MILAN, ITALY — The Board of Directors of Amplifon SpA, the world’s largest hearing aid retailer, recently approved the company’s Interim Financial Report, providing insight into its performance so far in 2018. According to the report, the company has witnessed double digit revenue growth and increase in profit margins.
Closing of the GAES hearing retail chain acquisition is said to be “on track”, following the unconditional approvals received by Spanish and Portuguese anti-trust authorities.
Amplifon’s network expansion program continued in the first nine months of 2018, both organically and through acquisitions, adding 167 stores and 73 shop-in-shops, of which 66 stores and 20 shop-in-shops in the third quarter alone. The acquisitions, totaling 130 stores and 17 shop-in-shops, were “made mainly in core countries such as Germany, France and Canada, while 37 stores and 56 shop-in-shops were opened in the period”.
Compared with the same period in 2017, results for the first nine months of 2018 include:
- Consolidated revenues of 967.6 million euros, up 10.4% at constant exchange rates and 7.3% at current exchange rates compared to the same period of 2017
- EBITDA net of non-recurring expenses reached 154.4 million euros, an increase of 9.6% at current exchange rates, with the margin coming in at 16.0% of revenues, showing an improvement of around 40 basis points compared to the same period of 2017. EBITDA as reported reached 148.4 million euros, or 15.3% of revenues
- Recurring net profit amounted to 65.3 million euros, an increase of 28.1% compared to the first nine months of 2017. Net profit as reported rose 26.4% from the 48.2 million euros recorded in the first nine months of 2017 to the current 60.9 million euros
- Net Financial Debt was 348.6 million euros, higher than the 320.7 million euros posted at September 30th, 2017 and the 296.3 million euros reported at December 31st, 2017
- Free Cash Flow was positive for 50.8 million euros, showing an improvement of 49.5%, or approximately 16.8 million euros, compared to the same period of 2017
Amplifon’s CEO, Enrico Vita, commented on the company’s strong performance in the 3rd quarter, and throughout the first nine months of the year:
“We are extremely satisfied with the strong growth and continuous improvement in profitability reported in the third quarter. Altogether, the results achieved in first nine months allow us to prepare to close the year with record results for the fourth year in a row. The strong revenue growth, which largely outpaced the market, reflects an excellent organic growth and our continuous focus on acquisitions. The strong top line growth, the improved operational efficiency and the greater scale reached in core countries, enabled us to further increase profitability. In addition, the significant reduction in financial expenses, due to the refinancing of the bond with new credit lines at more favorable conditions, along with the improved tax rate brought recurring net profit to around 65 million euros in the first nine months, up 28% compared to the same period of last year. Finally, we are extremely satisfied with the excellent response of Italian consumers to the launch of the new Amplifon product line and digital ecosystem. These outstanding results allow us to be very confident of achieving our medium-long term objectives, which will be further strengthened by the unique opportunity related to the acquisition and integration of GAES, to be closed by the end of the year as planned.”
—Enrico Vita, Amplifon CEO
Source: Amplifon
