Mutares with strong first quarter 2021 – two acquisitions and two exits

  • Group revenues increase by 56% to EUR 493.8 million (Q1 2020: EUR 315.7 million)
  • Consulting revenues of the Holding Company already at EUR 10.9 million (Q1 2020: EUR 7.2 million)
  • EBITDA up 38% to EUR 53.8 million (Q1 2020: EUR 39.0 million)
  • Adjusted EBITDA significantly increased to a positive level (Q1 2020: EUR
    -10.4 million)
  • Pleasant high transaction activity with two acquisitions and two exits
  • Outlook 2021 confirmed: significant growth in revenues expected

 

Munich, 11 May 2021 – Mutares SE & Co. KGaA (ISIN: DE000A2NB650) generated consolidated revenues of EUR 493.8 million in the first quarter of 2021 (Q1 2020: EUR 315.7 million). The revenue growth is mainly attributable to the high transaction activity in the financial year 2020 with eleven acquisitions as well as the significant recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. In line with the growth of the portfolio, Mutares SE & Co. KGaA (“Mutares Holding”) increased its revenues from consulting by 51% to EUR 10.9 million in the first quarter (Q1 2020: EUR 7.2 million).

At EUR 53.8 million (Q1 2020: EUR 39.0 million), Group EBITDA was 38% higher than in the first quarter of the previous year. Adjusted EBITDA1) amounted to EUR +0.3 million (Q1 2020: EUR -10.4 million) and improved significantly thanks to the partly very positive development in the portfolio companies, in particular STS Group, Donges Group, KICO Group and BEXity.

Cash and cash equivalents in the Group amounted to EUR 180.3 million as of 31 March 2021 (31 December 2020: EUR 145.3 million), and the equity ratio of Mutares Group was at 18%, higher than as of 31 December 2020 (16%).

 

Continued high transaction activity and successful bond increase

As expected, the first quarter of 2021 was characterized by high transaction activity:

In addition to the two exits of Balcke-Dürr Rothemühle Deutschland to the Howden Group and of Nexive to Poste Italiane, both of which were announced in December 2020 and successfully completed in January 2021 with a ROIC (Return on Invested Capital) greater than 10, the sale of the shares in STS Group AG to Adler Pelzer Group was announced in March 2021.

On the acquisition side, Mutares successfully closed two transactions in the first quarter with the acquisition of EXI from Ericsson and Clecim from Primetals Technologies. After 31 March 2021, Mutares also successfully closed the acquisitions of Carglass Maison Group from Belron and of La Rochette from RDM Group. In addition, an agreement was signed to acquire ADComms from Panasonic Europe, which promises high synergy potential with the existing Gemini Rail Group in the UK rail market. The closing of the acquisition of Lapeyre from Saint-Gobain, already signed in December, is still expected for the second quarter of 2021.

Furthermore, in February 2021 Mutares increased the bond issued originally in financial year 2020 by EUR 10.0 million to a total volume of now EUR 80.0 million. The placement was made with institutional investors. The additional capital will be used to finance the further growth of the portfolio and additional value-enhancing investments.

 

Revenues significantly expanded in all segments

In the Automotive & Mobility segment, revenues for the first quarter of 2021 increased to EUR 187.0 million (Q1 2020: EUR 124.8 million). This was mainly due to the platform acquisitions of SFC Solutions and iionvis, which were completed in July and November 2020, respectively. EBITDA amounted to EUR -1.6 million after EUR 34.8 million in the first quarter of 2020, the latter being mainly driven by transaction-related income (bargain purchases) and was thus clearly positive. Adjusted EBITDA on the other hand increased to EUR 4.1 million (Q1 2020: EUR -3.3 million), in particular due to the optimization achieved at STS Group and KICO Group.

The Engineering & Technology segment recorded an increase in revenues to EUR 177.3 million in the first quarter of the financial year 2021, compared with EUR 105.9 million in the same period of the previous year. The increase was mainly due to the acquisitions of the new platform investments Lacroix + Kress as well as Royal De Boer and Japy Tech in the fourth quarter of 2020 and the add-on acquisitions for the Donges Group and for the Balcke-Dürr Group in the course of the first half of 2020. Segment EBITDA increased to EUR 38.5 million in the first quarter of 2021 (Q1 2020: EUR 2.0 million) and benefited significantly from the income related to the acquisition of Clecim as of 31 March 2021, as well as the successful exit of Balcke-Dürr Rothemühle in Germany. Adjusted EBITDA improved to EUR -1.0 million (Q1 2020: EUR -4.2 million) despite a negative market environment at EUPEC and Gemini Rail Group and the still negative earnings contributions from Royal De Boer and Japy Tech. This was due to encouraging progress in the development of the Donges Group and an already positive contribution from Lacroix + Kress, acquired in November 2020, which benefited from a positive development on the raw materials market.

Revenues in the Goods & Services segment climbed to EUR 129.4 million in the first quarter of 2021 (Q1 2020: EUR 84.9 million). The increase in revenues is mainly attributable to the platform investments of Terranor Group and SABO completed in the second half of 2020. Segment EBITDA amounted to EUR 16.7 million (Q1 2020: EUR 2.6 million), benefiting from the successful sale of Nexive and the transaction-related income from the acquisition of EXI. Adjusted EBITDA of EUR -3.0 million (Q1 2020: EUR -2.6 million) was burdened by the significantly negative earnings contribution from the Nexive Group, which has since been sold, while the development at BEXity and the new platform investments Terranor Group and SABO were very pleasing.

Adjusted EBITDA differs significantly along the three phases of value creation that investments usually go through during their ownership of the Mutares Group (Realignment, Optimization and Harvesting).

 

 

Operational phase within the framework of the Mutares business model Allocated investments as of 31 March 2021 Revenues in EUR million Adj. EBITDA in EUR million
Realignment Royal de Boer & Japy Tech

iinovis

TréfilUnion

EUPEC
Clecim 2)

EXI 2)

Nexive 3)

 

 43.9 -11.7
Optimization SFC/Elastomer/Plati Group

Balcke-Dürr Group

Gemini Rail Group

Lacroix + Kress

Terranor Group

KICO Group

PrimoTECS

SABO

 

 215.2 1.1
Harvesting STS Group

Donges Group

BEXity

keeeper Group

Cenpa

 

 234.6 10.7

 

Outlook

Mutares confirms the guidance for the financial year 2021 communicated in the context of the publication of the Annual Report 2020. Accordingly, the Executive Board expects a significant increase in revenues, driven by all three segments. At the same time, the Executive Board also confirms the communicated expectations for the annual result of Mutares SE & Co. KGaA (“Mutares Holding”) of an exit-independent net income on consolidated revenues of 1%. This is based on management fees (consisting of consulting revenues and dividends). Based on current planning, the Executive Board assumes that the ability of Mutares SE & Co. KGaA to pay dividends is also ensured for the financial year 2021 at least at the level of market expectations.

 

1) Adjusted EBITDA is an EBITDA performance indicator adjusted for special effects. The calculation is based on reported Group EBITDA adjusted for transaction-related income (bargain purchases), restructuring and other non-recurring expenses, and deconsolidation effects.

²)The acquisitions of Clecim and EXI were completed on 31 March 2021. As a result, neither of them will contribute revenues or adjusted EBITDA to the Group in the first quarter of 2021.

³)The sale of Nexive to Poste Italiane was successfully completed in January 2021. Nexive therefore continued to contribute revenue and adjusted EBITDA to the Group for one month.