The group at the end of the first six months of 2023 reported RON998,000 losses, against RON16 million profit in the same period of 2022.
“We had a predictable increase in performances at the end of the second quarter, compared to the first quarter, driven by the seasonality of the construction market. Cost control measures introduced at Group Level had a powerful effect, especially in underperforming divisions, even though the sub-par performance was due to market conditions, most of which were independent of our control” stated Ioana Birta, the Group’s CFO.
EBITDA growth in 2Q from 1Q/2023 reached 58% compared with the corresponding period of 2022.
The dilution of the base effect is obvious in the quantitative sales as well. The sold quantities (tonnes) increased in the second quarter of last year by only 5% over the first quarter of 2022, however, this year the quantity rose by 21%, from 16.800 tonnes in the first quarter to 20.300 tonnes in the second quarter, leading to total quantities of 37.000 tonnes for the first half of the year. This evolution points to a trend that is favourable to reaching the forecast for the whole year.
EBITDA margin stood at 7.3% at the end of the first half.
In the consolidated results, the performances of Installations & Recycling as well as Compounds, including recycled, which represent the core activities of the group stand out in terms of sales and profitability. EBITDA margin of Installations & Recycling reached double digits at 10,2 in H1/2023 while Compounds & Recycled had an EBITDA margin of 9,5%. Flexible packaging and Doors & Windows evolve slower than expected due to the challenging context that is translated in a slow demand for the domestic market as well as exports.
“In the last five years we’ve morphed in a successful Group, with a diverse business portfolio, much more balanced and efficient from the cost perspective. The investments we’ve made allowed us to expand our customer base, to reduce dependency on some markets and to lay the foundation for solid, long-term evolution. There are a lot of unknowns which makes it difficult to anticipate the future, but based on our visibility for the next period we are confident we will reach the budgeted profitability for 2023.” Concluded Birta.
TeraPlast Group will invest RON 120 million this year. The stretch film factory is under construction and the production test will start in the fourth quarter of this year. The total investment for this factory is RON 84 million. For the new photovoltaic powerplant, for which TeraPlast has co-financing through PNRR, the company is finalising details regarding the project and estimates that, in case of a positive final answer to sign the financing contract in the third quarter. The new investment will allow an increase in the production and use of renewable energy of up to 20% of the electrical energy consumption on long term.
The group is composed of the following companies: TeraPlast, TeraGlass, TeraPlast Recycling, TeraBio Pack and Somplast. Since July 2, 2008, TeraPlast SA is listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange under the symbol TRP. The company’s shares are included in the BET reference index of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, in the Small Cap and Global All Cap indices of FTSE Russell, in the MSCI Frontier IMI (Investable Market Index) indices and in the CECE MidCap and ROTX EUR indices of the Vienna Stock Exchange.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)