Elis: Full-year 2020 revenue

2020 revenue impacted by the pandemic
Decrease of 14.5% to €2,806m, o/w -13.3% on an organic basis

Resilient activity and limited Q4 revenue decrease
of -13.3% on an organic basis

Contained decrease in revenue in Q4 despite new restrictions in most countries

• Despite a slight slowdown compared to Q3, activity in c. 75% of our total business¹ remained close to normal in Q4: c. +1% in Healthcare, -3% in Industry and -5% in Trade & Services
• Activity continued to benefit from (i) churn rate improvement, with good quality of service maintained during the crisis and (ii) the development of new offers and services in Workwear and Hygiene & well-being
• Hospitality (c. 25% of 2019 total revenue) was more impacted by the new restrictions and activity was down nearly -70% in Q4, reflecting the slowdown of tourism in big cities
• Central Europe and Scandinavia were resilient owing to the weight of Workwear in their mix; France, Southern Europe and the UK & Ireland were impacted by their exposure to Hospitality; Latin America was up due to very good commercial activity in Healthcare
• Prices were stable in all our geographies

Elis confirms the indications regarding 2020 EBITDA margin and 2020 free cash-flow given on October 22, 2020

• The significant efforts to reduce the cost base and the action plans that have been defined should allow the Group to deliver 2020 EBITDA margin and free cash-flow slightly above 2019 levels
• Group 2020 annual results will be released on March 9, 2021

Saint-Cloud, January 28, 2021 - Elis, an international multi-service provider, offering textile, hygiene and facility services solutions that is present in Europe and Latin America, today announces its full-year 2020 revenue. These figures are unaudited.

Commenting on the announcement, Xavier Martiré, CEO of Elis, said:

“In 2020, amid an unprecedented sanitary crisis, Elis’ revenue was down -13.3% on an organic basis. This limited decrease underscores once again the virtues of our strategy, aiming at diversifying our geographical footprint and our product portfolio. Our activities in Industry, Healthcare and Trade & Services, which represented c. 75% of 2019 total revenue, showed good resilience. Hospitality was obviously more impacted despite a decent summer season.

From a commercial standpoint, Elis developed and offered many new product and services in workwear and hygiene. Additionally, our churn rate has been improving since the beginning of the crisis, which rewards the steady quality of service provided by Elis in these difficult times.

As far as our 2020 outlook is concerned, we confirm what we said in October: The actions implemented in all countries, at plants and head offices, as well as the strong emphasis put on cash collection and good control over investments should lead to a slight improvement in EBITDA margin and free cash-flow generation relative to 2019.

To the extent possible, depending on visibility, we will give indications regarding 2021 when we release our 2020 annual results on March 9, 2020.

Although the current situation requires the utmost vigilance, we look to the future with confidence: The Group’s fundamentals are strong, our diversification is a major advantage and our business model will enable Elis to assert its leadership in all the countries in which it is present. Our capacity to make our costs variable and the operational reorganization implemented during the summer further bolster this confidence.”

2020 revenue

In millions of euros	H1	2020 H2	FY	H1	2019 H2	FY	H1	Var. H2	FY
France	412.5	455.3	867.8	518.9	546.8	1,065.7	-20.5%	-16.7%	-18.6%
Central Europe	343.3	360.8	704.2	357.9	373.1	731.0	-4.1%	-3.3%	-3.7%
Scandinavia & East. Eur.	233.3	240.7	474.0	249.8	257.2	507.0	-6.6%	-6.4%	-6.5%
UK & Ireland	143.8	161.3	305.1	195.0	201.1	396.1	-26.3%	-19.8%	-23.0%
Southern Europe	97.2	101.1	198.2	142.0	156.1	298.2	-31.6%	-35.3%	-33.5%
Latin America	108.7	104.7	213.4	129.5	133.0	262.5	-16.0%	-21.3%	-18.7%
Others	12.9	30.6	43.5	10.6	10.8	21.4	+21.6%	+184.4%	+103.6%
Total	1,351.7	1,454.5	2,806.3	1,603.7	1,678.1	3,281.8	-15.7%	-13.3%	-14.5%

« Others » includes Manufacturing Entities and Holdings.
Percentage change calculations are based on actual figures.

2020 organic revenue growth

	H1 organic growth	H2 organic growth	2020 organic growth
France	-20.5%	-16.7%	-18.6%
Central Europe	-6.0%	-6.0%	-6.0%
Scandinavia & East. Eur.	-7.1%	-6.6%	-6.8%
UK & Ireland	-26.5%	-22.1%	-24.2%
Southern Europe	-31.6%	-35.3%	-33.5%
Latin America	+3.6%	+7.1%	+5.4%
Others	+21.7%	+188.2%	+105.5%
Total	-14.7%	-12.0%	-13.3%

« Others » includes Manufacturing Entities and Holdings.
Percentage change calculations are based on actual figures.

Q4 2020 revenue

In millions of euros	2020	2019	Reported growth	Organic growth
France	206.3	262.6	-21.4%	-21.4%
Central Europe	176.3	185.0	-4.7%	-7.4%
Scandinavia & East. Eur.	124.2	133.0	-6.6%	-6.6%
UK & Ireland	77.8	100.2	-22.4%	-22.6%
Southern Europe	44.9	70.4	-36.2%	-36.2%
Latin America	52.4	64.9	-19.2%	+7.3%
Others	18.0	6.1	+195.2	+201.4%
Total	699.9	822.1	-14.9%	-13.3%

« Others » includes Manufacturing Entities and Holdings.
Percentage change calculations are based on actual figures.

2020 quarterly organic revenue growth

	Q1 organic growth	Q2 organic growth	Q3 organic growth	Q4 organic growth
France	-4.1%	-35.4%	-12.4%	-21.4%
Central Europe	+0.6%	-12.4%	-4.8%	-7.4%
Scandinavia & Eastern Europe	-0.3%	-14.0%	-6.5%	-6.6%
United Kingdom & Ireland	-6.7%	-45.0%	-21.6%	-22.6%
Southern Europe	-5.8%	-52.9%	-34.5%	-36.2%
Latin America	+6.4%	+0.9%	+6.9%	+7.3%
Others	+21.8%	+21.6%	+170.8%	+201.4%
Total	-1.8%	-26.7%	-10.6%	-13.3%

« Others » includes Manufacturing Entities and Holdings.
Percentage change calculations are based on actual figures.

France

2020 revenue was down -18.6% (entirely organic). The strong slowdown in Hospitality (which represented c. 1/3 of Elis’ 2019 total French revenue) despite a decent summer season has weighed on activity since the beginning of the crisis. After a slowdown in Q2 in all end-markets, activity picked up in Industry, Healthcare and Trade & Services, with good commercial successes in Workwear (higher rotation, development of outsourcing, return of textile in operating theaters) and in Hygiene and well-being (increasing demand for hand-washing solutions, hydroalcoholic gels and disinfection services).

Q4 revenue was down -21.4% (entirely organic), slowing down compared to Q3, as a result of the new restrictions implemented in November.

Central Europe

2020 revenue was down a limited -3.7% (-6.0% on an organic basis). In a region where the Group has very limited exposure to Hospitality, industrial activities showed good resilience with new Workwear contracts wins. Organic revenue was down c. -5% in Germany. The Netherlands and Poland were up. Switzerland and Belgium, countries with a greater exposure to Hospitality, posted a sharper contraction in 2020.

Q4 2020 revenue was down -4.7% (-7.4% on an organic basis).

Scandinavia & Eastern Europe

2020 revenue decrease was contained at was -6.5% in the region (-6.8% on an organic basis). The fact that the greater portion of our clients operates in the Industry segment enabled the region' to be quite resilient since the beginning of the crisis. Sweden and Denmark, the region’s largest contributors, recorded organic revenue declines of -9% and -10% respectively in 2020. We note a decrease in the number of wearers of our workwear at some of our clients with international activities. Norway and the Baltic countries were up in 2020, with contract wins in Workwear and mats.

Q4 2020 revenue was down -6.6% (same number on an organic basis).

United Kingdom & Ireland

2020 revenue was down -23.0% (-24.2% on an organic basis). After a second quarter marked by decreases of nearly -50% in April and May, activity slightly picked up during the summer. Hospitality, which normally represents around one-third of the region’s revenue, was down -60% since the beginning of the crisis. Industry and Trade & Services, which represent another third of total revenue, posted a -15% decline, due to our high number of clients in the catering sector, which has been strongly impacted by the heath crisis. Finally, the Healthcare segment, accounting for the remaining third, was slightly down in 2020 because of the rescheduling of some medical procedures during the first lockdown.

Q4 2020 revenue was down -22.4% (-22.6% on an organic basis).

Kings Laundry, whose closing was announced on July 7^th, is consolidated in our accounts since August 1^st.

Southern Europe

2020 revenue decreased by -33.5% in the region (entirely organic) with a slowdown of c. -40% in Spain and c. -30% in Portugal. The geography is highly exposed to the Hospitality segment (more than 60% of total revenue in 2019) and suffered from the sharp decline of activity, especially given that the share of international tourism is normally very high. Workwear revenue was up in 2020, driven by good commercial dynamism and the development of outsourcing.

Q4 2020 revenue was down -36.2% (entirely organic).

Latin America

2020 organic revenue was up +5.4% in the region but a -24.6% unfavorable currency effect resulted in a -18.7% decrease in reported revenue. Mix of activity in the region is favorable with a high share of clients in Healthcare and food processing Industry. Furthermore, new services and technical solutions offered by the Group generated additional revenue of more than €10m in 2020 (temporary supply of overgowns for Brazilian hospitals).

Q4 2020 organic revenue was up +7.3%, with reported revenue down -19.2% due to an unfavorable currency effect of -28.9%.

Others

The strong growth in “Others” revenue mainly results from the activity of Kennedy, a subsidiary based in the UK that manufactures hygiene devices. In 2020, Kennedy revenue was strongly up, as a result of a higher demand for hygiene products (soap and gel dispensers, hand drying devices, etc)

Geographical breakdown

• France
• Central Europe: Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, Belgium, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Luxembourg
• Scandinavia & Eastern Europe: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Russia
• UK & Ireland
• Southern Europe: Spain & Andorra, Portugal, Italy
• Latin America: Brazil, Chile, Colombia

Forward looking statements

This document may contain information related to the Group’s outlook. Such outlook is based on data, assumptions and estimates that the Group regarded as reasonable at the date of this press release. Those data and assumptions may change or be adjusted as a result of uncertainties relating particularly to the economic, financial, competitive, regulatory or tax environment or as a result of other factors of which the Group was not aware on the date of this press release. Moreover, the materialization of certain risks described in chapter 4 “Risk factors, risk control, insurance policy, and vigilance plan” of the Universal Registration Document for the financial year ended December 31, 2019, and Section 1 .4 “Risk Factors” of the half-year financial report as at June 30, 2020, which are available on Elis’s website (www. elis.com), may have an impact on the Group’s activities, financial position, results or outlook and therefore lead to a difference between the actual figures and those given or implied by the outlook presented in this document. Elis undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise the Group’s outlook or any of the abovementioned data, assumptions or estimates, except as required by applicable laws and regulations. Reaching the outlook also implies success of the Group’s strategy. As a result, the Group makes no representation and gives no warranty regarding the attainment of any outlook set out above.

Next information

2020 results: March 9, 2021 (before market)

Contact

Nicolas Buron - Investor Relations Director - Phone: +33 1 75 49 98 30 - nicolas.buron@elis.com

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¹ Based on 2019 full-year revenue

 

 

Attachment

• 20210128 - Elis - Full-year 2020 revenue