DGAP-News

Delticom AG: Successful third virtual Annual General Meeting // Delticom publishes Q1 business development - Seite 2

According to the Association for Consumer Research (GfK), the sentiment of German consumers has recently clouded over considerably. In February, there was still hope that the planned easing of the pandemic-related restrictions would also lead to a significant recovery in consumer sentiment. However, the start of the Ukraine war is increasingly unsettling consumers, according to the experts. The energy price increases associated with the sanctions against Russia, among other things, are increasingly depressing general consumer sentiment.

Sale of the US business. Delticom AG sold its 75 % shares in Delticom North America Inc. at the beginning of the current fiscal year. In this context, a one-off income in the amount of € 2.5 million was realised. The business development adjusted for the US business is referred to as "core business" in the following.

Revenues. In the first decade of March, it remained relatively cold in Germany despite a lot of sunshine, and the nights were frosty almost all over the country. Even though high pressure "Peter" subsequently ensured a spring-like level, colder air masses from the north led to a change in the weather towards the end of the month, which in some cases caused fresh snow. Accordingly, in contrast to last year, the summer tyre business was unable to benefit from an early start to the season. In addition, Easter fell in mid-April this year, two weeks later than last year. In the first quarter, Delticom Group recorded revenues of € 90.5 million. In the same period of the previous year, the US subsidiary had contributed around € 16 million to consolidated revenues of € 102.2 million. Accordingly, the company was able to achieve revenues growth of 4.4 % in its core business in the first three months of the current fiscal year.

Other operating income. Other operating income amounted to € 9.5 million in the reporting period (Q1 2021: € 5.5 million). The 74.1 % increase is mainly due to the one-off income of € 2.5 million in connection with the sale of the US subsidiary.

Gross margin before other operating income. The cost of goods sold (COGS) is the largest expense item; it considers the purchase price of sold products. It amounted to € 72.5 million in the period under review (Q1 2021: € 79.6 million). Sales-related mix effects due to the delayed start of the season compared to the previous year led to a decrease in gross margin from 22.1 % to 19.9 % in the reporting period.