2022 Full Year Trading Update and Acquisition of Nashville Franchise
The Group continues to perform strongly despite ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty. Market demand for the Group's water leak detection and repair solutions remains strong despite signs of recessionary pressure going into 2023.
In terms of market capture, network sales (direct corporate sales and indirect gross sales to third parties from which franchise royalty is derived) grew approximately 10.5%, reaching approximately
Franchise Acquisition / Subsequent Event
We are pleased to announce that the Group has reacquired its
2022 Highlights
Financial Performance
oo Group Revenue increased by 31% to
o Franchise royalty declined 1% to
o Franchise Related Activities (Insurance Channel) grew 9% to
o US Corporate locations sales grew 48% to
o Same store sales grew 25% to
o Same store profits grew 14% to
o International corporate locations grew 9% to
oo EBITDA Adjusted* grew 20% to
o EBITDA grew 16% to
oo PBT Adjusted* grew 12% to
o PBT declined 3% to
*EBITDA Adjusted and PBT Adjusted both adjusted for non-core costs and non-cash expense of share-based payments; PBT Adjusted also adjusted for non-cash expense of amortization. EBITDA and PBT are adjusted to exclude the 2021 one-time gain of
Balance Sheet at
o Cash at
o Cash net of bank debt at
o Cash net of bank debt and deferred franchise acquisition payments at
o Debt and acquisition payments all spread through 2027 at a blended fixed rate of approximately 4.9% reflecting different facilities
o Credit availability of
Corporate Development:
ooo Expansion of Acquisition Credit Facilities (
o Franchise Acquisitions:
o Plumbing Acquisition:
o Sale of Franchise Territory:
ooo
o New Service Offerings developed and commercial in 2023: Residential Pulse (sewer diagnostic tool) and Municipal LS1 (snapshot survey tool)
The Group will announce its audited full year results by early June.
Commenting on the Group's performance, Executive Chairman, Dr.
"We are pleased that during 2022 our team successfully navigated various challenges posed by short-run inflationary shocks and subsequent rises in interest rates which are now raising concerns over potential recessionary pressure. Despite this, our core business remains strong and market demand for water infrastructure solutions continues to grow.
We remain confident in our strategic growth plan. For 2022, sales growth remained strong - both corporate and franchise; we increased EBITDA by double digits while continuing to scale operations through (i) investment in additional hiring and training of technicians, (ii) implementation of
We are very mindful that macroeconomic volatility remains a challenge for 2023. We will be disciplined in managing expenses as we remain acutely focused not just on revenue growth but also on enhancing profit margins. Moreover, during the coming months, we will also be coming to the end of our large upfront investment spend for our
As we head into 2023, we are positioned to better meet growing market demand with scalable operations and an ability to provide our customers with added solutions for their water and wastewater problems. With increasingly adverse climate conditions - whether droughts, freezes or flooding - our customers need us more than ever."
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the
Enquiries:
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(C) 2023 M2 COMMUNICATIONS, source