DGAP-News

KAP SHOWS POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN THE 2020 FINANCIAL YEAR DESPITE PANDEMIC AND SPEEDS UP THE ACTION PROGRAMME 'ACCELERATE' - Seite 3

KAP already achieved further important Accelerate milestones during the first quarter of 2021 and executed two attractive transactions in the flexible films segment. The industrial holding company has significantly boosted its expertise and competence in the flexible films segment by acquiring AerO Coated Fabrics B.V., a highly specialised extrusion business and manufacturer of thermoplastic composites, and by increasing its investment in packaging specialist NOW Contec GmbH to 100%. Furthermore, we have increased the KAP Group's financial flexibility by selling our industrial property in Fulda. Given the construction work still required on it, the transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of this year.

Marten Julius, Chief Financial Officer of KAP AG: "We have sufficient financial flexibility to take advantage of other acquisition opportunities as part of our strategic alignment. Against a backdrop of ongoing crisis, the market offers us very interesting opportunities which we are carefully assessing. Furthermore, a swift conclusion to the sale of our it/services segment that we have initiated is at the top of our agenda for the 2021 financial year."

flexible films segment a crisis winner
The group's segments performed very disparately in 2020. The engineered products, surface technologies and precision components segments were particularly affected by the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic since they operate in sectors with an automotive focus. These sectors were exposed to a collapse in demand, especially at the start of the pandemic.

Revenue in the engineered products segment fell by a considerable 15.7% to €127.0 million (previous year: €150.7 million) during the 2020 financial year. This decline can be attributed to circumstances such as the temporary shutdown of production at sites in China, India and the United States, and temporary plant closures among customers in the segment's automotive sector. Normalised EBITDA doubled to €4.8 million (previous year: €2.4 million). The restructuring initiatives that were implemented demonstrated a noticeable impact.