• Growth in B2B segment (+ 5 %) and easybell (+ 18 %)
• Gross profit increases to € 21.8 million (+ 25 %)
• EBITDA reaches € 8.0 million (+ 62 %)
• Upward adjustment of EBITDA forecast for 2021 to € 15 – 16 million
• Free cash flow at € 4.9 million significantly exceeds previous year (€ 1.1 million)
• Net financial assets increased to € 5.2 million (12/31/2020: € 2.3 million)
• Consolidated surplus increased significantly to € 1.8 million and EPS to € 0.52

The first half-year 2021 has been very successful for the ecotel Group. Sustainable and profitable growth continues in the »ecotel Business Solutions« and »easybell« segments. With gross profit of € 21.8 million (+25 %) the Group achieved EBITDA totaling € 8.0 million (prev. year: € 4.9 million). This corresponds to an increase of 62 % compared to the first half-year of the previous year. On the basis of these developments and the continued overall good business prospects for financial year 2021, the Management Board has upwardly adjusted the EBITDA forecast to € 15 – 16 million.

Consolidated profit: € 1.8 million / € 0.52 per share

In addition to the »easybell« segment, which has already been operating in the profitable zone for several years, the »ecotel Business Solutions« segment has increasingly made positive contributions to consoli-dated profit for the past three quarters, therefore confirming the turnaround. This means that ecotel has been able to achieve substantial increases in consolidated profit and also earnings per share. In the first half-year 2021, the Group reported € 1.8 million or €0.52 per share, which is more than in the entire year 2020 (€ 1.0 million, € 0.28 per share).

Financial and balance sheet figures: Substantial increase in free cash flow and net financial assets

Growth and continued increases in profitability have also boosted free cash flow to € 4.9 million (prev. year: € 3.8 million). In addition, loans totaling € 1.2 million (prev. year: € 0.9 million) were reduced as scheduled in the first half-year. In total, net financial assets of € 2.3 million at the start of the year increased to € 5.2 million as of June 30, 2021.

Development of the segments

ecotel Business Solutions segment: Growth of revenue, gross profit and EBITDA

For the past several quarters, the »ecotel Business Solutions« segment has been positively affected by the results of the successfully completed transformation process of the past years and the accompanying in-crease in profitability. It was possible to migrate the former customer base to modern products with new contract terms, and data transactions have undergone strong development in recent years. The scalable production platform has established the basis for further growth. The focus is on acquisition of new custom-ers, with the offer of both products and solutions.

In the first half-year 2021 the segment achieved increases of 5 % in revenue to € 24.0 million (prev. year: € 22.8 million) and of 19 % in gross profit to € 13.7 million (prev. year: € 11.5 million). The gross profit margin in this segment therefore increased to 57.0 % (prev. year: 50.6 %).

After deducting operating expenses, primarily for personnel and other operating expenses, the segment achieved EBITDA of € 3.7 million (prev. year: € 2.0 million). This corresponds to an increase of 83 % com-pared to the first half-year of the previous year.

easybell segment: Continued significant growth and further increase of profitability

The »easybell« segment continued to grow undiminished, in revenue by 19 % to € 12.3 million and by 39% in gross profit to € 6.9 million. This continued development, which is due to the high scalability of the business model and customer growth, led to EBITDA growth of 51 % to € 3.8 million (prev. year: € 2.5 million).

nacamar and ecotel Wholesale segments: Scheduled developments

The »nacamar« and »ecotel Wholesale« segments developed as planned. The »nacamar« segment achieved revenue totaling € 1.2 million (prev. year: € 1.1 million) and EBITDA of € 0.3 million (prev. year: € 0.3 million) in the first half-year 2021. Altogether, these two segments contribute € 0.5 million to consolidated EBITDA.

Upward adjustment of forecast:

Due to the positive development of the first half-year and the good prospects for further business develop-ments, ecotel is upwardly adjusting the forecast for the year 2021:

For the »ecotel Business Solutions« segment, the forecast provides for revenue in a corridor of € 47 to 50 million, with a continuing slight increase in the gross profit margin and therefore in gross profit. The »easyb-ell« segment expects revenue between € 24 and 26 million, and the »nacamar« segment € 2.0 to 2.5 million.

EBITDA is expected to be within a corridor of € 15 to 16 million. For the »ecotel Business Solutions« segment the Management Board expects EBITDA in a corridor of € 6.5 to 7.5 million, for the »easybell« segment in a corridor of € 6.5 to 7.5 million, and for the »nacamar« segment between € 0.5 and 1.0 million. In the reporting for the first quarter 2021 the Management Board assumed EBITDA at the upper end of the corridor of € 12 to 14 million for financial year 2021.

In preparing the original forecast for 2021 the Management Board had taken into account uncertain circum-stances that could result from the Covid-19 pandemic. So far these circumstances have not occurred to the extent expected. The new factors of uncertainty in planning due to the flooding situation experienced by some of our customers have been taken into account in the current forecast.