Mercury Projects Finance plc - Updated Financial Analysis Summary

On 21 June 2022, Mercury Projects Finance plc published an updated Financial Analysis Summary. The following are the main highlights of the expected financial performance and position of Mercury Towers Limited (the Guarantor) in 2022:

• Revenues are expected to increase to €44.8 million (2021: €4.9 million) reflecting the sale of units that were placed on the market for sale towards the end of 2021.
• EBITDA is forecasted to amount to €7.79 million whilst net finance costs are expected to increase to €3.28 million from €0.90 million in 2021.
• Mercury is projecting a net profit of €3.12 million compared to the loss of €5.78 million recorded in 2021.
• In terms of financial position, total assets are expected to increase by 34% to €178.2 million largely due to higher ‘property, plant and equipment’ to €72 million and ‘investment property’ to €59 million. On the other hand, total debt is anticipated to climb to €119.8 million from €61.0 million as at the end of 2021.
• Despite the 52.7% increase in equity to €52.9 million, the gearing ratio (calculated as total debt divided by total debt plus equity) is expected to deteriorate to 69.4% from 63.8% as at the end of 2021. Similarly, the debt to asset ratio is anticipated to increase to 0.67 times from 0.54 times as at 31 December 2021.
• On the other hand, in view of the surge in EBITDA, the interest cover is expected to improve to 2.38 times from 0.35 times in 2021. Likewise, the net debt to EBITDA multiple is forecasted to drop to 14.9 times.