ASBIS Group in H1 2013: profits grow faster than revenues thanks to higher gross profit margin and increased own brand sales

Limassol, Cyprus, August 7 th , 2013 -- ASBISc Enterprises Plc, a leading distributor of IT products in emerging markets of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, reported a successful H1 2013. During this period, the Company managed to increase its sales revenues by 21.95%, to USD 908.478m. Profitability grew on all levels, due to the highest ever own-brand sales, which were over USD 178.379m and have already exceeded own-brand sales in 2012. This contributed to an increased overall gross profit margin.

Gross profit increased by 40.54%, to USD 51.848m, from USD 36.892m in H1 2012. EBITDA grew by 82.49% in H1 2013, to USD 14.664m, from USD 8.036m in the same period last year. As a result, NPAT attributable to owners of the parent grew in H1 2013 by 84.12%, to USD 4.699m, from USD 2.552m in H1 2012. At the same time, the Company has significantly improved cash flow management, despite large investments in new high-margin product lines.  

Siarhei Kostevitch, CEO and Chairman of ASBISc Enterprises Plc, commented: “We have delivered solid growth in financial results on all levels both in Q2 2013 and H1 2013—even though, in our industry, the second quarter is usually the slowest one of the year. This was possible due to consistent realization of our plan to switch more to booming new product lines that offer margins higher than those of traditional computer components. The main driver of our growth is attributed to our own brands, Prestigio and Canyon. We invested a lot of resources in their development and now we are seeing the results: through the first six months of 2013, revenues from own brands are already higher than those for all of 2012. More importantly, these revenues have been generated at very healthy gross profit margins and have improved our overall profitability. Our gross profit margin in H1 2013 grew by 15.24%, to 5.71%, from 4.95% in H1 2012. Therefore, having increased revenues by 21.95%, to more than USD 908 million, and net profit by 84.12%, to almost USD 4.7 million, we have a solid foundation for delivering the financial forecast for the whole year.”

 Kostevitch continued: “What is very important for us, we were able to support such robust growth and at the same time improve our cash flow. We have been able to serve increased demand and sales, while our net cash outflows from operating activities were almost USD 40 million lower than a year ago. This means we improved working capital management, which is crucial for our business, and we should benefit from that also in the future, delivering even more robust results and maximizing shareholder value. Further improvement in margins, profitability and cash flow will be our main focus in H2 2013.”

FINANCIAL RESULTS IN H1 2013 AND H1 2012 (USD '000)

FINANCIAL FORECAST FOR 2013

For 2013, ASBIS forecasts revenues between USD 1.85 billion and USD 1.95 billion and NPAT from USD 11.0 million to USD 12.5 million.

DETAILED INFORMATION ON SALES PROFILE

The most important development of H1 2013 was the strong increase of sales in Central & Eastern Europe, which allowed this region to become ASBIS's no. 1 region in revenues. This was possible due to a strong increase of own brand and smartphone sales in CEE, while revenues derived in the Former Soviet Union were slightly higher than in the comparable period of 2012.

•  Revenue from sale of tablets increased by 293.44%, to USD 137.494m , from USD 34.946m in the corresponding period of 2012. This was mostly due to significantly higher unit sales.

•  Revenue from sale of smartphones increased by 353.42%, to USD 192.895m , from USD 42.542m in the corresponding period of 2012. This was mostly due to significantly higher unit sales.

•  Revenues from the sale of own brands set another historical record of USD 178.379m , compared to USD 47.211m in H1 2012. Own brands' contribution to total revenue was 19.63% in H1 2013, compared to 6.34% in H1 2012. 

REVENUE BREAKDOWN BY REGIONS IN H1 2013 AND H1 2012 (USD '000):

Siarhei Kostevitch, CEO and Chairman of ASBISc Enterprises Plc, commented: “This clearly confirms that the broad geographic coverage of our operations, our strong product portfolio and investments in own brands development have allowed us to benefit from positive changes in certain markets. In our opinion, the fact that the CEE region's contribution to total revenues grew to 37.09% in Q2 2013 and 37.58% in H1 2013—compared to 34.81% in Q2 2012 and 33.53% in H1 2012—increases the Company's security, as our dependence on one big region decreases. Therefore, we intend to support this trend in the future. ”

REVENUE BREAKDOWN IN H1 2013 AND H1 2012 – TOP 10 COUNTRIES (USD '000)

For additional information, please contact:

Daniel Kordel , ASBISc Enterprises PLC, Investor Relations
Tel. +357 99 633 793
Tel. +48 509 020 021
E-mail d.kordel@asbis.com

Costas Tziamalis , ASBISc Enterprises PLC, Investor Relations
Tel. +357 25 857 000
E-mail  costas@asbis.com 

Iwona Mojsiuszko , M+G
Tel. +48 22 625 71 40
Tel. +48 501 183 386
E-mail iwona.mojsiuszko@mplusg.com.pl

ASBISc Enterprises Plc is based in Cyprus and specializes in the distribution of computer hardware and software, mobile solutions, IT components and peripherals, and a wide range of IT products and digital equipment. Established in 1990, the Company has a presence in Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltic States, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, and North Africa, selling to 75 countries worldwide.  

The Group distributes products of many vendors, and manufactures and sells private-label products: Prestigio (smartphones, tablet PCs, external storage, leather-coated USB accessories, GPS devices, etc.) and Canyon (MP3 players, networking products and other peripheral devices). ASBIS has subsidiaries in 26 countries, more than 1,000 employees and 32,000 customers.  The Company's stock has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since October 2007 under the ticker symbol “ASB” (ASBIS).  

For more information, also visit the company's website at www.asbis.com or investor.asbis.com