SFC Energy AG publishes audited consolidated figures for 2020 with sales and EBITDA in line with expectations - Accelerated growth plan for 2025 featuring Asia expansion with Toyota Tsusho
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DGAP-News: SFC Energy AG
/ Key word(s): Annual Results
SFC Energy AG - Corporate News SFC Energy AG publishes audited consolidated figures for 2020 with sales and EBITDA in line with expectations - Accelerated growth plan for 2025 featuring Asia expansion with Toyota Tsusho already being implemented - Audited consolidated financial statements confirm preliminary figures published on February 15, 2021 - Underlying EBITDA in the upper range of expectations in 2020 at €2,936k (2019: €3,614k) - Clean Energy & Mobility segment reports strong sales growth of 61.6% due to accelerated growth in civilian fuel cells business - Guidance for 2021: Increase in consolidated sales by between 15% and 30% year-on-year to between €61 million and €70 million with strong growth in underlying EBITDA (€3.5 million to €6.0 million) - Strategic medium-term planning until 2025 reaffirmed - Major cornerstone already set with Toyota Tsusho Brunnthal/Munich, Germany, March 25, 2021 - SFC Energy AG (F3C:DE, ISIN: DE0007568578), a leading supplier of hydrogen and methanol fuel cells for stationary and mobile hybrid power generation solutions, is today publishing its annual report and audited consolidated figures for 2020. Dr. Peter Podesser, CEO of SFC Energy AG: "In an environment overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we succeeded in closing financial year 2020 with a solid performance overall. The high demand in the Clean Energy & Mobility segment was particularly impressive. We have laid the foundations to generate further growth. Towards the end of last year and in the first quarter of this financial year, we launched new and even more high-performance products in the EFOY fuel cell series. We have expanded our partner network of strong companies and technology leaders, such as Toyota Tsusho, and are now tapping into other exciting markets in Asia. We are fully committed to the pursuit of our medium-term strategy up to 2025, which will enable us to generate truly sustainable value into 2021 and beyond." Sales development In the 2020 financial year, the Group generated sales of €53,223k (previous year: €58,538k). Performance was as expected in the challenging COVID-19 environment, with sales declining by around 9.1% compared with the 2019 financial year. The global measures taken to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in particular, such as travel and access restrictions, put significant limitations on sales activities and on-site installations. Additionally, particularly in the second and third quarters, the uncertainty surrounding the medium- and long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on macroeconomic development led to subdued demand in the individual segments. However, with consolidated sales of €14,010 performance in the fourth quarter of 2020 was down just 5.0% on last year despite COVID-19 (2019: €14,754) and marked a return to significant levels of growth across all the segments compared with the second and third quarter of 2020.
Segment development Sales development over the course of 2020 was heterogeneous for the four segments of SFC Energy AG. The Clean Energy & Mobility segment, which proved to be exceptionally robust and resistant to the pandemic throughout the entire year, exhibited an impressively high growth momentum. The segment sales of €18,998k generated in the 2020 financial year (previous year: €11,758k) increased at an exceptionally strong rate of 61.6% mainly due to dynamic increases in sales revenues from fuel cells for professional applications. Sales of fuel cells for professional applications increased by 71.8% year-on-year for a number of reasons including growth in existing customer demand, expansion of the customer base and the supply of EFOY Jupiter hydrogen fuel cells. Sales of EFOY Jupiter hydrogen fuel cells amounted to €2,038k in the 2020 financial year compared with €203k in the previous year. In a challenging environment, the Oil & Gas segment reported a decline in sales of 19.6% to €17,652k in the 2020 financial year (previous year: €21,954k). In the reporting year, the segment was marked by considerable reluctance to invest in the oil and gas industry in the pandemic setting. In the Industry segment, reduced call-off orders and postponed investment decisions by customers - also mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic - caused sales performance to decline. The segment's sales fell by 21.2% to €13,582k in the reporting year (previous year: €17,238k). The Defense & Security segment was particularly affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The segment's sales were down 60.6% on the previous year's level with a figure of €2,990k for the 2020 financial year (previous year: €7,588k). Sales contributions were lacking in this segment, particularly from international key markets, due not only to the highly restrictive lockdown measures and the significant delays in government procurement as a result, but also to restricted sales opportunities. As part of the strategic roadmap "Fit for the Future" aimed at long-term value creation and strengthening the two core business areas of fuel cells and energy conversion, the Management Board of SFC Energy AG has realigned responsibilities within the Group. In this context, after the end of the 2020 financial year the Group's business segments are no longer based around the respective end customer markets, but around the Group's technology platforms and product and service portfolio. Instead of the previous four segments Clean Energy & Mobility, Oil & Gas, Defense & Security and Industry, there will now be two operating segments: Clean Energy and Clean Power Management. Bringing together the segments into two rather than the previous four also increases efficiency. Earnings development Gross profit was €17,915k in the 2020 financial year (previous year: €20,128k), which was €2,213k lower than in the previous year. The Group's gross profit margin resulting from sales development (gross profit on sales as a percentage of sales revenues) remained almost at the previous year's level of 33.7% in the 2020 financial year (previous year: 34.4%). The main contributing factor to this was the considerably higher sales contribution of the highest-margin Clean Energy & Mobility segment, which achieved a gross profit margin of 42.8% (previous year: 43.2%). The year-on-year change in the individual segments' gross profit was as follows:
The Group's EBITDA fell to €-986k in the 2020 financial year (previous year: €2,042k), resulting in an EBITDA margin (EBITDA in relation to sales) of -1.9% (previous year: 3.5%). A major reason for this is the lower gross profit compared with the previous year primarily as a result of the lower consolidated sales. Underlying EBITDA adjusted for non-recurring effects, which is a key financial performance indicator used to steer the operating business, amounted to €2,936k in the financial year and was €678k lower than the previous year's figure of €3,614k. The underlying EBITDA margin was slightly lower than the previous year's margin at 5.5% (previous year: 6.2%). The Group's earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) declined to €-4,501k in the 2020 financial year (previous year: €-1,288k). The EBIT margin (EBIT in relation to sales) contracted from -2.2% to -8.5%. Underlying EBIT adjusted for non-recurring effects was €-579k, which was €863k lower than the previous year's figure of €284k. This resulted in an underlying EBIT margin of -1.1% (previous year: 0.5%). For the 2020 financial year, there was a consolidated loss for the period of €5,184k, after €1,927k last year. This resulted in earnings per share in accordance with IFRS (basic and diluted) of €-0.39 (2019: €-0.17). Balance sheet The equity ratio increased to 63.5% as a result of the capital measures carried out in the reporting year (December 31, 2019: 55.3%). The net financial position (available cash and cash equivalents less liabilities to banks) improved by €12,521k to €26,915k as of the 2020 reporting date (December 31, 2019: €14,394k). The main factor here was the cash capital increase in November 2020. As of December 31, 2020, the SFC Energy Group had a total of 280 permanent employees (December 31, 2019: 282). SFC's good capital base and solid overall accounting ratio put it in a position to drive forward essential product developments, further expand existing market segments, tap into new market segments and other regions, and achieve sustainable growth in the medium term. Guidance for 2021 For the current 2021 financial year, the Management Board is expecting consolidated sales to increase by 15% to 30% year-on-year to between €61,000k and €70,000k (2020 financial year: €53,223k). This development will be driven in particular by the Clean Energy segment, which primarily includes the sales of the former Clean Energy & Mobility and Defense & Security segments. The Group expects to see positive growth contributions from rising demand for the new generation of methanol fuel cells as well as hydrogen fuel cells. On the back of the expected dynamic development in demand and the stable to rising margin, underlying EBITDA is expected to increase significantly year-on-year to between €3,500k and €6,000k in the 2021 financial year. Based on its forecasts for the Clean Energy and Clean Power Management segments, the Management Board expects underlying EBIT for the Group to amount to between €-900k and €1,600k in 2021. Strategic medium-term planning until 2025 The Management Board is also reaffirming its strategic medium-term planning. The accelerated growth plan anticipates organic and inorganic growth in sales between now and 2025 to a level of between €350 million and €400 million and an increase in the underlying EBITDA margin to over 15%. These assumptions are based on the highly dynamic growth in global demand for hydrogen and methanol fuel cells in stationary applications. The first cornerstone of the accelerated growth plan is already being implemented. SFC Energy and Toyota Tsusho are rapidly pursuing the expansion of the sales activities to further Southeast Asian country markets and China. In addition, both partners are dovetailing their competencies for custom-fit products and more efficient local customer support. The goal is to further develop the markets in Southeast Asia and China with a joint team of experts. The aim is to achieve a sales volume of around EUR 100 million by 2025. Key figures 2020/2019
Detailed financial information The 2020 annual report of SFC Energy AG is available for download at www.sfc.com. SFC Energy AG will hold a conference call in English for interested investors and members of the media at 9:00 a.m. today, March 25, 2021. To register, please send an e-mail to susan.hoffmeister@sfc.com.
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25.03.2021 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. |