Rotterdam, The Netherlands (8 May 2019) - IMCD N.V. (“IMCD” or “Company”), a leading distributor of speciality chemicals and food ingredients, today announces its first three months 2019 results.
Highlights

Gross profit growth of 23% to EUR 157.9 million (+23% on a constant currency basis)
Operating EBITA increase of 28% to EUR 63.7 million (+27% on a constant currency basis)
Net result before amortisation and non-recurring items increase of 27% to EUR 44.5 million (+26% on a constant currency basis)
Cash earnings per share increased by 25% to EUR 0.83 (first three months of 2018: EUR 0.67)
Piet van der Slikke, CEO: "The year started very well with an EBITA growth of 28%, strong free cash flow and an increase of earnings per share of 22%. The Americas and Asia Pacific outperformed whereas EMEA could not continue its strong growth of last year. The integration of the businesses acquired in 2018 in Europe (Velox), the US (E.T. Horn) and India (Aroma Chemicals) progresses according to plan. We will continue to work hard to further strengthen our business model and to deliver positive results for all our stakeholders."

Key figures
EUR million Jan. 1 - March 31 2019 Jan. 1 - March 31 2018 Change Change Fx adj. change
Revenue 704.8 566.3 138.5 24% 24%
Gross profit 157.9 128.3 29.6 23% 23%
Gross profit in % of revenue 22.4% 22.7% (0.3%)
Operating EBITA1 63.7 49.9 13.8 28% 27%
Operating EBITA in % of revenue 9.0% 8.8% 0.2%
Conversion margin2 40.4% 38.9% 1.5%
Net result before amortisation / non-recurring items 44.5 35.1 9.3 27% 26%
Free cash flow3 49.8 32.4 17.4 54%
Cash conversion margin4 72.3% 63.5% 8.8%
Earnings per share (weighted) 0.64 0.52 0.11 22% 22%
Cash earnings per share (weighted)5 0.83 0.67 0.17 25% 25%
Number of full time employees end of period 2,801 2,273 528 23%

1 Result from operating activities before amortisation of intangibles and non-recurring items
2 Operating EBITA in percentage of Gross profit
3 Operating EBITDA excluding non-cash share based payment expenses, plus/less changes in working capital, less capital expenditures
4 Free cash flow in percentage of Operating EBITDA
5 Result for the year before amortisation (net of tax)

Revenue
In the first three months of 2019, revenue was EUR 704.8 million, an increase of 24% compared to the same period in 2018. All regions contributed to this growth. The increase in revenue consists of organic growth (4%)
and the impact of the first time inclusion of acquired companies (20%).

Gross profit
Gross profit, defined as revenue less cost of materials and inbound logistics, increased from EUR 128.3 million in the first three months of 2018 to EUR 157.9 million in 2019. The reported increase of gross profit of 23% consists of organic growth of 8% and growth as a result of the first time inclusion of acquisitions of 15%.
Gross profit in % of revenue decreased from 22.7% in the first three months of 2018 to 22.4% in 2019. The gross profit margin development is the result of the impact of the first time inclusion of acquired companies with lower than IMCD's average gross profit margins, changes in local market circumstances, currency exchange rate movements and the usual fluctuations in the product mix.

Operating EBITA
Operating EBITA increased by 28% from EUR 49.9 million in the first three months of 2018 to EUR 63.7 million in 2019. On a constant currency basis the increase is 27%.
The growth in operating EBITA was a combination of organic growth, the first time inclusion of companies acquired in 2018, the impact of the new lease accounting standard (IFRS 16) and a minor positive impact resulting from currency exchange rates developments. The adoption of the new lease accounting standard in 2019 had a possitive impact on the operating EBITA of EUR 1.2 million (2%) in the first three months of 2019.
The operating EBITA in % of revenue increased by 0.2%-point from 8.8% in the first three months of 2018 to 9.0% in 2019.
The conversion margin, defined as operating EBITA as a percentage of gross profit, increased from 38.9% in the first three months of 2018 to 40.4% in 2019.

Cash flow and capital expenditure
In the first three months of 2019, free cash flow was EUR 49.8 million, an increase of 54% compared to the first three months of 2018. The adoption of the new lease accounting standard had a positive impact on the free cash flow of EUR 4.9 million in the first three months of 2019.
The cash conversion margin, defined as free cash flow as a percentage of operating EBITDA, was 72.3% compared to 63.5% in the first three months of 2018. The increase of free cash flow and cash conversion margin in 2019 was primarily the result of higher operating EBITDA.
The investment in working capital (sum of inventories, trade and other receivables minus trade and other payables) in the first three months of 2019 was EUR 18.8 million compared to EUR 18.0 million in the first three months of 2018. Working capital investments were primarily driven by the strong business activities in
the first three months of 2019.

Capital expenditure was EUR 0.9 million in 2019 compared to EUR 1.2 million in the first three months of 2018 and mainly relates to investments in the ICT infrastructure, office furniture and technical and office equipment.

Net debt
As at 31 March 2019, net debt was EUR 653 million compared to EUR 611 million at year end 2018. The
adoption of IFRS 16, the new lease accounting standard, resulted in an increase of reported debt of EUR 63 million in the first three months of 2019.
The reported leverage ratio (net debt/operating EBITDA ratio including the full year impact of acquisitions), including new debt as a result of the implementation of IFRS 16, as at the end of March 2019 was 2.8 times EBITDA (31 December 2018: 2.8). Calculated on the basis of the definitions used in the IMCD loan documentation, the leverage ratio as at the end of March 2019 was 2.6 times EBITDA (31 December 2018:
2.8), which is well below the required maximum of 3.5.

Developments by operating segment
The reporting segments are defined as follows:
• EMEA: all operating companies in Europe, Turkey and Africa
• Americas: all operating companies in the United States of America, Canada, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Chile,
Argentina and Uruguay
• Asia Pacific: all operating companies in Australia, New Zealand, India, China, Malaysia, Indonesia,
Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and Japan
• Holding companies: all non-operating companies, including the head office in Rotterdam and the regional
offices in Singapore and New Jersey, US
The developments in the first three months of 2019 by operating segments are as follows.
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