EQS-News

Group sales revenue 2023 just below, Group EBIT within the most recently announced forecast corridors

EQS-News: edding Aktiengesellschaft / Key word(s): Preliminary Results/Dividend Group sales revenue 2023 just below, Group EBIT within the most recently announced forecast corridors 29.02.2024 / 09:47 CET/CEST The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Group sales revenue 2023 just below, Group EBIT within the most recently announced forecast corridors Forecast for 2024: Group EBIT expected to be positive again

Annual General Meeting 2024: Dividend planned despite annual loss

According to preliminary figures, Group sales of EUR 160.8 million were generated in the financial year 2023 (previous year: EUR 159.2 million). This is slightly below the previously announced corridor of EUR 161.0 million to EUR 176.0 million; the year-on-year increase is mainly generated by the Office & Industry Supplies (OFIS) business unit, while the Creative & Home (CREHO) and Collaboration @ Work (COWO) business units with the main brand "Legamaster" recorded a slight decline in sales.

The consolidated EBIT (consolidated operating result according to IFRS) is negative for the first time in the history of the edding Group and - subject to the final result of the audit of the consolidated financial statements - amounts to EUR -2.4 million (previous year: EUR 4.0 million). This negative EBIT is due to the sale of edding Argentina S.A. and the associated negative deconsolidation effects. Without this - largely technical - effect, Group EBIT would have been positive at EUR 3.1 million. We announced the high negative deconsolidation effect of  EUR 5.6 million, which is reported in a separate item in the consolidated income statement, in an ad hoc announcement on July 4, 2023. In this context, we lowered our forecast corridor for Group EBIT to between EUR -4.0 million and EUR -1.0 million.

The result is exactly in the middle of the forecast corridor.

The net loss for the year in the individual financial statements of edding AG according to German commercial law amounts to EUR -3.4 million (previous year: EUR 1.0 million) and is in the middle of the last forecast of EUR -4.5 to -2.5 million. The negative result is due to the valuation of shares in affiliated companies and receivables within the Group, which we announced in an ad hoc disclosure on December 19, 2023.