(Boursier.com) — Elis is stable below 21 euros this Thursday, while “as announced on January 30”, the group achieved a record turnover of 4,309.4 million euros in 2023, an increase of +12.8% per year. compared to 2022. The group’s adjusted EBITDA increased by +17.1% compared to 2022, to 1,474.8 million euros; the adjusted EBITDA margin increased by +130bp. Adjusted EBIT increased by +25.6% compared to 2022, to €683.1 million. The adjusted EBIT margin increased by +160bp to 15.9%, in line with the limited change in depreciation and amortization over the year (around +10.5%). 2023 is the last year to benefit from lower than normal depreciation, in connection with investments also lower than normal during the pandemic (2020 and 2021).
Pre-tax ROCE, corresponding to the ratio between adjusted EBIT and capital employed at the start of the financial year, reached 13.9% in 2023, compared to 11.6% in 2022. Net profit increased by 59.8 million euros, increasing from 202.6 million in 2022 to 262.4 million in 2023 for the reasons mentioned above.
Perspectives displayed
Organic growth in annual turnover for 2024 is expected at around +5%, with a price effect lower than that of 2023, linked to the slowdown in inflation…
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Elis has decided to invest for the future with the significant strengthening of its commercial structures. “In all geographic areas, sales teams are being strengthened in order to accelerate the deployment of the Group’s services and support future growth. This corresponds to an additional annual cost of around 20 million euros,” explains the group. Despite this, the 2024 adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be close to 35%, thanks to the new productivity gains that will be made over the year, and the energy supply contracts, the conditions of which are fixed for almost all volumes 2024.
The 2024 adjusted EBIT margin is expected to be stable compared to 2023, at around 16%. The improvement in the adjusted EBITDA margin should be offset by the normalization of depreciation as a percentage of revenue (2023 was the last year to benefit from lower than normal depreciation, linked to low investments during the pandemic). The 2024 current net income per share should be above 1.75 euros (number of shares on a diluted basis, taking into account in particular the potential dilutive effect of the OCEANEs issued in September 2022). Free cash flow for 2024 is expected at around €340 million, driven by the improvement in EBITDA and the continued normalization of working capital requirements. Financial debt leverage as of December 31, 2024 is expected to decrease by c. -0.2x for the year 2024.
On the brokers’ side, Stifel underlines that Elis published “good results” this morning, in line with expectations… “We particularly note the improvement in margins in all regions, including those at already high levels. However, we “We believe that for the FCF, the outlook is rather disappointing (around 9% below expectations). Given the performance of the stock this year, we expect a weak stock market performance today” explains the analyst who is nevertheless aiming a course of 25 euros remaining with the purchase on file.