Solid growth & financial results.
All 2019 objectives raised.
Ingenico Group (Euronext: FR0000125346 - ING), the global leader in seamless payment, today announced its results for the six-month period ended on June 30th, 2019.
Revenue of €1,611 million, up 13% on a comparable basis1
All 2019 objectives raised on H1’19 performance
Activity has been very strong throughout the semester leading the Group to grow by 31% thanks to the 13% organic performance and the benefit from the Paymark and BS Payone contributions. The Retail performance is fully in-line with our expectations with 11% growth, whilst B&A performed above expectations at 16%, driven by an over-performance in Brazil and Asia. This achievement, coupled with the roll-out of cost-savings initiated in Retail in 2018, and the implementation of our Fit for Growth program across the Group, enabled us to deliver a solid EBITDA. At the same time, the deployment of a redesigned cash control process allowed the Group to reach a record €120 million free cash-flow for the first semester. For the second part of the year, the performance in B&A is expected to normalize whilst Retail will continue to deliver solid double-digit growth with operating leverage.
Our teams are now fully executing our Fit for Growth transformation plan including B&A Revival, Retail Acceleration and Corporate actions. The early achievements of the first semester have created a solid foundation for our mid-term ambition, as communicated last April. In the light of the first half over-performance, we are raising all our 2019 objectives.”
Update on the Fit for Growth implementation
The Fit for Growth plan has been launched in February 2019 and is now fully in run mode. Its ambition is to revive the B&A business unit, accelerate the Retail growth profile and to transform the Group structure and operating model by 2021. Some key milestones have already been reached during the first half of 2019:
These milestones are in line with the plan and enable us to confirm the €20 million positive EBITDA impact expected to be generated in 2019 and the €100 million positive EBITDA impact in 2021.
2019 first half-year performance
In the first half of 2019, revenue totalled €1,611 million, representing a 13% increase on a comparable basis. On a reported basis revenue was 31% higher than in the first half of 2018 and included a positive foreign exchange impact of €12 million.
Over the semester, the Retail Business Unit reported a revenue of €906 million, showing an increase of 11% on a comparable basis. On a reported basis, revenue increased by 44% during the semester and included a positive foreign exchange impact of €4 million. Compared with H1’18, the various activities performed as follows on a like-for-like basis:
The B&A Business Unit posted a revenue of €705 million, a 16% increase on a comparable basis. On a reported basis the activity increased by 18% and included a positive foreign exchange impact of €8 million. Compared to H1’18, the various regions performed as follows on a like-for-like basis:
Note: all below P&L analysis versus last year are based on H1’18 proforma figures (including BS Payone and Paymark since January 1st, 2018).
Adjusted gross profit
In the first half of 2019, adjusted gross profit reached €572 million (€570 million excluding IFRS 16), representing 35.5% of revenue (35.4% of revenue excluding IFRS 16) to be compared with €547 million in the first half of 2018, or 38.7% of revenue. Retail adjusted gross profit rate was stable, while investing into growth initiatives and B&A adjusted margin was impacted by an unfavourable geographical mix, mainly driven by the 104% organic growth in Latin America, and isolated pricing pressure in some mature countries, as expected.
Adjusted operating expenses
During this first half of 2019, adjusted operating expenses have reached €318 million. Excluding the positive IFRS 16 effect of €14 million, adjusted operating expenses were €332 million, stable compared to H1’18 while revenue base increased by c. €200 million. Adjusted operating expenses rate has decreased from 23.7% to 20.6% down 310 bps excluding the IFRS 16 positive effect. These results have been achieved through a strong cost control initiated first in Retail in H2’18, then rolled out and accelerated in B&A and Group support functions through the implementation of the Fit for Growth plan.
EBITDA margin
EBITDA came in at €254 million including a positive IFRS 16 effect of €17 million. Without this effect, EBITDA would be €237 million, against €212 million like-for-like in the first half of 2018 (€193 million on reported basis), thus an improvement of €25 million, of which €8 million is derived from the Fit for Growth plan. Excluding the €5 million investment in Retail growth initiatives as communicated on February 12th, this improvement represents €30 million up 14% versus last year, fully in line with revenue growth.
The Retail EBITDA came in at €122 million. Excluding positive IFRS 16 impact of €10 million, the EBITDA reached €112 million (12.4% of revenue) to be compared with €96 million (11.8% of revenue) in H1’18, an increase of 60 bps. Excluding the €5 million growth initiatives investment, EBITDA would have reached €117 million, at 12.9% of revenue, increasing by 110 bps. This overall performance is fully in line with our annual Retail EBITDA objective to be above €285 million.
The B&A EBITDA stood at €132 million. Excluding positive IFRS 16 impact of €7 million, the EBITDA reached €125 million (17.7% of revenue) to be compared with €116 million (19.4% of revenue) in H1’18, decreasing by 170 bps. This EBITDA improvement of €9 million is derived from an over-performance in revenue in both Latin America and Asia. In line with the B&A revival plan as previously communicated, the Fit for Growth positive EBITDA impact in H1’19 (€8 million) has compensated the pressure on the gross profit coming from geographical mix evolution and isolated pricing pressure in some mature countries. As a consequence, we raise our B&A EBITDA objective for the year from c. €295 million to c. €305 million.
Operating income
EBIT margin reached €188 million, compared to €170 million in the first half of 2018 (€159 million on reported basis).
The other income and expenses (OIE) reached €-13 million compared to €-16 million in H1’18 (€-18 million on reported basis), this includes an exceptional non-cash profit of €5 million. On a like-for-like basis the OIE for the first semester represents €-18 million.
The operating income also includes purchase price allocation amortization that represented €50 million in the first half of 2019 compared to €47 million in H1’18 (see exhibit 4).
After other income & expenses and purchase price allocation described above, operating income came in at €124 million, compared to €107 million in the first half of 2018 (€94 million on reported basis).
Net profit attributable to shareholders
The financial result accounted for €-21 million compared to €-20 million in H1’18 (€-19 million on reported basis).
Income tax landed at €21 million in this first half from €23 million in the first half of 2018 (€20 million on reported basis). The latter has benefited from a general decline of the taxation rates and a more favourable mix in terms of taxes. Those changes led to an effective tax rate of 20.4%, against 26.9% in H1’18.
After accounting for €1 million of non-controlling interests, the 2019 first half Group net profit attributable to shareholders came in at €80 million, up 32% compared to €61 million in the first half of 2018 (up 48% vs. €54 million on reported basis).
Cash generation
The free cash flow improved very significantly during the first half of 2019 at €120 million compared to €23 million in the first half of 2018. The major elements of the free cash-flow improvement were:
In consequence, netted from this one-off reimbursement, free cash-flow for the first half 2019 would have represented €95 million, leading to a sustainable first half conversion rate of c. 37%.
Group net debt
The Group's net debt decreased to €1,466 million against €1,518 million at the beginning of the year. The major elements of this evolution are the €120 million free cash-flow generation and the €73 million net cash-out mainly related to the Paymark acquisition. The ratio of net debt to EBITDA3 is down to 2.7x from 3.1x at the end of 2018 and 3.6x end of June last year.
In July 2019:
All 2019 objectives raised
_________________________________
Laurent Marie
Investors Relations
(T): +33 1 58 01 83 24
Email: [email protected]
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