Roularta Media N : REGULATED INFORMATION - Press release

PRESS

RELEASE

30 JUNE 2021

Regulated information EMBARGO - 17 August 2021, 08.15 CET Roularta Media Group

RESULTS FOR THE FIRST HALF OF

2021

Roularta achieves record results with 17.5% more revenue and EBITDA x4 despite the constant impact of Covid-19 on advertising

income.

• • REVENUE € 141.7 million (+ 17.5% YOY)
  • EBITDA € 22.7 million (+ € 17.2 million YOY)
  • EBITDA compared to revenue 16.0 % (+ 11.5 pp YOY)
  • NET RESULT € 8.1 million (+ € 9.5 million YOY)
• B2C (readership market) is the biggest source of revenue and ensures a stable future cash flow: Thanks to its successful track record with acquisitions in recent years, Roularta is succeeding in substantially increasing the profitability of its magazines through a focus on strong content, package subscriptions, synergies and cost control.
• Digital developments guarantee a long-time future for Roularta:
  The transition to digital revenue has succeeded thanks to consistent investments, 1) in the readership market with the online kiosk and the "Mijn Magazines" app, 2) in the advertising market with programmatic and native advertising, 3) through considerable investments in a data strategy with respect for privacy. Digital advertising revenue currently represents almost 30% of total advertising revenues.
• Vertical integration ensures higher margins:
  Investments in a state-of-the-art printing press and finishing machines achieve control over the various steps in internal and external printing work, leading to higher value creation. Leaving the joint venture culture behind is also ensuring better integration and sustainable value creation.
• The financial-economic media and services are evolving positively.:
• • Mediafin is performing strongly but this is to a limited extent expressed in the consolidated figures: Mediafin has realised an EBITDA of € 8.6 million, but only € 1.6 million is included in RMG's EBITDA although € 5.3 million of dividends were distributed to Roularta.
  • Trends Business Information is also growing in terms of data provision for financial and marketing purposes with log-ins for Trends Top and with tailor-made services.
  • KanaalZ/CanalZ continues to make progress in terms of viewer numbers and advertising revenue, achieving a positive result even without internal turnover for the group's campaigns.
• The cash position is creating opportunities:
  Despite the recent acquisition of the joint ventures and the payment of a dividend of € 11.7 million, the cash position is € 89 million, compared to € 91 million at the end of 2020. Thanks to this robust - and debt-free - balance, strategic investments and acquisitions can create rapid additional value.
• Dividend policy:
  Thanks to positive net results and the substantial cash position, the payment of dividends can be continued with an expected € 1 gross over the current year. Also in the coming years we would like to propose this distribution to the shareholders.

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The first half of last year was heavily impacted by Covid-19, but Roularta's revenue has recovered substantially in the first half of this year. Revenue closed at € 141.7 million, an absolute increase of €

21.1 million compared to the first half of last year and roughly in line with the first half of 2019. The continuity of activities has always been guaranteed, as it was last year. However Covid-19 has influenced Roularta's results this year as well.

Furthermore, the evolution of the new Roularta from a B2B to a B2C environment has continued, because more revenue was generated in the first half of the year from the readership market (€ 58.9 million) than from advertising (€ 53.1 million), whereas the opposite was still true in 2019. Nonetheless, advertising revenue is € 11.9 million higher in 2021 due to the lockdowns last year. We are still feeling the effects of this on advertising income, due to the closure of many businesses in the first quarter of 2021.

Subscription revenues have risen by € 6.8 million this year, after a first half of 2020 that was already extremely strong. They have risen by € 9.8 million compared to the first half of 2019. This is thanks to internal growth and the integration of the full acquisition of the joint venture brands Plus Magazine in the Netherlands, Plus Magazine in Germany and Télépro since 1 April 2021.

Other revenue is still affected by Covid-19, since events and reader travel were still not possible in the first half of the year, unless they happened digitally. The revenue from printing for third parties is already higher than in 2020, but not yet up to the 2019 level.

Digitisation is continuing, with the launch of the "Mijn Magazines" app and the "Mijn Magazines" online kiosk in the second half of the year. Various payment plans are offered to read all the magazines in hybrid format or entirely digitally. A unique, innovative subscription plan will be launched in September, the "family subscription". This means that a subscriber with a total of three family members can make use of their subscription to gain digital access to 30 titles in the "Mijn Magazines" app or the "Mijn Magazines" online kiosk. Then the subscriber receives one magazine (or more, if desired) delivered by post to their home, and they can read all the articles in the 30 magazines through the app or digital kiosk.

Programmatic and native advertising are also providing strong growth in digital advertising income (+65% on last year).

The EBITDA has ended at € 22.7 million, compared to

• 5.4 million last year, or double-digit 16.0% of revenue, compared to 4.5% last year. Besides the increased revenue and lower paper prices, the group is reducing its costs for services thanks to efficiency projects and the temporary unemployment (furlough) scheme. Moreover, the group has booked a one-off capital gain, in line with the IFRS guidelines, of € 5.8 million due to the full acquisition of the aforementioned joint ventures. Without this one-off effect, we see a tripling of the EBITDA in comparison to the coronavirus year 2020 and, what is more, growth of almost 60% in comparison to the € 10.7 million EBITDA in the first half of 2019.

Mediafin (50% Roularta - De Tijd/L'Echo) has also substantially increased its revenue, EBITDA and net result, all of which are higher in 2021 than in 2020 or even 2019. Advertising revenue has increased by 24% and the readership market is continuing to progress with 12% growth compared to the record year 2020. The stand-alone EBITDA of € 8.6 million and the net result of € 5.1 million have also increased significantly in comparison to the first half of last year. After depreciations for the brands De Tijd, L'Echo and BeReal & BePublic, the 50% end result is € 1.6 million, the amount that is included in the Roularta Media Group EBITDA. This year, Mediafin paid Roularta a dividend of € 5.3 million, whereas last year there was no dividend payment.

In total, € 20.8 million EBITDA was realised by the fully consolidated businesses, compared to € 4.9 million last year and € 9.6 million in 2019, and € 1.9 million by the associated businesses and joint ventures (their result via equity mutation), as compared to € 0.5 million last year and € 1.1 million in 2019.

An impairment of € 7.6 million was booked on a few brands in the group that are suffering from the ongoing impact of the coronavirus, along with the normal write-downs, leading to a final EBIT of € 6.6 million.

At the end of the first half of the year, after paying out a dividend of € 11.7 million and following the acquisition of Plus Magazine in the Netherlands and Germany, and Télépro in Belgium, Roularta has maintained a strong balance sheet, with a cash position of almost € 89 million compared to € 91 million at the end of 2020, thanks to a strong operational gross cash flow of € 20.2 million, compared to € 3.9 million in the first half of 2020.

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1. FINANCIAL KEY FIGURES FOR THE FIRST HALF OF 2021

1.1 Consolidated key figures

in thousands of	30/06/2021	30/06/2020	Trend	Trend (%)
euros
INCOME STATEMENT
Sales	141,724	120,635	21,089	17.5%
Adjusted sales (1)	132,082	120,635	11,447	9.5%
EBITDA (2)	22,664	5,438	17,226	316.8%
EBITDA - margin	16.0%	4.5%
EBIT (3)	6,621	-1,552	8,173	526.6%
EBIT - margin	4.7%	-1.3%
Net finance costs	-87	-83	-4	-4.8%
Income taxes	1,563	233	1,330	570.8%
Net result	8,096	-1,402	9,498	677.5%
Attributable to minority interests	-298	-129	-169	-131.0%
Attributable to equity holders of RMG	8,394	-1,273	9,667	759.4%
Net result attributable to equity holders of RMG - margin	5.9%	-1.1%
Number of full time equivalents at closing date (4)	1,268	1,191	77	6.5%

1. Adjusted sales = sales on a like-on-like basis with June 2020, excluding changes in the consolidation scope
2. EBITDA = EBIT + depreciations, write-downs and provisions
3. EBIT = operating profit, including the share in the result of associated companies and joint ventures
4. Joint ventures (mainly Mediafin) not included

The consolidated revenue for the first half of the year 2021 increased by 17.5% from € 120.6 to € 141.7 million. If the changes in the consolidation scope due to acquisitions and the newly founded Immovlan BV are disregarded, the absolute increase in revenue year on year is € 11.4 million or an increase of 9.5% on the previous year.

Last year's historic increase in subscriptions (+8.4% in 2020 versus the first half of 2019) has continued this year with an increase of 6.1% excluding acquisitions and 17.9% including acquisitions.

Whereas the first half of 2020 saw a sharp drop in advertising income due to the beginning of the pandemic (-35.5%), the first half of 2021 has been characterised by growth of 28.9%. This means the figures have caught up well since 2020. Income from digital advertising grew faster (+65%) and is at a higher level than before the coronavirus. In magazines, sectors such as automotive, fashion, beauty and tourism were still seriously impacted in the first half of the year. The free media suffered under the partial lockdowns, with the result that the Streekkrant, for example, did not appear in April.

Printing for third parties is also increasing again (+4.2% compared to -18.2% last year). Newsstand sales fell this year by 2.3%, or -12.3% without the newly acquired businesses. Other revenue has increased by 20.2% YoY, but is still impacted by the absence of reader travel and events.

The EBITDA increased from € 5.4 million to € 22.7 million. EBITDA amounted to 16.0 % of revenue compared to 4.5 % in the first half of 2020. The increase has occurred both in the fully consolidated entities (€ +15.9 million) and the associates and joint ventures (€ +1.3 million). In both cases, the strong increase in revenue without a corresponding increase in costs was the main reason for the increased EBITDA. Furthermore, in accordance with IFRS regulations, a capital gain of € 5.8 million was realised on the historic share that the group had in the joint ventures that were recently fully acquired. The 100% acquired joint ventures and Immovlan collectively generated an EBITDA of € 1.8 million, compared to € 0.7 million last year.

The EBIT evolved from € -1.6 million to € 6.6 million, in line with the increase in EBITDA, with the exception of the special write-down of € 7.6 million carried out on a few of the group's brands (Sterck, Flair, Le Vif/L'Express). The events sector, where Sterck is active, underwent several waves of closure due to the coronavirus. Flair, which is also highly dependent on outdoor activities through sales in coupon books at newsstands, was also severely impacted by

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the coronavirus. Le Vif's revenue from the reader market increased above that of 2020, but the Covid-related impact on advertising recruitment was greater.

The net financing expenses are in line with the first half of 2020.

The net result amounted to € 8.1 million compared to € -1.4 million last year.

Consolidated key figures (€ per share)	in euro	30/06/2021	30/06/2020	Trend
EBITDA		1.94	0.43	1.51
EBIT		0.57	-0.12	0.69
Net result attributable to equity holders of RMG		0.72	-0.10	0.82
Net result attributable to equity holders of RMG after dilution		0.72	-0.10	0.82
Weighted average number of shares		11,699,693	12,550,800	-851,107
Weighted average number of shares after dilution		11,707,070	12,557,458	-850,388

2. DISCUSSION OF THE SEGMENT RESULTS

2.1 Media Brands

in thousands of euros	30/06/2021	30/06/2020	Trend	Trend (%)
INCOME STATEMENT
Sales	126,904	104,750	22,154	21.1%
Gross margin	100,874	82,803	18,071	21.8%
Gross margin on sales	79.5%	79.0%

The 'Media Brands' segment refers to all brands that are operated by RMG and its shareholdings.

Revenue from the Media Brands segment increased by 21.1% or € 22.2 million, from € 104.8 million to € 126.9 million.

Advertising

Advertising revenue has increased by 28.9% compared to last year's drop of 35.5%.

Digital advertising revenue increased strongly by 47.8% (compared to a drop last year of 23.9%). Digital revenue far exceeded expectations and even the level it had reached before the pandemic.

Advertising revenue from the newspapers increased slightly by 2.2% (compared to a drop last year of 19.3%). Revenue from magazine advertising grew by 28.7% (compared to a drop last year of 25.4%).

Advertising revenue from the free papers has increased by 12.6% compared to last year's decrease of 48.8%. Covid- 19 is still having a great impact on revenue from the group's free papers, which could not be issued for several weeks when the shops were obliged to close or when shopping was significantly limited in 2020 and 2021.

Readership market

Revenue from the readership market (subscriptions and newsstand sales) increased by 12.4% compared to the first half of 2020. Without the newly acquired businesses, there is still an internal growth of 1.1%. In line with the public service mission of a media company, all News & Business and Women magazines continued to be published reliably throughout the periods of partial lockdown. All the digital channels continued to provide 24/7 reporting. The gross margin has increased from 79.0 % to 79.5 %. In absolute value, gross margin has increased with € 18.1 million to € 100.9 million.

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