(Oslo, 2022-02-10)
Fourth quarter financial highlights:
* Gross collection of NOK 1,266 million (1,315)
- down 4% y-o-y
* EBIT of NOK 267 million (355)
- down 25% y-o-y
* Cash EBITDA of NOK 862 million (910)
- down 5% y-o-y
* Leverage ratio of 2.40x (3.04x)
- down 0.64x y-o-y
(Comparable numbers for Q4 2020 in brackets)
B2Holding had net revenues of NOK 726 million in the fourth quarter, and gross collections including SPVs and joint ventures of NOK 1,266 million. Cost to collect was down 2 percentage points quarter on quarter to 21 per cent in Q4 2021. Both collections and recoveries were above the latest forecast, and REOs sold during the quarter were well above book value.
Cash EBITDA was NOK 862 million and adjusted EBIT was NOK 297 million.
Profit after tax was NOK 120 million, equivalent to earnings per share of NOK 0.29, compared to NOK 123 million and NOK 0.30 per share in the fourth quarter 2020. The Board of Directors proposes a cash dividend of NOK 0.42 per share based on the financial year of 2021.
B2Holding invested NOK 552 million in new portfolios in the fourth quarter. 88 per cent of the investments were unsecured portfolios, of which 23 per cent were forward flow transactions. The ERC was NOK 19.9 billion at end of quarter.
B2Holding has a solid funding base to support future growth with NOK 2.2 billion in liquidity reserves at the end of the quarter. Bond 2 (B2H02) of EUR 175 million was repaid in the fourth quarter and after the repayment the Group has three listed senior unsecured bond loans for a total of EUR 600 million in addition to the bank financing. Out of the outstanding bond loans, a nominal value of EUR 27 million is held as treasury bonds, of which EUR 9 million is held in Bond 3 maturing in November 2022.
Cost discipline in all the Group’s markets remained strong, and the collection improvements implemented in the previous quarters continued to contribute positively to both efficiency and effectiveness of the unsecured business.
The Group is observing a notable increase in the volume of NPLs coming to the market and expects more volume in 2022.
As previously announced, B2Holding ASA has been engaged in discussions with reputable institutional investment partners to establish a co-investment partnership predominantly for B2Holding’s back book in secured assets.
“We have advanced well since the previous quarter and have now completed the first milestone of this partnership. I am very pleased to announce that the key financier in this first step is a company managed and advised by Pacific Investment Management Company LLC (“PIMCO”), one of the largest asset managers and capital providers in the world. In addition to being a credible and sought-after capital provider, PIMCO and its affiliates have strong experience and competence within non-performing assets which we believe is setting the grounds for a mutually beneficial cooperation with B2Holding going forward. I would like to thank PIMCO for the collaborative spirit during the proceedings.” said Erik Just Johnsen, CEO B2Holding ASA
The investment from the company managed and advised by PIMCO is a non-recourse senior financing structure for the countries where secured assets is the predominant asset class. The senior financing will represent approximately 50% of book value of the assets included in the structure at an interest rate of 5%. Most of the countries in the Central and South Eastern Europe region will be included in the structure with the addition of France and Italy. The unsecured assets in these countries will also be included in the structure. The structure provides for a redeployment of capital from collection and recoveries under an agreed framework, in addition to potential co-investments with PIMCO and/or its affiliates for larger portfolios. B2Holding will be the master and/or the special servicer of the portfolios included in the structure.
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For further information, please see the Q4 2021 presentation and report attached. The documents are also available on the Company's website: www.b2holding.no
Definitions of alternative performance measures can be found in the report and presentation.
The results will be presented in a webcast today, Thursday 10 February at 08:30 am CET. The webcast presentation is available through this link: https://channel.royalcast.com/hegnarmedia/#!/hegnarmedia/20220210_8
Live webcast viewers can submit their written questions for the Q&A in the provided form in the webcast. A recorded version of the webcast will be available on-demand after the live stream is concluded.
For further information, please contact:
André Adolfsen
CFO
Mobile: +47 930 19 150
E-mail: aad@b2holding.no
or
Rasmus Hansson
Head of Commercial Strategy and Investor Relations
Mobile: +47 952 55 842
E-mail: rh@b2holding.no
This information is considered to include inside information pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation article 7 and is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. This stock exchange announcement was published by the Board of Directors of B2Holding, at the date and time as set out above.
About B2Holding Group
B2Holding ASA is a Nordic-based debt solutions provider with platforms in over 20 European countries. B2Holding has experienced significant growth since its inception in 2011 and has established itself as one of the leading European debt purchasers and a solution-oriented partner within the debt servicing industry. B2Holding employs approximately 2,200 people. The head office is in Oslo, Norway and the B2Holding share is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under ticker “B2H”.
Attachments:
B2Holding ASA Fourth quarter 2021 presentation
B2Holding ASA Fourth quarter 2021 report
