Be | Shaping the Future (Group) announces Q1 financials
6th May, 2021 – MILAN
Be: Total Revenues at €51.8M (+24,9% vs Q1 2020). EBITDA +46,9% and EBT + 70,8% vs. Q1 2020
The Board of Directors of Be Think Solve Execute SPA (“Be”), listed on the STAR Segment of Borsa Italiana, today met at the Company’s headquarters in Milan to approve the Interim Financial Report as of March 31st 2021.
Key Highlights
- Total Revenues €51.8 (€41.5M as of 31.03.2020)
- EBITDA €9.2M (€6.3M as of 31.03.2020)
- EBIT €6.6M (€4.0M as of 31.03.2020)
- EBT €5.8M (€3.4M as of 31.03.2020)
“A high impact start to 2021 – says CEO Stefano Achermann – +25% y-o-y on Revenues, +47% y-o-y of EBITDA growth and +71% y-o-y on EBT. The virtuous process of translation of growth into increasing profitability has begun. The outlook for the year is solid with many new and important opportunities to seize. Firstwaters’ entry into the group had an even greater impact than expected, immediately demonstrating the soundness of the investment.
More generally, the entire foreign network is showing signs of strong vitality and increasing integration. We are focused on creating an increasingly leading position for the group at the service of the Financial Industry and in the Digital Engagement segment.”
Main consolidated results as of March 31st 2021
Total Revenues stood at €51.8M compared to €41.5M as of March 31st 2020. Business Consulting and ICT segments recorded total revenues equalling respectively €36.6M (€29.2M as of March 31st 2020) and €12.1M(€11.2M as of March 31st 2020) while the Business Digital segment, made up of companies previously partly included in the ICT sector, is reported independently, with total revenues of €3.1M (€1.1M as of March 31st 2020). Total Revenues by foreign subsidiaries totalled €17.2M (33,1% of Total Revenues), compared to €13.7M as of March 31st 2020.
The Gross Operating Margin (EBITDA) was €9.2M, up 46.9% on March 31st 2020 (€6.3M), with an EBITDA margin of 17.8% vs. 15.1% as of March 31st 2020 – reflecting higher-margin Business Consulting and Digital Engagement components in the business mix.
EBIT amounted to €6.6M, up 66.5% from March 31st 2020 (€4.0M).
The Group pre-tax result (EBT) amounted to €5.8M, up 70.8% on March 31st 2020 (€3.4M). Net Financial Debt, amounted to €29.9M, (€23.7M as of March 31st 2020) against a positive amount of €3.3M as at December 31st 2020 due to usual seasonal nature of Company’s cash flow as well as to an extraordinary outflow for M&A transactions occurred in Q1 for €11M.
Significant events during the period
In January, Be Group reached an agreement to acquire 86% of the share capital of Firstwaters GmbH, a Management Consulting firm based in Frankfurt am Main and Vienna, providing services to Financial Institutions. The agreement has implied the initial acquisition by Be of 85.71% of the Firstwaters share capital in Q1 2021 against a price of €10.2 million. Be will complete the acquisition of the remaining shares at the end of Fiscal Year 2024. The remaining price will be based on the company’s results in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
In January, Be Group completed its acquisition of the remaining 10% of the share capital of Be Shaping The Future GmbH. The company, manages all holdings in the Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The agreement brings forward by about four years a step originally planned for the end of the 2024 financial year.
Also in January, Be Group completed the acquisition of the minority shares of IQUII and Juniper Extensible Solutions to create a hub of Digital Engagement aiming to become a sector leader in Italy.
In February, Be Group acquired 60% of the share capital of Be Your Essence (“BYE”), an innovative, socially oriented start-up, established as a Benefit Company and certified B Corp, founded by Oscar Di Montigny. The company aims at offering major public and private entities in Italy consulting services in the area of Innovability (a new discipline combining innovation and sustainability).
Significant events after the period
The Ordinary Shareholders Meeting of Be, held on April 22nd, 2021, in first call, took the following resolutions:
- Approval of Company’s financial statements as at December 31, 2020, profit allocation and distribution
- Approval of report on remuneration pursuant to art. 123-ter of Legislative Decree n.58 of February 24, 1998;
- New purchase and disposal of treasury shares with revocation of the relevant authorization by the Ordinary Shareholders’ Meeting on April 22nd, 2020.
- Appointment of the Company’s new Board of Statutory Auditors for 3 years, until the approval of the Company’s Financial Accounts as of December 31st 2023, made up of 3 members, namely Stefano de Angelis (Chair), Rosita Francesca Natta and Giuseppe Leoni, and of 2 alternate auditors Susanna Russo and Roberta Pirola;
- Appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers S.p.A for a 9-year term as auditing firm in charge of the legal audit of the accounts and NDF report, following the proposal of the Board of Directors, which in turn took note of a recommendation by the expired Board of Statutory Auditors.
In April, Juniper S.r.l. was merged by incorporation into Iquii S.r.l. with effective date May 1, 2021 and retroactive accounting and tax date as of January 1, 2021.
Business outlook
In light of the period results and in spite of the macroeconomic uncertainties on the timing of the reopening of the economy after the Covid-19 pandemic, our company is experiencing a solid growth trend. At the present time we believe we can reach – and hopefully overdeliver on – the Company’s yearly and overall targets under the 2020-2022 Business Plan. A more comprehensive analysis of the state of demand in the medium to long term will be carried out on the occasion of the H1 Interim Financial Report.
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ENDS
