Profitability improved and order intake strengthened in 2024

Amsterdam 18 April 2024. Cabka N.V. (together with its subsidiaries “Cabka”, or the “Company”), a company specialized in transforming hard to recycle plastic waste into innovative Reusable Transport Packaging (RTP), listed at Euronext Amsterdam, announces its trading update for the first quarter of 2024.

Going into the first quarter of the year, we continued to focus on enhancing our profitability. We improved gross margin in all segments versus last year and outperformed the last quarter of 2023. Our order book noticeably strengthened throughout the period. We increased our order intake by 22% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, building a good foundation for YoY sales growth in the second quarter and beyond.

In line with expectation, sales for the first quarter of 2024 started off slow. This resulted in € 44.1 million of sales compared to € 55.3 million in the same quarter last year, of which a 4% negative price effect driven by passing on lower raw material and energy prices to our customers. Lower volumes contributed to the remaining 16% decline. A key driver was noted in the US with a net decline of € 6.9 million. In Customised Solutions business, key customers deliberately restricted CAPEX spending, leading to a sales decline of € 7.4 million. This was partially offset by a 12% increase in our Portfolio business as we successfully regained customers lost during the US factory flooding.

In Europe, Portfolio volume remained stable, whilst Customized Solutions grew with 27% YoY. Softer market demand was especially notable in our Contract Manufacturing, resulting in a decline of € 5.3 million compared to Q1 2023.

Following the completion of the ECO consolidation and expansion in Q1 2023, sales grew with 23% YoY, reflecting a € 1.3 million increase.

Outlook
After a slow start of 2024, we remain cautiously optimistic about the remainder of 2024. While we anticipate continued market volatility, we are confident in our ability to navigate these headwinds and drive sustainable growth. We remain committed to delivering on mid-single digit sales growth, and EBITDA margin within the 13-15% range.

Annual Report 2023 publication
Cabka published its Annual Report for the 2023 financial year, today. The 2023 Annual Report includes Cabka’s second ESG report and also features sections on Risk Management, Corporate Governance, and the Consolidated Financial Statements and Company Financial Statements. The 2023 Annual Report is available to download on our investor section of the Cabka website under Reports & Presentations.