One question on Garpenberg and then another one on Aitik. On Garpenberg, can you just give us an update on the permitting process and the timing there? And in relation to this ground issue that you're encountering at the moment, is this just short term or could this persist into 2026? And then on Aitik, you're sounding more confident just in terms of the amount of material that you're moving and completing the tailing stand. Are you still of the view that you're going to remain somewhere below the 45 million ton nameplate for the next few years? Or could there be upside to that in terms of getting up to 45 million tons within, say, the next one to two years? Thank you.

Question: Liam Fitzpatrick - Deutsche Bank AG - Analyst : Is it just an impact on 2025 or could it extend into 2026? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JULY 18, 2025 / 7:30AM, BOL.ST - Q2 2025 Boliden AB Earnings Call

Question: Krishan Agarwal - Citibank Cameroon SA - Analyst : Hi, thanks a lot for taking my question. A quick follow up on the working capital. So Hskan mentioned that working capital flat is kind of a good assumption for the second half. And then you're also saying SEK700 million will be insurance claim into that. So is it fair to assume that underlying business will have a slight more of a working capital build? And hence, full year probably may also be a flat working capital development, excluding the insurance?

Question: Krishan Agarwal - Citibank Cameroon SA - Analyst : Okay, that's very clear. And then a question on free metals. So the free metal recovery you are attributing to inventory adjustment and higher pricing. Should we read this in a way that at current gold and silver pricing, free metal recovery can stay significantly higher for '24 and '26?

Question: Krishan Agarwal - Citibank Cameroon SA - Analyst : Yes.

Question: Krishan Agarwal - Citibank Cameroon SA - Analyst : Yeah, that's very clear. And my last question is on the Odaa into the ramp-up phase. How should we think about any kind of an earning contribution in Q3 and Q4?

Question: Krishan Agarwal - Citibank Cameroon SA - Analyst : Understood. Thank a lot.

Question: Amos Fletcher - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst : Yeah, good morning, gentlemen. A couple of questions. The first question was about Tara, where production actually went down quarter on quarter, when the mine is supposed to be ramping up. Just wondering what happened there. Secondly, on the Lundin assets, can you just give us a feel for the EBIT contribution in the second quarter so we can get a sense of what the Q3 delta will be from a full quarter of ownership? Thanks very much.

Question: Ioannis Masvoulas - Morgan Stanley - Analyst : Good morning, gentlemen. Thank you very much for the presentation. Just a few questions left from my side. First, on the Odda's smelter, you talked about some earnings contribution from Q4 this year. But can you remind us which quarter do you actually expect to get the full contribution during 2026? Then, can you remind us what's the annual depreciation charge once the asset is fully commissioned?

Question: Ioannis Masvoulas - Morgan Stanley - Analyst : Very clear. Thank you. Second question on the copper treatment charges. Mikael, you mentioned that the depressed PCs we've seen are problematic for the smelting industry. Are we at a pain point that we're going to see some curtailments across the industry? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JULY 18, 2025 / 7:30AM, BOL.ST - Q2 2025 Boliden AB Earnings Call Or a contribution from gold and sulfuric acid keeping margins just about manageable, which seems to be the case as curtailments so far haven't been as prominent as someone would have expected. Also related to that, do you think it's plausible we could see a negative benchmark for 2026?

Question: Ioannis Masvoulas - Morgan Stanley - Analyst : Thanks for that. Maybe just a last one on the guidance that you will release in December. You mentioned that it's going to be harmonized across the assets. Out of curiosity, are you looking to stick with the traditional bullion format or potentially shift to a format of providing asset-level guidance on contained or payable metal for the mines?

Question: Ioannis Masvoulas - Morgan Stanley - Analyst : Very well. Thanks so much.

Question: Paul Kirjanovs Kirjanovs - Bank of America - Analyst : Good morning, gentlemen. I had a higher-level question for you. Is there capacity for Boliden to do further deals here or is internal focus fully on the integration of the new mines for now?

Question: Paul Kirjanovs Kirjanovs - Bank of America - Analyst : Understood. Thank you.

Question: Daniel Major - UBS AG - Analyst : Hi. Can you hear me? Hello? Can you hear me?

Question: Daniel Major - UBS AG - Analyst : Hi. It's Dan Major from UBS. I'm not quite sure where that name came from. Thanks. Three questions. Firstly, just to clarify on this depreciation delta, you said Tara is at SEK100 million and it's going to SEK275 million. Over what time frame is that? That's one part of the question. Then Lundin is SEK500 million of run rate of depreciation. Is that correct? And then it's SEK200 million higher when Odda gets fully ramped up. Is that the right maths on the depreciation? Thanks.

Question: Daniel Major - UBS AG - Analyst : Okay. I think that's clear. I guess I've asked before, but I think you're the only mining company that focuses on EBIT, not EBITDA. Have you considered changing that? I certainly think investors would welcome it.

Question: Daniel Major - UBS AG - Analyst : The second question, just thinking about the bridge to earnings in Q3 versus Q4. Maintenance of SEK400 million is positive. I think it was SEK150 million advisory charges on the Lundin deal. And then you mentioned SEK300 million of provisional pricing. Are they the main items we should be focusing on beyond the sensitivities and the depreciation?

Question: Daniel Major - UBS AG - Analyst : Okay. That's useful. Thank you. And then just a final one. I guess you'll give guidance on CapEx later in the year. I noticed the consensus is just under SEK12.5 billion. Is that a sensible number? Can you walk us through those building blocks that you outlaid at the Capital Markets Day, just to be clear?

Question: Daniel Major - UBS AG - Analyst : Okay. Thank you REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JULY 18, 2025 / 7:30AM, BOL.ST - Q2 2025 Boliden AB Earnings Call

Question: Richard Hatch - Joh Berenberg Gossler & Co KG - Analyst : Yeah, thanks for the call. I've got three questions. The first one is just on costs. Can you just talk us through if you're seeing any kind of cost pressure creeping through to the business? So I know you have kind of mentioned a bit of it in the release, but I'm just interested as to whether you're seeing any persistent cost inflation pushing through? That's the first one. The second one is just on the Tara ramp-up. So should we expect that line to be fully ramped up in Q3? And then thirdly, just on Kevitsa grades, you're running about 13% ahead of your guidance. So do you think that you're still happy to expect grades to normalize in H2? Or do you think there's scope for a beat? Thanks. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JULY 18, 2025 / 7:30AM, BOL.ST - Q2 2025 Boliden AB Earnings Call

Question: Richard Hatch - Joh Berenberg Gossler & Co KG - Analyst : Thank you.

Question: Krishan Agarwal - Citibank Cameroon SA - Analyst : Hi, a quick follow-up. I mean, there's been a lot of discussion on depreciation in the call. So in that context, if I see the consensus number, the depreciation is around SEK8.5 billion for the full year. Would you sort of agree with that number?

Question: Krishan Agarwal - Citibank Cameroon SA - Analyst : Okay. So SEK8.5 billion is not million miles apart from your expectations?