PRESS RELEASE

14 AUGUST 2019

Regulated information EMBARGO - 14 August 2019, 08.15 CET Roularta Media Group

RESULTS FOR FIRST HALF OF 2019

Roularta realises a strong increase in sales and EBITDA.

The Group's revenue has risen to € 147.9 million (+17.8% on last year) and the EBITDA has increased to € 10.7 million compared to € -5.3 million last year.

The brands acquired last year for female target groups, including Libelle, Femmes d'Aujourd'hui, Flair, Feeling and GAEL, have proved to be valuable contributions to Roularta Media Group's already strong brand portfolio. This collective portfolio boasts powerful synergies that are clearly visible in the figures for the first half of the year. Integration required intense work but proved to be successful thanks to concerted efforts by all our staff.

The joint ventures including brands such as De Tijd, L'Echo, Plus Magazine etc. have also done well and made a positive contribution once again. The net result of these joint ventures has risen by € 5.0 million to € 1.1 million. In 2018 there was an exceptional impairment of € 4.7 million.

Aside from the acquisitions, revenue fell by € 7.8 million or 6.3%. This decrease was experienced mainly in advertising reve- nue, across all brands. If the acquisitions are included, advertising revenue has maintained its status quo and the readership market has grown substantially.

An increasing gross margin percentage (78.8% in June 2019 compared to 77.8% in June 2018) and the lower costs in percent on revenue for services and other goods as well as staff (-5% on last year) have ensured a rising EBITDA in absolute terms and percentage of revenue.

IFRS 16 has been applied for the first time. This reveals an increase in assets and debts amounting to € 5.3 million. In the income statement, the impact of IFRS 16 on the net results is zero, although there is a shift of € 0.6 million from leasing costs to depreciations, which has resulted in a positive impact on EBITDA.

The EBIT is € 3.9 million or 2.6% of revenue, which is almost identical to the net result of € 3.8 million because there is hardly any income tax or interest to be paid. Excluding minority interests, the net result for the RMG shareholders is € 4.1 million, or € 0.33 per share.

REGULATED INFORMATION EMBARGO - 14 AUGUST 2019, 08.15 CET / ROULARTA MEDIA GROUP

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1. FINANCIAL KEY FIGURES FOR THE FIRST HALF OF 2019

1.1 Consolidated key figures

in thousands of euros

30/06/19

30/06/18

Trend (%)

INCOME STATEMENT

Sales

147,949

125,558

+17.8%

Adjusted sales (1)

116,722

124,543

-6.3%

EBITDA (2)

10,713

-5,259

+303.7%

EBITDA - margin

7.2%

-4.2%

EBIT (3)

3,899

-73,134

+105.3%

EBIT - margin

2.6%

-58.2%

Net finance costs

-36

-3,150

-98.9%

Operating result after net finance costs

3,863

-76,284

+105.1%

Income taxes

-70

-168

-58.3%

Net result from continuing operations

3,793

-76,452

+105.0%

Net result from discontinued operations

0

151,117

-100.0%

Net result

3,793

74,665

-94.9%

Net result attributable to minority interests

-342

-890

+61.5%

Net result attributable to equity holders of RMG

4,136

75,555

-94.5%

Net result attributable to equity holders of RMG - margin

2.8%

60.2%

Number of employees at closing date (4)

1,248

1,246

+0.2%

  1. Adjusted sales = sales on a like-on-like basis with 2018, i.e. excluding changes in the consolidation scope.
  2. EBITDA = EBIT + depreciations, write-downs and provisions.
  3. EBIT = operating result, including the share in the result of associated companies and joint ventures.
  4. Joint ventures (Mediafin, Bayard etc.) not included and for 2019 including the employees of the Women Brands.

The consolidated revenue for the first half of 2019 has experienced an increase of 17.8%, from € 125.6 million to € 147.9 mil- lion. This increase can be attributed to the Women Brands such as Libelle, Femmes d'Aujourd'hui, Flair, Feeling/GAEL, etc. that have belonged to Roularta's portfolio since the middle of last year. Thanks to the acquisition, we have noted an increase in subscription recruitment (+32.6%) and newsstand sales (+198.4%), and a status quo in advertising revenue.

In the adjusted sales, the readership market is declining slightly (-4.6%), based on relatively stable subscriptions and a decrease in newsstand sales. In the advertising revenue for the adjusted sales, we do however see a decrease of 11.7%. This decline can be observed for all products. Printing for third parties has increased by 4.3%.

The EBITDA rose from € -5.3 million to € +10.7 million or an EBITDA percentage of 7.2%. This turnaround is both the result of an increased EBITDA in the fully consolidated entities (€ +11.0 million) and the associated companies and joint ventures (€ +5.0 million). Last year there was an impairment loss on this line for the joint ventures, which has not happened in 2019.

The EBIT has evolved from € -73.1 million to € 3.9 million. Last year, the EBIT included an exceptional write-down of € 63.2 million on brands with an unlimited lifetime.

The net finance costs, which were still € 3.1 million in the first half of 2018, are almost zero in 2019 due to the repayment of loans (including the bond loan) in the second half of 2018.

No extra deferred tax assets were set up in the results for June 2019.

REGULATED INFORMATION EMBARGO - 14 AUGUST 2019, 08.15 CET / ROULARTA MEDIA GROUP

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The total of the discontinued and continuing operations ensured a net result of € +3.8 million as opposed to € +74.7 million last year. The net result in 2018 included the capital gain on the sale of the share in Medialaan (€ 150.3 million).

Consolidated key figures per share

in euros

30/06/19

30/06/18

Trend (%)

EBITDA

0.85

-0.42

302.4%

EBIT

0.31

-5.83

105.3%

Net result attributable to equity holders of RMG

0.33

6.02

-94.5%

Net result attributable to equity holders of RMG after dilution

0.33

5.99

-94.5%

Weighted average number of shares

12,544,690

12,540,584

0.0%

Weighted average number of shares after dilution

12,600,426

12,617,393

-0.1%

2. DISCUSSION OF THE SEGMENT RESULTS

2.1 Media Brands

in thousands of euros

30/06/19

30/06/18

Trend

Trend (%)

INCOME STATEMENT

Sales

129,185

108,170

21,014

19.4%

Adjusted sales (1)

97,958

107,155

-9,198

-8.6%

Gross margin

97,602

78,231

19,371

24.8%

Gross margin on sales

75.6%

72.3%

(1) Adjusted sales = sales on a like-on-like basis with 2018, i.e. excluding changes in the consolidation scope.

The Media Brands segment refers to all brands that are managed by RMG and its subsidiaries.

Sales by the Media Brands division increased by 19.4% or € 21.0 million, from € 108.2 million to € 129.2 million.

Advertising

Sales of the free newspapers of the department Roularta Local Media decrease by 12.8% compared with the first half of 2018. Advertising revenues from newspapers fell by 7.0%. Sales from advertising in magazines increased by 25.8% in the first half of 2019, mainly due to the acquisition of the Women Brands.

Advertising revenue from the various internet sites rose by 2.9% thanks to the acquisition of the Women Brands.

Readership market

Revenue from the readership market (newsstand sales and subscriptions) increased by 59.3% compared to the first half of 2018.

Miscellaneous

Adjusted miscellaneous sales remain approximately the same compared to the first half of 2018, and slightly decreased by 0.6%.

The gross margin in percent of revenue rose from 72.3% to 75.6%. In absolute value, the gross margin increased by € 19.4 million to € 97.6 million.

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2.2 Printing Services

in thousands of euros

30/06/19

30/06/18

Trend

Trend (%)

INCOME STATEMENT

Sales

40,011

38,196

1,816

4.8%

Adjusted sales (1)

40,011

38,196

1,816

4.8%

Gross margin

20,103

20,865

-762

-3.7%

Gross margin on sales

50.2%

54.6%

(1) Adjusted sales = sales on a like-on-like basis with 2018, i.e. excluding changes in the consolidation scope.

The 'Printing Services' segment refers to pre-press and print shop activities for internal brands and external customers.

Revenue from the Printing Services segment increased by € 1.8 million or 4.8%, from € 38.2 million to € 40.0 million.

€ 0.6 million of the € 1.8 million increase is due to internal printing and € 1.2 million to external printing.

In absolute value, the gross margin decreased by € 0.8 million to € 20.1 million. The gross margin decreased in percentage of revenue from 54.6% to 50.2%, mainly due to the charging of lower standard cost prices for internal work.

3. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET

Balance sheet

in thousands of euros

30/06/19

31/12/18

Trend (%)

Non-current assets

181,268

184,108

-1.5%

Current assets

169,160

171,000

-1.1%

Balance sheet total

350,428

355,108

-1.3%

Equity - Group's share

220,486

222,561

-0.9%

Equity - minority interests

757

1,100

-31.2%

Liabilities

129,184

131,447

-1.7%

Liquidity (5)

1.5

1.5

+0.0%

Solvency (6)

63.1%

63.0%

+0.2%

Net financial debt

-85,341

-95,658

+10.8%

Gearing (7)

-38.6%

-42.8%

+9.8%

  1. Liquidity = current assets / current liabilities.
  2. Solvency = equity (Group's share + minority interests) / balance sheet total.
  3. Gearing = net financial debt / equity (Group's share + minority interests).

Equity - Group's share at 30 June 2019 was € 220.5 million compared with € 222.6 million at 31 December 2018. The change on equity consists mainly by the profit for the first half of 2019 (€ 4.1 million) minus the dividend paid on the 2018 result (€ 6.3 million). The interim dividend on the 2018 result (€ 62.6 million) was paid in the second half of 2018.

REGULATED INFORMATION EMBARGO - 14 AUGUST 2019, 08.15 CET / ROULARTA MEDIA GROUP

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NV Roularta Media Group published this content on 14 August 2019 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 14 August 2019 06:31:05 UTC