Santa Fe Group Annual Report 2017 - Company announcement No. 1/2018

Progressing against tough market conditions

• Consolidated revenue of the Santa Fe Group was EUR 299.8m in 2017 (EUR 338.6m) in line with the outlook published in connection with the Q3 report in November 2017.
• Revenue in the continuing Moving and Relocation Services businesses decreased by 6.4% in local currencies to EUR 294.5m (EUR 319.7m).
• Revenue from Relocation Services grew by 4.9% in local currencies, and especially Immigration Services proved very successful. Relocation Services constituted 18% (15%) of total revenue in 2017.
• EBITDA before special items reached EUR 6.3m (EUR 10.6m). The divestment of Records Management activities and the reduced revenue had a negative impact on earnings, which to some degree was offset by fixed costs savings, primarily within staff costs.
• Special items were an income of EUR 12.3m in 2017 (EUR 7.6m) mainly due to the gain of EUR 17m from the divested Records Management business in 6 countries.
• Net profit/loss in 2017 was a net profit of EUR 3.9m (Net loss of EUR 10.5m)
   
• Outlook for 2018
• Consolidated Revenue is expected to be around the same level as the continuing business in 2017 (EUR 295m), driven by new customers, development of new services and solutions, gradual recovery of activity levels in the UK and Australia, offset by the divestment of the Records Management business and the loss of a large customer as announced at the end of 2016.
• Consolidated EBITDA before special items is expected to be around the same level as in 2017 (EUR 6.3m). The divested Records Management activities will have a negative impact of around EUR 3m when comparing 2017 to 2018. We expect this to be countered by improvements for the continuing activities due to the lower cost base secured through a number of restructuring initiatives in both Europe and Australia, including the implementation of the Service Centre in Manila.
• Special items are expected to be a net gain of around EUR 5m including the net gain from the divestment of the warehouse building in Beijing related to the Records Management divestment in China. Additional restructuring in Europe and Australia will continue but at a reduced level.
• Financial Expenses are expected to be higher than in 2017 due to higher cost on new facilities expected to refinance existing facilities during Q1 2018.

Santa Fe Group CEO Martin Thaysen comments on the results:

"2017 was a tough year for the global relocation industry with declining activity levels across most markets, and despite better than expected wins of new clients, we did not meet our original financial objectives for the year. We did reach our strategic milestones, not least with acquisitions and divestments, as well as the launch of industry-leading technology solutions.

We remain confident in our strategy, the market, the needs of our customers, and in leading the digitisation of the mobility business. With the setback in the markets, it will, however, take longer than expected before we will be able to reach the strategic targets originally set for 2020.

In 2018, we will be focusing on creating growth driven by the launch and sales of enhanced products and solutions to existing and new customers. We expect the continuing operations to deliver slight

growth rates, mainly driven by continued strong growth in relocation services and through market share gains in Australia based on our improved proposition in that market.

I would like to extend thanks and gratitude to our 2,500 colleagues, for their remarkable jobs, servicing our customers every day. The recognition as International Moving Company of the Year and Relocation Management Company of the year at the Emma's awards are thanks to you."

Webcast today at 11:00

Santa Fe Group's Annual Report 2017 will be presented in a webcast followed by a conference call with financial analysts, investors and the press today at 11:00 CET on the company website www.thesantafegroup.com

Martin Thaysen, Group CEO, +44 20 3691 8300

Christian Møller Laursen, Group CFO, +44 20 8963 2514

Vedhæftede filer:

SFG_AR2017_UK.pdf