Thrace Plastics S A : Announcement of Q1 2017 Financial Results

June 02, 2017

Announcement of Q1 2017 Financial Results

Friday, 2 June 2017

ATHEX:PLAT

Reuters:THRr.AT

Bloomberg: PLAT GA

The purpose of the current release is to present the Group's financial results for the first quarter of the current financial year 2017 and to highlight the basic factors that contributed to such.

The results of the first quarter were in line with the estimates of the Management, whereas the basic characteristics of the period are presented in synopsis below:

· Increase of the consolidated sales volume by 17.9% compared to the corresponding quarter of 2016 as result of the investments made in new production lines during the period 2015-2016. The increase of the sales volume was evident in both business units of the Group (Technical Fabrics by +19.2% and Packaging by +9.7%).· Increase of the consolidated sales value by 8.9% - the increase of sales volume was not fully reflected in the value of the consolidated sales due to the fact that in the context of the effort to allocate the additional volumes, mainly in the new markets, the Group adopted a more flexible pricing policy. Furthermore, a negative effect emerged from the foreign exchange differences which resulted from the depreciation of the British Pound versus the Euro.· Lower processing (conversion) cost resulting from the commencement of the operation of new machinery and the outcome of the policy aiming at the further control of fixed production expenses.· Raw material prices gradually increased during the entire first quarter of 2017, thus making even more difficult the transferring of the higher cost to the final sale price in the first quarter.· As a result of the above, there was a contraction of the Gross Profit Margin by 1.1 percentage points, which derived from the Technical Fabrics Business Unit.· Significant increase of the distribution expenses which as percentage of the consolidated Turnover amounted to 10.1% during the first quarter of the year compared to 8.9% in the corresponding period of 2016. This increase was mainly due to the following two factors: a) the higher transportation cost resulting from the Group's penetration of geographically more isolated markets and b) the higher number of personnel in the area of distribution in an effort to support the higher sales volume due to the new investments.

More specifically, the basic financial figures of the Group during the first quarter of 2017 compared to the corresponding period of 2016, settled as follows:

The total Equity on 31.03.2017 amounted to € 128.2 million compared to € 122.8 million on 31.12.2016 with the Net Bank Debt standing at € 57.3 million compared to € 54.7 million on 31.12.2016. The ratio Net Bank Debt / Total Equity remained unchanged and settled at 0.4.

For further clarifications or information regarding the present release you may refer to Mrs. Ioanna Karathanasis, Head of Investor Relations, tel.: + 30 210-9875081.

* Note

Alternative Performance Measures: During the description of the developments and the performance of the Group, ratios such as the EBIT and the EBITDA are utilized.

EBIT (The indicator of earnings before the financial and investment activities as well as the taxes): The EBIT serves the better analysis of the Group's operating results and is calculated as follows: Turnover plus other operating income minus the total operating expenses, before the financial and investment activities. The EBIT margin (%) is calculated by dividing the EBIT by the turnover.

EBITDA (The indicator of operating earnings before the financial and investment activities as well as the depreciation, amortization, impairment and taxes): The EBITDA serves the better analysis of the Group's operating results and is calculated as follows: Turnover plus other operating income minus the total operating expenses before the depreciation of fixed assets, the amortization of grants and the impairments, as well as before the financial and investment activities. The EBITDA margin (%) is calculated by dividing the EBITDA by the turnover.