KAP AG surpasses revenue and earnings forecast despite difficult market environment

Corporate news | Preliminary annual results for 2020

  • At EUR 338.7 million, revenue was above the forecast range of EUR 300 to 330 million 
  • Normalised EBITDA increased to EUR 32.8 million (+2.8% year-on-year)
  • Key milestones were reached in the transformation: Significant improvement in the normalised EBITDA margin to 9.7% 
  • Significant reduction in net debt and strong cash flow 
  • Proposed dividend of EUR 0.75 per share (previous year: EUR 0)
  • 2021 forecast: revenue between EUR 300 and 330 million and normalised EBITDA between EUR 27 and 33 million (excluding it/services segment)

Fulda, 19 March 2021 – According to preliminary consolidated figures, KAP AG, a listed SME holding company in the industrial sector, generated revenue of EUR 338.7 million in the 2020 financial year (previous year: EUR 372.8 million). This meant that revenue was around 9% lower than the previous year’s figure but higher than the forecast of EUR 300 to 330 million specified in September 2020. Normalised earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (“normalised EBITDA”) also developed better than expected. At EUR 32.8 million (previous year: EUR 31.9 million), it was higher than the communicated target range of EUR 27 to 30 million and higher than in the previous year. The normalised EBITDA margin also improved year on year, rising 1.1 percentage points to 9.7%. The KAP Group’s most important key performance indicator is therefore only marginally below the minimum target of 10.0%. Despite the very good earnings performance at operating level, the consolidated result will remain slightly negative due to non-recurring expenses, although significantly better than in the previous year. The it/services segment’s business units held for sale are still fully reflected in the preliminary results for 2020. 

Eckehard Forberich, Member and Spokesman of the Management Board of KAP AG: “We're satisfied with our business performance in light of the extremely gloomy and uncertain market environment. The faster-than-expected recovery from the effects of the pandemic has shown that we responded appropriately to the crisis and have a diverse and thus overall resilient investment portfolio. We’d like to extend our special thanks to our employees. They have demonstrated the highest level of flexibility in these difficult times and made this robust business performance possible. We have therefore been able to continue to concentrate on significantly improving our operating profitability.”

Varied segment development 

Business performance in the segments was very mixed in 2020. The engineered productssurface technologies and precision components segments were hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, as they operate in sectors that were exposed to a sharp decrease in demand, such as the automotive industry. Their revenue therefore performed significantly worse than in the previous year. However, in the engineered products segment, the realignment implemented showed visible effects and resulted in a significant improvement in the operating result. The flexible films segment proved to be a winner in the crisis and was able to make use of attractive market opportunities, despite the uncertain market environment, and thus achieve double-digit growth in revenue. The operating segment result and the profit margin were also significantly higher than the previous year. The flexible films segment benefited from its strong market position and new sales opportunities, e.g. in the field of medical protective clothing. The it/services segment, which is held for sale due to a very attractive offer, was hardly impacted by the pandemic and continued on its growth course. The diversified portfolio approach successfully cushioned the considerable effects of the pandemic.

Significant reduction in net debt and strong cash flow

KAP AG further optimised its financing structure in the 2020 financial year despite the challenging environment. Net debt was thus reduced even more significantly over the course of the year than in the previous year. Compared to 2019, it fell by nearly 40% to around EUR 55 million as of 31 December 2020. Due to successful measures to improve working capital management and careful management of investments, there were significantly higher cash inflows in 2020. Free cash flow increased to EUR 30 million (previous year: EUR 19 million). 

Marten Julius, CFO of KAP AG: “We progressed well again in our strategic development, particularly in the optimisation of working capital management. That’s made a significant contribution to good cash flow development and to reducing debt.”

Proposed dividend of EUR 0.75 per share 

Due to robust business performance and a solid financial position, the Management Board and Supervisory Board have decided to propose a dividend of EUR 0.75 per share to the Annual General Meeting despite the impact of the pandemic. This continues KAP AG’s shareholder-friendly dividend policy. The dividend payment for the 2019 financial year was suspended last year due to the uncertainties in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, which were difficult to assess at the time. This is now being made up for.

Acceleration of the transformation in the 2021 financial year

The Management Board will systematically continue the KAP Group’s strategic realignment in 2021 in order to create the basis for a long-term and sustainable improvement in profitability. The focus in this process is largely on strengthening sales and continuing the efficiency measures. For the 2021 financial year, the Management Board expects revenue between EUR 300 and 330 million and normalised EBITDA of EUR 27 to 33 million. This forecast does not take into account the it/services segment’s discontinued operations or the currently unpredictable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Eckehard Forberich, Member and Spokesman of the Management Board of KAP AG: “We've already taken the first steps towards achieving our medium-term targets. We want to further expand our leading positions in our existing industrial niche markets and become even more profitable. Like in the previous year, we’re also going to continue to work on making KAP AG even leaner and more efficient overall.”

We will publish the complete audited 2020 annual report on 23 April 2021 and make it available on our website: https://www.kap.de/en/investor-relations/reports/annual-reports.


Contact:

KAP AG                                     
Marten Julius (CFO)  
E: m.julius@kap.de
T: +49 661 103 715

Kirchhoff Consult AG
Nicole Schüttforth
E: nicole.schuettforth@kirchhoff.de
T: +49 40 609 186 64

About KAP AG

KAP AG is a listed industrial group in the upper midsize market that offers attractive growth opportunities in its respective niche markets. KAP AG focuses on five different business areas: engineered products, flexible films, surface technologies, precision components and it/services. Through targeted acquisitions, the company strengthens its existing business areas or exploits new market opportunities. KAP allows its shareholders to participate in its long-term profitable growth through a stable dividend. The group currently has 29 locations and around 2,700 employees in 12 countries. The shares of KAP AG are listed on the Regulated Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Prime Standard, ISIN DE0006208408).