CERVED Q2, 2019 Revenues Up 10.4%

Revenues: Euro 246.2 million, +10.4% compared to Euro 222.9 million in the first six months of 2018;
Adjusted EBITDA: Euro 111.0 million, +6.4% compared to Euro 104.4 million in the first six months of 2018, resulting in an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 45.1%;

The Board of Directors of Cerved Group S.p.A. (MTA: CERV, the “Group”) – the largest information provider and credit servicer in Italy – approved the results as of 30 July 2019. Andrea Mignanelli, Chief Executive Officer of the Group, commented: “The half year results are overall in line with our expectations, with Revenues increasing by 10.4%, Adjusted EBITDA by 6.4%, and Adjusted Net Profit by 12.5%.

At the divisional level, Credit Management continues in its growth trajectory in line with the past. The results of the Credit Information and Marketing Solutions divisions are still impacted by the revision of the commercial operations, although we envisage an improvement in the second half of the year, in particular within the corporate segment.

We are also announcing the acquisitions of MBS Consulting, Euro Legal Services and Mitigo Servizi, confirming our commitment to M&A in areas of strategic interest for the company. In particular I wish to highlight the strategic importance of the acquisition of MBS Consulting, a leading consulting firm with revenues of Euro 23 million and a team of 80 professionals, which integrates Cerved’s competences in big data, advanced analytics and digital with MBS’ competences in strategic advisory and change management.

The group presents a solid financial situation which benefits from strong cash flow generation and which allowed the leverage ratio to reach 2.7x Adjusted EBITDA for the last 12 months, substantially aligned to the 2 prior quarters after the payment of Euro 58m in dividends.”

Analysis of Consolidated Revenues: In the first six months of 2019 the Group’s revenues increased by 10.4%, reaching Euro 246.2 million compared to Euro 222.9 million in the first six months 2018.

The Credit Information division is in line with the previous year with +0.1% growth.
The Corporate division achieved a performance of +0.9%, mainly due to the development of certain projects within the Large Users segment.
Within the Territorial Network (Rete Territoriale), a new commercial offer was launched combining Credit Information with Credit Collection services (“Contratto Unico”) with the purpose to offer a full range of services with a single commercial interface. This project has experienced a slight delay in the start-up phase during the first few months of the year, we expect to record the expected results in the second half of the year.
The financial institutions division achieved a performance of -0.8% due to the early renewal of certain relevant multi-year contracts. On the other hand, there was a significant growth in the Real Estate appraisals and Special Projects segments, in particular in the anti-money laundering and guarantee fund services (Fondi Garanzia).
The Credit Management division grew by 30.5%. Such growth is attributable to both organic growth of the business and to the special servicer assignments related to the NPLs (Non Performing Loans) originating from industrial partnerships and the acquisition of Cerved Property Services from Eurobank carried out in April 2019. It should be noted that half-year revenues as of 30 June 2019 are not affected by the early termination of the contract relating to special servicing activities on non-performing loans between Juliet SpA and Banca Monte Paschi di Siena.