Albena’s Q3’24 beats expectations; net income jumped 15.7% YoY to BGN 31.2m (POSITIVE)

30.10.2024 Source: Albena; FFBH

Albena reported unconsolidated revenue of BGN 77.9m (+11.6% YoY), above our expectations of BGN 74.8m. OPEX increased at a slower pace of 10.5% YoY as cost of materials advanced 5.7% YoY to BGN 18.2m and cost of hired services came 6.5% YoY higher at BGN 7.3m. On the other hand, personnel expenses declined 0.7% YoY to BGN 14.6m. This resulted in EBITDA of BGN 34.8m (+13.0% YoY) and 0.5 p.p. expansion of the respective margin to 44.6%. Depreciation increased slightly to BGN 3.7m (+3.9% YoY), while net financial income came at BGN 72k, compared to BGN 786k financial expenses in Q3’23 as BGN 471k of dividends from subsidiaries were received in the July-Sept’24 period. The bottom line amounted to BGN 31.2m (+15.7% YoY), compared to BGN 30.4m in our expectations. EPS for the quarter came at BGN 7.40, when accounting for the 60.4k treasury stock. 9-mo individual revenue came at BGN 92.9m (+13.5% YoY), while OPEX advanced slower at 5.1% YoY to BGN 66.8m. Consequently, EBITDA jumped 42.4% YoY to BGN 26.1m and the respective margin expanded by 5.7 p.p. to 28.1%. Down the line, depreciation amounted to BGN 11.0m (-1.4% YoY), while financial expenses were BGN 814k. This resulted in net income of BGN 14.3m (EPS of 3.39), compared to BGN 7.2m in 9-mo 2023. Albena took advantage of the positive results and utilized some of its cash flows to deleverage. As a result, IB debt fell to BGN 66.4m as of 30 Sept, compared to BGN 77.8m in the beginning of the year, bringing the IB debt/Assets ratio to 0.11.