BV Holding AG: Half-year results 2021

EQS Group-News: BV Holding AG / Key word(s): Half Year Results
24.08.2021 / 07:00

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PRESS RELEASE Burgdorf, August 24, 2021 - 07:00 am

BV Holding AG continues on its growth path

The consolidated half-year financial statements of BV Holding AG according to Swiss GAAP FER which essentially reflect the results of Skan Group as the only remaining valuable investment show substantial growth: order intake grew by 33% compared to the previous year period while the revenue grew by 9%. Excluding extraordinary costs, the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the Skan Group amounted to CHF 15.6m compared to CHF 14.3m in the first half of the financial year 2020. The reported consolidated EBITDA of BV Holding AG, which includes the results of the Holding activities amounts to CHF 12.3m after CHF 13.8m in the prior year period. In the first half of 2021, BV Holding AG executed its planned divestment program and sold all relevant investments for a total of CHF 25.3m, with the exception of the majority stake in Skan Holding AG, which plans an Initial Public Offering (IPO) at SIX Swiss Exchange in the fourth quarter of 2021. The shares of BV Holding AG will be delisted from BX Swiss immediately before the IPO of the Skan Group at SIX Swiss Exchange.

Due to the change of the financial reporting standard decided by the Board of Directors of BV Holding AG in the course of the communicated change in strategy, the current financial statements as of June 30, 2021 show consolidated figures which substantially reflect the results of the Skan Group.

Business performance of Skan Group
Skan Group, which is considered a leading company in the field of isolator technology for the biopharmaceutical industry, had a successful first semester 2021. Order intake increased by +33% to CHF 156.8m compared to the first half of 2020 and is significantly above plan. The strong growth is in particular due to higher orders in the Equipment & Solutions segment for long-term, customized isolator projects for high-volume production equipment as well as from filling machines based on the closed-vial filling technology of Aseptic Technologies. The strongest order intake was recorded in the Americas closely followed by Europe. The Services & Consumables segment which consists of maintenance services for existing equipment and the consumables business also achieved robust growth.

The strong order development underlines the robust business model of Skan Group as well as the continued high growth of the biopharmaceutical industry and in particular cell and gene therapies. Another driver of the high increase in order intake is the Covid 19 pandemic which led to additional orders for future production capacities.

Due to the long lead times in this industry, the Covid 19 pandemic did not yet have the same impact on the Skan Group revenues, which grew by +9% to CHF 102.0m. Considering an extraordinary effect related to a cancelled customer project the growth in revenues amounts to 10% to CHF 103.1m.

The reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of the Skan Group for the first half of 2021 amounts to CHF 13.3m. Excluding special costs related in particular to the move into the new Skan headquarters and a cancelled customer project, EBITDA amounts to CHF 15.6m, compared to CHF 14.3m in the previous year period. The reason for the slower growth of earnings compared to revenues lies in the substantial build-up of resources to execute existing orders.

With CHF 220.8m, the order book as of June 30, 2021 achieved a new record level. This confirms the need for additional production capacities to realize the expected future growth. Accordingly, Skan continued to expand capacity in the first half of 2021: On the one hand, Skan moved into its new headquarters in Allschwil in July and on the other hand, the ground-breaking for the expansion of the production facility in Stein also took place in July. The doubling of the production capacity in the factory in Görlitz is progressing according to plan and should be finished in the course of the year 2022.

Sale of the investments of BV Holding AG
BV Holding AG executed the planned divestitures in the first half of 2021 and sold its investments in Ziemer Group AG, Piexon AG and Covalys Biosciences AG in liquidation for a total of CHF 25.3m. In addition, it impaired its investment in Anecova SA by CHF 1.5m. As a result of these disposals, the majority stake in Skan Holding AG represents the last remaining valuable investment in the portfolio of BV Holding AG.

Due to consultancy expenses in connection with the above-mentioned transactions as well as the strategic realignment, the operating expenses of BV Holding AG (excl. Skan) of CHF 1m were significantly higher than the previous year's figure of CHF 0.5m. The results in a reported consolidated EBITDA of BV Holding AG of CHF 12.3m compared to CHF 13.8m in the first half of 2020.

Delisting from BX Swiss
In connection with the planned IPO on the SIX Swiss Exchange, a request was made to BX Swiss to delist the shares of BV Holding AG. BX Swiss agreed to such a delisting. Should the planned IPO on the SIX Swiss Exchange not be executed, BV Holding AG were to withdraw its delisting request so that the listing of the shares of BV Holding AG at BX Swiss would be retained. Thus, the shares of BV Holding AG will be delisted at BX Swiss shortly before the IPO of Skan Group on the SIX Swiss Exchange. It is further intended to suspend trading of the shares of BV Holding AG on BX Swiss prior to the IPO, probably starting at the time of the formal announcement of the IPO. This shall ensure that the planned IPO and its pricing can be conducted in an orderly manner. BV Holding AG will provide information on the exact timing of the trading suspension and delisting in due course.

Bern Value - Entrepreneurial investments

BV Holding AG is a Swiss limited company domiciled in Burgdorf and listed on the BX Swiss AG (Ticker: BVHN, security number: 1339601).

Contacts

Patrick Schär
CEO BV Holding AG
schaer@bvgroup.ch, +41 31 380 18 50

Thomas Balmer
Corporate Communications Skan Holding AG c/o Dynamics Group AG
tba@dynamicsgroup.ch, +41 79 703 87 28

This document is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of offers to purchase or subscribe for shares or other securities. This document is not a prospectus within the meaning of the Swiss Financial Services Act ("FinSA") or a prospectus under any other applicable laws. Copies of this document may not be sent to jurisdictions, or distributed in or sent from jurisdictions, in which this is barred or prohibited by law. The information contained herein shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, in any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any jurisdiction.

Statements made in this publication may include forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by the fact that they use words such as "anticipate", "estimate", "should", "expect", "guidance", "project", "intend", "plan", "believe", "will", "could" and/or other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with, among other things, any discussion of results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies or developments in the industry in which we operate. Such statements are based on management's current intentions, expectations or beliefs and involve inherent risks, assumptions and uncertainties, including factors that could delay, divert or change any of them. Forward-looking statements contained in this media release regarding trends or current activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. Actual outcomes, results and other future events may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements contained herein. Such differences may adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein and may result from, among other things, changes in economic, business, competitive, technological, strategic or regulatory factors and other factors affecting the business and operations of the company. Neither BV Holding AG nor Skan Holding AG nor any of their respective affiliates is under any obligation, and each such entity expressly disclaims any such obligation, to update, revise or amend any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this media release. It should be noted that past performance is not a guide to future performance.

Except as required by applicable law, BV Holding AG has no intention or obligation to update, keep updated or revise this publication or any parts thereof (including any forward looking statement) following the date hereof.

This announcement is not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States (including its territories and dependencies, any state of the United States and the District of Columbia), Canada, Japan, Australia or any jurisdiction into which the same would be unlawful. This announcement does not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to purchase, subscribe for or otherwise acquire securities in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia or any jurisdiction in which such an offer or solicitation is unlawful. BV Holding AG shares have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") or under any securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States and may not be offered, sold, taken up, exercised, resold, renounced, transferred or delivered, directly or indirectly, within the United States except pursuant to an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and in compliance with any applicable securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States.

The information contained herein does not constitute an offer of securities to the public in the United Kingdom, and no such offer of securities to will be made to the public in the United Kingdom, except that offers of securities may be made to the public in the United Kingdom at any time under the following exemptions under the UK Prospectus Regulation: (i) to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined in Article 2 of the UK Prospectus Regulation; or (ii) in any other circumstances falling within section 86 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the "FSMA"), provided that no such offer of securities shall require BV Holding AG to publish a prospectus pursuant to section 85 of the FSMA or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the UK Prospectus Regulation. For the purposes of this provision, the expression an "offer to the public" in relation to the securities means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the securities to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase the securities, and the expression "UK Prospectus Regulation" means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. In addition, in the United Kingdom, this document is only being distributed to and is only directed at (i) investment professionals falling within article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order"), (ii) high net worth entities falling within article 49 of the Order or (iii) other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). The securities are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such securities will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents.

In relation to each member state of the European Economic Area (each a "Member State"), no securities have been offered and will be offered to the public in that Member State, except that offers of securities may be made to the public in that Member State at any time under the following exemptions under the Prospectus Regulation: (i) to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined under the Prospectus Regulation; or (ii) in any other circumstances falling within Article 1(4) of the Prospectus Regulation, provided that no such offer of securities shall require BV Holding AG to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the Prospectus Regulation. For the purposes of this provision, the expression an "offer to the public" in relation to the securities in any Member State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and any securities to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase securities, and the expression "Prospectus Regulation" means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129.

End of Media Release