Photon Energy Group Publishes Annual Report for 2020 with Improved EBITDA and Expanded IPP Portfolio - Seite 3

The Company's clean water solutions business line Photon Water has also made a major step forward in the Australian market with a trial phase remediation project for the Australian Department of Defense to remove PFAS contamination from soil and ground water without the need for pumping and surface treatment or disposal processes using its (patent pending) nanoremediation process. In addition, Photon Water teams made great progress in water treatment and other areas of industrial and water quality processes using ultrasound technology.

2020 was a crucial year for the Company in terms of its presence on capital markets. Photon Energy N.V. share listings were successfully transferred from alternative markets to the main (regulated) markets of the Warsaw and Prague Stock Exchanges, as well as to the Quotation Board of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The aim of these transfers was to widen the Company's investor base across Europe and to stimulate trading liquidity.

Financial Metrics

The Company closed 2020 with total revenues amounting to EUR 28.258 million, representing a 6.3% decrease YoY. Despite lower revenues in the sale of technology (-27.8% YoY), an area in which conditions remained challenging due to the coronavirus crisis, there was a robust 17.6% increase in revenues from the sale of electricity. The Company also managed to raise its EBITDA to EUR 8.440 million (+6.3% YoY) thanks to a more favourable revenue mix and an improvement on the gross margin across all activities. During the year, the Company continued its capacity expansion, mainly expressed through a growing headcount, which is crucial for the development of existing business lines as well as new activities.

Increased financial expenses linked to the development of PV power plants led to an EBIT loss of EUR 0.142 million, compared to a profit of EUR 5.382 million in 2019. The Company's business model involves significant bank financing at the project level, where debt/equity ratios reach up to 80/20. Non-recourse financing is aligned with the life cycle of power plants and is long-term, with tenors of up to 15 years. As such, a higher level of debt is to be expected in the photovoltaic industry.