Focus on higher margin business paying off. Further market recovery expected in
second half.
Mensdorf, Luxembourg – August 23, 2021 (07:00 CET)
B&S Group S.A. (“B&S” or the “Group”), a global distribution partner for consumer goods, today publishes its half year 2021 results (“HY 2021”).
Highlights HY 2021 (compared to HY 2020)
• Overall turnover for HY 2021 decreased by 1.5% to € 823.6 M (increased 2.3% at constant currency); significant FX impact on B2C Beauty business due to weakening of the USD;
• Organic turnover declined by 2.9% (increased 0.9% at constant currency);
• Gross profit increased while operational expenses remained at similar levels, resulting in an EBITDA growth of 29.2% to € 45.6 M or € 49.4 M at constant currency. (HY 2020: € 35.3 M or € 31.9 M when corrected for received government support);
• Net cash from operations amounted to € -29.1 M (HY 2020: € 70.4 M), which was the result of inventory build-up for the seasonally stronger H2 and particularly Q4 - a trend in line with previous years;
• Net debt / EBITDA at June 30, 2021 stood at 2.8 (pre IFRS 16);
1
• Net profit amounted to € 21.8 M (HY 2020: € 12.8 M).

Turnover breakdown HY 2021 in € million (unless otherwise indicated)
Highlights Q2 2021 (compared to Q2 2020)
• Overall turnover growth of 3.1% (7.1% at constant currency);
• Organic turnover growth of 1.5% (5.5% at constant currency).

1 For this test period our 3.5 covenant is still waived; In H1 2020 we pro-actively engaged with our relationship banks to agree on a
covenant holiday for three test periods (HY 2020, FY 2020 and HY 2021). This way, we created additional head room for inventory build-up towards our seasonally stronger H2 and particularly Q4.


Tako de Haan, CEO: “In the first half of 2021, delivery on strategy and financial performance was good. We focused on leveraging the business opportunities that developed on the back of our strategic direction. We further built our presence in selected geographies in our Liquor, Beauty
and Food business and increased our majority interest in JTG Holding B.V. (JTG) and thus Fragrancenet.com Inc (FragranceNet), making the next step moving closer to the end consumer 2
.
The focus on higher margin business in Liquor and the introduction of selected product assortments in Food underline our focus on scalable, profitable growth.
The pandemic lasted longer than expected and continued to have its impact on commercial activities in the first half of 2021. This was most noticeable in Q1 2021, especially when compared to the relatively limited impact in Q1 2020. The second quarter saw developments of recovery albeit slower than anticipated at the time of our Q1 2021 trading update. Indirectly, the pandemic
caused industrywide container shortages, freight delays and product scarcity in the market. The weakened USD also impacted results noticeably.
Our focus on higher margin business, simplified operations and elimination of operating expenses resulted in a 29.2% growth in EBITDA. EBITDA margins increased to 5.5% and considering the current market circumstances, we are confident to reiterate our FY 2021 guidance for EBITDA margin of at least 6%.
As the roll out of our Digital First program continues, we see further signs of success. Year to date, well over € 80 M in commercial transactions ran over our newly developed e-com platform
and we are rapidly onboarding more and more B2B, B2R and B2C activities and businesses. As part of our wider effort to enhance our digital operations platform (DOP), investments were made to digitize our end-to-end processes. This will help us realize further business growth from existing
and new customers by providing access to our long-tail assortments 24/7 from any place in the world. The focus on e-commerce activities combined with our extensive marketing services further supports our geographical expansion. The recent appointment of Arben Hajrullahu as Chief Commercial Officer further fortifies the execution of this strategy.
We have taken next steps in streamlining the organization by flattening the organization structure and already notice the effects in our execution power. With the recent acquisition of additional
shares in JTG and the planned conversion of the remaining JTG shares to the Beauty segment (as communicated June 30, 2021) we will ensure swift strategic alignment of and collaboration between all beauty companies.
Looking ahead, continued growth is foreseen in all e-commerce channels and we will reap the benefits of simplifying and digitizing the organization and positioning B&S as a global brand. As the world gradually opens and social activities return to normal we assume that the travel related
markets in our Food, Health and Retail segments will slowly recover and add to our overall performance. This is in addition to growth in the other business segments.”

2 Following the acquisition of additional shares in JTG Holding B.V. and consequently an increased majority interest in FragranceNet.com Inc. on June 30, 2021, B&S holds a 65.4% stake in FragranceNet (previously 53.7%). Additionally, B&S plans to convert the remainder 8.2% of JTG shares – currently owned by the Managing Director of JTG – into the B&S Beauty segment.

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