© 2024 Alpha Spread Limited. All Rights Reserved.
www.alphaspread.com is not operated by a broker, a dealer, or a registered investment adviser. Under no circumstances does any information posted on www.alphaspread.com represent a recommendation to buy or sell a security. The information on this site, and in its related newsletters, is not intended to be, nor does it constitute, investment advice or recommendations. The information on this site is in no way guaranteed for completeness, accuracy or in any other way. In no event shall Alpha Spread Limited be liable to any member, guest or third party for any damages of any kind arising out of the use of any content or other material published or available on www.alphaspread.com, or relating to the use of, or inability to use, www.alphaspread.com or any content, including, without limitation, any investment losses, lost profits, lost opportunity, special, incidental, indirect, consequential or punitive damages. Past performance is a poor indicator of future performance.
You don't have any saved screeners yet
Intrinsic Value is all-important and is the only logical way to evaluate the relative attractiveness of investments and businesses.
Hello. Welcome all to GN's Q2 2021 Conference Call following our release this morning Danish time. Thank you all for dialing in. It's great to have you on the call.Participating on the call is Gitte Aabo, CEO of GN Hearing; Rene Svendsen-Tune, CEO of GN Audio; Peter Gormsen, CFO of GN Store Nord; and myself, Henriette Wennicke, Head of IR and Treasury. Today's presentation, which can be found on gn.com, is expected to last about 20 minutes, after this we'll turn to the Q&A session.The agenda for the presentation itself is that Peter will start of with the group highlights, then Gitte will provide an update on GN Hearing. Rene will provide an update on GN Audio, after which we'll go back to Peter for a financial update and guidance. After that, we hand over to Q&A with questions from the queue.And with that very brief introduction, I'm happy to hand over to Peter.
Thank you, Henriette. Good morning, everybody, and thanks for joining our call today. It is now my pleasure to provide you with some color on another strong quarter for GN.Starting on Slide 4 and a snapshot of our strong performance in the second quarter of 2021. The group delivered DKK 3.8 billion in revenue, equaling an organic revenue growth of 49% driven by strong growth in both GN Hearing and GN Audio. Organic revenue growth was 95% in Hearing and 32% in Audio. EBITA reached DKK 635 million, translating into a group EBITA margin of 16.8% for the quarter.The strong earnings resulted in EPS of DKK 3.29. And due to the continued strong cash flow generation, the leverage decreased from 1.6x by the end of Q1 to 1.3x by the end of Q2, which comes on top of our share buyback program, which was initiated back in May. By the end of Q2, GN has in total distributed more than DKK 600 million back to our shareholders in 2021. So all in all, a very strong quarter for GN where we are pleased to confirm our financial guidance for the year.And with that short introduction, I would like to hand over to Gitte for an update on GN Hearing.
Thank you, Peter. Starting on Slide 6 and our financial highlights. GN Hearing delivered 95% organic revenue growth. And even though market conditions, many places improved during the quarter. The hearing aid market continued to be impacted by COVID-19. Market normalization is clearly underway in certain markets, but it's not broad-based yet, and we continue to experience significant variations across countries and channels.The gross margin was 62.9%, which was slightly higher than in Q1 '21, primarily driven by higher revenue but offset by mix effects. The gross margin compared to historical levels continues to be negatively impacted by the fixed part of production costs as well as our divestment of Beltone retail shops.As a result of the higher absolute revenue level and our continued and strict focus on OpEx management, we delivered a strong improvement in both absolute EBITDA and EBITDA margin while we continue to invest in R&D and IT. Moreover, we delivered a strong free cash flow of DKK 123 million as a result of the growth in revenue and earnings.Moving to Slide 7 and the regional development in the quarter. In the U.S., we continue to see a solid performance in the independent market, driven by our upgraded product portfolio, which led to an organic revenue growth of 121% for the region. As for the VA specifically, physical meetings were again possible from early July, and we focused our efforts on meeting and training in the audiologists, in person across the country.But due to the Delta variant of COVID-19, unfortunately, VA has reinforced restrictions on physical meetings last week. Guidance from VA suggests that this restriction will be in place for the remainder of the year. This was, of course, not what we had hoped for. Fortunately, we've been very busy in the open window and have managed to visit and train a large part of the audiologists in the VA during the period.Moving on to Europe, where we delivered an organic growth of 84%, driven by the Southern European countries and especially France, which is continuing to enjoy a positive tailwind from the recently implemented French healthcare reform. In our Rest of World region, the organic growth ended at 61% with strong performance and among others in [ ANZ ] and China, but also partly offset by a challenged Japanese market as COVID-19 restrictions have been reinforced during the quarter. And let me remind you that Japan is our second largest market.The development in first half is all in all in line with our internal plans. Why I'm pleased to confirm our full year guidance of more than 25% organic revenue growth. As previously communicated, the guidance assumes a normalization of the hearing aid market in the second half of '21. It is clear that certain markets, including U.S., have taken significant steps toward normalization, but we still see huge differences between the individual markets.For instance, the market normalization trends in a number of countries, including Australia and China, has recently reversed due to the surge in COVID cases. So after more than 1.5 years, the pandemic is still impacting our markets and our business, but we still assume and believe in a market normalization in the second half of '21.Moving to Slide 8 and our recent product introduction. In the beginning of June, we announced the launch of a new premium lineup, Jabra Enhance Pro into Costco. Through this premium offering, we are utilizing our advanced hearing aid technology and Jabra's well-known audio brand in a unique product offering sold at competitive price in Costco. While it is still early days, we have seen a strong initial uptake following the launch. Our monthly units sold in Costco is already close to historical high levels, and we truly believe that our strong action taking in Costco will continue to pay off going forward.And speaking about the new Jabra branded hearing aids leads me to Slide 9 and a topic which I've addressed multiple times before. Around 80% of people with the hearing loss currently live untreated. This is not only a major business opportunity but also simply not good enough. We as an industry needs to do more for these people. I used to say that the 80% nonusers are our biggest competitor, which we need to address. The opportunity is huge. In the U.S. alone, penetration is only around 30% with similar rates observed in Spain, France and Australia. In other countries, typically less developed, penetration rates are even lower. The solution to this issue isn't easy, and the reason seems to be many.Stigma has been a well-known problem across the industry for years, and we all know that the traditional approach and form factor doesn't work for all. Many hearing-impaired persons are becoming more and more tech savvy and look for an easy and consumerized approach to treat the hearing difficulty, just like in many other aspects of life. Basically accessing hearing treatment should be as easy and intuitive as buying true wireless earbuds without compromising on the traditional hearing aid features, design or connectivity.And talking about true wireless earbuds, let's move to Slide 10 and a clear example of a modern use case with significant uptake. The penetration of earbuds has significantly increased the last couple of years, which, as illustrated on the graph, stand in clear contrast to the growth in traditional hearing aids. For the younger segments, earbuds are considered trendy and a must-have in modern lifestyles. And most importantly, it is a device that is well known and acceptable.This leads me to Slide 11 and our exciting product announcement yesterday, Jabra Enhance Plus. By utilizing the power of both GN Audio and GN Hearing, we are now addressing some of the underpenetrated opportunities between the traditional hearing aid and a true wireless consumer earbuds. With Jabra Enhance Plus, we want to expand hearing health to even more people who truly need it. The earbuds is a consumerized hearing aid solutions for the many people who experienced mild to moderate hearing loss, but who are not yet ready for a traditional old day wear hearing aids and instead prefer a lifestyle solution.Let's move to Slide 12. This product is a combination of years of research across GN into consumer behavior, hearing challenges and preferences with the overall goal of providing hearing care to more people around the world. Jabra Enhance Plus is an optimal combination between a true wireless earbuds and the hearing aid. In addition to bringing situational hearing enhancement, the earbud brings great true wireless music and call quality in a state-of-the-art minoritized form factor. Jabra Enhance Plus is expected to be available exclusively through licensed hearing care professional.We are currently monitoring the market, and we will be launching when the timing is right, presumably during this year. We believe that this product will truly help the 80% of people who, as of today, is not treating their hearing loss. By introducing a superior hearing enhancement device for situational use with the benefits from a market leading true wireless earbuds, we firmly believe that this will be the starting point for increasing penetration in the hearing aid industry.With these exciting news, I'm happy to hand over to Rene for an update on GN Audio.
Thank you, Gitte, and hello to all of you. I can only echo what Gitte just said, this is very exciting, and I am very sure that this product will make a big difference for a lot of people out there. Anyway, so let me take you through the GN Audio results for second quarter of 2021.Let's move to Slide 14. Second quarter 2021 was yet again a quarter with very strong growth and strong execution across GN Audio. The organic revenue growth of 32% was a result of continued very strong enterprise demand for our innovative world-leading office products, but also a strong consumer demand especially driven by our portfolio of true wireless earbuds. Specifically on the enterprise demand, I would like to stress that we continue to see solid underlying sell-through in the channel -- or across the channel.Gross margin was slightly down compared to second quarter 2020, primarily driven by product mix and increased freight and production costs triggered by COVID-19. EBITA increased by 30%, equal to an EBITA margin of 21.7%. This was almost 1 percentage point higher than the year before, and the strong EBITA margin reflects the strong topline growth on top of continued investments into future growth opportunities.Free cash flow was at DKK 371 million in the second quarter, equal to a cash conversion of 70%. All in all, I think a very strong quarter for GN Audio, momentum naturally bodes well for the remainder of the year, where we expect to deliver growth in the two remaining quarters of this year. This will bring our full year organic growth to more than 25%.So let's turn to Slide 15 and an overview of our performance across the regions. Starting by underlying, we continue to see a strong double-digit organic growth across all 3 regions, and across enterprise and consumer. In North America, we delivered 55% organic growth driven by a strong performance across enterprise and consumer, led again by our industry-leading product lineup and strong commercial execution by our team in North America.In Europe, we continue to execute strongly with 20% organic revenue growth. As always, we do experience some timing effects between first and second quarter, but the underlying demand continues to be strong in the region. Just remember that Europe grew [ 113% ] organically in the first quarter of 2021. This translates into an organic revenue growth of impressive 61% for the first half year. In our Rest of World region, we delivered an organic growth of 32%, driven by several strong well-performing countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Brazil. And with a strong broad-based performance, it is clear that we continue to take market shares on a global scale.Let's move to Slide 16, where I want to give some flavor on the strong underlying market dynamics and the recent trends. These are to supported and to some extent driven by some of the major tech players. Microsoft, for example, has for many years, been investing heavily into unified communication platforms and professional cloud solutions to address the shift in modern working habits. With the pandemic, this has clearly been accelerated. Microsoft Teams now has nearly 250 million monthly active users, up several times compared to pre-pandemic levels. And looking at Zoom, which reports several thousand percentage growth in active participants. These platforms are simply creating a huge market for virtual office equipment suppliers like GN Audio.It's clear that the UC platform growth significantly outpaced the professional headset market in 2020 within brackets only grew around 25%. This naturally means that penetration rates of professional headsets actually have decreased during the pandemic. With the UC providers growing and investing into further expanding the market, combined with the current under penetration, I would say that the market dynamics for future growth are intact and very attractive. And it doesn't stop here, new and often untapped opportunities are emerging. And a clear example of this is the public sector, which is still highly underpenetrated.If we turn to Slide 17. So the public sector as a growth driver is a relatively new thing in our business. Based on the recent development and potential, however, we now have a dedicated public sector team operating across the business segments. Historically, we have been mostly talking about the large opportunity within the office headset market, a segment with more than 500 million users, but let me try to illustrate the potential of the public sector. We are here looking into more than 150 million government workers, more than 200 million students in the educational sector and more than 60 million healthcare workers.The UC adoption in the public sector is currently accelerating even faster than in the traditional office space, where UC has been in place for many years. One aspect is, of course, the technology adoption, that selling the products into the public sector also follows a slightly different approach than what we see in the traditional enterprise channels. Selling here is more characterized by tender driven agreement contracts and very high requirements for certifications and security.GN Audio is strongly positioned in this space with our market-leading products across headsets, video products and speaker phones. We continue to win deals out there on the right side of this slide, we have mentioned just a few wins during the year. And as you can see, order sizes tend to be really attractive.So we will continue to work very structural and target these potential customers using the exact same approach that has worked well for years, which includes, a, a leading product portfolio; b, a dedicated team and strong channel; and c, a strong collaboration with the UC platform vendors.And with that, I would like to hand it back to Peter for a financial update and guidance. Thank you all.
Thank you, Rene. Moving to Slide 19 and the group financial highlights. As I said in the beginning, I'm very pleased to see the performance of GN during the quarter and the execution led to an organic revenue growth of 49%. As a result of the strong leverage in GN Audio and the strong improvement in GN Hearing, GN delivered an EBITA margin of 16.8% and an EPS of DKK 3.29. We continue to be highly cash generating and on top of our ongoing share buyback program, leverage decreased to 1.3. Our balance sheet remains sound, and we have ample sources of liquidity. This leads me to Slide 20 and the cash flow generation.GN Hearing delivered a strong cash flow compared to Q2 of 2020, mainly driven by the strong recovery in the business and a continued tight control of working capital, while continuing a high level of investment activities. In GN Audio, we saw a strong development in operating profit. I think it's fair to mention that Q2 last year was impacted by a significantly reduced level of working capital across GN following COVID-19, which is naturally impacting the year-over-year comparison.Moving to Slide 21 and something that means a lot to all of us in GN. During the quarter, MSCI, once again, acknowledged GN's efforts on the sustainability agenda by confirming our strong AA ESG rating. We continue to proactively work on each of GN sustainability goals and making an impact is something that comes on top of our priorities every day.Finally, let's turn to Slide 22. First of all, the financial guidance and midterm targets across the company are confirmed. For GN Hearing specifically, we continue to expect an organic revenue growth of more than 25%, while we expect to deliver an EBITA margin of more than 16%. As Gitte mentioned, we continue to experience significant differences in the regional and local hearing aid market, which means that the market conditions remain unpredictable and volatile. Consequently, the basic assumptions behind the financial guidance still come with the uncertainty that the market will normalize in second half of '21.Moving to GN Audio. As Rene mentioned earlier, we continue to see positive market trends and continued demand for collaboration solutions from enterprises and organizations. Consequently, GN Audio expects an organic revenue growth for '21 of more than 25% and an EBITA margin of more than 21%. It is clear that the organic revenue growth realized in the first half of 2021 will be significantly higher than in the second half of '21. But as Rene mentioned, we expect to deliver growth in the two remaining quarters of the year.The financial guidance in other and growth in EPS is also confirmed. It is, of course, important for me to stress that the basic assumptions behind the guidance for '21 remain significantly more uncertain than normal due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and related effects, which also include the tight component market. With those final remarks on the guidance, let me just summarize the performance in the quarter.Firstly, we have announced new and exciting products across the group and by introducing the lineup of Jabra branding hearing aids, we are leveraging competencies and synergies across the group. Secondly, GN Hearing is recovering well, and GN Audio continues to grow strongly, even on top of the high comparison base.And finally, we have managed to send back more than DKK 600 million to our shareholders in dividends and share buybacks during the year, while lowering the leverage at the same time. So all in all, as I also said in the beginning, a very exciting quarter, which bodes well for the rest of 2021.With that, I would like to hand over to Henriette for some final remarks before we go into Q&A.
Thank you to Gitte, Rene and Peter for the updates. Just a few practical remarks before we move to the Q&A session. We are happy to announce a new date for our Meet to Management event, which will take place on December 8, physically in Copenhagen. Due to the uncertainty of COVID-19, we do expect event to be in a hybrid format with opportunities to participate virtually as well. We of course hope to see as many of you there.With that, I'm handing over to the operator for Q&A, and please limit your questions to two at a time.
[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Patrick Wood from Bank of America.
Two questions from me, please. The first on the hearing side, the Q2 gross margin I completely hear you on the absorption costing, effects there, but I'm surprised that the mix effect was negative, if I understood that correctly, given the independent market was particularly strong and North America, overall, was considerably above some of the other regions. So I'm just curious, what was the mix effect that was driving the gross margin down in the second quarter? That's my first question.Second question I guess, it's really around the audio supply chain. I'd love a little bit more sort of commentary around sort of how confident you feel about access to components. Obviously, it hurt Q2. But what gives you the confidence that Q3 and Q4 could look a little bit better? Is it contracts you've signed? Just something you give us some comfort there.
So on the mix effect, there are two main things that are impacting it. One is, our decline in market share in VA is a channel with high ASP and good margins. And then Japan, where we continue to see significant impact from COVID restrictions. And again, Japan is our second largest market in the market with high ASPs and high margins.
All right. So Rene here. So on the supply chain, of course, an obvious question there as we sort of read the newspapers, what's going on across the world. Let me first say, I mean, we have been practicing this for quite some time. We have been in a growth mode for many years, several years now. And I think if we sort of look through the pandemic, where these chipset shortage and other component shortage accelerated, we have enable to secure supply very strongly and thereby deliver very significant volumes.The question, of course, are we affected or not? And I would not be credible if I were to sit here and tell you we are not affected by this. We are. If you ask me, could we have supplied a bit more in Q2 than we did, if we had all the components? I would probably have to say, yes, probably we could have done that.Then on the second half year, I mean, the guidance stated clearly that we have the contracts. We have secured volumes all the agreements in place. We've also taken the caveat of course, that if our suppliers cannot get raw material, then they can supply to us.We are very confident that we have the supply. I mean, we have it in hand and we have the commitments. We are working very, very closely with component suppliers. On the assembly as such, because that of course, there's a capacity issue there we have everything in place. So if we would have any restrictions, it would be on the component side. But at this point of time, it looks good. We are comfortable, and we have been able to confirm the guidance.
And the next question comes from the line of Jannick Denholt from ABG.
Jannick from ABG. So your guidance for hearing assumes a normalization into the second half and you also obviously reiterate your guidance today. But also understand from you, Gitte, as you alluded to yourself, the situation in Japan. You even mentioned China, I think is there a greater risk as we see it. What is your 26:00 [indiscernible], what is your level of confidence in this normalization in the second half because that seems to be probably a tough one to go to?And then secondly, can you talk a little bit more about this Costco? If I heard you correctly, you said you were basically back to historical levels. Is that unit-wise in Costco? And how should we see this channel mix contribution going forward? Because it seems as if VA is going to be a tough one for you guys for quite some time.
So first of all, as we've already stated, we obviously confirm our guidance for the year. And that assumes that we see a normalization in our major markets, and that will include markets like Japan and China. So that is obviously an uncertainty that is still out there. On the other hand, we saw in Q1 how fast things can change in the U.S. where we saw January and February were being heavily impacted by COVID-19. And then more or less overnight, as vaccination rates increased in the U.S., we saw a strong normalization of the market. So we continue to believe in that.Regarding Costco, we launched the Jabra Enhance Pro into the -- into Costco in the beginning of June. And we've seen a very strong uptake of the product. And as we anticipated, I think confirming the strong technology, but also the strength of our -- of the brand Jabra into the channel. And we expect that strong performance to continue in the rest of the year.
But you stated you were back at basically historical levels. So whatever you had sort of lost in terms of volume market shares in Costco, you're basically eliminated at that level now?
Yes.
And the next question comes from the line of Michael Jungling from Morgan Stanley.
I have two questions on hearing. Firstly, when it comes to Jabra Enhance Plus, can you comment on three things: Pricing and margins; two, why are you selling this through audiologists? Will this not cause conflict once OTC is approved in the U.S.? And thirdly, the amplification of that device, is it 60 dB, 65 dB that would be useful?And then secondly, on hearing as well. If I look at your EBIT margin guidance of more than 16%, it does imply second half margin that's similar to pre-COVID levels. But on sales, currency adjusted, which are 5% less. Is this now not a guidance that is very, very likely to be missed in the second half? And if I'm wrong, why am I wrong on you being able to achieve those level of margins that you achieved pre-COVID?
Thanks. So on Jabra Enhance Plus and our aim to sell it through audiologist, that is actually issued under the assumption that this will be approved on -- as a regulated product. The OTC regulation is not out there yet. So obviously, we cannot base our judgment on that. So we are taking into account current regulations. In terms of pricing, I think the way to think about this is looking at the price of hearing aids in the Costco channel. It's around $1,400 to $1,800 for pair of hearing aids. And on the other hand, if you look at of earbuds, I guess, it's around $200. So I guess a fair assumption would be something in between that.In terms of how much gain? We're talking 25 dB on Jabra Enhance Plus. And then your question -- your second question was around our ability to improve margins in the second half of this year. Well, first of all, when we give the guidance, it is on our EBITDA margin. And clearly, part of that has to come from our gross margin. And here, it's important for me to underline that in the first half of '21, we continue to see our sales being below '19 levels. And therefore, also, we have production costs that are not covered by the volumes, so to speak. And obviously, again, a normalization of the market and our top line will improve that. And then in terms of mix effect, it is, as I just spoke to, we have to see markets like Japan coming back to normal in order to remedy that. So that's the reason why you should believe in us coming back on the guidance.
Okay. Maybe I can quickly follow-up on this margin comment that you just made is, is it not the case now that the guidance that you've given earlier this year has increased in risk materially, that really nothing can go wrong, otherwise, things will not look so good on the margin side in the second half, i.e., it must be pretty much perfect. Otherwise, there will be a miss. Is that a fair comment?
As we are leaving the Q2 and the first half of '21, we are on the plan that we made for the year. Now as we've said, it is our assumption for the guidance for the second half of the year that we see our key markets normalize, so that obviously has to happen. Having said that, I just want to again, to stress that we confirm the guidance.
The next question comes from the line of Maja Pataki from Kepler Cheuvreux.
I'd like to start with a question for Hearing as well. Gitte just following up on Michael's question. I guess, you probably understand that we're trying to see whether the risk in the underlying market has increased, and we're not -- I'm not trying to understand whether you are losing share or not. But if we look at where we are today from a pandemic level with new restrictions in Japan and other markets that you've mentioned. Is that worse or better than where you thought you to be at this point in time when you gave guidance in February of this year? Also, I believe that you have not given a comment about the previous question on how we should think about the margin -- other margins of Jabra Enhance Plus?And then on Audio, Rene, I think there are a bit of a confusion with regards to your comments or what you think stated to comment on Bloomberg, where that the Q2 miss is basically due to the fact that apparently, there weren't sufficient components. But I would like to understand whether Q2 was in line with internal expectations? Or whether Q2 saw really a shortage of components, and therefore, it was below your expectations? It's good to know that you could always sell more, but I think it is important to understand where it is in line with your internal budgeting. And that would bring me also to a question. Can you help us understand how do you think about Q3 and Q4 because the uncertainty obviously can take quite some hit?
So speaking about the prerequisite for our guidance for the second half and the normalization and reset of our key markets. Our assumption back in February was that this would happen from Q3 and onwards. And that is still our prerequisite that, that has to happen. Now obviously, it is a mixed picture that we continue to see and key markets are still impacted by COVID-19. But again, as I just alluded to, we did see in the U.S. in Q1, how fast that can change. So we continue to believe that we'll see the markets will normalize and reset. And therefore, we confirm our guidance. Now in terms of how to think about the margin, what I spoke to before was that the price is, I guess, thinking about that somewhere in between a hearing aid and earbuds, I guess that's a fair assumption around the margin as well.
Great. Gitte, can I just follow-up on that with regards to your comments around market, it would be there for also if there is assessment to say that if Delta is messing things up more then we could also see other markets being more challenged going forward. Would that be a fair statement? I'm talking about the market, not about your performance specifically, just about overall volumes.
Yes. I mean, if we see that the Delta leads to a significant restrictions in a number of markets, then clearly, it will impact our business negatively. That I think is -- that's fair.
So Rene, back here on the component. I've also seen the Bloomberg headline. And I think I can -- I've said to the press this morning exactly what I said in the beginning of this call that if you ask me, we completely unaffected by component issues? No, we are not. Is it a major issue for us right now? No, it's not. So would we have sold a bit more in Q2, had that been absolutely nothing no problem with components? Likely so.So, yes, it is there, but it's going well. And so I also said a little bit earlier here for the rest of the year and for us to fulfill the guidance, we feel very confident that we have both the contracts and the forecast and the -- you can say, the track record because we have been working with this now for quite a number of quarters. It's -- as you all know as well as I do, the component matters across the world have not softened. I mean it is out there and it is out there for many also for us, but I think the track record we have shown is strong, and I feel very comfortable with our ability to secure what we need for the rest of the year. And to get the Q3 and Q4 revenues home. I think to your -- maybe your question on what -- if I understood your question right. How do we see the current quarter and the next quarter? The trading is good and solid. I think the -- you can say we are at a point now where Q2 already was reflecting perhaps more in the business than a catch-up of earlier sort of backlog in that sense. So we solved a lot of the backlog of instability issues with the channel in Q1, where we had very high volumes out there.And I think we are now -- we are growing on a very high base. I mean, Q3 of 2020 was a very, very strong quarter because we had a massive catch-up of a backlog, and we secured very high volume. So we are growing on that, and that is driven by underlying demand basically.
And the next question comes from the line of Martin Parkhøi from Danske Bank.
Martin Parkhøi, Danske Bank. One question on GN Audio. We applied -- you say that you still expect growth in each quarters of Q3 and Q4 year-on-year. But your guidance, if you just take 25% for the full year then it is placed around 4% for the year -- for the second half organic growth. How can you be so certain that you will see year-on-year growth in these quarters, given that you also say that, that can be significantly quarterly swings? And how much of that 4% can you say that? Are there still growth in the business if we take out the launch effect from the video products?And then just the second question on -- to Gitte. Just going back to the commercial market in U.S. and for several quarters been talk about gaining market share with ReSound ONE. It's still difficult to see. But I guess you can see it. But if you look at the figures from statistic from U.S., and we are seeing 28 -- 21.8% volume growth in the second quarter compared to the second quarter of '19. You have started to give organic growth numbers for this year, but I cannot see them for Q2 last year. But what have you seen in growth in U.S. from this year compared to Q2 2019 and then explain the significant difference between the volume growth we've seen in the year?
Thanks. So Rene back here on the third and fourth quarter. I mean, first of all, we are now sort of well into the third quarter. And of course, we have a good view on where we stand. I understand your question on -- because we are talking about single-digit growth rates here. If you can make the same calculation as everybody else that we are sort of implicit more than 5% for the second half. It's likely going to be a bit more than in the fourth quarter than the third quarter because of the comp. But I mean, looking at everything, we are very confident we will be more than 25 for the year and implicit will be more than whatever you said 4, 5 or 6, whatever you calculate for the two quarters that are remaining here.So -- and I'm just repeating myself, the underlying -- we are selling through as we're selling in. The channel is active. The products are out there and so forth. So it looks, okay. But of course, we are on a transition towards, you can say, the next phase of the market. I think what of course, is very important for us to -- in everything we do is that we are looking into a growing market as we come out of this pandemic driven situation.So be that in the beginning of next year, whenever the market will somehow be back in the next shape. I spoke to the underlying sort of a platform that is much bigger than it was when we went into this. So this 10% market growth that we would have to go and try to beat is very much out there. Right now, we are in a transitioning to that coming from these exceptional growth rates that were there as we try to cope with the pandemic demand, but the platform is stronger and the demand is there.
So first of all, let me stress that when I look at the commercial market in the U.S., meaning that I disregard Costco and VA. We have sustained or grown our market share. So we continue to see strong performance with ReSound ONE. Having said that, in the VA and Costco, we have lost share since 2019. And in terms of how we are doing compared to Q2 2019. We don't share the data on the regional level. But at a global level, we are at index 90 compared to Q2 2019.
But wouldn't it be fair to assume that, of course, you're also below index 100 in U.S. in a market, which is up 21.8%. Can that only be -- and that is the commercial. So I back out, of course, a VA -- can that really only be explained by Costco?
I can confirm, again, that what we see in the commercial channel and disregarding Costco and VA is that we sustain or grow our share. I think what is important to take into account is that if you take a channel like VA, VA has not recovered to the same extent as the rest of the market, which also skew the picture a little bit.
And the next question comes from the line of Christian Ryom from Nordea Markets.
I have two as well. The first, Rene, is to your comment in the prepared remarks regarding the strong sell-through. Can you elaborate a bit on where sell-through levels were in the second quarter for the enterprise business relative to the first quarter?And my second question is then to Peter, on the gross margin development in the Audio business here in the second quarter. Will you basically saw a flat development relative to the first quarter, despite seemingly higher revenues or a larger share of revenues coming from the lower-margin consumer business. What is really the offsetting factor here given that overall revenues in GN Audio were also lower?
So thanks for that question. I think the sell-through in the first quarter was significantly affected by this catch-up. So there was a channel fill and there were many customers waiting for products that they have been waiting for from also, I mean, early in the quarter and last year. So in that sense, the sell-through from the channel was in a catch-up mode. That's clear. I would say in the second quarter, largely the sell-through reflects the sell-in. So we're more back to a sort of normalized demand. I think back to Martin's question earlier, there was a limited effect impact from -- in Q2 from that some sell-in of video, but very little actually in the second quarter.
Christian, it's Peter. So on the gross margin, correct. We are a little bit down, and we are still impacted by higher freight and COVID-related production costs to Rene's point. And then mix is also unfavorable because of higher-growing consumer compared to enterprise. So what is offsetting? That's basically the FX that that is giving us a bit of a tailwind. And then of course, we -- every quarter, we are working really hard to improve our margins across the board. So you have the classic pluses and minuses, but FX is helping us a little bit this quarter.
And the next question comes from the line of Veronika Dubajova from Goldman Sachs.
I have two, please, and they're both for Gitte. One, I want to just come back to the hearing aid guidance and actually not talk about margins, but really talk about the shape of the revenue curve for the second half of the year. Because if I look at the first half, I think you were kind of still 12% below your pre-COVID revenues in FX neutral terms. The guidance implies in the second half, you'd have to be ahead of your revenues that you were earning before COVID. I mean that sort of seems 15 point acceleration in growth rate sequentially first half to second half, it's quite a lot of heavy lifting. I appreciate things like Costco getting better, maybe Jabra it helps you. But maybe can you help us draw the bridge here? And to the extent that you are able to share, maybe just looking at the second quarter, what was the cadence of growth as you move through the 3 months? And then if you are able to comment on July, just to give us a little bit more confidence. Because that to be frank with you, I'm kind of struggling to see how you get that 15 points extra.And then my second question on the Jabra Enhance Plus. Just kind of curious why decision to announce this and bring this out now as opposed to waiting for the OTC category to be introduced and then selling this through purely as an OTC at that point in time. I just wonder whether you -- is there a risk that you're going to alienate some customers by coming out today with this product? And that's it for me for now.
Thank you for those questions. I think on -- when you look at our performance in the first half of the year, we were in Q1 at index 85 to '19 and index 90 in Q2 to '19. And our assumption for the rest of the year is that we come back to 2019 level. So I think we've also stated that before in the guidance. And that obviously is assuming a reset or normalization of our major markets. So that is prerequisite. And we still believe in that, which is why we confirm the guidance.In terms of Jabra Enhance Plus and why we have decided to announce that now. Well, our aim here is to tap into this huge potential we see in people that have hearing loss, but are not choosing to wear hearing aid today. So we see 80% of people -- or 70% to 80% of people with a hearing loss not using a hearing aid today. And that is obviously a huge market opportunity, but also a market that needs to be created. And this is why we want to start talking about the product and introducing it now. We believe there's room for this product even in a regulated market where sales goes to the ATP simply because we -- with this device comes with a form factor and the use case that is different from a traditional hearing aid.
Okay. Gitte, can I just go back. So if you look at that index 90 that you did in the second quarter, was that -- how did that evolve month-by-month?
Yes. I mean the index 90 is obviously the overall results for the quarter. And again, the prerequisite for our guidance for the second half or for the full year, if you like, is that we see a normalization and reset of our key markets. And obviously, as I've spoken to a key market for us is Japan, where we continue to see restriction. So -- and a market like China is also important for us and also key markets in Europe. So we have to see that change. And again, based on what we saw in Q1 in the U.S., we continue to see that as possible, and therefore, we confirm our guidance.
Okay. So you're not able to comment if the index improved as the quarter progressed?
No. We can comment on the overall index for the quarter.
And the next question comes from the line of Julien Ouaddour from Exane BNP Paribas.
And I have also two, please. So first on GN Hearing. Looking at VA, do you confirm that the government would explicitly say that no physical meeting will be allowed before next year? Because I guess one of your comps there seem quite a bit more positive about it and said that VA came a few days ago with the new restriction, but we -- which will last until further notice, but without any precise date. And just by consequence, what are your expectations in terms of your own VA share for the remaining of the year?Then just second question on Audio. I guess, you are in line with your peers, Q2 [ results ] revealed a slower demand in Europe maybe versus North America. Just what's your view for the coming two quarters for this specific two region and wide demand detail in your opinion?
So thank you for that question. On VA, the communication we've received from VA is that they have closed down for physical visits from reps until the end of the year. Should that change, we are obviously delighted and would be happy to visit the channel immediately. We have -- I think we have gotten the best possible use of the window where it was opened since beginning of July until here mid-August and had the opportunity to visit a large part of the audiologist and that has led to a strengthening of our virtual interactions going forward and also optimization of some of our operational deliveries into VA. So I don't expect miracles to occur, but I do expect to see continued presence and uptake of ReSound ONE in the channel.
And just, Gitte, if I can just follow-up quickly on that. Is it possible to see the Jabra Enhance Plus to be produced in the VA during the November window? Or this is not in your plan?
Well, I think it's certainly under our considerations to also put Jabra Enhance Plus into the VA channel. However, it will not happen in the November window because that would require us to launch into the U.S. here in August.
On the Euro versus North America demand, I would say, first of all, I mean, that it's a relative -- I mean, there's a growth and there's an absolute things to consider here. We should remember that the European up -- demand has been very strong at a very high level for a long time, whereas you may not see, you can say the same growth, at least in the second quarter here as we saw in North America where we had other quarters where North America was a bit behind. So whether we have a bit more acceleration right now in the consumption of UC services in North America than we see in Europe, it's hard to judge.Europe has been ahead of this game quite some time. And in that sense, you can say the platforms are perhaps in a little bit different state. I guess in both Europe and North America, we see enterprises are now sort of deciding on how much more they spend in a -- let's call it, in a COVID mode. How much they spend towards a hybrid mode where people are working both home and at the office and how much they spend in the offices. And there is a debate on where you can say when people will come back to a next mode to the offices, and that is going a little bit back and forth.So people are -- enterprises are spending up against that the best guess, you can say, on how this happens. But all in all, you can say the absolute demand in Europe has been strong all the time, and there's nothing indicating that, that will not continue.
Okay. And just if I may, one also quick follow-up. Do you include in your 10% market growth for next year, do you include also the public opportunity? Or is it something that could come on top of the 10%?
That's a good question, of course. I think right now, we are looking at the 10% as we have to see now when we get there, how this market really will evolve and what the public sector will contribute to that. But let's put it like a nice upside. But right now, our guidance -- the midterm guidance is 10% -- more than 10% and our ambition is to beat that.
The next question comes from the line of David Adlington from JPMorgan.
So just GN Hearing and Jabra Enhance Plus again, please. So I just presume that the revenues will be recognized within Hearing rather than any revenues in Audio, but I just wonder where the cost of development were recognized. And as that product is a little bit of a hybrid product, as that product shifts presumably out of healthcare professionals at some point into possibly a more so audio style channel, will you continue to recognize all those revenues within Hearing? Or will you start to recognize revenues in Audio? And then just more selling point, just in terms of that and sort of price point of about $800 per payer seems guiding towards. I just wondered, what's going to incentivize audiologists to sell a product like that?
So on your question on the revenue, whether that will be recognized at GN Hearing? The answer to that is yes. On -- as you rightfully point out, this is a hybrid product or I think a testimonial to a strong collaboration between Hearing and Audio and the development cost so far has been paid for by others or by [ Costco ], our strategic committee. But going forward, these costs will obviously be paid for by Hearing as we also benefit from the revenue.
Sorry, did you just clarify that the costs were paid for by?
And then in terms of whether this will be attractive for the ATP? Again, you had an assumption on price. I don't confirm that. I think this -- we've actually had the opportunity to present the product to ATPs in the U.S., and they certainly see this as very positive. Keep in mind that still a lot of people come in to the audiologists and leave without a hearing aid way too many. So this is obviously an opportunity for them to have additional sales.
And the next question comes from the line of Carsten Lønborg from SEB.
One more question to Costco. Given your comments about you being back to your historical according to the status in Costco is -- is it fair to assume that we are now talking about market share in the branded segment. And can I, in relation to that, also assume that absolute sales numbers are not back to your historical status since that it's my impression that the branded segment today is a much smaller share of Costco than it was in the past. And then a question to Rene on Audio in general. We talk a lot about enterprise here, but do you also mind sharing some thoughts on the consumer business? How is the market looking there? And your status and also current trading into, yes, where we are today, please, if possible?
Without going into too much details on Costco, I just -- I think following your line of thought, obviously, the price level in the branded segment has changed considerably in the past year. If you look a year back, I guess, we were close to $1,000 higher the price level in the branded segment. So obviously, that has an impact.
So Rene here. On the consumer side, I apologize, I didn't say anything. I didn't say much about that. But the reality is that we have been doing really well actually in the first half of this year on the consumer side much driven as at least I hinted on the true wireless side, we've been taking share in the second quarter. Let's see now whatever happens for the second half year, how strong we will be in the market. But it's looking good. And I think actually across all the markets, we have seen solid growth and we've been taking share.I think one element, we don't talk about very often, it's actually our BlueParrott brand and the what happens on the transportation side and the transportation and logistics and also this part has actually been doing -- was doing very well last year. But on top of that, has been doing well this year. It's a piece of business that sometimes drowns in the bigger picture, but they contribute both on the consumer side through travel centers and so forth in North America, but also increasingly on the enterprise side, where we sell to logistics companies and so forth.
And do you also factor in growth for Q3 and Q4 for the consumer business in line with the 5% we're talking about for enterprise? So basically 5% for Audio as a whole, of course, but saying a little bit about how you divide the growth between those 2 segments?
Yes. I mean, I understand the quest -- of course, we should look at the view that, of course, consumer business, even if it may grow a little bit faster than enterprise on this -- because the comp is much tougher on the enterprise side, then it is still less than 20% of the business, of course. So the effect is in that sense, less. But you're right that when you look at it, we may be looking at the higher growth on the consumer side, given the comps.
And the next question comes from the line of Niels Leth from Carnegie.
Two questions for Rene. First, can you talk about your order backlog for your PanaCast cameras, will they contribute meaningfully to the growth in the second half? And as far as I understand, you will still be able to record growth in the second half when you exclude the contribution from cameras. Is that correctly understood? And then a second question for you, Rene, will there be any delayed effect of higher component prices going into 2022?
Very good questions. I think on the camera side here, maybe a sort of a couple of comments. Because I said and actually that it had a limited impact on the Q2. It will have limited impact on Q3 as well. Cameras, so video space is actually an area where we are hampered the most on components and COVID-19 issues. So a little bit careful how much we say about this because our competitors does love to know exactly where we are and what we do, but these products are manufactured in Malaysia. Malaysia is a country that is hard hit by corona restrictions, and therefore, the ramp has been a bit slower than we had anticipated. So you will see a limited effect in -- via shipping, just to be clear, but not to the volumes we had expected, neither our competitors actually. And so, you can say the real effect on the camera side will be in Q4. So a meaningful effect. The other question, was don't know.
Right. And will there be any related effect of higher component prices going into 2022?
Yes. Of course, it's clear that the -- I mean, we are working. We have actually secured a lot of components already for next year. It is not in the guidance for now. But it's clear, there is a pressure on cost of components as well. And we are taking, you can say, as much action as we meaningfully can in terms of also make sure that our products are utilizing the right components. There may be some engineering exercising coming in here as well. But it's clear that this cost phenomenon that you were talking to, if it would be there, of course, we are trying best to mitigate it in different ways. But so far, I think we are in a -- it's under control. I think with the contracts we have signed and so forth, we are in shape. But your point, of course, is something that you can read about in the newspapers that is out there, and we have to do what we can to mitigate it.
And we have a follow-up question from Mike Jungling from Morgan Stanley.
I have two questions on the Hearing side, please. When it comes to the Jabra Enhance Plus product, I think so you mentioned it did amplification of 25 dB. I mean that's really quite low. And given that you're advertising this as a mild to moderate, this really caters only for the mild. There's probably not many moderate hearing aid users could benefit from 25 dB. Why did you choose such a low amplification number and with a higher one to address a larger slice of the market? And then secondly, when it comes to also Jabra Enhance Plus, how does this customization work that you talk about in your press release? Is this done by the patient themselves? Or is the audiologist still a key contributor to this customization and personalization of this device for the patient?
Yes. So in terms of the amplification, obviously, this product is a hybrid, if you like, between an earbud and the hearing aids. And so it is not, if you like, our best possible hearing aid, and it's not our best possible earbud, but it is the best possible combination of the two. So that has sort of been our guiding star in how we've developed the product. And we see it mainly as targeting people that haven't used a hearing aid, so early in the hearing journey.
I guess is that a limitation in terms of what you can do -- sorry I can hear background noise of my voice. So I'll start again. Is there a limitation in the technology that you can incorporate into an earbud. It seems to me you've chosen it because perhaps you didn't want to upset the classical hearing aid business. I mean, if you did 65 dB, I can imagine that people would like the style and also have the benefit of better amplification. So is it technology or is it because you're concerned it might cannibalize your classical hearing aid business?
We are not concerned that it will cannibalize our classical hearing aid business. And I think, I mean the design of the Jabra Enhance Plus, well, I think it's actually really cool and elegant and so on. It actually looks like a very small earbud. But I guess, it would -- it's not pleasant to wear for a full day use. So this is a device that is designed for the occasional use, the dinner party or other situations like that where you need something to amplify your hearing. So that's a huge difference to a traditional hearing aid that is obviously optimized for full day use. So I don't think there's any risk of cannibalization.
And can you please comment on who does the customization that you referred to in your press release, customization of the device?
Yes. Thank you for reminding me on that. So that actually happens through an app that you need to download on your phone. And it's true that you customize the hearing part of it and you customize the device and that haven't been in collaboration with the audiologists.
So it's the audiologist who does initially the download the app on perhaps the patient's phone and then programs that just suit the patient. Is that correct?
Well, I mean, the user can download the app on the phone themselves. It's actually quite easy to do. And I think also, to a large extent, you can do the -- fit yourself. But obviously, it's a huge benefit that you have an audiologists to help you through that process to get -- again, to ensure that people get the utmost and best possible experience with Jabra Enhance Plus, which I think is an amazing product we have out there.
Okay. And one last thing, and I'll go back in the queue. Can I just confirm that if you wanted to, you could have chosen more amplification. That was not the limitation of the technology, it was you or the team that has chosen to limit it to 25 dB. Is that correct?
So again, we have designed this product to be the best hybrid between an earbud and the hearing aid and that's why we landed on the technical specification that the product has.
Okay. All right. I take this yes, right, that you could have amplified higher if you wanted to?
I'll probably be repeating myself here, but again, we designed the product to be the best sort of combination between an earbud and the hearing aid and that is why we landed at the overall technical specification that the product has, including the gain.
We have another follow-up question from Maja Pataki from Kepler Cheuvreux.
I'd like to start with Audio. Rene, you've been talking about the opportunity in the public space for headsets, government and healthcare workers, I assume these are going to be tender contracts. Can you confirm whether you expect to see a significant impact on margins going forward from a strong growth in the public sector? And then one question to Gitte as well, a bit when we look at the Enhance Plus, you have a 25 dB enhancement. This is in line with what the recommendation or what the recommendation stands for OTC right now, it appears that it is a self-fitting hearing aid or it can be done self-fitting, yet, you're pushing it through healthcare professionals. I'm wondering, are you doing that now in this way because you think there's going to be just a very, very big offer in the market once OTC is out, and therefore, it's an advantage to be early, but you will take it to other channels? Or is it because you're really considering to stick to the healthcare professional in the long run? And maybe would that increase your market shares within the independent segment?
Rene here on that question on the public sector and the margins. I mean, the public sector is in our mix right now. It is -- you are right, that it is a tendered business. And in that sense, of course, there is some price competition in there. It's also the fact that once you have -- you are on that list, so to speak, of approved tenders, then the execution is of a different nature. So you have a more like a run rate, a stable run rate business. So all in all, this is a good business to be in. But of course, there is -- like you have in other parts of very global large companies, there's a tender element. But from a mix point of view, it looks good.
So first of all, there is a huge unmet need in the hearing market. I mean, it's something that is really have been my personal objective ever since I joined GN Hearing that we are coming out with something where we can reach this big market of people that are not helped today. I think it's clearly that we see 70% to 80% of people with the hearing loss not being helped today. So we want to put this amazing product out there under the current regulation. How the OTC regulation will look like and when it will actually appear in the market, I guess, is for now still speculations. But what is real is that there's a huge unmet need, and we want our product out there, and it will be under a current regulations.
And we have one more follow-up question from Veronika Dubajova from Goldman Sachs.
I figured I'd sneak in one on Audio, if that's okay. Rene, I just wanted to kind of circle back on your comment on video saying it's not going to be a meaningful contributor to the third quarter revenues. Just can you level set a little bit for us? I mean when you look at that video contribution, just give us a little bit of flavor for how large it is at the moment and where you think it will be? I know you previously have talked about this idea of maybe you get to sort of $100 million of sales by about now or maybe 2022. Are you still on track for that, even if you're not going to tell us the number, can you at least confirm that?
Yes, I understand the question, of course. Maybe I also confused the situation a little bit. The reality is that we are actually on track. We have been selling very well on the video side this year with one product. The reception of the two new products, the video bar for -- the audio video bar for meeting rooms and also the personal cameras is very strong. I mean, let's -- one example is, there's a -- UC as it sort of form that looks at all these products, they gave us the award for best meeting room product this year.So we are out there with -- but we have scaling challenges as I had admitted in terms of some component issues and so this will be solved. And we are ramping and it will have, as I said, more impact in Q4 than in Q3. It's clear that next year, we will have full impact on all three products, [ Enhance Plus ], hopefully, some more. And in that sense, we are shooting for a meaningful -- very meaningful part of the business to come from video or audio video combined products. We have not given any guidance on that yet. Your guess is as good as many other guesses, but it is a meaningful part of the business, but it doesn't change really right now the overall outcome.
Okay. And are you -- would you be willing to say when you think that contribution becomes meaningful? I mean is that a question of quarters to a year or, let's say, 18 months? Or is that a longer-term project? And then if I could quickly just follow-up on that. Is that video phasing one of the reasons why you think fourth quarter growth will be higher even though the absolute comp is a lot more trickier?
I mean, we don't -- so how can I say this without handing too much out in the world. I mean, we are dealing with some very large competitors out there. We are taking share every day. We can see that in that domain, but coming from a very small base. It's clear that as we go through this year, as we go through next year, we think we have very great products. We have the UC partnerships. I mean, we are working very tightly with Zoom and Microsoft. We have work -- we have the channel in place. We have the customers. So of course, we should be able to ramp this business fast, and that's what we are trying to do. But of course, we now have -- we have tripled the amount of products we have in the field, and that's what we were looking for.As we have said earlier, we are investing massively into this space. And that, of course, also means that more technologies should come from this into next year. I can give you a guidance on what and how much, but I can just tell you we're going after this space very aggressively.
Maybe something you can tell us more about at your CMD in December. And then the third quarter versus the fourth quarter question?
It's a combination of many things, but this one at two in two.
And I'll now hand it back to the speakers for closing remarks.
Thank you very much, operator, and thank you, everybody, on the call today. So with that, we appreciate your time, and we will see you on the virtual road. Thank you very much.