Full year 2013 results: strong operating execution and material deleveraging
- Revenue: +2.4% at constant rate and scope 1
- Adjusted EBITDA 2 : €537 million, +10.4% at constant rate
- Group free cash flow: €153 million, +45% versus 2012
- Significant deleveraging with gross debt reduced by €145 million
- Well on track to deliver on Amplify 2015 objectives
Issy-les-Moulineaux Cedex, France, Feb. 19, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Technicolor (Euronext Paris: TCH) today announces its results for the full year 2013.
Frederic Rose, Chief Executive Officer of Technicolor, stated:
"2013 was a banner year for Technicolor where we delivered strong operational performance, which made it possible for us to invest in growth areas for the company and continue to generate lucrative intellectual properties. All of this puts well on target to deliver on our Amplify 2015 objectives."
Key points
- Strong operating execution reflected by a 10.4% increase in Adjusted EBITDA at constant rate and scope. Adjusted EBITDA margin amounted to 15.6%, an increase of 1.3 points yoy.
- Successful cash generation from continuing operations at €192 million (+73% yoy). Group free cash flow (after payment of the EU antitrust fine) of €153 million (+45% yoy).
- Restored financial strength and flexibility following the debt refinancing of July 2013. Gross nominal debt reduced by €409 million in 2 years.
- Strong pace of innovation across the Group and growing Intellectual Property portfolio with priority applications increasing by 15% yoy.
- Implementation of Technicolor's incubation framework with several initiatives launched in the market (M-GO, Qeo, Virdata, certification programs, etc) with strong IP generation.
- Focus on three strategic priority innovation domains offering high potential for technology and IP, where Technicolor can leverage its assets and capabilities to generate further profitable growth and additional value after completion of Amplify 2015.
2014 guidance and Amplify 2015 objectives
- Adjusted EBITDA between €550 million and €575 million;
- Group Free Cash Flow between €180 million and €200 million, notwithstanding higher cash restructuring charges compared with 2013;
- Positive net income;
- Net debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio below 1.2x at end December 2014.
Halfway through its Amplify 2015 roadmap, Technicolor confirms that it expects to achieve its Adjusted EBITDA objective of at least €600 million in 2015.
The Group has already generated €259 million of free cash flow between 2012 and 2013 towards its initial objective of generating at least €400 million over the period 2012-2015. Based on its free cash flow performance and prospects, Technicolor expects to outperform its initial objective and generate at least €500 million of free cash flow over the period 2012-2015.
As a result of the upgrade of its free cash flow objective, the Group is also revising its initial objective of a leverage ratio below 1.1x and now expects a net debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio below 0.9x at end December 2015.
Innovation
Continuous innovation is crucial to Technicolor's operation. We apply innovation to gain market share, strengthen client confidence, generate productivity gains and also reinforce the relevance of our IP portfolio thereby supporting our licensing programs.
In 2013, all businesses increased their number of invention disclosures, especially around video, audio, communication/interoperability, local networks and machine learning technologies. Ultimately the derived patent applications further strengthen the growing IP portfolio with the filing of 507 priority applications 3 , representing an increase of 15% compared with 2012 and 25% compared with 2011. The Group also continued to collaborate with the industry standard bodies, in areas such as HEVC, 3D Audio and ATSC 3.0, and with key technology partners, for example by partnering with Samsung to offer 4K streaming on M-GO platform or by joining forces with Qualcomm and several other companies in the AllSeen alliance. This lucrative collaboration in terms of innovation resulted in substantial IP generation and licensing initiatives. In 2013, Technicolor also identified three priority domains of innovation which will further reinforce our key businesses, as well as the IP and licensing capabilities of the Group:
- Immersive Media: deliver premium content everywhere with next generation technologies in video and audio compression, rendering and adaptation.
- Context-aware Entertainment: a personalized and contextualized viewer experience by offering new features and interaction with entertainment content.
- Digital Life: enrich consumer's life by integrating and exploiting connected devices, sensors, applications and data.
1 Excluding the Broadcast Services and the SmartVision (television-over-IP) businesses, sold in 2012, and the Cirpack softswitch operations (voice-over-IP) sold in 2013, 2 Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations at constant scope (excluding activities sold in 2012 and 2013). 3 A priority application is the 1 st patent application that protects a new invention filed at a Patent Office, and is the origin of a patent family which may contain many patents in various countries in the world.
Read the full press release in the PDF attached
Technicolor Full year 2013 results http://hugin.info/143597/R/1763209/597438.pdf
HUG#1763209
