PRESS RELEASE

LOTUS BAKERIES: 2021 ANNUAL RESULTS

Regulated information 07/02/2022 - 7.45 AM

  1. Lotus Bakeries realises turnover of EUR 750.3 million and more than 13% growth.
  1. Lotus Biscoff® and Lotus Natural Foods™ both grow strongly, by 15% and 20% respectively. o Lotus Bakeries continues to invest heavily in the growth of both category and brands.
    o Recurrent EBITDA rises by more than EUR 15 million or 11.3% to EUR 151 million. o Net financial debt brought back to EUR 82 million or 0.6 times REBITDA.
    o Proposal to increase the gross dividend by 13% to EUR 40 per share.
    o In 2022, EUR 100 million will be invested in the expansion of production capacity.

1. 2021 RESULTS

Income statement (1) (in thousands of EUR)

2021

2020

Evolution %

Turnover

750,251

663,289

+13.1

Recurrent operating result (REBIT) (2)

123,805

111,114

+11.4

Recurrent operating cash flow (REBITDA) (3)

150,967

135,683

+11.3

Non-recurrent operating result

(4,135)

(4,593)

-10.0

Operating result (EBIT) (4)

119,670

106,521

+12.3

Financial result

(2,373)

(3,004)

-21.0

Profit for the year before taxes

117,297

103,517

+13.3

Taxes

(26,554)

(20,972)

+26.6

Net result

90,743

82,545

+9.9

Recurrent net result

93,942

86,208

+9.0

Total number of shares on 31 December(5)

811,903

810,471

+0.2

Key figures per share (in EUR)

Recurrent operating result (REBIT)

152.49

137.10

+11.2

Recurrent operating cash flow (REBITDA) (3)

185.94

167.41

+11.1

Balance sheet (in thousands of EUR)

Balance sheet total

992,092

844,227

+17.5

Equity

519,532

433,744

+19.8

Investments (6)

65,720

47,971

+37.0

Net financial debts (7)

81,826

110,457

-25.9

Gross dividend (8) (in EUR per share)

40.0

35.5

+12.7

  1. The balance sheet and income statement for 2021 are appended to this Press Release.
  2. REBIT is defined as the recurrent operating result, consisting of all the proceeds and costs relating to normal business.
  3. Recurrent operating cash flow is defined as recurrent operating result + depreciations + provisions and amounts written off + non-cash costs valuation option and warrant plan.
  4. EBIT is defined as recurrent operating result + non-recurrent operating result.
  5. Total number of shares on 31 December, excluding treasury shares.
  6. Investments in tangible fixed assets, intangible fixed assets and participating interests.
  7. Net financial debts are defined as interest bearing financial debts - investments - cash and cash equivalents - treasury shares, and are reported excluding the 'lease liability' that results from the implementation of the new IFRS 16 Leases standard. Including this 'lease liability', the net financial debts amount to kEUR 94,602.
  8. For 2021: dividend will be proposed to the Ordinary General Shareholders' Meeting of 13 May 2022.

The statutory auditor, PwC Bedrijfsrevisoren, represented by Lien Winne, has confirmed that its audit work on the consolidated balance sheet and consolidated income statement, which has been substantially completed, has not revealed the need for any material deviations to the accounting information contained in this press release.

PRESS RELEASE

2. MANAGEMENT EXPLANATION

Regulated information 07/02/2022 - 7.45 AM

2.1 Group turnover increases by 13.1% or EUR 87 million

In 2021, Lotus Bakeries Group's consolidated turnover increased by EUR 87 million to EUR 750.3 million, representing 13.1% growth. The 13% growth in the first half of the year therefore continued unabated in the second half. Positive exchange rate effects amount to 0.6%.

The three strategic pillars, Lotus Biscoff®, Lotus Natural Foods and Lotus Local Heroes, all made a positive contribution to this strong growth. Such consistently high growth confirms once more that the focused strategy is working and reinforces Lotus Bakeries' conviction in the international growth ambitions set for both Lotus Biscoff® and Lotus Natural Foods.

PRESS RELEASE

Regulated information 07/02/2022 - 7.45 AM

Lotus Biscoff®, the Group's first and largest strategic pillar, grew by 15% this year. The first half of the year was influenced by the positive impact of the reopening of the hospitality sector and the partial recovery of air traffic in the US. In the second half of the year, the international expansion of Lotus Biscoff® Cookies, Lotus Biscoff® Spread and Lotus Biscoff® Ice Cream continued unabated. This year saw double digit growth in the large consumer markets of the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), China, Korea, Germany, Spain, Italy, Canada and Australia, among other areas. Lotus Biscoff® Cookies were the strongest riser in the top ten of the global Cookie Brand ranking in 2021, rising to 7th place.

Following an initial launch in four countries in 2020, the Lotus Biscoff® Sandwich Cookie has been rolled out further internationally over the past 12 months. This innovation is highly successful and the cookie has become a firm favourite in the assortment over the past two years. It is currently sold in 25 countries and is a major booster for Lotus Biscoff®'s incremental penetration in each country. In the second half of 2022, a new production line will become operational in the Belgian factory in Lembeke, to support the strong growth of the Lotus Biscoff® Sandwich Cookie.

Lotus Biscoff® Spread and Lotus Biscoff® Ice Cream also experienced strong growth in 2021. The success of Lotus Biscoff® Ice Cream is due to the unique Lotus Biscoff® taste and associated experience enjoyed by consumers. This makes the ice cream a good ambassador for Lotus Biscoff® Cookies. Following the initial launch of Lotus Biscoff® Chocolate in Belgium, this will also be internationalised from 2022. The first countries where the chocolate will be introduced are the United Kingdom (UK), the United States (US), France and the Netherlands.

PRESS RELEASE

Regulated information 07/02/2022 - 7.45 AM

Lotus Bakeries' second strategic pillar is natural snacking within Lotus Natural Foods. While slightly negative growth was still recorded in the first two months of 2021 due to the tightening of lockdowns, combined with a pre-COVID-19 basis for comparison, from March onwards more growth was achieved systematically month by month. This positive trend continued in the second half of the year, with growth of 25%. Thus, Lotus Natural Foods realised a turnover of more than EUR 140 million in 2021. Moreover all brands grew strongly last year.

This strong recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic reinforces Lotus Bakeries' conviction in the strategy adopted for Lotus Natural Foods. A strategy based on further expansion of market-leading brands and focus on innovations in the UK on the one hand and accelerated international growth on the other. The international Lotus Natural Foods business outside the UK has grown by around 40% and now represents 26% of total Lotus Natural Foods sales.

PRESS RELEASE

Regulated information 07/02/2022 - 7.45 AM

The third pillar of the Lotus Bakeries strategy is the focus on 'local heroes' in the home markets of Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Sweden. This pillar realised growth of more than 3% in 2021.

The waffle assortment grew strongly once more in both Belgium and France. The Liège waffle is performing particularly well, supported by media campaigns in both countries. In addition to this, double digit growth was achieved with Dinosaurus, partly thanks to the successful introduction of the new Filled Dinosaurus cookies. Following growth of more than 20% last year, Annas Pepparkakor grew once again in 2021, remaining the undisputed market leader for the pepparkakor cookies category in Sweden.

In the Netherlands, turnover for the 'local heroes' remained stable. In the gingerbread segment, following the negative impact of the lockdowns in the first quarter, the on-the-go gingerbread brand Snelle Jelle recovered significantly. Koninklijke Peijnenburg saw its market share increase slightly in the gingerbread category. Following the stabilisation of Peijnenburg's turnover, investments to re-energise the gingerbread category and ensure growth again for Peijnenburg, continued consistently. Thus, in the final quarter, a new media campaign was launched with the baseline 'Van Happen word je Happie' (Eating Peijnenburg makes you happy).

2.2 Recurrent operating cash flow rises by more than 11%

In 2021, Lotus Bakeries achieved a recurrent operating result (REBIT) of EUR 123.8 million and a recurrent operating cash flow (REBITDA) of EUR 151 million. Both profitability parameters rose by more than 11% or EUR 12.7 million and EUR 15.3 million respectively.

The turnover and volume growth bring about a positive sales and operating margin contribution. Depreciations increased in line with investments in additional capacity. Alongside this, the Group continues to invest in organisation and people. The growth ambitions and expansion plans can only be realised by reinforcing and expanding sales teams, operational teams and support roles which need to develop to keep pace with the Group's growing international footprint. For instance, this year saw the establishment of the new Lotus Natural Foods headquarters in Switzerland, where all international activities, brands and Global Accounts are centralised. More than 30 colleagues now work there.

While marketing and media support remained below pre-COVID-19 levels in the first half of the year, turnover growth was more heavily supported by marketing and media investments in the second half of the year. Over 2021 as a whole, marketing and media-related costs increased by more than EUR 5 million compared to 2020.

The non-recurrent operating result amounts to EUR -4.1 million. This stood at EUR -4.6 million last year and was then primarily made up of direct COVID-19 costs in order to guarantee continuity and safety in the factories. This year, expenses mainly comprise one-off costs resulting from the relocation and merger of two Lotus Natural Foods offices in the UK and preparation and start-up costs for further capacity expansions in the US.

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Lotus Bakeries NV published this content on 07 February 2022 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 07 February 2022 06:57:01 UTC.