Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S reports strong Q2 results and raises full year guidance

Company Announcement
No. 42/2021

                                                                                                          Copenhagen, 19 August 2021

Interim report, 1 January - 30 June 2021

Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S reports strong Q2 results and raises full year guidance

In the second quarter of 2021, Scandinavian Tobacco Group delivered a strong organic growth in net sales and EBITDA. The results were primarily driven by a continued high demand in handmade cigars in the US, a favourable market mix and synergies from the integration of Agio Cigars. The second quarter of last year was negatively impacted by the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic making comparisons relatively easy.

Q2 Highlights

• Net sales were DKK 2,156 million (DKK 2,097 million) with 7.5% organic growth.
• EBITDA before special items was DKK 606 million (DKK 489 million) with 20.8% organic growth. The EBITDA margin was 28.1% (23.3%).
• Adjusted Earnings Per Share (EPS) were DKK 4.1 (DKK 3.0).
• Free cash flow before acquisitions was DKK 434 million (DKK 425 million).
• Return on Invested Capital was 12.3% (7.6%).
• In the first 6 months of 2021, net sales grew by 9.8% organically to DKK 4,039 million (DKK 3,852 million), and EBITDA before special items grew by 32.6% organically to DKK 1,133 million (DKK 815 million) with free cash flow before acquisitions stable at DKK 523 million (DKK 547 million).

CEO Niels Frederiksen: “We deliver a strong quarterly performance with growth in both net sales and EBITDA driven by strong sales of handmade cigars in the US and a favorable mix. We expect continued high demand for handmade cigars for the rest of the year and we are raising our financial expectations for 2021 to reflect that. Additionally, we continue to implement our “Rolling towards 2025” strategy and show good progress on the transformation of the company”.   

The current high consumption of handmade cigars in the US combined with a strong market mix have driven the extraordinarily strong net sales growth during the first half of 2021. Growth is still expected to taper off during the second half of the year as year-on-year comparisons are more difficult especially in the third quarter and as the market mix is expected to normalize somewhat. However, the full year is now expected to be stronger than previously anticipated, although the risks remain higher than normal due to COVID-19.

The financial outlook for 2021 is revised to:

• EBITDA: Organic growth in the range of 16%-20% (from 12%-18%)   
• Free cash flow before acquisitions: In the range of DKK 1.0-1.3 billion
• Adjusted Earnings Per Share >35% increase (from >25% increase)

For further information, please contact:
Investors: Torben Sand, Head of IR, phone +45 5084 7222 or torben.sand@st-group.com

Media: Simon Mehl Augustesen, Director of Group Communications, phone: +1 484-379-8725 or simon.augustesen@st-group.com

A conference call will be held on 25 August 2021 at 10.00 CEST. Dial-in information and an accompanying presentation will be available at investor.st-group.com around 09:00 CEST.

Attachment

• Interim report Q2 2021

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