Korado reported strong final quarter of 2023; profitability profile remained strong; surprised our profit expectations with 30% beat (NEUTRAL)

31.01.2024 Source: Korado; FFBH

Korado's finished 2023 with a strong Q4, where revenue registered 11.2% YoY growth to BGN 10.8m. According to the management report, total number of items sold in the fourth quarter amounted to 93.3k, which is 28.3% higher YoY, as the main market for radiators (the EU) increased by 28.9% YoY (89.2k units). At the same time, volume to other markets grew by 27.9% YoY to 3.2k units, while the Bulgarian market (0.9k) decreased by 11.6% YoY. However, the average sale price was down to BGN 115.3 (-9.4% YoY). Operating expenses were 2.8% lower YoY to BGN 9.1m, as cost of materials contracted by 6.8% YoY (BGN 6.8m) on decreased production. As a result, EBITDA for the quarter amounted to BGN 1.8m on a margin of 16.4%, which represents a 12.1 p.p. YoY improvement. This transferred to a net profit of BGN 1.5m, compared to BGN 0.1m loss a year ago. 2023 total revenue fell by 30.8% YoY to BGN 39.8m, while coming 8.3% above our expectations. Operating expenses decreased as well, down to BGN 34.5m (-32.9% YoY). Still, EBITDA margin improved by 2.7 p.p. YoY to 13.2% and moderated the net profit drawdown for the year to BGN 4m (-9.4% YoY). This translated into EPS of BGN 0.30 and is 30.4% higher than out expectations. Things important to note are lack of government financing in 2023 and somewhat more resilient performance of higher-margin tower radiators, which registered 6.7% decrease compared to overall units sold drop of 21.1%. On the balance sheet, non-cash working capital decreased by 10.4% in 2023 to BGN 13.1m, while IB debt more than halved to BGN 3.1m (IB debt to equity of 12.3%). The resulting working capital optimisation brought CFO up to BGN 3.1m, compared to BGN 1.4m in 2022.