M&Z plc - Full-Year Results

On 28 April 2023, M&Z plc published its Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022.

Performance Overview

Revenue surged by 24.8% to €28.4 million (2021: €22.75 million) driven by a mix of organic growth as well as reflecting the acquisition of Red October. The company explained that this was achieved despite multiple headwinds including supply disruptions, indirect effect from raw material costs and challenges related to post-Brexit.

On the expenditure side, operating costs (net of other operating income) increased by 30.1% to €25.9 million, reflecting higher cost of sales as well as administrative expenses. As the increase in costs outweighed the growth in revenue, operating profit dropped by 12.5% to €2.46 million compared to €2.81 million in 2021. Excluding depreciation and amortisation charges, EBITDA declined by 4.4% to €3.40 million which translates into an EBITDA margin of 11.5% (2021: 15.6%) and marginally higher than the projected EBITDA of €3.38 million at the time of the IPO.

After accounting for net finance costs of €0.26 million and tax charges of €0.81, the net profit for the year amounted to €1.4 million (compared to forecasted figure of €1.6 million at the time of the IPO, reflecting higher finance costs and amortisation charges) which translates into a return on equity of 19.4% (2021: 26.3%), when excluding the company’s preference shares.

The Statement of Financial Position as at 31 December 2022 shows that total assets increased by 31.5% to €19 million reflecting the recognition of intangible assets following the acquisition of Red October and higher levels of trade receivables. Total liabilities increased by 57.7% to €9.85 million mainly driven by an increase of €2.6 million in bank borrowings. Overall, the company’s equity base advanced by 11.6% to €9.17 million, which includes an amount of €1.5 million in preference share capital.

Dividend

The Directors of M&Z are recommending a final net dividend per share of €0.01986. Coupled with the net interim dividend per share of €0.009 paid in August 2022, the total net dividend per share amounted to €0.02886, in line with the dividend policy announced in the IPO last year.

Outlook

In their commentary, the Directors explained that, going forward, the company is aiming to become more cost efficient while also remaining committed to diversifying the portfolio across various categories and sales channels in order to continue driving revenue and maximising on efficiencies. In spite of the continuous business challenges, the Directors are projecting a year-on-year stable operational performance with a moderate increase in revenues. The Directors feel confident the inflationary pressures will gradually subside during the current financial year and that this will have a beneficial effect on operational costs as from the second half of 2023. The company remains firmly on course to deliver consistent and steady results and the Directors expect to continue to pursue a policy of recommending a strong dividend distribution.