Informazione Regolamentata n. 1938-32-2023		Data/Ora Ricezione 11 Maggio 2023 17:02:53
Societa'	:	AQUAFIL
Identificativo Informazione Regolamentata	:	176786
Nome utilizzatore	:	AQUAFILNSS02 - Tonelli
Tipologia	:	REGEM
Data/Ora Ricezione	:	11 Maggio 2023 17:02:53
Data/Ora Inizio Diffusione presunta	:	11 Maggio 2023 17:02:54
Oggetto	:	The Board of Directors approved the Company's consolidated operating and financial results at March 31, 2023
Testo del comunicato

Vedi allegato.

FIRST QUARTER 2023

CONTINUED GROWTH FOR CARPET FIBRES IN THE UNITED STATES

GLOBAL MARKET CHARACTERISED BY VOLATILITY WITH LIMITED VISIBILITY

REVENUES AT €166.8 MILLION -2.5% ON THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2022

EBITDA¹ AT €21.6 MILLION (EBITDA MARGIN 12.9%) -13.1% ON THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2022

REVENUES FOR ECONYL® BRANDED PRODUCTS² UP 11.2%, ACCOUNTING FOR 46.9% OF FIBERS' REVENUES

MAIN Q1 2023 INDICATORS:

Revenues: €166.8 million, -2.5% compared to €171.2 million for the same period of 2022;
EBITDA: €21.6 million, -13.1% compared to €24.8 million for the same period of 2022;
Net profit: €3.3 million, -63.9% compared to €9.1 million for the same period of 2022;
NFP/EBITDA ratio: x2.773 at March 31, 2023 compared to x2.687 at December 31, 2022.

Arco, May 11, 2023 — The Board of Directors of Aquafil S.p.A. [ECNL:IM] [ECNLF:OTCQX], reunited today under the chairmanship of Prof. Chiara Mio, approved the Company's consolidated operating and financial results at March 31, 2023.

Giulio Bonazzi, Chief Executive Officer, stated:

The first quarter, which has just ended, substantially confirmed our forecasts for this first part of the financial year 2023 in terms of margins.

These results were determined by the different dynamics of the main geographical areas where the Group is present, as well as by the unit value of raw material stocks.

Sales of remanufactured products and ECONYL® brand products continued to grow, reaching almost 47% of the Group's fibre turnover.

¹ EBITDA is calculated as per the tables in Appendix 2 to this press release.

² They include both ECONYL® branded and regenerated products.

The start-up of the new engineering plastic production plants is now complete and we have started to serve this new market, which we expect will provide an important element of growth and portfolio diversification in the coming years.

The Group continues its research and development activities with the aim of improving and expanding the product offering as well as their production in a more efficient manner.

We confirm that the year 2023 will still be strongly characterised by uncertainty and high volatility, especially due to the performance of the end markets in EMEA, which allow for extremely limited visibility.

In this complex and articulated scenario, attention to cost management remains high and focused on their maximum rationalisation, and the Group remains committed to the continuous development of innovative and increasingly sustainable solutions to improve the competitiveness and quality of the products sold.

Operating results at March 31, 2023

Revenues³

Revenues amounted to €166.8 million at March 31, 2023, with a 2.5% decrease compared at the same period of the previous year. This change was attributable to the 9.5% decline in volumes sold compared to the same period of the previous year that more than offset the higher selling prices. Such performance was entirely due to the weakness of the EMEA market recorded by each product line. In detail, sales performance by geographical area and product line is reported below:

1Q 2023		BCF (fiber for carpet)				NTF (fiber for fabric)				Polymers					Total
€/mil	2023	2022	Δ	Δ %	2023	2022	Δ	Δ %	2023	2022	Δ	Δ %	2023	2022	Δ	Δ %	% 23	% 22
EMEA	54,3	59,4		34,5 58,0 %	26,3	28,4		17,0 59,6 %	10,9	14,5		(13,3) (92,2)%	91,5	102,3				38,1 37,2 % 54,9 % 59,7 %
North America	41,4	33,9		61,4 181,1 %	7,2	7,4		3,1 42,4 %	1,4	0,2		(2,4) (993,1)%	50,0	41,5				62,1 149,7 % 30,0 % 24,2 %
Asia e Oceania	23,5	25,2		10,6 41,9 %	1,0	1,0		(1,2) (122,1)%	0,2	0,4	0,3	0,0 %	24,7	26,6				9,7 36,5 % 14,8 % 15,6 %
RoW	0,2	0,2		0,2 109,1 %	0,3	0,6		0,5 80,5 %	0,0	0,0	(0,0)	0,0 %	0,6	0,8				0,7 86,8 % 0,3 % 0,5 %
Total	119,4	118,7	106,6	89,8 %	34,8	37,4	19,4	51,9 %	12,6	15,1		(15,4) (101,8)%	166,8	171,2	110,6			64,6 % 100,0 % 100,0 %
% ToT		71,6% 69,3%				20,9% 21,8%			7,5%	8,8%				100,0% 100,0%

1) In the first quarter of 2023:

³The evolution of the Group's revenues from one reporting period to another may be influenced by the performance of raw materials' prices, which is reflected in final sales prices through predefined contractual mechanisms. Accordingly, to ensure a proper understanding of its results, the Group also presents its revenue performance in terms of change in first choice "volumes sold", which historically account for approximately 95% of the Group's revenues.

EMEA revenues amounted to €91.5 million at March 31, 2023, with a 10.5% decrease compared to the same period of the previous year. Volumes sold decreased by 19.7%. An analysis by product line performance shows that:

a) the BCF product line decreased by 8.5% compared to the same period of the previous year, as a result of a 17.7% decline in volumes sold, partially offset by higher selling prices;
b) the NTF product line declined by 7.5% compared to the same period of the previous year, as a result of a 25.2% drop in volumes sold, partially offset by higher selling prices;
c) the Polymers product line dropped by 24.6% compared to the same period of the previous year, fully attributable to the reduction in the volumes of basic polymers sold (-45.1%), partially offset by the higher volumes of polymers for Engineering Plastic following the commissioning of new production plants.

In North America, revenues amounted to €50.0 million at March 31, 2023, with a 20.6% increase compared to the same period of the previous year. In terms of volumes sold, the increase was approximately 10.1%. An analysis by product line performance shows that:

a) the BCF product line rose by 22.1% compared to the same period of the previous year, partly as a result of higher selling prices and partly due to a 10.4% increase in volumes sold;
b) the NTF product line decreased by 2.1% compared to the same period of the previous year, as a result of a 17.9% decline of volumes sold, and in spite of higher selling prices.

In Asia and Oceania, revenues amounted to €24.7 million at March 31, 2023, with a 7.1% decrease compared to the same period of the previous year. In terms of volumes sold relating to the BCF product line, there was a slight increase of 0.5%.

Revenues from ECONYL® branded products accounted for 46.9% of revenues generated from fibers in the first quarter of 2023. In absolute terms, this item grew by 11.2% compared to the same period of the previous year.

EBITDA

EBITDA stood at €21.6 million at March 31, 2023, with a 13.1% reduction compared to the same period of the previous year, which had recorded one of the Group's best quarterly results. Said reduction is attributable to both high inventory unit cost and lower volumes sold.

EBIT

EBIT amounted to €8.0 million at March 31, 2023, with a 35.9% decrease compared to the same period of the previous year. The change in the reporting period was attributable to the EBITDA performance, as well as to higher amortization and depreciation.

Net financial charges

Net financial charges amounted to €(3.3) million at March 31, 2023 compared to €(0.6) million for the same period of the previous year.

This result reflected the increase in financial charges, which amounted to €(3.3) million compared to €(1.9) million for the same period of the previous year. Financial income decreased, totaling €0.1 million compared to €1.7 million for the same period of the previous year, since the current year did not benefit from the mark-to-market evaluation of interest rate hedging instruments for the medium-term debt.

Income taxes

Income taxes amounted to €1.4 million at March 31, 2023 compared to €2.8 million for the same period for the previous year. The change reflected the decline in profit before taxes which went from €11.9 million to €4.6 million due to lower EBIT and higher net financial charges.

Net profit

Net profit amounted to €3.3 million at March 31, 2023 compared to €9.1 million for the same period of the previous year.

Consolidated capital and financial highlights at March 31, 2023

Investments and acquisitions

At March 31, 2023, net investments — excluding those recognized in application of IFRS 16 amounted to €8.3 million compared to €7.7 million for the same period of the previous year. Investments focused mainly on activities aimed at stepping up industrial efficiency and improving the existing plants in technological terms, in addition to strengthening the Group's production capacity.

Change in net working capital

At March 31, 2023, net working capital rose by €1.8 million. The change is attributable to the increase of trade receivables amounting to €7.3 million due to the increase of revenues in the reporting quarter compared to the previous quarter; it is also attributable to the lower value of inventories for €18.1 million, mainly associated with the decline of inventory volumes, as well as of the trade payables amounting to €13.5 million as a result of the lower purchases of raw materials.

Net Financial Position

The Group's net financial position amounted to €246.8 million at March 31, 2023 compared to €247.9 million at December 31, 2022. Said change is due to the positive cash generation of operating activities for €19.6 million which was however impacted by the increase of net working capital for €3.0 million, net investments for €8.3 million, financial charges and taxes and the use of provisions amounting to €6.2 million, the non-monetary change relating to the application of IFRS 16 for €0.6 million, and the purchase of treasury shares for €0.6 million.

At March 31, 2023, the NFP/EBITDA ratio was x2.773 compared to x2.687 at December 31, 2022.

Outlook

In terms of margins, the first quarter of 2023 ended in line with Group's expectations and the different geographical areas confirmed the trend reported during the fourth quarter of the previous year.

In terms of volumes sold compared to the first quarter of 2022, the United States confirmed an uptrend, while the Asia Pacific demand levels remained stable and the EMEA witnessed a decline of the end market for all product lines.

In this context, the Group maintained its capacity to generate value.

The remaining part of 2023 is still marked by strong uncertainty, especially with regard to the EMEA market, also due to an extremely limited visibility.

Within this framework, the Group continues to make sustainability-oriented strategic decisions, with the aim of creating products and processes that are increasingly appreciated by the end market, while pursuing greater industrial efficiency and cost effectiveness.

* * *

Declaration of the appointed manager

"The Manager responsible for preparing the Company's financial reports, Roberto Carlo Luigi Bobbio declares, pursuant to Paragraph 2 of Article 154-bis of the Consolidated Finance Law, that the accounting information contained in this press release corresponds to the company's records, ledgers and accounting entries."

* * *

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are based on the Aquafil Group's current expectations and projections regarding future events and are, by their very nature, subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. These statements refer to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur or take place in the future, and, as such, undue reliance should not be made on them. Actual performance could differ significantly from the contents of such statements due to a variety of factors, including constant volatility and a further deterioration of capital and financial markets, changes in macroeconomic conditions and economic growth and other changes in business conditions, changes in the law and institutional context (in Italy and internationally), and many other factors, most of which are beyond the Group's control.

* * *

Aquafil is a pioneer in the circular economy also thanks to the ECONYL® regeneration system, an innovative and sustainable process able to create new products from waste and give life to an endless cycle. The nylon waste is collected in locations all over the world and includes industrial waste but also products – such as fishing nets and rugs – that have reached the end of their useful life. Such waste is processed to obtain a raw material – caprolactam – with the same chemical and performance characteristics as those from fossil sources. The polymers produced from ECONYL® caprolactam are distributed to the Group's production plants, where they are transformed into yarn for rugs carpet flooring and for clothing.

Founded in 1965, Aquafil is one of the main producers of nylon in Italy and worldwide. The Group employs over 2,800 people, at 20 production sites located in nine countries and in four different continents, more precisely in Italy, Slovenia, Unites States, China, Croatia, Scotland, Thailand, Australia and Japan.

For further information

Investors Contact

Karim Tonelli [email protected] mob: +39 348 6022.950

Barabino & Partners IR T: +39 02 72.02.35.35 Stefania Bassi [email protected] mob: +39 335 6282.667 Agota Dozsa [email protected] mob: +39 338 7424.061 Media Contact Barabino & Partners Federico Vercellino [email protected] T: +39 02 72.02.35.35 mob: +39 331 5745.17

Appendix 1 – Consolidated Income Statement

CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT	First Quarter	of wich	First Quarter	of wich
€/000	2023	non-current	2022	non-current
Revenue	166.820	0	171.160	296
of which related parties	76		13
Other Revenue	2.717	2	1.256	91
Total Revenue and Other Revenue	169.537	2	172.416	387
Raw Material	(82.183)	0	(78.567)	(91)
Services	(36.242)	- 803	(38.860)	(354)
of which related parties	(124)		(526)
Personel	(32.034)	- 318	(31.387)	(347)
Other Operating Costs	(864)	- 3	(1.234)	(55)
of which related parties	(17)		(17)
Depreciation and Amorti zation	(11.828)		(10.919)
Provisions&Write-downs	87		(17)
(write-downs)/recovery of inancial assets (receivables)	63		25
Capitalization of Internal Construction Costs	1.450		1.004
EBIT	7.986	- 1.123	12.463	(460)
Other Financial Income	114		1.694
Interest Expenses	(3.280)		(1.872)
of which related parties	(45)		(31)
FX Gains and Losses	(176)		(383)
Profit Before Taxes	4.644	- 1.123	11.902	(460)
Income Taxes	(1.352)		(2.782)
Net Profit (Including Portion Attr. to Minority )	3.291	- 1.123	9.120	(460)
Net Profit Attributable to Minority Interest	0		0
Net Profit Attributable to the Group	3.291		9.120

Appendix 2 - EBITDA and Adjusted Operating Results

RECONCILIATION FROM NET PROFIT TO EBITDA	First Quarter	First Quarter
€/000	2023	2022
Net Profit (Including Portion Attr. to Minority )	3.291	9.120
Income Taxes	1.352	2.782
Amortisation & Depreciation	11.828	10.919
Write-downs & Write-backs of intangible and tangible assets	- 150	(9)
Financial items (*)	4.127	1.542
No recurring items (**)	1.123	460
EBITDA	21.572	24.814
Revenue	166.820	171.160
EBITDA Margin	12,9%	14,5%
RECONCILIATION FROM EBITDA TO	First Quarter	First Quarter
€/000 EBIT ADJUSTED	2023	2022
EBITDA	21.572	24.814
Amortisation & Depreciation	11.828	10.919
Write-downs & Write-backs of intangible and tangible assets	- 150	(9)
EBIT Adjusted	9.893	13.904
Revenue	166.820	171.160
EBIT Adjusted Margin	5,9%	8,1%

(*) The financial items include: (i) financial income of Euro 0.1 million (ii) financial charges and other bank charges of Euro (3.2) million, (iii) cash discounts of Euro (0.8) million, and (iv) exchange loss of Euro (0.2) million.

(**) This includes at the end of March: (i) non-recurring charges related to the expansion of the Aquafil Group for Euro (0.4) million, (ii) (0.7) milion related to a non recurring event in the USA.

Appendix 3 – Consolidated Balance Sheet

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET	At March 31,	At December 31,
€/000	2023	2022
Intangible Assets	20.852	21.596
Goodwill	15.346	15.647
Tangible Assets	243.959	247.469
Financial Assets	643	831
of which related parties	318	318
Investments & Equity metod	1.018	1.018
Other Assets	426	426
Deferred Tax Assets	9.855	11.519
Total Non-Current Assets	292.101	298.506
Inventories	242.684	260.808
Trade Receivable	35.846	28.553
of which related parties	398	376
Financial Current Assets	5.632	9.964
Current Tax Receivables	1.167	580
Other Current Assets	16.059	15.862
of which related parties	1.851	247
Cash and Cash Equivalents	122.817	110.682
Total Current Assets	424.206	426.449
Total Current Assets	716.306	724.955
Share Capital	49.722	49.722
Reserves	121.113	96.528
Group Net Profit for the year	3.291	29.151
Group Shareholders Equity	174.127	175.401
Net Equity attributable to minority interest	1	1
Net Profit for the year attributable to minority interest	0	0
Total Sharholders Equity	174.128	175.402
Employee Benefits	4.975	5.192
Non-Current Financial Liabilities	286.705	285.385
of which related parties	4.837	5.262
Provisions for Risks and Charges	1.591	1.975
Deferred Tax Liabilities	9.064	9.237
Other Payables	7.899	8.985
Total Non-Current Liabilities	310.233	310.774
Current Financial Liabilities	88.575	83.146
of which related parties	2.817	2.957
Current Tax Payables	3.241	3.630
Trade Payables	113.372	126.840
of which related parties	281	270
Other Liabilities	26.757	25.163
of which related parties	230	230
Total Current Liabilities	231.945	238.779
Total Equity and Liabilities	716.306	724.955

Appendix 4 – Consolidated Cash Flow Statement

CASH FLOW STATEMENT	At March 31,	At March 31,
€/000	2023	2022
Operation Activities
Net Profit (Including Portion Attr. to Minority )	3.291	9.120
of which related parties	(111)	(561)
Income Taxes	1.352	2.782
Financial income	(114)	(1.694)
Financial charges	3.280	1.872
of which related parties	45	31
FX (Gains) and Losses	176	383
(Gain)/Loss on non - current asset Disposals	(81)	(56)
Provisions&Write-downs	(87)	17
(write-downs)/recovery of inancial assets (receivables)	(63)	(25)
Amortisation, depreciation & write-downs	11.828	10.918
Cash Flow from Operating Activities Before Changes in NWC	19.582	23.316

Change in Inventories	18.127	(27.001)
Change in Trade and Other Payables	(13.469)	5.409
of which related parties	11	461
Change in Trade and Other Receivables	(7.230)	(6.889)
of which related parties	(22)	51
Change in Other Assets/Liabilities	(430)	(2.696)
of which related parties	(1.604)	2.040
Net Interest Expenses	(3.166)	(178)
Income Taxes paid	(2.335)	(78)
Change in Provisions for Risks and Charges	(668)	(242)
Cash Flow from Operating Activities (A)	10.411	(8.358)

Investing activities
Investment in Tangible Assets	(7.858)	(7.226)
Disposal of Tangible Assets	304	76
Investment in Intangible Assets	(771)	(550)
Disposal of Intangible Assets
Cash Flow used in Investing Activities (B)	(8.325)	(7.701)

Financing Activities
Increase in no current Loan and borrowing	15.000	20.000
Decrease in no current Loan and borrowing	(11.903)	(10.854)
Net variation in current and not current fiancial Assets and Liability inclueded IFRS 16	8.172	2.357
of which related parties	(565)	472
Net variation non-monetary increase IFRS16	(617)	(3.982)
of which related parties	-	(1.177)
Dividends Distribution	(6)
Acquisition of treasury shares	(597)	(1.558)
Cash Flow from Financing Activities ( C)	10.049	5.964
Net Cash Flow of the Year (A)+(B)+(C)	12.135	(10.095)

Appendix 5 – Net Financial Debt

NET FINANCIAL DEBT	At March 31,	At December 31,
€/000	2023	2022
A. Liquidity	122.817	110.682
B. Cash and cash equivalents
C. Other current financial assets	5.632	9.964
D. Liquidity (A + B + C)	128.450	120.646
E. Current financial debt (including debt instruments but excluding the current
portion of non-current financial debt)	- 6.358	- 1.333
F. Current portion of non-current financial debt	- 82.217	- 81.814
G. Current financial debt (E + F)	- 88.575	- 83.146
H. Net current financial debt (G - D)	39.875	37.500
I. Non-current financial debt (excluding current portion and debt instruments)	- 216.417	- 215.084
J. Debt instruments	- 70.288	- 70.301
K. Trade payables and other non-current payables
L. Non-current financial debt (I + J + K)	- 286.705	- 285.385
M. Total financial debt (H + L)	- 246.831	- 247.885

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4252_10-q_2023-05-11_70e22840-eb72-4187-975e-b673d7a7d337.pdf

FIRST QUARTER 2023

CONTINUED GROWTH FOR CARPET FIBRES IN THE UNITED STATES

GLOBAL MARKET CHARACTERISED BY VOLATILITY WITH LIMITED VISIBILITY

REVENUES AT €166.8 MILLION -2.5% ON THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2022

EBITDA¹ AT €21.6 MILLION (EBITDA MARGIN 12.9%) -13.1% ON THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2022

MAIN Q1 2023 INDICATORS: