Berentzen-Gruppe Aktiengesellschaft publishes preliminary business results: Revenue and earnings targets for the 2023 financial year achieved in full

Berentzen-Gruppe Aktiengesellschaft (ISIN: DE0005201602), which is listed on the Regulated Market (General Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, has announced preliminary, unaudited financial results for the 2023 financial year. Accordingly, the corporate group generated consolidated revenues of EUR 185.6 million - an increase of 6.6 per cent compared to the 2022 financial year (EUR 174.2 million). Consolidated earnings before interest and taxes (consolidated EBIT) totalled EUR 7.7 million (2022: EUR 8.3 million). Consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (consolidated EBITDA) reached EUR 16.1 million (2022: EUR 16.7 million).

"All of the Group's key performance indicators for the 2023 financial year are therefore within the ranges we last forecast", explains Oliver Schwegmann, CEO of Berentzen-Gruppe Aktiengesellschaft. In terms of earnings and revenues, the Berentzen Group is satisfied with the fourth quarter of the 2023 financial year, having generated a consolidated EBIT of EUR 2.7 million in the last three months of the financial year - after EUR 1.5 million in the same period of the previous year. "We have thus achieved our goal of significantly improving margin quality again over the course of the year," says Schwegmann.

"Nevertheless, we are not satisfied with the quality of earnings for 2023 as a whole. The sales growth was achieved exclusively through price increases with a slightly lower sales volume. We were therefore unable to increase our gross profit compared to the previous year," explains Schwegmann. This was compounded by inflationary price dynamics throughout the entire value chain, which led to an increase in other operating expenses, in particular personnel costs. These developments were therefore responsible for the overall decline in Group EBIT compared to the previous year. In addition, significantly higher market interest rates and higher capital costs for more expensive inventories led to a significant increase in total financing costs.

"Even though costs are currently falling in some cases, we do not expect energy and commodity prices to return to the levels seen before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Instead, we are confronted with a new reality. For this reason, we have been working intensively on revising our strategic guidelines over the past few months. We will be presenting these in the coming days. The core of our new orientation will be to align and focus the company, structures and processes as well as the product portfolios even more consistently on the further growth of our known strategic core topics," says Schwegmann. In this context, the Berentzen Group will also announce a medium-term forecast for the first time. "In this way, we will also position the corporate group securely and sustainably for the future and chart a clear growth course for the coming years," says Schwegmann.

The preliminary business results of Berentzen-Gruppe Aktiengesellschaft are subject to the auditor's opinion and approval by the Supervisory Board. The final business results and further information on the 2023 financial year and the 2024 forecast will be published as planned on 28 March 2024 with the 2023 Annual Report.