Blue Solutions : 2016 Results
March 23 2017 - 2:19PM
2016 Results |
September 23, 2016 |
Blue Solutions
2016 results
The Board of Directors of Blue
Solutions approved the 2016 financial statements at its meeting of
March 23, 2017.
-
Turnover: €109 million -10%;
-
EBITDA: €18 million, -15%;
-
Operating income: -€0.4 million (versus €3
million in 2015);
-
Net income Group share: -€0.1 million (versus
€0.02 million in 2015);
-
Net debt: €22 million (Gearing: 16%).
2016 turnover
Consolidated turnover in 2016 was
€109.3 million, down 10% from fiscal year 2015 (€121.9 million). In
fiscal year 2016 Blue Solutions delivered 2,460 batteries, compared
to 2,849 at end December 2015 (-14%).
Strong volumes at Bluebus were not
enough to offset the sales decline in stationary electricity
storage. Sales to Bluecar, down slightly, were driven by shipments
of batteries to E-Mehari. Shipments for car-sharing slowed due to
longer battery life in vehicles already on the road.
2016 EBITDA and Operating
income
- EBITDA was €18 million, down 15%
from 2015 (€22 million)
- Operating income was -€0.4 million
(€3.2 million in 2015)
The lower EBITDA and operating income were
attributable to:
-
lower volumes, despite good containment of
overhead expenses;
-
consolidation of Capacitor Sciences as of
September 21, 2016;
-
and continued investments in R&D.
2016 net income stable versus 2015
The company's net income was -€0.1
million, compared with €0.02 million in 2015. It includes positive
net financial income of €1.7 million (versus -€2.9 million in
2015), which benefited from favorable foreign exchange differences
(€2.8 million versus -€2.6 million in 2015), due to the revaluation
of the Canadian Dollar. On the other hand, a tax-related provision
charge of €0.9 million increased the 2016 income tax burden.
Shareholders' equity: €138 million | Net debt: €22 million
- At December 31, 2016: Shareholders'
equity was €138 million, for net debt of €22 million. The ratio of
net debt to shareholders' equity was 16%, versus 14% at end
2015.
Bolloré offers the Blue Solutions' shareholders to acquire their
shares at a price of €17 per share
The Blue Solutions Board of
Directors reviewed the company's situation and the outlook for the
coming years. Electricity storage using batteries is now
universally recognized as a large segment. However, there is more
competition, and Blue Solutions would like to give itself more time
to develop the benefits of its Lithium Metal Polymer (LMP)
technology. That technology has seen great success in the field of
mobility (Autolib', car-sharing projects in Singapore, London and
Los Angeles, and electric buses) and also holds great promise in
stationary applications. But the parallel developments of
competitors in lithium-ion products, with high volumes and low
prices, has meant revising volumes and selling prices for Blue
Solutions batteries. This has led the company's Board to take the
following positions:
Under these circumstances, in
answer to a proposal made by the CEO and based on a valuation done
by an independent expert[1], the Blue
Solutions Board of Directors decided not to exercise the purchase
options it held on Blue Applications until they mature, which will
be on June 30, 2018. It was the Board's view that the investments
remaining to be made in Blue Applications are still very
significant, and they preferred to focus Blue Solutions' efforts on
improving its technology.
The Boards of Directors of Blue
Solutions and Bolloré decided to work together towards the
following objectives:
-
establish a new window for exercising the
options;
-
revise the terms of the battery procurement
contract, as the contract provides; and
-
write a new agreement for the financing of Blue
Solutions by Bolloré, since the preceding one expired at end June
2016.
Blue Solutions and Bolloré will
issue a press release concerning the outcome of these
negotiations.
In that context, Bolloré proposes
the following transaction:
Bolloré, which had listed Blue
Solutions at the end of 2013 at €14.50 per share, while it remains
confident in the outlooks of the LMP technology but wishes to keep
a reasonable pace of development and continue to invest in the long
term, will offer to the shareholders of Blue Solutions wishing to
withdraw from the company a first possibility to sell their Blue
Solutions shares at a price of €17 per share. To this end, a draft
tender offer will be filed with the French Market Authority (AMF)
by the end of the first semester of 2017, once the aforementioned
negotiations are successfully concluded and an independent expert
is appointed to review the fairness of the price of the offer.
Bolloré specifies that it does not have the intention to implement
a squeeze-out procedure once this tender offer is completed.
Shareholders deciding not to
tender their shares to this offer and continuing to support Blue
Solutions will be offered a second exit window following the
publication of the 2019 annual financial statements of Blue
Solutions. In this context, if the average of the market prices of
the Blue Solutions shares during a reference period is less than
€17, Bolloré will file a new tender offer at the same price
conditions as the first tender offer. This undertaking will be
further described in the offer notice of the first tender
offer.
The objectives of these different
transactions are, in a different context from the one prevailing at
the time of the IPO:
to provide the shareholders who wish to do so with the possibility
to sell their shares,
-
to allow the shareholders wishing to continue to support Blue
Solutions in its investments to have, in the future, a guarantee
that they can exit the company while benefiting from the potential
increase of the value of the shares of the company.
Blue Solutions consolidated results |
(in millions of euros) |
Dec. 31st, 2016 |
Dec. 31st, 2015 |
Variation |
Turnover |
109 |
122 |
(10%) |
EBITDA |
18 |
22 |
(15%) |
Operating income |
(0.4) |
3 |
NA |
Operating margin
(%) |
(0.4%) |
2.6% |
- |
Financial income |
2 |
(3) |
NA |
Net
income |
(0) |
0 |
NA |
Net income
Group share |
(0.1) |
0 |
NA |
|
|
|
|
Shareholders' equity group share |
138 |
136 |
3 |
Net
debt |
22 |
19 |
(3) |
Gearing (%)
(1) |
16% |
14% |
- |
(1) Gearing = Net debt / Equity ratio
The audit of the 2016 consolidated
financial statements has been completed, and the certification
report will be issued after review of the management report.
________________________________________________
« IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This
communication is for informational purposes only and is not
intended to and does not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to subscribe for or buy or an invitation
to purchase or subscribe for any securities or the solicitation of
any vote in any jurisdiction. »
[1] Thierry
Bergeras was appointed expert by the Paris Commercial Court on
November 30, 2016 and submitted his report on March 17, 2017.
Blue Solutions : 2016
Results
This
announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf
of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.
Source: Blue Solutions via Globenewswire
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