Financials

The Group's capital structure was furthermore strengthened and diversified by the bond tap of 125 Million in the autumn of 2016.

INCOME STATEMENT

Group revenue income has decreased by 5%, from €615,1 million in 2015 to €584,1 million in 2016. Despite a very weak start in Q1-2016, the Group managed to realise a stable quarter-on-quarter performance in the remainder of the year. The decrease is mainly explained by the weak performance in some challenging regions, particularly South Africa, Australia and Latin America,

that suffered from a substantial reduction in activity. Sarens realised stable performance in Europe and continued to grow in the

Middle East, North Africa and Canada.

EBITDA amounted to €128,5 million in 2016 on a pro-forma basis, compared to €149,8 million reported for EBITDA in 2015. The organizational downsizing in challenging regions led to a reduction of personnel costs in line with revenues. Fluctuation in currency exchange rates had an estimated negative impact on EBITDA of €5,1m in 2016.

Operating Profit decreased from €48,6 million in 2015 to €25,6 million in 2016, mainly resulting from a decline in operating income. Depreciations on fixed assets remained relatively high in line with 2015 as a result of the accelerated depreciation rules applied.

The net financial result improved as a result of less unfavourable currency exchange differences compared to 2015, both realized and unrealised. Financing costs remained stable despite the refinancing that took place in the autumn of 2016.

The downsizing of business units in the challenging regions and the strategic reallocation plan have resulted in nonrecurring costs of €11,2 million, which negatively impacted the 2016 net result.

Income tax expenses increased to €18,6 million in 2016 versus €14,2 million in 2015, mainly as a result of the exceptional relocation of cranes in the context of the strategic re-allocation plan.

Reported net results came in at a loss of €31,4 million in 2016 compared to a loss of €17,4 million in 2015.

BALANCE SHEET 

Tangible Fixed Assets amounted to €856,7 million at the end of 2016 compared to €883,7 million at the end of 2015 as a result

of lower net investments in Tangible Fixed Assets ad. €56,7 million. Market value of Tangible Fixed Assets, as estimated by

management and used as a benchmark by insurance companies to determine premia, amounted to €1,1 billion on 31 December

2016. The gap between Book Value and Market Value of Fixed Assets is mainly explained by the continued application of accelerated depreciation rules in line with BEGAAP, which make abstraction of the economic lifetime of equipment and of preventive maintenance costs taken into account in operating profit.

Net Working Capital improved from €61,6 million at the end of 2015 to €53,9 million on 31 December 2016, in line with lower operating income.

Cash Position slightly reduced from €80,6 million at the end of 2015 to €70,1 million at the end of 2016. Available liquidity under the Revolving Credit and Global Lease Facilities amounted to €203,1 million on 31 December 2016.

On 31 December 2016, the equity represented 17,4% of the total balance sheet, a small decrease compared to the previous year due to the negative net result of the year.

Total net financial debt slightly decreased from €612,1 million on 31 December 2015 to €607,2 million on 31 December 2016.

The Group's capital structure was furthermore strengthened and diversified by the bond tap of €125 million in the autumn of 2016, which resulted in a strong liquidity position and a decrease of Net senior financial debt from €442,8 million at the end of 2015 to €357,2 million on 31 December 2016.

CASH FLOW STATEMENTS

The reduced working capital and the lower net investments in Fixed Assets have resulted in positive cash flows. The consolidated free cash flow amounted to €36,2 million in 2016, including a negative non-recurring extraordinary result of €11,2 million, compared to a negative consolidated free cash flow of €31,2 million in 2015.

The cash outflows of €46,7 million for financing activities mainly consisted of cash interest payments, debt issuance costs

related to the additional bond issuance, and net debt repayments of €15,4 million.

Ludo Verrijken
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

For more information, please contact us at info@sarens.com
Read more: Annual Report 2016