Plastics of Thrace: Increasing profitability and taking advantage of opportunities are the goals for the next 5 years

The further increase of profitability through the improvement of the Group’s competitiveness and the better product mix, enhancing the production of products with higher profitability, as well as the exploitation of opportunities for growth in both existing and new industries, are the two main goals of its strategy. Plastics of Thrace Group for the next five years, as stressed by the management of the listed analysts and institutional investors during the annual briefing.

The management of Plastics Thrace also referred to the investment plan of the last 8 years, amounting to € 237 million, which in combination with the internal restructuring of the Group has contributed to the significant improvement of profitability.

Regarding issues related to Sustainability (ESG), which is a key priority of the Management, the Group’s objectives were presented, as aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, for the environment, society and corporate governance. Particular reference was made to the way and the plan to reduce the environmental footprint of the Group, by reducing energy consumption per kilo produced and the use of energy from renewable sources, as well as the ways in which the Group contributes to the Circular Economy, with actions to consume more recycled materials, the production of fully recyclable products, and actions related to the design, weight reduction and properties of the products.

Finally, special mention was made of the “In-the-Loop” platform, a pioneering initiative of the Group, which brings together all the involved parts of the value chain and intends to increase the value of plastic waste through its recycling and reuse.

Regarding the financial performance of 2021, reference was made to the demand levels of the main product sales sectors, to the course of the basic elements of production and distribution costs, to the realized investments of the year (amounting to € 30.3 million), and to the very significant reduction of Net Lending by € 92.8 million within the years 2020 – 2021, so that the Group at the end of 2021 has a negative Net Lending of – € 9.3 million.

At the same time, the Financial Results were presented, which recorded historically high profitability and it was analyzed that the products related to the treatment of the pandemic had for the years 2020 and 2021 a significant contribution to the Profit before Taxes of the Group. Specifically for 2021, the contribution amounted to € 51.8 million from the total profitability of the year amounting to € 83.9 million. , emphasizing high liquidity, despite the impairment of lending and the distribution of dividends.

Regarding the current year (2022), the Management stated that the investment plan of € 42 million is being implemented smoothly, and a brief report on the financial performance of the first quarter took place, as already announced with the May 6, 2022 corporate announcement.

Regarding the 2nd quarter of 2022, the Group targets Profit before Tax of € 9 million, which means a target for an increase of 140% compared to the 2nd quarter of 2019, but reduced by 72% compared to the 2nd quarter. of 2021, as expected, due to the lack of demand for pandemic-related products.

Overall for 2022, although there is extremely limited visibility for the second half, the Group targets based on its budget Profits before Taxes over € 25 million.

The Management noted that the Group adequately managed the high costs of materials and energy, energy and transport, and the above objectives remain achievable, as long as there is no further deterioration in macroeconomic conditions, at the levels of adequacy of materials and energy, the level of demand remains current levels and there are no other factors that will create additional difficulty in the market.

Finally, it is worth noting that, during the last two years, the company is estimated to distribute dividends of € 23.2 million to the shareholders, provided that the forthcoming General Meeting of the Company’s shareholders approves the Board of Directors proposal for dividend distribution by the Profits for the year 2021 amounting to € 11.75 million, of which an interim dividend of € 4.75 million has already been distributed, therefore, if the relevant proposal is approved, an additional amount of € 7.00 million (gross amount) will be distributed, ie 0.1600312674 Euros per share (gross amount), which will be increased by the amount corresponding to the same shares held by the Company at the date of the dividend cut.