(Oslo, 2021-11-04)
Third quarter financial highlights:
* Gross collection of NOK 1,269 million (1,636)
- down 22 % y-o-y
* EBIT of NOK 370 million (369)
- 0 % y-o-y
* Cash EBITDA of NOK 931 million (932)
- 0 % y-o-y
* Leverage ratio of 2.38x (3.23x)
- down 0.85x y-o-y
(Comparable numbers for Q3 2020 in brackets)
B2Holding had net revenues of NOK 792 million in the third quarter, down 3 per cent from NOK 813 million the same quarter last year.
Gross collection including SPVs and joint ventures was down by 22 per cent to NOK 1,269 million, and cost to collect was up 1 percentage point quarter on quarter to 18 per cent in Q3 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 931 million and operating profit (EBIT) was NOK 370 million, both at the same levels as in Q3 2020.
Profit after tax was NOK 162 million, equivalent to earnings per share of NOK 0.40, compared to NOK 128 million and NOK 0.31 per share in the third quarter 2020.
B2Holding invested NOK 237 million in new portfolios in the third quarter. 94 per cent of the investments were unsecured portfolios, of which 47 per cent were forward flow transactions. The ERC was NOK 19.7 billion at end of quarter.
B2Holding has a solid funding base to support future growth with EUR 458 million in liquidity reserves at the end of the quarter. After the quarter end, Bond 2 (B2H02) of EUR 175 million was repaid. 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.
“We are pleased to report that the third quarter repeated the strong performance seen in previous quarters, with unsecured collections showing continued improvement and secured recoveries also above expectations. With better collection efficiency and a scalable cost level, we are well positioned to take an active role in the improving NPL market“, said Erik J. Johnsen, CEO of B2Holding ASA.
SUBSEQUENT EVENTS:
** The Board of Directors has decided to distribute a cash dividend of NOK 0.15 per share based on the financial year of 2020.
** The Board of Directors has decided to initiate a repurchase of shares from 8 November 2021 to end of March 2022. The share buy-back programme is limited to the repurchase of 10 million shares, up to an aggregated amount of NOK 90 million.
** With reference to previous communication regarding partnership discussions, B2Holding is currently in advanced discussions with reputable institutional investment partners where the aim is to establish a de-consolidated co-investment partnership predominantly for B2Holding’s back book in secured assets. The financing provided will be with no recourse to B2Holding ASA. The partnership discussions also include future co-investments in B2Holding’s secured markets.
For further information, please see the Q3 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 4 November at 08:30 CET. The webcast presentation is available through this link: https://channel.royalcast.com/hegnarmedia/#!/hegnarmedia/20211104_4
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 Third quarter presentation 2021
B2Holding ASA Third quarter report 2021
