While there are significant signs of recovery, the MARR Board of Directors approves the interim management report as at 31 March 2021.
The first quarter was again affected by the consequences of the pandemic, but the trend, confirmed in April, is positive in terms of revenues and profitabilty.
The strong ability to react and continuity of the new customer-oriented strategies, implemented since about a year ago, are enabling MARR to perform better than the Market.
Highlights of the first quarter
- Total revenues of 188.6 million Euros (261.7 million in the first quarter of 2020), a decrease in the first two months compared to last year (-93 million) and a significant recovery in March (+20 million)
- EBITDA positive at the end of the quarter (+0.1 million)
- The careful management of receivables and consequent solidity of the financial structure again confirmed
The Board of Directors of MARR S.p.A. (Milan: MARR:MI), the leading company in Italy in the sale and distribution to the foodservice of food and non-food products, today approved the interim management report as at 31 March 2021.
Considerations on the overall first quarter results and outlook
The quarter began with an extremely penalising market situation, especially when compared to the same period last year.
Suffice to say that the trend changes recorded by the Confcommercio Studies Office (survey no. 4 of 15 April 2021) for January and February show reductions in terms of quantity of -58.8% and -45.6% respectively for the “Hotels, meals and out-of-home consumption” segment.
A first timid recovery, with an inversion in trend, could be noticed in March, when a variation of +5.9% was recorded.
Although with a performance better than that of the Market and recorded by Confcommercio, MARR’s total revenues also suffered from these uncertainties, closing the quarter at 188.6 million Euros compared to 261.7 million last year (-73.1 million, amounting to -28% compared to a market which, according to the source already quoted, recorded -43%).
It is interesting to break this result down on a monthly basis.
Indeed, while in January and February, the decrease in total revenues was -56 and -37 million respectively, in March, the recovery compared to the same month last year amounted to 20 million (+42%).
This latter result was also confirmed in April which, with total revenues amounting to slightly more than those in the previous month, saw an increase of 48 million (of which about 4 million relating to the recent acquisitions) compared to April last year (about 76 million in 2021 compared to 28 million in April 2020).
There was a similar trend in profitability. At the end of the quarter, the EBITDA was positive, amounting to 108 thousand Euros (about 3.6 million last year) and is the result of a significant reduction (about -8 million) in the first two months compared to the same months of 2020, with a major recovery in March (about +4.5 million).
These assessments, and the trends recorded in the first part of the second quarter, and thus in April and the first weeks in May, have enabled the timid optimism expressed on closure of the third quarter to be confirmed.
There is indeed an awareness of the enormous potential of out-of-home food consumption and what recorded on the Market in recent weeks, confirms both the assessment of a significant recovery and the objective capacity of MARR to draw full benefit from such trends.
The forecasts for the coming months are still difficult, given that they are linked to phenomena beyond the control of the Company, but what was achieved in the last 6-8 weeks strongly supports positions of realistic optimism.
It is therefore reasonable to expect a significant recovery in 2021 compared to the results achieved in 2020, given the current and forecast Market developments, with an increasingly concrete closing in on the benchmark values, those achieved in 2019, which today would appear realistically to be achievable within 2023.
Main consolidated results and by segment of activities in the first quarter of 2021
With total revenues of 188.6 million, the revenues from sales in the first quarter amounted to 186.2 million Euros (compared to 259.7 million in the same period last year).
In particular, sales to clients in the “Street Market” category (restaurants and hotels not belonging to Groups or Chains) and “National Account” category (operators in structured commercial foodservice and canteens) were affected by the zonal restrictions throughout the entire period, while in the first quarter of 2020, they had been affected by the lockdown restrictions only starting on 10 March 2020. The sales to wholesalers and retailers (“Wholesale” category) were less affected by the aforementioned restrictions.
The consolidated EBITDA for the period amounted to 108 thousand Euros compared to 3.6 million last year; the EBIT amounted to -7.0 million compared to -4.2 million in the first quarter of 2020.
The net result for the period amounted to -6.3 million, compared to -4.0 million last year.
As at 31 March 2021, the net trade working capital amounted to 232.4 million Euros, a decrease compared to 281.8 million at the end of the first quarter of 2020.
The net financial indebtedness amounted to 235.8 million Euros (275.4 million as at 31 March 2020) and includes 258 million Euros in liquidity, a further improvement compared to 251 million as at 31 December 2020.
The consolidated net equity as at 31 March 2021 amounted to 331.8 million Euros (336.6 million as at 31 March 2020).
Appointment of the Board member Paolo Ferrari and other resolutions by today’s Board of Directors meeting
Following the resignation of the Board member Vincenzo Cremonini on 17 April, the Board of Directors, within the terms envisaged by art. 14 of the Company By-Laws and pursuant to Art. 2386 of the Civil Code and with the favourable opinion of the Board of Statutory Auditors, appointed as Board member Mr. Paolo Ferrari (whose CV can be consulted on the Company website and who does not currently possess any Company shares). He shall step down on the same date as the other Board members currently in office, and thus on approval of the financial statements as at 31 December 2022, and his appointment will be submitted for approval during the next Shareholders’ Meeting.
The Board of Directors also updated the Procedure governing related party transactions (which will be made available on the Company website no later than the date of effectiveness, 1 July 2021), as envisaged by CONSOB Regulation Resolution no. 17221 of 12/3/2020, updated with the modifications made by resolution no. 21624 of 10 December 2020.
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