Board of Directors approves results as of September 30 2018
CIR GROUP: NET INCOME AT € 34 MLN IN FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 2018
Revenues up by 3.2% at € 2,092.6 mln, EBITDA stable at € 246 mln
Net financial position of the parent company at 30/9 positive for € 320.3 mln
Milan, October 29 2018 – The Board of Directors of CIR-Compagnie Industriali Riunite S.p.A., which met today under the chairmanship of Rodolfo De Benedetti, has approved the Interim Financial Report as of September 30 2018 presented by Chief Executive Officer Monica Mondardini.
The CIR group operates mainly in three sectors: automotive components (Sogefi), media (GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and healthcare (KOS).
Consolidated results
The revenues of the CIR group for the first nine months of 2018 came in at € 2,092.6 million, with a rise of 3.2% from € 2,027.8 million in the same period of 2017. The increase was due to the growth of the revenues of KOS (+11.9%) mainly because of the acquisitions made last year, and of GEDI (+10.4%) thanks to the merger of the ITEDI group.
The gross operating margin (EBITDA) came to € 246 million (11.8% of revenues) and was in line with the figure of € 247 million (12.2% of revenues) for the first nine months of 2017.
The net income of the group was € 34 million, compared to a loss of € 26 million in the first nine months of 2017, due to a significant tax charge of an extraordinary nature reported by GEDI.
The contribution of the industrial subsidiaries (Sogefi, GEDI and KOS) to the first nine months came to € 31.5 million, in line with the contribution of € 32 million in the same period of 2017, before the above-mentioned tax charge.
Sogefi reported EBITDA of € 153.1 million, down from the first nine months of 2017 (€ 161.9 million), on account of the negative impact of foreign exchange and the rise in the price of steel which had an unfavourable effect on the margin of the Suspensions business unit. Net income was € 23.1 million (€ 27.9 million in the same period of 2017).
GEDI, whose main business activity continues to be affected by the critical evolution, reported a rise in revenues of 10.4% compared to the same period of last year, thanks to the merger with ITEDI, and net income of € 7.8 million (in the first nine months of 2017 the group reported a loss of € 143.9 million; excluding the tax charge, the result would have a positive € 10.6 million).
KOS reported a rise in revenues of 11.9%, due to growth in all areas of its business and to the full contribution of the acquisitions made in 2017. EBITDA was up by 18.9% at € 74.9 million and the net result was € 24.8 million (€ 19 million in the same period of 2017).
The contribution of the parent company (including the non-industrial subsidiaries) was a positive € 2.5 million compared to € 12 million in the first nine months of 2017, because of the lower result of financial management.
Consolidated net debt stood at € 354.4 million at September 30 2018, up from € 272.5 million at December 31 2017 and € 131.9 million at September 30 2017.
The total net debt of the industrial subsidiaries amounted to € 674.7 million at September 30 2018, which was higher than the figure at September 30 2017 (€ 459.4 million) because of GEDI’s extraordinary disbursement of a tax nature (€ 175 million), the acquisitions made by SOGEFI (€ 16.7 million) and KOS (€ 36.7 million) and the dividends paid out by the latter (€ 29.7 million).
The net financial position of the parent company (including the non-industrial subsidiaries) at September 30 2018 was a positive € 320.3 million, versus € 343 million at December 31 2017 and € 327.5 million at September 30 2017. The change in the first nine months of 2018 was due to the disbursements made for the distribution of dividends (€ 24.8 million) and for the buyback of own shares (€ 10.1 million), offset by the positive cash flow from operations (€ 12.2 million).
The equity of the group amounted to € 953.8 million at September 30 2018, down from € 961 million at December 31 2017. The change of € 7.2 million was due to a combination of the net income for the period offsetting the distribution of dividends and the buyback of own shares.
At September 30 2018 the CIR group had 16,411 employees (15,839 at December 31 2017).
Results of the industrial subsidiaries of the CIR group
Automotive components: Sogefi
Sogefi is one of the main producers worldwide in the sectors of suspensions, filtration, and air and cooling systems for motor vehicles with 41 production plants in three continents. The company is controlled by CIR (56.8%) and is listed on the Stock Exchange.
Sogefi’s revenues in the first nine months of 2018 totalled € 1,219.8 million and were up by 3.3% at constant exchange rates, outperforming the market; at current exchange rates they were down by 1.8% on the same period of 2017.
At constant exchange rates, Suspensions posted growth of 5.3% (-0.3% at current exchange rates mainly because of the loss in value of the South American currencies), Filtration reported a rise of 3.1% (-3.2% at current exchange rates again due to the loss in value of the South American currencies) while, lastly, Air & Cooling sales grew by 0.7% (-2.4% at current exchange rates, affected by the decline in car production in North America and the lower value of the US Dollar).
EBITDA came in at € 153.1 million, compared to € 161.9 million in the first nine months of 2017, with profitability (EBITDA/revenues) edging down from 13% to 12.6%. The main factors determining this evolution (despite the positive effect of € 6.6 million relating to the settlement of the Systèmes Moteurs S.A.S. claims) were the exchange rates (with a negative effect of € 6.4 million) and the higher steel prices, which had a negative impact of around € 9.0 million on the Suspensions result.
Net income was € 23.1 million versus € 27.9 million in the first nine months of 2017 (1.9% of revenues compared to 2.2% in 2017).
Net financial debt stood at € 286.2 million at September 30 2018 versus € 264 million at December 31 2017.
For further information on the results of Sogefi, see the press release issued by the company on October 22 (goo.gl/8RZNeu).
Media: GEDI Gruppo Editoriale
GEDI Gruppo Editoriale (formerly Gruppo Editoriale L’Espresso), after the merger of ITEDI (publisher of the newspapers La Stampa and Il Secolo XIX) in 2017, is the leading publisher in Italy of daily and multimedia news, as well as being one of the main players in Europe. It operates specifically in the following sectors: newspapers and magazines, radio, the internet and the collection of advertising. The group is controlled by CIR (45.8%) and is listed on the Stock Exchange.
In the first nine months of 2018 GEDI’s revenues totalled € 469.7 million and were up by 10.4% compared to the same period of 2017 (-5.9% on a like-for-like basis). The revenues from all the digital activities together accounted for 11.3% of the group’s revenues.
Circulation revenues came to € 215.5 million and were up by 14.5% on those of the same period of last year (-8.4% on a like-for-like basis) in a market that has continued to report a significant decline in newspaper circulation.
Advertising revenues rose by 9.2% compared to the first nine months of 2017 but were down by 2.5% on a like-for-like basis. As for the group’s media, orders for radio grew by 4.7%, those for the internet were up by 17.8% and those for the printed press were up by 10.6%.
EBITDA came to € 31.4 million compared to € 33.7 million in the first nine months of 2017.
Net income came in at € 7.8 million versus a loss of € 143.9 million in the first nine months of 2017, due to the extraordinary tax charge.
Net debt totalled € 124.7 million at September 30 2018, compared to € 115.1 million at December 31 2017.
For further information on the results of GEDI, see the press release issued by the company on October 22 (goo.gl/LB2gmJ).
Healthcare: KOS
KOS, which is controlled by CIR (59.5%) and in which F2i Healthcare has an interest, is one of the largest groups in Italy in the sector of health and social care (long-term care, oncology diagnostics and treatments, management of hospital facilities). The group manages 85 facilities in Italy, mainly in the centre and north of Italy, for a total 8,038 beds, and is also active in India and the United Kingdom.
In the first nine months of 2018 KOS reported revenues of € 403.1 million, posting an increase of 11.9% on the figure of € 360.1 million in the same period of 2017. The Long Term Care area reported growth thanks to the full contribution of the acquisitions made in 2017 and 2018; the Diagnostics, oncology treatments and acute area also grew thanks to the new services launched and to the full contribution of Ecomedica, acquired in 2017.
EBITDA came in at € 74.9 million, up by 18.9% from € 63 million in the first nine months of 2017.
Net income was € 24.8 million, up from € 19 million in the first nine months of 2017.
Net debt stood at € 264.3 million at September 30 2018 versus € 237.1 million at December 31 2017.
During these nine months KOS has continued its process of growth in long-term care. The group has acquired: Ideas S.r.l., which manages a care home for the non-self-sufficient elderly in the Marche region; Casa di Cura S. Alessandro S.r.l., active in psychiatric rehabilitation; Ippofin S.r.l., which manages a psychiatric community and a health and social care home.
Non-core investments
The non-core investments of the CIR group consist of private equity initiatives, non-strategic shareholdings and other investments with a total value at September 30 2018 of € 83.7 million (€ 74 million at December 31 2017).
More specifically the CIR group has a diversified portfolio of funds in the private equity sector. The fair value at September 30 2018 was € 50.2 million, down by € 2.8 million compared to December 31 2017.
At September 30 2018, CIR directly or indirectly had investments in non-strategic shareholdings worth € 22.7 million and a portfolio of non-performing loans worth a total of € 10.8 million.
Outlook for 2018
For the whole year the CIR group expects to confirm the trends reported in the first nine months unless there are any extraordinary events that cannot at the moment be foreseen.
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The executive responsible for the preparation of the company’s financial statements, Giuseppe Gianoglio, hereby declares, in compliance with the terms of paragraph 2 Article 154 bis of the Finance Consolidation Act (TUF), that the figures contained in this press release correspond to the results documented in the company’s accounts and general ledger.
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