Brockhaus Capital Management AG: BCM publishes results for Q1 2021: forecast for fiscal year unchanged

– Environmental Technologies segment (Palas) more than doubles revenue compared with prior-year quarter

– Due to ongoing travel restrictions and social distancing requirements resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, customers of the Security Technologies segment (IHSE) continue to postpone projects

– Forecast for fiscal year 2021 unchanged

Frankfurt am Main, 15 May 2021. Brockhaus Capital Management AG (BKHT, ISIN: DE000A2GSU42, “BCM”), a long-term oriented technology group focused on acquiring high-margin and high-growth technology champions within the German Mittelstand, announced its results for Q1 2021 on 15 May 2021.

In the first three months of fiscal year 2021, BCM Group generated revenue of €10.8 million. This is a decline of -13.8% against the comparatively strong prior-year quarter Q1 2020 before the start of the coronavirus pandemic (€12.6 million). Adjusted EBITDA of €0.8 million corresponds to an adjusted EBITDA margin of 7.4% (Q1 2020: €2.6 million or 20.9%). The adjusted EBITDA margin was primarily influenced by lower revenue, a product mix changes and higher due diligence costs in connection with the evaluation of potential acquisitions of companies by BCM AG.

The segments of BCM Group displayed opposing performance trends. Whereas the Environmental Technologies segment (Palas) more than doubled revenue year on year in the first quarter with growth of +114.3%, the Security Technologies segment (IHSE) saw a decline in revenue of -41.4%. This was due to the fact that IHSE customers continued to postpone projects because of the ongoing lockdowns, travel restrictions and social distancing requirements. However, in the first four months of 2021, BCM Group almost achieved the revenue level recorded in the same period in 2020 as the result of catch-up effects in April.

Continued demand for Palas test rigs for quality assurance of respiratory masks

The Environmental Technologies segment, which consists of Palas, performed extremely well in the first quarter of 2021. Compared with the prior-year quarter, Palas recorded revenue growth of +114.3% to €4.8 million. Palas offers one of the leading technologies for high-precision measurement and characterization of even the smallest air particles, such as fine dust and nanoparticles. Since the spring of 2020, this technology has increasingly been used to test the quality of respiratory masks. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, public interest in the topic of “aerosols” and the reliability of respiratory masks remains high.

Travel restrictions and social distancing requirements delay IT infrastructure projects of IHSE customers

In the first quarter of 2021, the Security Technologies segment, consisting of IHSE, continued to experience the postponement of larger customer projects due to international travel restrictions and social distancing requirements on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. This resulted in a substantial decline in revenue of -41.4% to €6.1 million compared with the prior-year period. IHSE is a global technology leader for KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) solutions enabling highly secure, latency-reduced and loss-free data transfer in mission-critical applications such as police and fire department control rooms, air traffic control, and hospitals. In light of increasing digitalization and connectivity as well as the weakening coronavirus pandemic, BCM expects the order situation to recover in the near future, with significant catch-up effects in the second half of 2021.

“In April, we were able to increase Group revenue thanks to catch-up effects and have almost achieved the prior-year level in the first four months of the fiscal year. We believe that this positive trend will continue. For our subsidiary Palas, we expect ongoing positive development, also due to accelerated internationalization. Based on containment of the pandemic, we are anticipating a strong second half for IHSE,” says Marco Brockhaus, CEO of BCM.

In fiscal year 2021, BCM Group expects organic revenue growth of +20% to €62 million. The adjusted EBITDA margin is projected to increase slightly and therefore amount to more than the 24% achieved in 2020. With a view to its strong pipeline of potential acquisition targets, BCM is also optimistic about its inorganic growth.

Invitation to Investor Update Call Q1 2021

The Investor Update Call for the first quarter of 2021 will take place on May 17 2021 at 4:00 p.m. (CEST). Please use the following link to register if you are interested in joining the call:
https://webcast.meetyoo.de/reg/tpzS7AjjYqRI.
Your personal access data will then be sent to you by e-mail. The call will be in English.

Financial Calendar

16 June 2021 Annual General Meeting 2021
16 August 2021 Half-Year Financial Report H1 2021
15 November 2021 Quarterly Statement 9M 2021

About Brockhaus Capital Management

Brockhaus Capital Management AG (BKHT, ISIN: DE000A2GSU42, “BCM”), based in Frankfurt/Main, is a technology group acquiring high-margin and high-growth technology champions with B2B business models in the German Mittelstand. With a unique platform approach and a long-term horizon, BCM actively and strategically supports its subsidiaries in achieving long-term profitable growth beyond industry and country boundaries. At the same time, BCM offers a gateway into these non-listed German technology champions, which are otherwise inaccessible to capital market investors.
For further information please visit www.bcm-ag.com

Contact Details
For investors:

Brockhaus Capital Management – Paul Göhring
Head of Investor Relations
Phone: +49 69 20 43 40 978
Fax: +49 69 20 43 40 971
E-Mail: goehring@bcm-ag.com

For media:
USC – Svenja Lahrmann
Phone: +49 221 280 655 18
E-Mail: presse@us-communications.de