Annual Report 2020

COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT NO 7/2021 – 3 MARCH 2021

Annual Report 2020
Statement by Royal Unibrew’s CEO Lars Jensen:
“Our business strategy proved its strength in a difficult environment, as our local management model demonstrated that we were able to react quickly to the many changes in our markets and moved even closer to our customers during the challenging times. We have continued to drive the conversion from regular beverages towards low and no sugar and alcohol beverages with strong growth in brands like Faxe Kondi and Lapin Kulta. Despite the On-Trade business being closed down in large parts of the year, we succeeded in growing our above mainstream share of our business, as e.g., Lorina, Bauskas and Anarkist has shown strong growth. On that backdrop, we managed to deliver the highest EBIT, as well as free cash flow, in our company’s history.

We also spent 2020 establishing a long-term ambition for the total sustainability area, which aims to move us into the front of sustainable beverage companies within the next five years. We are generally already performing well but have identified mid-term opportunities that will enhance the outcome quite significantly.”

With strong performance in Off-Trade, planning and cost focus we managed to deliver the highest EBIT ever despite the negative impact from COVID-19. We increased our market shares in almost all key markets, and both our EBIT and EBITDA margin increased compared to 2019. Our free cash flow increased by 24% to DKK 1,414 million compared to 2019, and it is positively impacted by temporary effects such as the extraordinary beer campaign in Finland and COVID-19 related channel and country mix changes. The Board recommends to distribute a dividend of DKK 13.50 per share (2019: DKK 12.20 per share) in combination with a share buy-back program of up to DKK 250 million running to end of June 2021. During the summer, it will be decided whether an additional share buy-back will be initiated based on the state of COVID-19 and our financial flexibility at that point.

Despite continued high uncertainty in relation to COVID-19, we expect to deliver an EBIT in the range of DKK 1,475-1,625 million in 2021.

Income statement
Selected financial highlights and ratios

mDKK	2020	2019	Q4 2020	Q4 2019
Volumes (thousand hectolitres)	11,093	11,024	2,647	2,534
Net revenue	7,557	7,692	1,733	1,787
EBITDA	1,861	1,814	329	361
EBITDA margin (%)	24.6%	23.6%	19.0%	20.2%
Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT)	1,515	1,469	252	267
EBIT margin (%)	20.0%	19.1%	14.5%	14.9%
Profit before tax	1,505	1,458	254	267
Net profit for the period	1,198	1,140	218	222