APG|SGA : Letter to shareholders 2021-1 / Half-year Report (296.1 KB)

Letter to Shareholders

www.apgsga.ch

At a glance - 1st half-year

Advertising revenue

(CHF m)

146.0

145.1

152.3

107.8

105.9

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

EBIT

(CHF m)

30.9

28.6

24.4

1.3

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

-5.1

Cash flow from operating activities

(CHF m)

	12.5
4.4	4.8

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

-10.7	16.5
	-

EBITDA (CHF m)

37.7	35.3
		29.7

6.4

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

-0.2

Consolidated net income

(CHF m)

25.2

22.7

19.4

1.0

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

-5.1

Earnings per share

(CHF)

8.4	7.59	6.46

0.34

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

-1.69

APG|SGA SA Letter to shareholders July 29, 2021 3

COVID-19 pandemic puts a significant brake on business development.

Comprehensive cost reduction measures introduced.

Growth projects in the areas of digitalization, data, innovation on course.

Financial situation sound.

In brief

• Advertising revenue: CHF 105.9 million -1.7% (Switzerland -4.6%, International +66.7%)
• EBITDA: CHF 6.4 million
• EBIT: CHF 1.3 million
• Consolidated net income: CHF 1.0 million
• Free cash flow: CHF -14.1 million

Financial highlights

in CHF 1 000	1st half of 2021	1st half of 2020	Change
Advertising revenue	105 931	107 810	-1.7%
- Switzerland	98 719	103 484	-4.6%
- International	7 212	4 326	66.7%
Operating income	107 110	110 297	-2.9%
EBITDA	6 376	-206
- in % of operating income	6.0%	-0.2%
EBIT	1 325	-5 092
- in % of operating income	1.2%	-4.6%
Consolidated net income	1 032	-5 066
- in % of operating income	1.0%	-4.6%
Cash flow from operating activities	-16 521	4 786
Free cash flow1	-14 069	2 968
Investments in property, plant, and equipment	3 330	3 018	10.3%
- advertising panel	1 543	2 718
- other investments	1 787	300
Earnings/Loss per share, in CHF	0.34	-1.69

EBITDA: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation of property, plant, and equipment, and amortization of intangible assets

EBIT: Earnings before interest and taxes

1 Cash flow from operating activities (operating cash flow) CHFt -16 521 (previous year: CHFt 4 786) plus cash flow from investing activities CHFt 2 452

(previous year: CHFt -1 818), (see page 9 Consolidated statement of cash flows)

4 APG|SGA SA Letter to shareholders July 29, 2021

Dear Shareholder:

General business development

The restrictions imposed by the authorities in the first half of 2021 to stem the COVID-19 pandemic once again had a significant impact on the sales and earnings development of APG|SGA in this reporting period.

The obligation to work at home imposed by Swiss authorities led to a huge reduction in mobility in the first half of the year - particularly on public transport. But the business model of an outdoor advertising company is based on as many contacts as possible reached by the advertising panels. For APG|SGA, this means analog and digital advertising spaces in public spaces, particularly railway stations, airports and other public transport, all of which were significantly affected by the decline in frequency. In addition, extensive restrictions on certain economic sectors meant that they in turn reduced their advertising investments considerably.

Faced with these extremely difficult framework conditions, APG|SGA implemented further measures to reduce costs and secure liquidity. However, it also consistently developed digital growth projects and expanded the service portfolio to make it fit for the future. Despite the persistence of difficult conditions and limited visibility, we believe that the fundamental factors for both outdoor advertising and APG|SGA remain positive. This was evident in the second quarter of the current financial year, when the relaxation of individual restrictions was followed immediately by the first signs of recovery.

APG|SGA Group

In the first half of 2021, the APG|SGA Group achieved advertising revenues of CHF 105.9 million, representing a decline of 1.7%. Despite difficult market conditions, real estate revenue was CHF 0.9 million, slightly higher than the previous year's levels. Other operating income represented the sale of obsolete tangible assets, which amounted to CHF 0.3 million in the reporting period. This resulted in operating income for the first half of 2021 of CHF 107.1 million, representing a fall of 2.9%.

Fees and commissions represented 60.7% of operating income in the first half of 2021, coming in below the previous year's level. This decrease was driven by temporarily reduced concession fees implemented under COVID-19 agreements and changes in the composition of revenue structures.

Personnel expenses fell by 7.0% in the reporting period. Compensation for short-term work and deferred replacements for vacant positions contributed to this reduction. Despite further expenditure in growth projects in the digital service portfolio and digital automated booking and processing platforms, operating and administrative costs were again reduced significantly by 19.3% through a mix of temporary and long-termcost-saving measures and reduced sponsorship activities.

Business development remains heavily impaired by the pandemic. Only through consistent application of measures in all cost areas could the group manage to improve on the previous year's results. For the reporting period, this resulted in an EBITDA of CHF 6.4 million (previous year: CHF -0.2 million) and an EBIT of CHF 1.3 million (previous year: CHF -5.1 million).

The consolidated net income for the first half of 2021 amounted to CHF 1.0 million (previous year: CHF -5.1 million).

Cash flow

The first half of 2021 saw operating cash flow of CHF -16.5 million (previous year: CHF 4.8 million). This decline is due to the sharp increase in advance payments to our concession partners compared with the previous year, in which we made reduced advance payments. Higher customer requirements also contributed to this decline.

Cash flow from operating activities is subject to seasonal fluctuations and is always significantly lower in the first half of the year than the second. After cash flow from investment activities of CHF 2.5 million was taken into account, this resulted in a free cash flow of CHF -14.1 million (previous year: CHF 3.0 million).

APG|SGA SA Letter to shareholders July 29, 2021 5

Balance sheet

The balance sheet total fell by CHF 5.8 million in the first half of 2021 to CHF 199.4 million. Non-current assets remained almost unchanged. Intangible fixed assets amounted to CHF 20.3 million, corresponding to 10.2% of the balance sheet total. Current assets decreased by CHF 5.3 million. Although other accounts receivable increased by CHF 11.0 million, short-term financial investments fell by CHF 6.0 million, with cash and cash equivalents decreasing by CHF 13.7 million. As at June 30, 2021, cash and cash equivalents stood at CHF 52.9 million. Equity amounted to CHF 91.3 million, representing an equity ratio of 45.8%. Current liabilities fell by CHF 7.8 million. Trade accounts payable increased by CHF 3.4 million, but accrued liabilities and deferred income fell by CHF 9.0 million.

Swiss market

For the first half of 2021, advertising revenues for APG|SGA stood at CHF 98.7 million, 4.6% below the previous year. Not surprisingly, sales from the retail, tourism, gastronomy and art and cultural events sectors were particularly hard hit. Due to reduced frequency, much greater caution was shown in booking communication spaces in particular at railway stations and airports and on public transport. Low frequency figures in the area of public transport also brought unfavorable development in the promotional space business. By contrast, the "traditional" analog poster product saw truly robust revenue development, since private road traffic was significantly less affected than public transport.

With the further expansion of its digital service in the first half of the year, APG|SGA consolidated its leading position in the digital Out of Home segment. Recent months have brought numerous new product additions in a range of Swiss cities and towns (Locarno, Bellinzona, Zurich, Rapperswil, Uster, Wetzikon, Zug, Olten, Visp, Baden and Basel). All these products can also be booked programmatically together with more than 500 large screens, allowing more precise tailoring to target groups in terms of location and time. In southern Switzerland, the digital portfolio increased to include 120 TrafficMediaScreens in 81 vehicles of Trasporti Pubblici Luganesi TPL. This means that APG|SGA operates by far the largest digital network in Ticino, while continuing to expand its leading position in the field of transport advertising at a national level.

Under its comprehensive digital strategy, APG|SGA launched a new e-commerce platform. This includes a new website, a comprehensive product finder with 160,000 advertising spaces, and APG|SGA easy, a web shop that sets new standards in the planning and booking of analog and digital outdoor advertising. APG|SGA further consolidated its leading position in Switzerland for analog and digital Out of Home media in the attractive "Mountains" communication space. Numerous major mountain destinations such as Anzère, Arosa- Lenzerheide, Grächen, Grindelwald-Männlichen, Jungfraubahnen, Ovronnaz and Zermatt Bergbahnen AG chose to extend their exclusive collaboration and partnership with APG|SGA for the long term.

Serbian market

The international operations of APG|SGA consist of its Serbian subsidiary Alma Quattro d.o.o., which contributed 6.8% to group revenues in the reporting period. Serbia secured sufficient COVID-19 vaccine very early in the reporting period and the vaccination strategy was implemented quickly. This allowed Serbia to largely relax the measures to contain COVID-19 in early April. The economy then recovered rapidly.

The sharp increase in advertising revenues contributed 62.1% in local currency in the first half of 2021. The strengthening of the Serbian dinar resulted in an increase of 66.7% in Swiss francs. Advertising revenue returned to pre-COVID-19 levels, with results for the first half of 2021 at about the same level as the first half of 2019.

Organization

At the APG|SGA AG General Meeting on April 28, 2021, all members standing for reelection were confirmed for a further year. The Board of Directors comprises Dr. Daniel Hofer (Chairman), Xavier Le Clef (Vice-Chairman), Dr. Maya Bundt, Jolanda Grob, Stéphane Prigent and Markus Scheidegger. Jolanda Grob (Chair) and Markus Scheidegger were elected to the Board of Directors' Remuneration Committee. Robert Schmidli did not stand for re-election as he had reached the statuary age limit.