CLASQUIN: 2021 Outstanding Business And earnings Performance
Net Profit Group Share: X3.4
LYON, France–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Regulatory News:
CLASQUIN (Paris:ALCLA):
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS ON 21 MARCH 2022
The Statutory Auditors have completed their audit procedures on these accounts and the report relating to certification of the consolidated financial statements will be issued when the annual report is published.
| Consolidated financial | 2021 | % GP | 2020 | % GP |
2021/ 2020
|
| 2019 |
2021/ 2019 |
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| Number of shipments | 299.209 |
| 251,561 |
| +18.9% |
| 273,875 | +9.3% |
| Sales (€m)* | 752.2 |
| 392.0 |
| +91.9% |
| 331.3 | +127.1% |
| Gross profit (€m) | 121.9 | 100% | 76.2 | 100% | +60.0% |
| 76.7 | +58.8% |
| EBITDA (€m) | 38.2 | 31.3% | 16.7 | 21.9% | +129.0% |
| 13.9 | +175.4% |
| Current operating income (€m) | 27.5 | 22.6% | 9.5 | 12.5% | +189.6% |
| 8.6 | +219.7% |
| Consolidated net profit (€m) | 18.9 | 15.5% | 5.4 | 7.1% | +248.3% |
| 4.5 | +323.9% |
| Net profit Group share (€m) | 17.4 | 14.3% | 5.1 | 6.7% | +239.6% |
| 3.9 | +349.2% |
* Note: Sales is not a relevant indicator of business in our sector, as it is greatly impacted by changing air and sea freight rates, fuel surcharges, exchange rates (particularly versus USD), etc.
Changes in the number of shipments, volumes shipped and, in financial terms, gross profit are relevant indicators.
2021 HIGHLIGHTS
The Group’s performance was achieved in an entirely unprecedented economic environment marked by the disruption of logistics chains worldwide, resulting in extreme pressure on both sea and air transport: congestion at port entrances, extended delivery times, lack of handling staff and truck drivers, shortage of containers and a lack of space on vessels and aircraft.
These disruptions coupled with strong demand gave rise to a surge in sea freight rates and soaring air freight rates in Q4.
Development projects:
- Spain:
January 2021 acquisition of the Columbus Transit SA business by CLASQUIN Spain.- €0.8 million gross profit
- Belgium:
Creation of CLASQUIN BELGIUM followed on 1 April by the acquisition of the international business assets of INTERLINES Belgium.- €2.7 million gross profit in 2021 (9 months)
- France:
Acquisition in Q2 2021 of a 55.56% stake in Transports PETIT International (chartered flights to Africa)- €1.6 million gross profit in 2021 (consolidated on 01/01/2021)
Ongoing deployment of the LIVE by CLASQUIN collaborative digital platform and expansion of the client offering:
- Live Green
- Measures the carbon footprint of each shipment
- Diagnostics and alternative solution proposals with lower CO2 emissions
- Purchase Order Management
- Order tracking
- Deployment of processes and solutions to manage and measure the performance of Group client suppliers
Scope covered by LIVE at 31 December 2021: 390 clients accounting for 33% of Group gross profit.
People, Partner, Planet
The CLASQUIN CSR policy has made a sustained and far-reaching contribution to Group performance over many years.
In 2021:
- Launch of the “Smart Green” offer: helping Group clients move towards a decarbonised supply chain
- CLASQUIN Foundation: mainly focused on integration through sport and finding employment for young people from disadvantaged areas
- Ratings:
- Ecovadis +10 points (62/100)
- Gaia index +5 points (67/100)
- 2020 Gender Balance Index: 92/100
ANNUAL BUSINESS VOLUMES AND EARNINGS
Business growth in 2021 was very strong.
|
| NUMBER OF SHIPMENTS | VOLUMES | |||||
|
| 2021 | 2020 | 2021/2020 | 2021 | 2020 | 2021/2020 | |
| Sea freight | 139,126 | 119,392 | +16.5% | 272,228 | 235,554 | +15.6% | |
| Air freight | 79,663 | 67,376 | +18.2% | 71,257 T*** | 58,113 T*** | +22.6% | |
| RORO* | 45,387 | 38,483 | +17.9% |
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Other | 35,033 | 26,310 | +33.2% |
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| TOTAL FORWARDING & | 299,209 | 251,561 | +18.9% |
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* Roll-on/roll-off: combined road + sea transport (trailers or trucks loaded on ships)
**Twenty-foot equivalent units
***Tonnage
This was due to:
- Strong growth in the Group’s core business
- Substantial market share gains, themselves attributable to:
- The relevance and quality of the offering (PO management, digital offerings, air chartering, block trains from China, etc.)
- The energy and commitment of our sales force (14% of the Group’s gross profit in 2021 was generated by new clients)
- The completion of development projects (see above)
Gross profit surged 60.0% in 2021 due to:
- The sharp increase in volumes
- Unprecedented market conditions resulting in:
- Soaring freight rates
- Increased complexity in processing shipments
- The development of new offers (chartering, etc.)
Robust business growth and unprecedented market conditions called for exceptional commitment by our teams together with additional hiring (headcount rose 14%, ¼ of which related to development projects). The increase in headcount, coupled with an unfavourable basis for comparison (multiple temporary expense relief measures in 2020) gave rise to a 40% increase in operating expenses (up 33% versus 2019).
EBITDA increased by a factor of 2.3 to €38.2 million (up €21.5 million versus 2020) and current operating income surged 190% to €27.5 million.
Accordingly, the EBIT/GP ratio increased from 12.5% to 22.6%, an outstanding performance.
Net profit soared 248% to €18.9 million, and net profit Group share rose 240% to €17.4 million, largely due to the utilisation of previously unrecognised tax losses (positive impact of €1.0 million).
FINANCIAL POSITION
The Group strengthened its financial position:
|
| 2021 | 2020 |
| Gross operating cash flow (€m) | 35.7 | 15.1 |
| % of gross profit | 29.3% | 19.8% |
| Shareholders’ equity (€m) | 45.4 | 30.9 |
| Net debt (€m) | 33.2 | 31.6 |
| Leverage (net debt/EBITDA) | 0.9 | 1.9 |
| Shareholders’ equity (excl. IFRS 16) (€m) | 45.7 | 31.1 |
| Net debt (excl. IFRS 16) (€m) | 22.1 | 22.6 |
| Leverage (excl. IFRS 16) | 0.6 | 1.6 |
Despite the sharp increase in working capital (up 92.7%) directly linked to the increase in sales (up 91.9%), the Group managed to stabilise net debt thanks to the sharp increase in gross operating cash flow (up 136%).
With leverage of 0.6 (excluding lease liabilities), the Group’s ability to finance its development has been strengthened.
PAYMENT OF DIVIDENDS
On 21 March 2022, the Board of Directors decided to propose a dividend of €3.70 per share to the 9 June 2022 Combined Annual General Meeting.
POST BALANCE SHEET EVENTS
Disposal on 1 March 2022 of the 70% stake held by CLASQUIN SA in Log System
2022 OUTLOOK
Market
International trade estimates (by volume): up 4.7% (WTO – Oct 2021)
This October 2021 outlook does not take into account the current situation between Russia and Ukraine and the potential impact on global trade.
CLASQUIN
Business (volumes): outperform market growth
CLASQUIN does very limited business (0.1%) with Russia and Ukraine.
UPCOMING EVENTS (publication after market closure)
- Thursday 28 April 2022: Q1 2022 business report
- Thursday 28 July 2022: Q2 2022 business report
- Tuesday 13 September 2022: H1 2022 results
- Thursday 27 October 2022: Q3 2022 business report
CLASQUIN is an air and sea freight forwarding and overseas logistics specialist. The Group designs and manages the entire overseas transport and logistics chain, organising and coordinating the flow of client shipments between France and the rest of the world and, more specifically, to and from Asia-Pacific, North America, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.
Its shares are listed on EURONEXT GROWTH, ISIN FR0004152882, Reuters ALCLA.PA, Bloomberg ALCLA FP. Read more at www.clasquin.com.
CLASQUIN confirms its eligibility for the share savings plan for MSCs (medium-sized companies) in accordance with Article D221-113-5 of the French Monetary and Financial Code established by decree number 2014-283 of 4 March 2014 and with Article L221-32-2 of the French Monetary and Financial Code, which set the conditions for eligibility (less than 5,000 employees and annual sales of less than €1,500m or balance sheet total of less than €2,000m).
Clasquin is listed on the Enternext© PEA-PME 150 index.
LEI: 9695004FF6FA43KC4764
Contacts
CLASQUIN CONTACTS
Philippe Lons – Deputy Managing Director/Group CFO
Domitille Chatelain – Group Head of Communication & International Marketing Executive
CLASQUIN Group – 235 cours Lafayette – 69006 Lyon
Tel.: +33 (0)4 72 83 17 00 – Fax: +33 (0)4 72 83 17 33
