Revenues up 9% to 573 million euros in the first quarter of 2024. EBITDA at 137 million euros (+10.7%) and record profitability (23.9%; +100bps)
STRONG REVENUE GROWTH IN THE QUARTER (+8.8% AT CONSTANT EXCHANGE RATES), DRIVEN BY A SIGNIFICANT AND ABOVE-MARKET ORGANIC GROWTH AS WELL AS ACQUISITIONS, DESPITE THE CHALLENGING COMPARISON BASE AND THE EARLY EASTER COMPARED TO THE PRIOR YEAR
RECORD PROFITABILITY WITH THE RECURRING EBITDA MARGIN AT 23.9%, INCREASING BY 100 BASIS POINTS COMPARED TO THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2023, THANKS TO THE FIELD PRODUCTIVITY MEASURES TAKEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF LAST YEAR. NET PROFIT ALSO INCREASES
NET FINANCIAL DEBT AT 883 MILLION EUROS AND LEVERAGE AT 1.52x AT MARCH 31ST, 2024, AFTER STRONG INVESTMENTS IN CAPEX AND ACQUISITIONS TOTALING AROUND 100 MILLION EUROS
INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION ACCELERATES: OVER 150 POINTS OF SALE ACQUIRED IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2024 IN FRANCE, GERMANY, AMERICAS AND CHINA FOR A TOTAL CASH-OUT OF 70 MILLION EUROS. REACHED AROUND 400 DIRECT POINTS OF SALE IN THE UNITED STATES THANKS TO THE TWO ACQUISITIONS COMPLETED IN THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF 2024
OUTLOOK FOR 2024 CONFIRMED, THANKS ALSO TO THE EXCELLENT FIRST QUARTER RESULTS AND A STRONG APRIL
MAIN RESULTS FOR Q1 2024
- Consolidated revenues of 573.1 million euros, an increase of 8.8% at constant exchange rates and of 6.1% at current exchange rates compared to the first quarter of 2023, thanks to a strong, above-market organic growth (+5.6%) despite the challenging comparison base and the early Easter compared to the prior year
- Recurring EBITDA was 136.8 million euros, up 10.7% compared to the first quarter of 2023. The margin came in at 23.9%, a record increase of 100 basis points compared to the same period of 2023 mainly thanks to the field productivity measures taken in the second half of last year
- Recurring net profit was 35.7 million euros, higher than the 34.9 million euros recorded in the first quarter of 2023, despite increased depreciation and amortization as a result of strong investments in the business and higher financial expenses (mainly interest expense, inflation accounting and lease accounting)
- Free cash flow was 37.2 million euros, compared to 46.3 million euros recorded in the first quarter of 2023, after Capex of 29.9 million euros
- Net financial debt was 883.3 million euros compared to 852.1 million euros at December 31st, 2023, after Capex and M&A totaling around 100 million euros, with financial leverage at 1.52x on March 31st, 2024 , basically in line with December 31st, 2023 (1.50x)
ENRICO VITA, CEO
“We are very satisfied with the excellent start to 2024. In the first quarter we achieved a strong increase in revenues and record profitability thanks, above all, to our solid performance in a progressively normalizing European market, the continuous growth in the Americas and Asia Pacific, as well as the effectiveness of the field productivity measures taken since the second half of last year. This trend continued also in April.
We continue to grow more than our reference market across all geographies and to invest in the development of our organization, in marketing and in our ability to innovate to the benefit of our customers. At the same time, we are accelerating the pace of our bolt-on acquisitions with more than 150 stores acquired worldwide in the first quarter alone. Thanks to these results, we are very confident we will be able to continue along our significant growth path throughout the entire 2024”.
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