“In H1 2019-2020, our Group once again combined strong growth and profitability. As announced, we accelerated investment in our three business divisions, future profitability growth levers, and successfully maintained EBITDA1 above €11 million while confirming our net profitability. We also strengthened our financial position during the period, with cash of €91 million and negative net debt despite the recent acquisition of Personal Creations®.
Drawing on these good performances, we are well placed to face the crisis linked to the Covid-19 epidemic. Our priority is to protect the health of our employees, as the Group’s greatest strength is their talent and motivation. The generalization of home working has enabled us to maintain our activities without disrupting our organization and ensures the continuity of our services. For the moment, lock-down measures have had only a limited impact on our activities, which are primarily conducted online. Nonetheless, this epidemic is a game changer for the global economy and while our activities are currently preserved, it is too early to assess and measure the full long-term impact on our results.
Claranova has solid fundamentals with online activities generating high repeat revenue and growth drivers already in operation, placing it in a strong position to seize any upturn in the economy. The Group also has a solid financial structure and significant cash, enabling it to look forward with confidence to the coming periods. With these assets, combined with our agility, our strength of innovation and our know-how, I’m convinced that we will emerge from this crisis stronger.
In the meantime, we fully support the people that are fighting this epidemic every day and recognize the sacrifices they are making for all our health”, commented Pierre Cesarini, CEO of the Claranova group.
The Claranova group continues its strong growth trajectory, boosting its investment in its three business divisions while protecting profitability in H1 2019-2020 (July – December 2019). The Group reports revenue of €234.3 million (+68% growth, including +19% organic growth) and EBITDA of €11.2 million. The operating margin is 4.8%, with the improvement masked by higher marketing investment. At constant scope, the EBITDA margin is 6.0% at €10.2 million, compared with €10.9 million in the first-half of 2018-2019. As announced, this half-year saw sustained investment in the different Group divisions, providing sources of future growth and profitability, including: the integration of personalized gifts1 activities following the acquisition of Personal Creations® and further geographical expansion of mobile printing1 activities in Europe, the transition of Software1 division activities to a subscription-based proprietary software sales model and the commercial ramp-up of IoT activities.
