Akwel Posts Net Earnings of €20.2 Million in the First Half of 2020 - Seite 2

THE COVID-19 CRISIS HAD A MAJOR IMPACT ON ACTIVITY IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF 2020

In the first half of 2020, AKWEL posted a consolidated turnover of €387.0 million, down by 31.7% when comparing published figures and by 31.0% when taking exchange rates and scope as constants. After significant growth at the beginning of the year, the decline in the global automotive market from March onwards due to the COVID-19 crisis had a major impact on the group’s activity, particularly in April (-90%) and May (-70%). Under these atypical conditions, during this half-year period AKWEL continued to outperform global production trends, down by 42.5% in Europe and 43.1% in North America.

POSITIVE HALF-YEARLY RESULTS IN A TIME OF CRISIS

EBITDA was €60.0 million, compared to €66.6 million in the first half of 2019, a fall of 9.9%. The EBITDA includes among other things insurance payments to be received totalling €19 million, offset by provisions for warranty returns, therefore having a neutral impact upon the current operating income. The latter figure was down by 48.2% in the first half year, at €24.3 million, representing a fall of 2 points in the current operating margin at 6.3% of turnover. After tax charges of €4.0 million compared to €9.8 million in 2019, the net earnings were €20.2 million, i.e. a net margin of 5.2% of turnover, down by 1.1 points. Against this backdrop of an exceptional crisis in the world automotive market and with only limited provision of public aid, the robustness of AKWEL’S business model and speed at which it is able to adapt enabled it to achieve positive results.

 

A HIGH LEVEL OF CASH-FLOW GENERATION IN THE FIRST HALF YEAR

Excluding the impact of the insurance payments to be received, the group’s self-financing capacity is €37.7 million, down by 33.7% compared to the first half of 2019. The reduction in working capital requirements related to the fall in activity and structural action to optimise stocks in addition to the adaptation of the investment margins made it possible to generate a free cash flow of €51.5 million in the first half of 2020. On 30 June, the Group had a positive net cash position of €7.7 million, with €157.8 of available cash.