The Board of Directors of Marr SpA, a leading company in Italy in the marketing and distribution of food and non-food products to the foodservice sector, today approved the half-year financial report as at 30 June 2023.

The first six months of 2023 closed with total consolidated revenues of over 1 billion euros, equal to 1,003.2 million euros, up on the 874.3 million euros of the same period of the previous year. The improvement in operating profitability has been confirmed with the consolidated gross operating margin (EBITDA) for the first half of 2023 of €53.4 million compared to €35.0 million in 2022 and €56.3 million before the pandemic in 2019.

The Ebit for the period is 34.7 million euros and compares with 18.3 million in the first half of 2022 (42.0 million euros in the 1st half of 2019). At the end of the first six months of 2023, net profit, which was affected by higher net financial expenses due to the increase in the cost of money starting from the second half of 2022, stood at EUR 18.7 million and compares 10.5 million in the first half of 2022.

Net trade working capital at June 30, 2023 amounted to €198.6 million, down from €233.5 million at March 31, 2023 and €211.5 million at the end of the first half of 2022. Net financial debt at 30 June 2023 is 250.1 million euro and compares with the 270.6 million of 31 March 2023 and 228.7 million at the end of the first half of 2022. It should be noted that in the period 1 July 2022 - 30 June 2023 were investments made for 22.9 million Euros, of which 14.8 million related to the construction of a new branch in Lombardy whose activation is expected in the first half of 2024.

Net of the effects of the application of the accounting standard Ifrs 16, the Net Financial Position (NFP) at the end of the first half of 2023 is 172.4 million euro and compares with 192.3 million as at 31 March 2023 and the 147.2 million of the end of the first half of 2022.

Consolidated shareholders' equity at 30 June 2023 amounted to €332.2 million (€327.0 million at the end of the first half of 2022) and includes a share premium reserve of €7.3 million relating to the purchase, starting end of May 2022, of 609,210 treasury shares at an average price of 12.45 euros and equal to 0.92% of the share capital.

Marr Group sales in the first six months of 2023 reached 986.2 million euros and compare with 860.2 million in the same period of 2022 and 779.7 million in the pre-pandemic period of 2019.

Sales performance in the first half of 2023 was also affected by the inflationary dynamics in the foodservice sector which became more pronounced starting from the second quarter of 2022 and gradually eased in the second quarter of 2023. The increase in sales prices during the first six months of 2023 it was also mitigated by trading down phenomena which, albeit in different ways, were highlighted in all customer segments.

Sales to catering customers (Street Market and National Account categories) in the first half of 2023 amounted to 883.4 million euros and compared with the 734.1 million in 2022 (+20.3%) benefited by around 7 .5 million, of which 2.4 million relating to the first quarter of 2023, of the contribution of the company Frigor Carni Srl, consolidated from 1 April 2022.

The increase in sales to catering compared to the first half of 2022 represents a further outperformance compared to the performance of the reference market. Based on the surveys of the Confcommercio Research Office (Congiuntura n. 7, July 2023) consumption by quantity, therefore excluding the inflationary component, of the item "Hotels, meals and consumption away from home" in Italy has grown compared to the same period in 2022 respectively of +18.9% in the first three months of 2023 and +2.5% in the second quarter of 2023. It should be remembered that the different dynamics in the first and second quarter of 2023 is related to the fact that the first part of the first quarter of 2022 had felt the effects of the pandemic.

Sales to customers in the "Wholesale" category (for almost all frozen fish products to wholesalers) in the first half of 2023 amounted to 102.7 million euro and compared with the 126.1 million in the same period of 2022 were affected of the temporary unavailability of captured fish products which characterized the second part of 2022 and also the first half of 2023.

The trend in sales to catering customers in July is consistent with the growth objectives for 2023, confirming the progressive recovery of margins already highlighted in the first half of 2023. The July results were achieved in a context of food consumption outside the home which continues to benefit from the positive contribution of foreign tourism, particularly in large cities.

The entire organization remains focused on activities for the recovery of operating profitability, which it is expected, also on the basis of the performance of the first seven months, may allow us to reapproach the levels in absolute terms of EBITDA already in the current year before pandemic. In addition, there remains strong attention to controlling the levels of absorption of commercial working capital in order to mitigate the cost of its financing.