MORE THAN SIX-FOLD INCREASE OF ASBIS'S NET PROFIT IN Q1 2021 - THE BEST FIRST QUARTER IN THE COMPANY’S HISTORY

ASBISc Enterprises Plc, a leading distributor of IT and CEE products in the emerging markets of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, generated excellent, record-breaking financial results in the first quarter of 2021. Revenues in the period under review amounted to USD 733.3 million compared to USD 500.5 million in Q1 2020, an increase of 47%. Operating profit (EBIT) increased by 260% and amounted to USD 23.0 million, compared to USD 6.4 million in Q1 2020. Net profit has recorded more than six-fold increase (an increase by 575%) and amounted to USD 15.1 million, compared to USD 2.2 million a year earlier. In Q1 2021, the Group also significantly improved its gross profit margin on sales to 6.43% from 5.08% in Q1 2020.

OTHER IMPORTANT EVENTS IN Q1 2021:

• The FSU region had the largest share in the Group’s revenues (53.6% share), followed by the and Central and Eastern Europe (22.9% share).
• Poland has become a permanent member among the 10 countries with the highest revenues, taking the 9^th place in Q1 2021 with revenues of over USD 22.4 million (an increase of 14% compared to the same period of last year).
• ASBIS has published a very high forecast for 2021, which assumes revenues between USD 2.7 billion and USD 2.9 billion and net profit after tax between USD 47 and USD 51 million.
• On May 5th, 2021, the AGM of the Company decided to pay a final dividend from the profits for 2020 in the amount of USD 0.10 per share, i.e., USD 11.1 million. The dividend date was set for May 17th ,2021 and the dividend payment date for May 27th, 2021. Thus, the total dividend from 2020 profits, together with the interim dividend paid on December 17th, 2020, will be USD 0.30 per share, representing a total payout of USD 16.65 million. This is the highest dividend in the history of the Company.
• The Group has launched a new company called BREEZY, which will trade-in used Apple and other brand products.
• ASBIS is intensively developing its VAD offer for business - ASBIS products have been certified and are available in the Microsoft AZURE catalog; the VAD ASBIS Belarus team received an award from Hewlett Packard. 

“We have had a very good first quarter, the best first quarter in our history so far” said Siarhei Kostevitch, CEO and Chairman of ASBIS. “We have been working very intensively on this. We develop services for business with higher margins and we are constantly introducing changes to the product portfolio, in line with our main goal of increasing margins and profitability. This is already visible in the significant improvement in ASBIS profitability, as net profit recorded more than six-fold increase compared to Q1 2020. The gross profit margin much improved  to 6.43% from 5.08% a year earlier. However, we are not slowing down, we are still working to further improve our results and we intend to continue sharing the profits with the shareholders of the Company.”

Siarhei Kostevitch added: “We have published our financial forecast for 2021. It is very high and assumes a large increase in ASBIS profitability. Having seen the results for the first quarter of 2021, we are confident that we will be able to meet this forecast.

”The quarter-on-quarter net sales growth reflects strong growth in all geographic segments of the Company and nearly all major product lines. The highest growth among the product lines was recorded by peripherals and audio devices, which increased by 138% and 99% respectively, compared to Q1 2020.

DETAILED SALES DATA 

SALES BY REGION

The Former Soviet Union and Central & Eastern Europe regions traditionally have the largest share in the Group’s revenues. Sales in both the FSU and Central and Eastern Europe strongly increased, by 48.1% and 16.9% respectively. The FSU region's share of total ASBIS revenue increased to 53.63% in Q1 2021 from 53.06% in Q1 2020. The FSU sales growth was mainly driven by new Apple product sales and business projects.

At the same time, an increase of 28.5% of sales in Slovakia combined with a 14.4% growth in Poland and an 8.4% growth in Romania contributed to the Central and Eastern Europe region growth of 16.9% on a year-on-year basis.

Sales in the MEA region mainly derived from revenues in the United Arab Emirates, significantly increased by 77.9% compared to Q1 2020.

In Q1 2021 Western Europe which is not ASBIS's main sales region, doubled its sales compared to Q1 2020.

SALES BY COUNTRY

Country-by-country analysis confirms the excellent growth rates the Group was able to achieve in all major countries of operation. 

The countries with the highest sales growth in Q1 2021 were:·      

• Kazakhstan – growth by 83%
• United Arab Emirates – growth by 77%
• Ukraine – growth by 46%
• Czech Republic - growth by 29%

Poland was among the top 10 countries with the highest sales in the Group, taking the 9th place, generating over 14% of the total increase in sales compared to Q1 2020.

For additional information, please contact:  

Iwona Mojsiuszko
8Sense Public Relations
Tel. +48 502 344 992
E-mail iwona.mojsiuszko@8sensepr.pl

^{About ASBISc Enterprises Plc}

^{ASBISc Enterprises Plc is one of the leading distributors of IT industry products in the emerging markets of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA): Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltic republics, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and North Africa, combining a wide range geographical operations with a wide portfolio of products distributed in the "one-stop-shop" model.}

^{ASBISc Enterprises Plc is based in Cyprus and specializes in the distribution of computer hardware and software, mobile solutions, IT components and peripherals, and a wide range of IT products and digital equipment. The Company was established in 1990 and currently selling to 56 countries worldwide.}

^{The Group distributes products of many vendors, and manufactures and sells own brands products: Prestigio (tablets, external storage, GPS devices, car-DVRs, multi-boards etc.), Canyon (power banks, networking products and other peripheral devices) and Perenio („IoT”).}

^{ASBIS has subsidiaries in 28 countries, more than 1,800 employees and about 20,000 customers. In 2020, the Group recorded record sales of nearly USD 2.4 billion.}

^{The Company’s stock has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since October 2007 under the ticker symbol “ASB” (ASBIS).}

^{For more information, also visit the Company’s website at www.asbis.com or investor.asbis.com}