SOLUTIONS 30 SE MARKET INFORMATION AND RESUMPTION OF TRADING ON MONDAY, MAY 24, 2021
During the Audit Committee meeting held on May 20, 2021, EY, Solutions 30’s auditor, informed the company that it was not in a position to express an opinion on its 2020 financial statements, without however submitting its final report which incorporates the basis of this impossibility to express an opinion. At the time of this press release, the final audit report was not available.
In the meantime, the Supervisory Board meeting on May 20, 2021, took note of EY’s position and confirmed the main 2020 financial aggregates, already communicated on April 28, 2021, which remain unchanged:
- 2020 revenue came in at €819.3 million, up 18%
- EBITDA is €106.5 million
- Adjusted EBIT is €60.9 million
- A net cash surplus of €59.2 million
The group’s net income amounted to €34.5 million, after taking into account a correction proposed by the company and relating to the recognition of an additional tax expense of €2.4 million. In the first quarter of 2021, revenue grew by 19% to €225.2 million.
Action plan
The Management Board, in agreement with the Supervisory Board, has taken the following decisions in the interests of the group and its stakeholders:
- The annual general meeting of shareholders is scheduled for June 30, 2021, the regulatory deadline. The preparatory documents for this meeting will therefore be made available to shareholders on May 31st.
- The group’s annual report will be published after receiving EY’s final audit report. As a result, the company is still unable to provide a precise timetable for the publication of this report.
- The company is considering the possibility of appointing a new auditor.
EY’s assertion that it is not in a position to express an opinion is unusual in that it does not constitute an unqualified, a qualified, or an adverse opinion.
This is a paradoxical situation for Solutions 30 since:
- The company has a solid financial structure and a business model that has enabled it to finance its growth, while keeping its level of debt largely under control, as evidenced by its cash position of €159 million in its bank accounts that are carried on its balance sheet at December 31, 2020.
- Every year since 2005, the company’s financial statements have received an unqualified opinion from its auditors, in particular from EY for fiscal 2019, the year IFRS was adopted, and for the review of the half-yearly financial statements at June 30, 2020.
- The conclusions of the independent investigations carried out by Deloitte and Didier Kling Expertise & Conseil have confirmed the financial information from previous years communicated by the company, in particular its level of growth, its margin rates, the level and nature of its bank debt, the accounting treatment and the level of invoices to be issued, software development costs, negative goodwill, and non-operating income.
Faced with the possible consequences of this disclaimer of opinion, the group decided to refer the matter to the President of the Commercial Court of Bobigny for the purpose of requesting that a conciliator be appointed to assist it and in doing so anticipate the answers or solutions needed to ensure the support of the group’s partners.
At the same time, Solutions 30 has initiated a selection process for investment bankers in order to start searching for reference shareholders. The project, which the company does not intend to comment on beyond its legal obligations to do so, could go as far as a delisting.
A group positioned in high-growth markets
Positioned in fast-growing markets, the group employs 15,700 people in 10 European countries. Its customers include the largest companies and groups in Europe in the telecoms, energy, and IT sectors. Its job is extremely tangible: deploying optical fiber, connecting homes to the Internet, installing smart electricity meters, or providing IT assistance to individuals and companies.
Building on its recent commercial successes across Europe, notably in Italy and Spain with broadband Internet deployments and in Belgium with the installation of smart meters, Solutions 30 and all its teams are focused on delivering the best service to their customers to support the digital transformation and the energy transition.
Resumption of trading
Despite the absence of an annual financial report and a precise timetable for its publication, the company has asked Euronext Paris to resume the listing of its shares (FR0013379484) as of the opening of trading on Monday, May 24th.
About Solutions 30 SE
The Solutions 30 group is the European leader in solutions for new technologies. Its mission is to make the technological developments that are transforming our daily lives accessible to everyone, individuals and businesses alike. Yesterday, it was computers and the Internet. Today, it’s digital technology. Tomorrow, it will be technologies that make the world even more interconnected in real time. With more than 30 million call-outs carried out since it was founded and a network of more than 15,700 local technicians, Solutions 30 currently covers all of France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Iberian Peninsula, the United Kingdom, and Poland. The share capital of Solutions 30 SE consists of 107,127,984 shares, equal to the number of theoretical votes that can be exercised.
Solutions 30 SE is listed on the Euronext Paris exchange (ISIN FR0013379484- code S30). Indexes: MSCI Europe Small Cap | Tech40 | CAC PME | SBF120 | CAC Mid 60. Visit our website for more information: www.solutions30.com
Contact
Individual shareholders Investor relations | Tel: +33 1 86 86 00 63 | actionnaires@solutions30.com
Analysts/investors Nathalie Boumendil | Tel: +33 6 85 82 41 95 | nathalie.boumendil@solutions30.com
Press - Image 7 Leslie Jung | Tel: +44 7818 641803 | ljung@image7.fr
Flore Larger | Tel: +33 6 33 13 41 50 | flarger@image7.fr
Charlotte Le Barbier | Tel: +33 6 78 37 27 60 | clebarbier@image7.fr
Attachment
- S30_PR_INFORMATION- 21-05-21
