▲ Total output in 2020: +24% to EUR 267 m (previous year: EUR 215 m)
▲ EBITDA 2020: TEUR 5,494 compared to TEUR 2,092 in 2019
▲ Equity ratio of 25 per cent as at 31 December 2020
▲ 2020: HMS Bergbau AG receives certification as a CO2-neutral com-pany
▲ Positive overall outlook
Berlin, 30 June 2021: HMS Bergbau AG, one of the leading independent raw materials trading and marketing companies in Germany, today published its annual financial statements for 2020.
The past 2020 financial year and the first two quarters of 2021 were both characterised by a variety of regulatory measures and restrictions due to the corona pandemic.
Nevertheless, as an international commodity trader, we were frequently able to take advantage of related opportunities during the past financial year, par-ticularly as a result of the internationalisation strategy we have been pursu-ing for a number of years and our continual expansion of our product portfolio to include other commodities such as ores (e.g. chrome, lithium and manga-nese), cement and fertilisers.
As a result, sales in the course of 2020 were marked by the strong trading business in Asia and Africa. Total output amounted to EUR 267 million in the 2020 reporting period after EUR 215 million in the previous year. Some of the earnings figures also showed significant increases in the past financial year. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) from January to December 2020 amounted to EUR 5,494 thousand, compared to EUR 2,092 thousand in the same period of 2019. The sale of shares in the amount of EUR 1,954 thousand (previous year: 0) contributed to this devel-opment. The net profit for the period as at 31 December 2020 amounted to EUR 2,810 thousand, compared to EUR 513 thousand for the 2019 financial year.
Total assets also increased significantly versus the previous year from EUR 51.1 million to EUR 71.0 million as of the 31 December 2020 reporting date. The main drivers of this increase were the build-up of trade receivables on the assets side of the balance sheet and the rise in current trade payables on the liabilities side. Equity improved from EUR 15.7 million as at the 31 De-cember 2019 reporting date to EUR 18.0 million as at the 31 December 2020 reporting date. As a result, the equity ratio as at the reporting date equalled approx. 25 per cent.
The strategy of transitioning into a vertically integrated, international com-modity trading group through the continuous expansion of business activities along the value chain was consistently pursued in the 2020 financial year. The most important events related to this strategy included the preparations (completed in April 2021) for the acquisition of a 51% stake in Maatla Re-sources (Pty.) Ltd (Botswana) and the steady expansion of the business and project development of the subsidiary Silesian Coal International Group of Companies S. A. As part of this development, the project company in Bot-swana is expected to produce and market around 1.2 million tonnes per year of its own coal deposits and Silesian Coal around 1.5 million tonnes per year of coking coal, which was defined by the European Union as a critical raw material as far back as 2014. To finance these and other activities, a bond in the amount of EUR 8 million was placed as part of a private placement.
Next to its operating activities, HMS Bergbau AG also considers environ-mental protection to be an important factor. Thus, the Group continued to act sustainably and responsibly during the past 2020 financial year by offsetting the entire administrative and internal CO2 emission of the HMS Group by investing in international climate protection projects that sustainably and verifiably reduce greenhouse gases. HMS Bergbau AG has been a CO2-neutral certified company since 2020.
Based on the aforementioned performance, it is evident that HMS Bergbau AG has been able to further expand the tonnage traded despite intense price competition thanks to its international positioning. Accordingly, the HMS Group considers itself well positioned in the positively developing industrial and energy markets given the ever-steady rise in global energy consumption along with growing industrial production.
Due to its international positioning and consistently growing range of ser-vices, the Group is expected to continue to generate improved results and increased sales volumes in the future. HMS Bergbau AG not only takes the Paris Climate Agreement positively into account in its operating activities but intends to continue to make an active contribution to climate protection by supporting international climate protection projects.
For the year 2021, HMS Bergbau AG is planning to generate sales of approx-imately EUR 250 million and, based on a targeted gross margin of approxi-mately 4 per cent, a positive EBITDA of around EUR 3 million.
The Management Board