Marel Q2 2021: Record orders and cash flow, revenues and EBIT stable between quarters

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Financial highlights Q2 2021

• Record orders received and strong order book, orders for poultry were at a strong level, meat were in line with expectations and fish were at record levels.
• Pipeline building up across all industries and processing stages.
• Profitability at similar levels as Q1 2021, hampered by supply chain and logistics costs, as well as step up in sales and service coverage ahead of the growth curve.
  
  

• Orders received were EUR 371.3m (2Q20: 280.1m).
  
• The order book was EUR 499.1m (1Q21: 455.3m, 2Q20: 439.0m). 
• Revenues were EUR 327.5m (2Q20: 305.7m). 
• EBIT1 was EUR 38.6m (2Q20: 45.0m), translating to an EBIT1 margin of 11.8% (2Q20: 14.7%). 
• Net result was EUR 23.3m (2Q20: 30.7m).
• Basic earnings per share (EPS) were EUR 3.14 cents (2Q20: 4.07 cents).
• Cash flow from operating activities before interest and tax was EUR 77.9m (2Q20: 63.1m).
• Free cash flow at EUR 54.6m (2Q20: 47.6m)
• Net debt/EBITDA was 0.8x at the end of June (1Q21: 0.8x, 2Q20: 0.6x).
  
  

Financial highlights 1H 2021

• Orders received were EUR 740.7m (1H20: 631.9m).
• Revenues were EUR 661.5m (1H20: 607.3m).
• EBIT1 was EUR 76.6m (1H20: 70.4m), translating to an EBIT1 margin of 11.6% (1H20: 11.6%). 
• Net result was EUR 44.5m (1H20: 44.1m). 
• Basic earnings per share (EPS) were EUR 5.95 cents (1H20: 5.82 cents).
• Cash flow from operating activities before interest and tax in the first six months was EUR 138.1m (1H20: 124.6m).
• Free cash flow at EUR 100.1m (1H20: 86.2m).
  
  

Árni Oddur Thórdarson, CEO of Marel commented:

“The second quarter was a dynamic one for Marel, where the partnership between our passionate team, our customers and suppliers was paramount to our success.

For two sequential quarters, we’ve secured record orders received of around EUR 370 million each quarter. In the second quarter, Marel Poultry was back on track with strong orders received, orders in Marel Meat were in line with expectations, and Marel Fish delivered record orders where salmon was clearly on the menu. Revenues and gross margins are expected to pick-up on the back of a healthy order book and good product mix. The pipeline continues to build up in all industries.

Our operational results were soft in Q2 with EUR 328 million in revenues and EBIT close to 12%. In times of ever-changing market environment and shifting consumer behavior, agility is key. Ahead of the growth curve, we stepped up our local sales and service coverage worldwide and continued to introduce revolutionary solutions that will further transform the food processing industry. We´ve also taken great strides in remodeling our end-to-end spare parts delivery systems, focusing on automating and digitizing the process, just as our customers are doing in their business.

Continued investment in our platform and acquired growth are enabled by the strong cash flow. There was record operational cash flow in the quarter of EUR 78 million despite ramping up inventories to secure timely delivery.

Recent acquisitions are driving organic growth through cross- and upselling, transfer of technology, and accelerating the innovation roadmap. In the quarter, we secured landmark orders for a turkey greenfield in the US, and the first full-line tilapia plant in Brazil, both focused on quality and sustainability using highly automated and digitized solutions. We continue on that journey and in July we announced the agreement to acquire Valka to strengthen the full-line offering, increase scale and accelerate the innovation roadmap for the fish segment.

In strategic partnership, Marel and TOMRA, are developing a true game-changer in foreign material detection, the Marel Spectra. This revolutionary solution will meet Marel’s customers challenges head on to deliver contamination free, safe and sustainable food.

Our financials are strong, and we will continue to innovate, to form strategic partnerships with pioneers, and to undertake acquisitions to become the leading pure-play provider of full-line digitized processing solutions and services to the poultry, meat and fish industries.”

Financial performance

Key figures (EUR m)