Prysmian S.p.a. Results at 31 December 2018
Combined sales (including General Cable for full year 2018) at €11,524M with +2.8% organic growth
Adjusted combined EBITDA (including General Cable for full year 2018) at €767M including WL Project provisions totalling €165M FY 2018
Reported adjusted ebitda (including General Cable for the 7 months from June to December 2018) at 693M, of which €123M attributable to General Cable
Net Financial Debt confirmed at €2,222m (€436M at 31/12/2017), including €2,601M attributable to the acquisition of General Cable
FY19 Guidance confirmed, adjusted combined EBITDA expected to grow in the range of €950M-€1,020M
FY 2019 Free Cash Flows forecast confirmed at €300M ±10% after payment of €90M restructuring costs
Proposed dividend pay-out of €0.43 per share confirmed
The Board of Directors of Prysmian S.p.A. met today and re-examined and approved the consolidated financial statements and draft separate financial statements for 2018.
WesternLink submarine interconnection
On 6 April 2019, a fault was detected on the WesternLink submarine interconnection that caused the Link to be out of operation. Investigation work located the fault, which took place during the commissioning tests, in the offshore portion of the cable. In light of this further issue and based on the technicians’ analysis, the Board of Directors decided to allocate a €70 million provision. The allocation takes into account the contractual penalties and the repair and ancillary costs associated with the issue which occurred on 6 April 2019, as well as additional repairs that might be necessary in the foreseeable future.
Compensation claims for anti-competitive damages
Between the end of March and the beginning of April 2019, some Group companies received compensation claims for damages by certain customers as a result of the European Commission’s decision dated April 2014 on alleged anti-competitive behaviours in the land and submarine HV cable market. Based also on the advice of its legal experts, the Board of Directors decided to allocate a €25 million provision.
Main consolidated financial results impacted by the aforementioned events and diverging from the results reported on 5 March 2019
- Group’s sales decreased by €53 million, wholly attributable to the Projects operating segment, due to the WesternLink project provisions. On the basis of this change, organic growth was 2.8% (compared to 3.3% reported on 5 March).
- Revenues of the Projects operating segment decreased by €53 million, with a +1.7% organic growth (compared to 4.7% reported on 5 March).
- Adjusted EBITDA decreased by €70 million, wholly attributable to the Projects operating segment, due to the WesternLink project provisions.
- EBITDA declined by €95 million, of which €70 million attributable to the WesternLink project provisions and €25 million to the provisions for anti-competitive issues.
- Net profit decreased by €72 million to €58 million as a consequence of the foregoing and taking into account the related tax effects.
- Net Capital Employed and equity decreased by €72 million.
- Net Financial Debt and free cash flow remained unchanged.
Net profit of the Parent Company Prysmian S.p.A. declined by €4 million to €96 million due to the effects arising from the Italian companies’ tax consolidation.
(*) The consolidated financial statements and draft separate financial statements are currently being audited; as of today’s date, audit is still underway.
Further Board of Directors’ resolutions
- create the Company’s portfolio of treasury shares (so-called “stock of shares”), including those already held by the Company, that can be used in any extraordinary transactions (e.g., mergers, de-mergers, purchase of equity investments);
- use the treasury shares acquired by exercising the rights ensuing from debt instruments, whether convertible or exchangeable for financial instruments issued by the Company, its subsidiaries or third-parties (e.g., takeover bids and/or share swaps);
- dispose of own shares in service of share-based incentive plans or share ownership plans reserved for Prysmian Group’s directors and/or employees;
- ensure effective management of the Company’s share capital, by creating investment opportunities also on the basis of available liquidity.
2018 Non-Financial Statement (Sustainability Report)
The Board of Directors approved the Consolidated Non-Financial Statement (NFS) pursuant to Legislative Decree No. 254/16, incorporating the impacts emerged in the re-examination of the consolidated financial statements and draft separate financial statements for 2018, following the recent developments regarding the WesternLink submarine interconnection and the compensation claims received for anti-competitive damages.
Including General Cable’s contribution, the economic value generated by Prysmian Group was €10,240 million, down €53 million compared to €10,293 million reported on 5 March 2019, as a result of the decrease in Group’s sales from €10,158 million to €10,105 million.
Prysmian Group’s Financial Report at 31 December 2018, approved by the Board of Directors today, will be made available to the public by 30 April 2019 at the Company’s registered office in Via Chiese 6, Milan, and at Borsa Italiana S.p.A. It will also be available as of today on the corporate website at www.prysmian.com and in the authorised central storage mechanism used by the Company at www.emarketstorage.com. This document may contain forward-looking statements relating to future events and future operating, economic and financial results of the Prysmian Group. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they depend on the occurrence of future events and circumstances. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from those reflected in forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors. The managers responsible for preparing corporate accounting documents (Carlo Soprano and Alessandro Brunetti) hereby declare, pursuant to Article 154-bis paragraph 2 of Italy's Unified Financial Act, that the accounting information contained in this press release corresponds to the underlying documents, accounting books and records.