Weimar, August 31, 2020 - IBU-tec advanced materials AG ("IBU-tec", ISIN: DE000A0XYHT5) increased earnings in the first half of 2020, despite a significant decline in sales. Based on this and due to a noticeable upturn in business in recent months, IBU-tec confirms the annual forecast made prior to the Covid-19 induced lockdown. Consolidated sales revenues in the first six months of the year amounted to EUR 14.3 million, compared to EUR 27.4 million in the previous year. This was mainly due to project postponements caused by mobility restrictions during the lockdown of the Corona crisis, a certain reluctance among customers from the automotive industry and the partial and ongoing production loss after the fire at the Group subsidiary BNT Chemicals at the end of December 2019.
However, unexpectedly positive stimuli came from the pharmaceutical sector, where a contractual relationship with a major international group was extended beyond the originally planned term and another international pharmaceutical group was acquired as a new customer. In terms of costs, IBU-tec has made significant cuts that are not yet fully reflected in the reporting period. Personnel expenses were reduced by around 7.4 percent. Among other things, opportunities such as short-time working were utilized, and the number of employees was also reduced. At the end of the first half of the year, 218 people were employed compared with 251 a year earlier.
According to HGB accounting, Group EBITDA for the first half of 2020 amounted to EUR 3.9 million, compared to EUR 3.8 million in the same period of the previous year. IBU-tec expects payments from insurance compensation for the interruption of operations due to the fire at BNT Chemicals and for the resulting damage to property, plant and equipment to be recognized in the income statement in the current year in the amount of approximately EUR 8.9 million. Around EUR 4.3 million of these payments have already been included in the half-year results. At 27.3 percent, the EBITDA margin was twice as high as in the previous year (13.7 percent). Consolidated net income of EUR 1.7 million was also doubled, compared with the figure of EUR 0.8 million in the prior-year period. Group equity increased to EUR 33.6 million as of June 30, 2020, up from EUR 31.8 million a year earlier, and the equity ratio rose from 53.9 percent to 56.0 percent.
In the first months of the second half of 2020, IBU-tec recorded a noticeable upturn in business, even though sales in the second half of the year are unlikely to quite reach the level of the same period last year. Accordingly, a decline in sales in the lower double-digit percentage range - up to around 30 percent - is predicted for the year as a whole, compared to the previous year's figures. The annual forecast is also maintained with regard to EBITDA. IBU-tec expects a positive EBITDA and a double-digit EBITDA margin, including outstanding insurance payments.
In the first phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, IBU-tec used the break in the operational business development to set the strategic course for the Group. In the future, a dual structure is planned in both areas of the Group, IBU-tec and BNT Chemicals, in which service offerings and the Group's own products will promote each other in synergy. In the field of thermal process engineering, IBU-tec plans to develop market-oriented products that have the potential to generate direct economic success.
The semi-annual report 2020 is now available for download on the IBU-tec website, www.ibu-tec.de, in the Investor Relations section.
About IBU-tec
The IBU-tec Group develops and produces innovative materials of the highest quality for the industry. It combines unique, partly patent-protected thermal process engineering, with the process and material know-how of around 250 highly qualified employees.
The products are important components of battery materials for electric mobility and stationary energy storage, as well as solutions for air purification, resource conservation or the reduction of plastic packaging. IBU-tec is thus in a long-term position to respond to global megatrends, especially in the fields of climate and environmental protection. It has an international customer base ranging from innovative medium-sized companies to global corporations.
Further information can be found online at www.ibu-tec.de
Contact
edicto GmbH
Axel Mühlhaus
Eschersheimer Landstraße 42-44
60322 Frankfurt
Tel. +49 (0) 69-905505-52
E-Mail: IBU-tec@edicto.de
IBU-tec advanced materials AG
Max Narr
Hainweg 9-11
99425 Weimar
Tel.+49 (0) 151 67955683
E-Mail: max.narr@ibu-tec.de