A.S. Création Tapeten AG: Preliminary figures for 2020 clearly exceed expectations

The Managing Board of A.S. Création today submitted the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020 to the auditors for the final audit. The Managing Board does not expect this audit to lead to significant changes in the preliminary figures now available. According to these unaudited figures, consolidated sales revenues in the fiscal year 2020 amount to € 144.9 million (previous year: € 141.1 million), operating profit to € 4.4 million (previous year: € 4.5 million) and earnings after taxes from continuing operations to € 1.5 million (previous year: € 2.4 million). As the Russian and Belarusian roubles depreciated against the euro in the course of 2020, A.S. Création had to absorb significant exchange losses in the year under review, compared to exchange gains in the previous year. Adjusted for these currency effects, earnings before interest and taxes for 2020 stood at € 8.8 million (previous year: € 3.4 million) and earnings after taxes from continuing operations at € 5.5 million (previous year: € 1.4 million).

In the last guidance for the full year 2020, which was given in the interim report for the period ended September 30, 2020, the Managing Board had still projected revenues of between € 135 million and € 140 million, EBIT adjusted for currency effects of between € 6 million and € 7 million, and earnings after taxes from continuing operations adjusted for currency effects of between € 4 million and € 5 million.

The preliminary figures now show that this revenue forecast will be clearly exceeded. This is attributable to the unusually and unexpectedly high revenues generated in November and December 2020, which made the fourth quarter the strongest quarter of the fiscal year 2020 in terms of revenues. The high demand for wallpapers and furnishing fabrics resulting from people's growing appreciation of their own homes caused by the coronavirus pandemic continued in November and December. With revenues between € 5 million and € 10 million higher than expected, earnings also improved much more strongly than projected lately.

The consolidated financial statements for the period ended December 31, 2020 and further details are scheduled for publication on March 25, 2021.

The Supervisory Board will discuss the consolidated financial statements for the period ended December 31, 2020 at its meeting on March 18, 2021. On that day the decision on the profit appropriation proposal for the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders will be taken.

Gummersbach, March 2, 2021

A.S. Création Tapeten AG

The Managing Board