POLYTEC HOLDING AG: Results 1st quarter 2020

Hörsching (pta012/07.05.2020/09:00 UTC+2) .
Growth in the automotive industry in the first quarter of 2020 shrank considerably. In the EU, new car registrations fell by 25.6% and those of trucks by 23.2%. In January 2020 the new coronavirus appeared and proceeded to spread rapidly around the globe. Subsequently, the succession of crisis measures imposed by national governments from the middle of March and curfews for the limitation of the pandemic, resulted in massive economic effects upon virtually every industry.

The POLYTEC GROUP is also subject to these impacts and as major customers introduced shutdowns at their plants, POLYTEC was forced to cease production at virtually all of its locations. After already weak months, this led to sales revenue losses above average in March.

* Consolidated sales revenues down by 7.5% at EUR 149.1 million
* EBITDA amounts to EUR 11.7 million, the EBITDA margin to 7.8%
* EBIT totals EUR 2.7 million, the EBIT margin to 1.8%
* The result after income tax stands at EUR 1.5 million
* Earnings per share amount to EUR 0.06
* The equity ratio falls by 1 percentage point to 40.7% (compared to 31.12.2019)
* Closing balance of cash and cash equivalents amounted to EUR 63.3 million (as at 31.03.2020)

In the first quarter of 2020, consolidated POLYTEC GROUP sales declined by 7.5% over the same period of the preceding year to stand at EUR 149.1 million (Q1 2019: EUR 161.3 million).

In the passenger cars and light commercial vehicles market area, which with a 69.4% (Q1 2019: 57.4%) share of total sales represents the strongest area within the POLYTEC GROUP, sales in the first quarter of 2020 rose by 11.8% to EUR 103.4 million (Q1 2019: EUR 92.5 million) and were thus markedly higher than those of the identical period of the previous year. This increase was due primarily to the additional sales revenues of EUR 12.6 million generated by the initial consolidation on 1 September 2019 of the newly founded POLYTEC CAR STYLING Weierbach GmbH.

As compared to the first quarter of 2019, sales in the commercial vehicles market area (19.9%; Q1 2019: 32.3%) showed a sharp fall of 43.0% from EUR 52.1 million to EUR 29.7 million. The sales of parts for trucks and other commercial vehicles had already declined considerably in the second half of 2019 and as a consequence, a lower number of call-offs in the first three months of 2020 was recorded. Furthermore, the Turkish truck market collapsed almost completely, necessitating the closure of the local POLYTEC plant and related sales losses.

With a figure of 10.7%, the smart plastic and industrial applications market area maintained its share of POLYTEC GROUP consolidated sales at roughly the level of the preceding year (10.3%). Despite the sales revenues from the production of logistics boxes for the foods industry, which could be generated even during the Covid-19 affected month of March, non-automotive products showed a slight fall of 4.2%.

In the first three months of 2020, POLYTEC GROUP EBITDA amounted to EUR 11.7 million (Q1 2019: EUR 17.7 million). This fall was primarily the result of unrealised contribution margins, which emanated from the reduced sales revenues in the commercial vehicles market area, as well as substantial deviations with regard to call-offs by the main car customer. As compared to the same period of the previous year, the EBITDA margin declined by 3.2 percentage points from 11.0% to 7.8%. Group EBIT in the months from January to March totalled EUR 2.7 million (Q1 2019: EUR 9.1 million). As opposed to the same period of 2019, the EBIT margin was down by 3.9 percentage points and thus declined from 5.7% to 1.8%.

The financial result for the first three months of 2020 amounted to minus EUR 0.8 million (Q1 2019: minus EUR 0.9 million). The group net profit amounted to EUR 1.5 million (Q1 2019: EUR 6.1 million), which corresponded with earnings per share of EUR 0.06 (Q1 2019: EUR 0.27).

As compared to 31 December 2019, on 31 March 2020, the group's balance sheet total was EUR 7.1 million higher at EUR 612.7 million. The equity ratio on 31 March 2020 was one percentage point lower than on the reporting date of 31 December 2019 at 40.7%. As compared to the 31 December 2019 reporting date, net debt fell by EUR 5.7 million to EUR 150.3 million. Closing balance of cash and cash equivalents amounted to EUR 63.3 million (as at 31 March 2020).

Outlook
In view of the eventful development of the corona crisis during March and April and the continually changing shifts in the general situation, it remains impossible to reliably predict the economic implications for the POLYTEC GROUP. Nonetheless, it may be assumed that despite the capacity adjustments already undertaken and the initiation of additional measures, depending upon the duration of the adverse effects and the efficiency of the gradual resumption of production in the automotive industry, negative impacts upon the sales revenues and earnings of the POLYTEC GROUP in the 2020 financial year can be anticipated.

The Q1 interim report of POLYTEC Holding AG as at 31 March 2020 closing date is available on the group website under "Investor Relations, publications".
https://www.polytec-group.com/en/investor-relations/publications

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Emitter:	POLYTEC HOLDING AG Polytec-Straße 1 4063 Hörsching Austria
Contact Person:	Mag. Paul Rettenbacher
Phone:	+43 7221 701 292
E-Mail:	paul.rettenbacher@polytec-group.com
Website:	www.polytec-group.com
ISIN(s):	AT0000A00XX9 (Share)
Stock Exchange(s):	Vienna Stock Exchange (Official Trade)