SICIT Group announces that its Board of Directors approved the operating results as at 31 March 2020. The Group's consolidated revenues in the first quarter of 2020 amounted to € 19.7 million, up by € 4.0 million compared to the first quarter of 2019 (equal to € 15.7 million, +25.6%). The growth concerned all the Group's main areas of business: from biostimulants for agriculture (+29.9%), to retardants for the plaster industry (+19.6%), to animal fat for the production of biofuels (+27.3%). Similarly, growth concerned almost all geographical areas: from Europe (including Italy, +25.1%, of which Italy +3.5% and other European countries +41%), to APAC (40.2%) and Americas (+13.9%). The only areas in countertrend are the Middle East and Africa (-8.1%). Adjusted consolidated EBITDA at 31 March 2020 amounted to approximately € 8.0 million (+ € 2.6 million, +47.3% compared to Q1 2019).
With reference to the emergency linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company, following what had already been communicated on 23 March 2020, specifies that, starting from the middle of last April, an increasing number of Vicenza tanneries - as provided by the Decree of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (so-called “DPCM” by the Italian Prime Minister) of 22 March and 10 April 2020 - with a communication to the Prefect of Vicenza, have started to collect fresh bovine leather again and operate the so-called first tanning process, in order to prevent the interruption of the fundamental beef slaughtering chain.
As a result, SICIT, in turn, has also started to collect animal by-products again. Subsequently, starting from the end of April 2020, some tanning production started again with the production of shavings and trimmings, following the first tanning processing and, therefore, the Company’s collecting of the waste already tanned.
This increase is mainly due to (i) higher revenues in the first quarter of 2020, as well as stable structural costs, and (ii) the consolidation of SICIT Chemitech S.p.A. which contributed with € 0.6 million in Q1 2020 (the subsidiary was not included in the scope of consolidation in Q1 2019).
