H&R GmbH & Co. KGaA publishes Annual Report 2020

- Despite clear corona effects: H&R ends fiscal year 2020 with robust EBITDA of EUR 55.8 million.

- Strong final quarter Q4-2020 and good start to the year 2021

Salzbergen, Germany, April 21st, 2021. In the 2020 financial year, H&R GmbH & Co. KGaA (H&R KGaA; ISIN DE000A2E4T77) has achieved an operating result (EBITDA - consolidated earnings before taxes on income and earnings, other financing income and expenses as well as depreciation and impairment losses and write-ups on intangible assets and property, plant and equipment) of EUR 55.8 million (2019: EUR 52.9 million). For the other earnings levels see table "Key figures for H&R KGaA". Overall, the EBITDA was thus above the last forecast - specified in December 2020 - of up to EUR 53.0 million. The EBITDA margin improved by 1.5% to 6.4%. The bottom line was that the shareholders' consolidated net income was EUR -9.0 million (2019: EUR -1.4 million). The result was achieved with sales of EUR 873.0 million. This was around 18.8% less than in the previous year (2019: EUR 1,075.3 million) due to price and volume factors.

Despite Corona good momentum in the REFINING segment
The Chemical-Pharmaceutical Raw Materials division with its REFINING and SALES segments made the main contribution to Group EBITDA with an operating result of EUR 61.1 million (2019: EUR 59.9 million). Despite lower sales of EUR 524.6 million, the refinery business made the significant contribution of EUR 35.2 million to this, and exceeded the EBITDA contribution of the international business (EBITDA: EUR 25.9 million; sales: EUR 317.0 million). Overall, both segments successfully faced the burdens of the corona pandemic and the effects of the containment measures. The PLASTICS segment had a somewhat more difficult time, as the closings of the automotive industry in the first half of the year left their skid marks until the end of 2020. Nevertheless, the restructuring measures of the previous year made it possible to reduce the burden on costs, so that the segment achieved a significantly improved operating result of EUR -0.4 million (EBITDA 2019: EUR -4.9 million).

Operative Cashflow again positive in 2020
Over the year as a whole, the operating cash flow - based on a lower consolidated result and with higher depreciation - decreased from EUR 95.9 million in the previous year to EUR 60.1 million. However, lower cash outflows for investments relieved the free cash flow, which rose from EUR 20.8 million to EUR 22.0 million. The balance sheet total at the end of the 2020 financial year was EUR 745.7 million (December 31, 2019: EUR 838.6 million). Equity as of the balance sheet date was EUR 346.9 million (December 31, 2019: EUR 363.4 million). The quoted equity improved to 46.5% (December 31, 2019: 43.3%).

No dividend proposal planned for the Annual General Meeting
In principle, H&R has achieved distributable earnings for 2020 in accordance with the German Commercial Code (HGB). Nevertheless, the company's management will propose to the Annual General Meeting that no dividend be paid out. First and foremost, this is due to the highly precautionary borrowing of the KfW entrepreneur loan and its conditions, which exclude a distribution until full repayment. At the same time, despite the good fourth quarter of 2020 and the continuation of this positive trend at the beginning of 2021, the company still considers careful and liquidity-friendly budgeting to be appropriate. Although H&R has weathered the crisis relatively well so far, the persistently uncertain economic prospects in our core markets and for many of our customers speak in favor of allocating the funds within the company.

Outlook
Confidently, but also realistically, we formulate our expectations for 2021 and for the time being set ourselves an operating result (EBITDA) in the range of € 60.0 million to € 75.0 million as an improved target compared to the previous year. For segment reporting and the annual financial statements, H&R KGaA refers to the 2020 annual report that will be published today at www.hur.com - Investors - Publications.

Key Figures H&R KGaA:

Key figures for the segments

Contact information:
H&R GmbH & Co. KGaA, Head of Investor Relations/Communications, Ties Kaiser
Neuenkirchener Strasse 8, 48499 Salzbergen
Tel.: +49 40 43218-321, Fax: +49 40 43218-390
e-mail: [email protected] ; www.hur.com

H&R GmbH & Co. KGaA:
H&R KGaA is a specialty-chemicals company listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange's Prime Standard segment. It develops and manufactures crude-oil-based chemical and pharmaceutical specialty products and produces high-precision plastic parts.

Forward-looking statements and forecasts:
This press release contains forward-looking statements. The statements are based on the current estimates and forecasts by the Executive Board and the information available to the Board at this time. These forward-looking statements do not provide any warranty for the future developments and results contained therein. The future developments and results are dependent on a number of factors; they entail various risks and contingencies and are based on assumptions which could prove to be incorrect. We do not assume any responsibility for updating the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.