Società Editoriale Il Fatto S.p.a. : The Board of Directors approves the draft financial statement at December 31, 2021

PRESS RELEASE

SOCIETÀ EDITORIALE IL FATTO S.P.A.:

The Board of Directors approves the draft financial statement at December 31, 2021

Revenue growth in every business area, +4% vs. 2020; strong momentum in media content, +18% vs. previous fiscal year

Double-digit EBITDA growth, +13% compared to FY 2020; improved margin on value of production, at 15.4% (+159bps compared to 2020)

Significant improvement of the net financial position, positive (cash) for Euro 2.3 million, +67% compared to 31 December 2020

• Value of Production of Euro 38,490 thousand, +1.2% compared to Euro 38,027 thousand at December 31
• EBITDA of Euro 5.942 thousand, +12.8% compared to Euro 5,266 thousand as at 31 December 2020
• EBIT amounting to Euro 466 thousand, +188% compared to Euro 162 thousand as at December 31, 2020
• Positive net financial position (cash) and equal to Euro 2,295 thousand, compared to a positive NFP (cash) of Euro 1,373 thousand as at December 31, 2020 (+67.1%)
• Shareholders' equity of Euro 4,586 thousand compared to Euro 4,147 thousand as at 31 December 2020 + 3,8%

Rome, 31 March 2022 - The Board of Directors of SEIF S.p.A. (the "Company" or "SEIF") media content provider and publisher of several editorial and multimedia products, a company whose shares are traded on Euronext Growth Milan, a multilateral system organised and managed by Borsa Italiana S.p.A. and Euronext Growth Paris, announces that, today, the Board of Directors approved the draft financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Cinzia Monteverdi, President and CEO of SEIF, stated, "We are very pleased with the results achieved during 2021. The Company's revenues are growing in every business segment and we underline the excellent performance in the media content sector, moreover EBITDA is growing in double digits compared to 2020. These positive results are rewarding the Company's strategy that has invested in digitalization and technological innovation to offer its customers high value-added products and services, confirming itself more and more as a media company. The year 2021 also saw the birth of our Humanitarian Foundation project, of which we are particularly enthusiastic about the excellent results achieved in just a few months".

Financial Highlights

(in thousands of Euro)	Financial Year
	2021	% revenues on production value	2020	% revenues on production value
A) Production value
1) revenues from sales and services	32,533	84,52%	31,244	82,16%
2) variations of inventory of raw and auxiliary materials, consumables and supplies	-19	-0,050%	34	0,09%
4) increases in fixed assets for internal works	5,502	14.30&	6,255	16,45%
5) other revenues	473	1,23%	494	1,30%
Total (A)	38,490	100%	38,027	100%

The table shows, also for the year 2021, an increase in revenues from sales and services of Euro 1,289 thousand, equal to over 4%, and in the value of production of Euro 463 thousand, up 1.2%. The lower increase in Value of Production is influenced by the lower increase in fixed assets for internal work of Euro 753 thousand, essentially due to lower production costs of the television content of the Loft Produzioni division despite the increase in revenues from the exploitation of rights for the content produced.

An analysis of the change in revenues from sales and services reveals the following:

A.1 Revenues from sales and services	Value at 31.12.2021	% on revenues	Value at 31.12.2020	% on revenues	variat.	Var. %
Publishing sector	24,328	74.78%	23,809	76.20%	520	2.18%
Media content sector	3,532	10.86%	3,004	9.61%	528	17.59%
Advertising sector	4,673	14.36%	4,431	14.18%	241	5.45%
Total	32,533	100.00%	31,244	100.00%	1.290	4.13%

Publishing sector: revenues in the publishing sector grew by more than 2.0% overall, which is a significant result if we consider that, in detail, revenues from subscriptions and digital content were able to grow to such an extent as to totally offset the reduction in revenues from newsstand sales, an across-the-board trend for the entire reference market. Revenues attributable to the publishing segment are essentially made up of revenues from (i) newsstand sales of the daily newspaper for Euro 16,248 thousand, which decreased by over 6% compared to the previous year; (ii) sales of the monthly magazine FQMillennium for Euro 540 thousand, which decreased by over 7% compared to the previous year; (iii) sales of Paper First books in the newsstand and bookshop channel for Euro 1.478 thousand, up 3%; (iv) subscription sales of publishing products and digital content, amounting to Euro 6,059 thousand, up 37% on 2020.

Media content sector: revenues from the media content segment show a total increase of around 17.6% and are essentially made up of revenues from (i) the exploitation of television content, amounting to Euro 3,471 thousand, which registered an increase of 18.1% compared with the previous year; (ii) sales of theater shows and events, amounting to Euro 61 thousand, which decreased slightly (down Euro 4 thousand) compared with 2020..

Advertising sector: advertising revenues increased by 5.4%, demonstrating that our media represent channels of interest for advertising investors, maintaining a strong attraction even in complicated periods such as that of the 2021 financial year, where the persistence of tensions on the national economy caused by the persistence of the Covid-19 pandemic should not be forgotten. Revenues essentially include (i) advertising sales for the newspaper (Euro 710 thousand) and (ii) advertising sales for the website (Euro 3,959 thousand).

By analyzing the marginality of the business management, the following should be pointed out:

(in thousands of Euro)		Financial Year
	2021	% production value	2020	% production value
Production value	38,490	100.00%	38,027	100.00%
EBITDA	5,942	15.44%	5,266	13.85%
EBIT	466	1.21%	162	0.42%
EBT	453	1.18%	479	1.26%
Net Result	169	0.44%	301	0.79%

EBITDA is defined as: earnings for the year, adjusted for the following components: (i) income taxes for the year, (ii) financial components, and (iii) depreciation and amortization of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets, impairments and other provisions.

EBIT is defined as: earnings for the year, adjusted for the following components: (i) income taxes for the year, (ii) financial components.

EBT is defined as: earnings for the year, adjusted for the following components: income taxes for the year.

The value of EBITDA at 31.12.2021 shows an increase both in terms of incidence on the production value (+159 bps) and in terms of total amount (+ Euro 676 Euro).

EBIT shows an increase in margins after amortization and depreciation of around Euro 304 euros.

EBT and net income are lower than the previous year because, in 2020, these indicators were positively influenced by the financial income related to the capital gain on the sale of the equity investment which, moreover, being subject to taxation under the participation exemption regime, reduced the taxes due and allocated in the 2020 financial statements.

Information regarding the main balance sheet indicators for December 31, 2021 and 2020 is provided below. In particular, the reclassified statement of financial position by sources and uses is provided:

Financial Balance Sheet
Uses			31.12.2021	31.12.2020	Sources		31.12.2021	31.12.2020
Intangible fixed assets			8,923,166	8,263,277	share capital		2,501,000	2,500,000
Tangible fixed assets			169,888	201,916	reserves		3,072,684	3,076,103
Financial fixed assets			969,405	215,478	profit (loss) carried forward		-1,156,051	-1,456,976
					profit (loss) for the year		168,787	300,925
	Fixed asset		10,062,459	8,680,671	Shareholders' equity		4,586,420	4,420,052
Cash on hand and in banks			93,823	160,038	Consolidated liabilities		4,998,800	5,175,472
Deferred cash			6,552,775	7,570,677
Immediate cash			3,111,950	3,264,387	Current liabilities		10,235,787	10,080,249
	Current liabilities		9,758,548	10,995,102	Liabilities			15,255,721
	Invested Capital		19,821,007	19,675,773	Financing capital		19,821,007	19,675,773

Shareholders' Equity increased by Euro 166 thousand, following the achievement of the net profit 2021. The item Equity Reserves amounts to Euro 3,073 thousand and consists of the Extraordinary Reserve of Euro 3,695 thousand, the Legal Reserve of Euro 500 thousand, the negative Reserve for treasury shares in portfolio of Euro 1,137 thousand and the Reserve for expected cash flow hedging transactions of Euro 6 thousand. In addition, on November 30, 2021, the last conversion period for warrants issued at the time of the listing in 2019 expired. Following the exercise of conversion rights by the holders, 10,000 shares were issued in exchange for the payment of Euro 9.7 thousand, of which 1 thousand euros was allocated to increase the share capital and Euro 8.7 thousand to share premiums.

The following is an analysis of cash flows for 2021 compared to those for the same period last year:

Cash flows
(in thousands of Euro)	31.12.2021	31.12.2020
Profit (loss) for the year before income taxes, interest, dividends	466	301
Adjustments for non-monetary items	6,123	5,713
Changes in net working capital	624	936
Other changes	-393	-578
Cash flow from operations (A)	6,820	6,372
Cash flow from investing activities (B)	-6,667	-6,109
Cash flow from financing activities (C)	-305	2,460
Increase (decrease) of cash and cash equivalents (A ± B ± C)	-152	2,723
Cash and cash equivalent at the beginning of the financial year	3,264	541
Cash and cash equivalent at the end of the financial year	3,112	3,264
Changes on cash and cash equivalent	-152	2,723

 

Net Financial Position		31.12.2021	31.12.2020
Current financial receivables
Liquidity – cash and cash equivalent		(4,485,785)	(3,862.715)
Current financial payables
Current financial payables		610,109	298,415
Net current financial debt		(3,875,676)	(3,564,300)
Non-current financial payables
Non-current financial payables		1,581,146	2,191,255
Net financial position - NFP		(2,294,530)	(1,373,045)
Avarage collection days (giorni medi di incasso - DSO)	45		56
Average payment days (giorni medi di incasso - DPO)	69		61

Current Net Financial Position, amounting to Euro 3,876 thousand, consists exclusively of cash and cash equivalents, net of the portion of the medium-term loan whose repayment instalments fall due within 12 months of the end of the year. The loan of Euro 2,500 thousand originally intended to support investment in 2020 is regularly being repaid. Once again during the year under review, operations generated positive cash flow, enabling the Company to fund all its current operations as well as self-finance its investment program, without giving up its current cash on hand but rather investing any temporary surpluses. It should be noted that the overall Net Financial Position, net of the portion of loans falling due beyond the next financial year but within five years, amounts to Euro 2,295 thousand, marking an improvement of Euro 922 thousand.

Allocation of profit for the year 2021

The Board of Directors resolved to propose that the General Meeting of Shareholders carry forward the net income for the year, amounting to 168,787 euros, to be used to partially cover previous losses.

Activities carried out in 2021

In the year under review the Company kept all production branches operational, registering an increase of over 4% in revenues from sales and services. The upward trend in revenues of recent years was thus confirmed in 2021, reaching a total of 32.5 million euros, compared with approximately 31.2 million euros in the previous year. It should be noted that each division achieved an increase in revenues (publishing, media content, advertising sales). The Company also continued its investment program in the digitization of products, technological innovation and the production of television content.

The Company's financial structure allowed for adequate management of cash flows capable of supporting both current production activities and the fully self-financed investment program.

 Significant events occured after the end of the year

After December 31, 2021 and up to the date of approval of the draft financial statement, no corporate events have occurred that would have an impact on the reported results of operations. As of today, the Company has not recorded any reductions in operating activities or in the related volumes of revenues and cash flows.

Business outlook ?

It is foreseeable that in 2022, also due to the negative effects caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine on the cost of raw materials, which in the publishing sector are mainly represented by energy, transport and paper, a continuous trend of increases in some industrial costs will be faced, which may weaken the entire production chain of the publishing sector in the broad sense and also cause a reduction in operating margins. The Company is implementing various countermeasures to promptly and flexibly streamline production models in order to reduce the impact on the current year as a whole, an impact that is not expected to affect the Company's production volumes and/or general operating capacity. The country's economic crisis is forcing the Company to accelerate its path towards digitalization, the revenue trend registered so far being in line with development objectives.

Calling of Ordinary and Extraordinary General Meeting and filing of documents

The Board of Directors granted the Chairman and Managing Director the power to convene the Shareholders' Meeting on April 29, 2022 in order to resolve, in ordinary session, on the approval of the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021, on the allocation of the result for the year, on the appointment of the audit firm for the financial years 2022, 2023 and 2024 and on the appointment of a member of the Board of Directors as well as, at an extraordinary session, to make some minor amendments to the Articles of Association requested by Borsa Italiana in order to clarify the Panel's responsibilities with regard to the Tender Offer.

The documentation required by current legislation, including the reasoned proposal that will be made by the Board of Statutory Auditors concerning the appointment of the external auditors, will be made available at the registered office in Via di Sant'Erasmo 2, Rome, and on the Company's website www.seif-spa.it, Investor Relations section, within the terms set out by current legislation.

Additional information

In addition to the financial information referred to in the preceding points, the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement are hereby attached.

Further information

In addition to the above financial information, the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement are attached.

1.Ordinary Balance Sheet

	31/12/2021	31/12/2020
Assets
B) Fixed assets
I – Intangible fixed assets	-	-
1) start-up and capital costs	563,425	829,554
4) concessions, licenses, trademarks and similar rights	61,607	98,830
6) assets under construction and payments on account	223,662	1.044.596
7) other	8,074,472	6.290.297
Total intangible fixed assets	8,923,166	8,263,277
II – Tangible fixed assets	-	-
4) other assets	169,888	201,916
Total tangible fixed assets	169,888	201,916
III – Financial fixed assets	-	-
2) receivables	-	-
d-bis) other receivables	961,902	212,960
due within the next year	751,266	212,960
due after the next year	210,636	-
Total receivables	961,902	212,960
4) active derivative financial instruments	7,503	2,518
Total financial fixed assets	969,495	215,478
Total fixed assets (B)	10,062,459	8,680,671
C) Current asset
I - Inventories	-	-
1) raw, subsidiary and consumable materials	1,797	49,448
4) finished products and goods	92,026	110,590
Total inventories	93,823	160,038
II - Receivables	-	-
1) trade receivables	4,250,922	5,050,536
due within the next year	4,250,922	5,050,536
5-bis) tax receivables	405,667	499,375
due within the next one year	405,667	499,375
5-ter) pre-paid taxes	649,803	777,529
5-quater) from third parties	416,813	421,364
due within the next one year	416,813	421,364
Total receivables	5,723,205	6,748,804
III – Financial assets not of a fixed nature	-	-
6) other assets	622,659	598,328
Total financial assets not of a fixed nature	622,659	598,328
IV – Cash and cash equivalents	-	-
1) bank and postal deposit	3,111,004	3,260,371
3) cash at bank and in hand	946	4,016
Total cash and cash equivalents	3,111,950	3,264,387
Total current assets (C)	9,551,637	10,771,557
D) Accrual and deferred income	206,911	223,545
Total assets	19,821,007	19,675,773
Liabilities
A) Shareholders' equity	4,586,420	4,420,052
I – Share capital	2,501,000	2,500,000
II – Share premium reserve	8,700	-
IV – Legal reserve	500,000	500,000
VI – Other reserves, indicated separately	-	-
Extraordinary reserve	3,694,856	3,694,856
Total other reserve	3,694,856	3.694,856
VII – Reserve for hedging operations of expected cash flows	5,702	1,914
IX – Profit (loss) carried forward	(1,156,051)	(1,456,976)
IX – Profit (loss) of the year	168,787	300,925
X – Negative reserve for purchase of own shares	(1,136,574)	(1,120,667)
Total shareholders' equity	4,586,420	4,420,052
B) Provisions for risks and charges
2) tax provisions, including deferred tax liabilities	1,801	604
4) other	685,289	663,289
Total for risks and charges	687,090	663,893
C) Employee severance indemnity	2,730,564	2,320,324
D) Payables
4) bank financing	2,191,255	2,489,670
due within the next year	610,109	298,415
due after the next year	1,581,146	2,191,255
7) tax payables	3,942,364	3,727,114
due within the next year	3,942,364	3,727,114
12) tax payables	481,563	551,583
due after the next year	481,563	551,583
13) amounts payable to social security institutions	1,113,514	1,021,870
due within the next year	1,113,514	1,021,870
14) other receivables	2,571,708	2.836,588
due within the next year	2,571,708	2.836,588
Total receivables	10,300,404	10,626,825
E) Accrual and deferred income	1,516,529	1,644,679
Total liabilities	19,821,007	19,675,773

2.Ordinary Income Statement

	31/12/2021	31/12/2020
A) Production value
1) revenues from sales and services	32,533,207	31,243,512
2) variations of inventory of raw and auxiliary materials, consumables and supplies	(18,564)	34,212
4) increases in fixed assets for internal works	5,502,187	6,255,486
5) other revenues and income	-	-
other	473,016	494,100
Total other revenues and income	473,016	494,100
Total production value	38,489,846	38,027,310
B) Cost of production
6) for raw and auxiliary materials, consumables and supplies	945,628	1,133,515
7) for services	17,537,844	17,170,893
8) for use of assets owned by others	1,635,078	1,795,058
9) for personnel	-	-
a) salaries and wages	8,407,641	8,610,079
b) social security	2,646,645	2,696,310
c) employee severance indemnity	527,103	462,774
e) other costs	167,954	303,604
Total personnel costs	11,749,343	12,072,767
10) amortization, depreciation and impairment	-	-
a) depreciation of intangible fixed assets	5,194,812	4,964,237
b) depreciation of tangible fixed assets	90,649	82,737
d) writedowns of receivables included in current assets and cash and cash equivalents	40,000
Total amortization, depreciation and impairment	5,325,461	5,046,974
11) variations of inventory of raw and auxiliary materials, consumables and supplies	47,651	124,894
12) provisions for risks	150,644	57,394
14) other operating costs	632,423	464,312
Total of cost of production	38,024,072	37,865,807
Difference between value and costs of production (A - B)	465,774	161,503
C) Financial revenues and expenses
15) financial income from investments:	-	-
financial income from investments	-	333,061
Total financial income from receivables recorded as fixed assets	-	333,061
16) other financial revenues	-
a) from receivables recorded as fixed assets	-	-
other	1,800	1,800
Total revenues different from the previous	1,800	1,800
c) from securities included under the working capital which are not shareholdings	36,435	12,515
d) revenues different from the previous	-	-
other	4,388	37
Total of financial revenues other than the above	4,388	37
Total of other financial revenues	42,623	14,352
17) Interests and financial expenses	-	-
other	54,209	31,343
Total interests and financial expenses	54,209	31,343
17-bis) exchange gains and losses	(942)	1,061
Total financial revenues and expenses (15+16-17+-17-bis)	(12,528)	317,131
Result before taxes (A-B+-C+-D)	453,246	478,634
20) Current, deferred and prepaid taxes on the income of the year
current taxes	156,734	157,022
taxes related to previous years	127,725	20,687
Total current, deferred and prepaid taxes on the income of the year	284,459	177,709
21) Profit (loss) for the year	168,787	300,925

3.Cashflow statement, indirect method

	Amonut at 31/12/2021	Amont at 31/12/2020
A) Cash flows from operating activities (indirect method)
Profit (loss) for the year	168,787	300,925
Income taxes	284,459	177,709
Payable (receivable) interest	12,528	15,930
(Gains)/Losses on disposal of assets		(333,061)
1) Profit (loss) for the year before income tax, interest, dividends and capital gains/losses from conveyances	465,774	161,503
Adjustments to non monetary items that were not offset in the net working capital.
Allocation to preserves	812,730	666,433
Depreciation of fixed assets	5,285,461	5,046,974
Other adjustments to increase/(decrease) non-monetary items	24,331
Total adjustments for non-monetary items that were not offset in the net working capital	6,122,522	5,713,407
2) Cash flow before changing net working capital	6,588,296	5,874,910
Changes in net working capital
Decrease/(increase) in inventory	66,215	90,682
Decrease/(increase) in payables to customers	799,614	(962,754)
Increase (decrease) in trade payables	215,250	8,537
Decrease/(Increase) in accrued income and prepayments	16,634	16,758
Increase/(Decrease) in accrued income and prepayments	(128,150)	362,885
Other decreases/(Other increases) in net working capital	(345,407)	1,419,810
Total changes in net working capital	624,156	935,918
3) Cash flow after changes in net working capital	7,212,452	6,810,828
Other adjustments
Interest received/(paid)	(12,528)	(15,930)
(Use of funds)	(380,490)	(421,820)
Total other adjustments	(393,018)	(437,750)
Cash flow from operating activity (A)	6,819,434	6,373,078
B) Cash flow from investment activity
Tangible fixed assets
(Investments)	(58,621)	(62,775)
Intangible assets
(Investments)	(5,854,701)	(6,974,730)
Financial fixed assets
(Investments)	(753,927)	-
Divestitures		928,620
Cash flow from from investiment activity (B)	(6,667,249)	(6,108,885)
C) Cash flow from financing activity
Third party resources
Increase (Decrease) in short-term payables to banks	(298,415)	298,415
Starting financing		2,191,255
Own resources
Capital increase against payment	9,700
Transfer/(purchase= of own shares	(15,907)	(29,911)
Cash flow from financing activity (C)	(304,622)	2,459,759
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents (A ± B ± C)	(152,437)	2,723,952
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year
Bank and postal deposits	3,260,371	583,023
Money and equivalents on hand	4,016	2,412
Total of cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year	3,264,387	540,435
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year
Bank and postal deposits	3,111,004	3,260,371
Money and equivalents on hand	946	4,016
Total cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year	3,111,950	3,264,387

SOCIETÀ EDITORIALE IL FATTO S.P.A. (SEIF) is an independent media company, founded in Rome in 2009 and led by Cinzia Monteverdi, President and CEO. The company publishes several editorial and multimedia products, including Il Fatto Quotidiano, founded by Antonio Padellaro and edited by Marco Travaglio, the news website ilfattoquotidiano.it and the monthly magazine FQ Millennium, edited by Peter Gomez, and the publishing house Paper First, edited by Marco Lillo. SEIF has recently embarked on a process of diversification to become more and more of an all-round media content provider, launching a strategy to develop its products in a digital and data-driven key and to produce TV with the LOFT business unit.

For further information: Press Office: Close To Media – Società fondata da Elisabetta Neuhoff Via Caradosso 8 – 20123 Milano Tel: [phone]  Enrico Bandini mail: [e-mail] Tel: [phone] Amany Soliman mail: [e-mail]  Tel: [phone] ,

Euronext Growth Advisor Alantra Capital Markets Via Borgonuovo, 16 – 20121 Milano tel. [phone] Stefano Bellavita mail: [e-mail] SEIF - Investor relations 06 32818514 Cinzia Monteverdi (CEO): [e-mail] Luigi Calicchia (CFO): [e-mail]

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