Cerved Group 2021 Revenues Up 4.2%

Consolidated revenues: € 508.1 million, +4.2% compared to the 487.8 million of 2020;
Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA1): Euro 215.5 million, +5.8% compared to 203.6 million in 2020, with a margin on revenues of 42.4%;
Consolidated Net Financial Debt: Euro 519.4 million at 31 December 2021, equal to 4x the Adjusted EBITDA.

1) Adjusted EBITDA excludes the impact of the Performance Share Plan with reference to the plan 2019-2021 and plan 2022-2024

The Board of Directors of Cerved Group S.p.A. (MTA: CERV, the “Company”), the largest information provider and credit servicer in Italy, has examined the preliminary figures on Revenues, Adjusted EBITDA and Net Financial Position as of December 31, 2021. Please note that the audit of such financial results is ongoing and that the 2021 financial statements with complete and final data for the period will be examined by the Board of Directors on 4 March 2022.

Analysis of Preliminary Revenues

In 2021, the Group’s consolidated revenues increased by 4.2% entirely on organic basis, reaching Euro 508.1 million compared to the 487.8 million of the previous year

The Risk Intelligence business unit recorded a growth of 3.5% in the Financial Institutions segment, mainly thanks to the support services to banks in the provision of loans guaranteed by the Fondo Centrale di Garanzia and to the Know Your Customer / Anti Money Laundering services.

The Corporates segment recorded a growth of +6.4% thanks to the good performances achieved in the Know Your Customer / Anti Money Laundering services, and the Risk Analytics and Rating Agency related service lines.

The Marketing Intelligence business unit grew by 23.3%, mainly due to the effect of the growth in revenues from Sales Intelligence and Digital Marketing. The decline suffered by the Credit Management business unit is due partly to the delay in collections due to the COVID 19 pandemic, which resulted in the closure of the courts for three months starting from April 2020, with impacts on the timing of judicial auctions and a slowdown in all subsequent phases of credit management, partly to the extension to the end of 2021 of the government support measures to corporates, in particular the moratoria on loans, with the effect of suspending the trend of business closures and therefore of temporarily postponing the potential generation of new loans, and, finally, to the decrease in the Banking service line, which in 2020 still benefited from the tail end of the contract with Monte Paschi di Siena.

1) Includes €1.5m of capital gain deriving from the sale of the Turin real estate property

Analysis of Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA

Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA of Euro 215.5 million in 2021 represents an increase of 5.8% compared to the previous year. The Group’s adjusted EBITDA margin was 42.4%, compared to 41.6% in the previous period.

The Risk Intelligence business unit recorded an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 52.6%, higher than the 50.7% in 2020. The Marketing Intelligence business unit recorded an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 36.3%, higher than the 27.0% in 2020. The Credit Management business unit, on the other hand, had a margin of 25.5%, down compared to the Adjusted EBITDA margin of 30.7% of the previous year.

1) Includes €1.5m of capital gain deriving from the sale of the Turin real estate property

Analysis of Consolidated Net Financial Position

At 31 December 2021, the Group’s Net Financial Position amounted to Euro 519.4 million compared to Euro 587.7 million at 31 December 2020. The ratio between Net Financial Position and Adjusted EBITDA for the last 12 months was 2.4x at December 31, 2021.

The Consolidated Financial Statement as of December 31, 2021, will be made available, in accordance with terms imposed by current law, at the registered office of the Company (Via dell’Unione Europea n. 6A/6B – 20097, San Donato,Milanese), on the authorised storage system eMarketSTORAGE (www.emarketstorage.com) and on the Company website (http://company.cerved.com, Investor Relations area, Financial Statements).According to paragraph 2 of article 154-bis of the TUF, the executive appointed to draft corporate accounts, Mr. Emanuele Bona, stated that the accounting information herein contained tallies with the company’s documentary evidence, ledgers and accounts.

Cerved helps companies, banks, institutions and individuals to protect themselves from risk and grow in a sustainable way. Thanks to a unique wealth of data and analytics, it provides clients with digital and artificial intelligence services and platforms to manage risk and support data-driven growth, also involving customised consultancy solutions. Through Cerved Credit Management it helps the financial and real system to dispose of and recover impaired loans. Cerved Rating Agency, one of Europe’s leading rating agencies, operates within the group.