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Q1 2020 additional financial information
As part of the quarterly information requirements included in the documentation in relation to
the fall 2019 refinancings (cf. press release of 21st November 2019)
Friday 15th May, 2020
Highlights:
- Goodoperational performance in Q1 (EBITDA and working capital) translated into higher cash-flows, with change in cash and cash equivalent in Q1 2020 improved by +€250m in France compared to Q1 2019;
- Strong liquidity in France as at March 31st with over €2.9bn in cash and undrawn credit lines;
- Ample headroom on covenants as of March 31st: headroom of €925m in Gross Financial Debt for the Gross Financial Debt/EBITDA ratio and headroom of €485m in EBITDA for the EBITDA/Net finance costs ratio.
Financial information for the quarter ended 31st March, 2020:
| (in M €, post-IFRS16) | France Retail + E-Commerce | LATAM | TOTAL |
| Revenues(1) | 4 338 | 3 955 | 8 294 |
| EBITDA(1) | 192 | 245 | 437 |
| (-) impact of leases(2) | -170 | -89 | -259 |
| Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA including leases(1) | 22 | 156 | 178 |
(1)Unaudited data, perimeter as defined in financing documentations with mainly Segisor accounted for within France Retail + E-commerce perimeter
(2) Interest paid on lease liabilities and repayment of lease liabilities as defined in the documentation
Consolidated net sales at €8.3bn, up +7.9% on an organic basis1 and +6.4% on a same-store basis1, including the impact on food consumption of the Covid-19 epidemic since mid-March. For additional information, please refer to the Q1 Net Sales press release dated 23 April 2020.
For “France Retail + E-commerce”, EBITDA was up +€67m compared to Q1 2019 driven by the additional business generated since mid-March and the impact of the cost-savings plans. Latam EBITDA decreased by
-€15m due to currency effects, while consolidated proforma EBITDA published by GPA increased by +2%. For additional information on Latam results, please refer to the 1Q20 Earnings release published by GPA dated 13th of May 2020.
The impact of leases was €259m of which €170m was for the “France Retail + E-commerce” perimeter and €89m for the Latam perimeter.
Financial information on a last 12-month period ended 31st March, 2020:
| (in M €, post-IFRS16) | France Retail + E-Commerce | LATAM | TOTAL |
| Revenues(1) | 18 252 | 16 326 | 34 579 |
| EBITDA(1) | 1 601 | 1 091 | 2 691 |
| (-) impact of leases(2) | -654 | -314 | -968 |
| (i) Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA including leases(1) | 946 | 776 | 1 723 |
| (ii) Gross financial debt : Loans and borrowings(1)(3) | 6 409 | 3 046 | 9 455 |
| (iii) Cash and Cash Equivalent(1)(3) | 962 | 1 081 | 2 042 |
(1) Unaudited data, perimeter as defined in financing documentations with mainly Segisor accounted for within France Retail + Ecommerce perimeter
(2) Interest paid on lease liabilities and repayment of lease liabilities as defined in the documentation
(3) Data as of 31st March, 2020
As at 31st March 2020, the Group’s liquidity within the “France + E-commerce” perimeter was €2.9bn, with €962m of cash and cash equivalent and €1.98bn of undrawn confirmed credit lines.
Following the particularly strong sales performance in March, the Group’s working capital was improved compared to the seasonal impact than is typically experienced in the first quarter of the year.
Within the “France Retail + E-commerce” perimeter, change incash and cash equivalent during Q1 2020 improved by €250m compared to the change recorded in Q1 2019 as a result of the increase in EBITDA and the positive impact of sales and inventory management on working capital. As at March 31st, 2020, €350m of confirmed credit lines were drawn and €60m commercial papers were outstanding (compared to no drawn confirmed credit lines and €423m commercial papers outstanding as of 31st March, 2019).
In France, the €257m March 2020 bonds were redeemed at maturity using the Segregated account (€193m) and available cash (€64m), and not refinanced.
Additional information regarding covenants and segregated accounts:
| Covenants tested as from March 31st 2020 pursuant to the €2bn Revolving Credit Facility dated 18 November 2019 | |
| Type of covenant (France and E-commerce) | Level as at March 31st 2020 |
| Gross Financial Debt / Adjusted EBITDA(1) < 7.75x(2) | 6.77x |
| Adjusted EBITDA(1) / Net finance costs > 2.25x | 4.61x |
(1) Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA including leases
(2) 7.75x at 31 March 2020, 7.50x at 30 June 2020, 7.25x at 30 September 2020, 5.75x at 31 December 2020, 6.50x at 31 March 2021, 6.00x at 30 June 2021 and 30 September 2021, and 4.75x as from 31 December 2021
Covenant metrics tested as of end March 2020 do not yet reflect the impact of the Leader Price and Vindemia disposals, which represent a combined positive impact of c.1 turn on leverage.
The Group confirms that €192.7m was debited from the Segregated Account during the Financial Quarter ended 31st March 2020 in order to repay part of March 2020 bond maturity and its balance stood at €0 as at March 31st 2020.
No cash has been credited or debited from the Bond Segregated Account and its balance remained at €0.
***
ANALYST AND INVESTOR CONTACTS
Régine GAGGIOLI – +33 (0)1 53 65 64 17
rgaggioli@groupe-casino.fr
or
+33 (0)1 53 65 24 17
IR_Casino@groupe-casino.fr
PRESS CONTACTS
CasinoGroup – Direction of Communication
Stéphanie ABADIE - sabadie@groupe-casino.fr - +33 (0)6 26 27 37 05
or
+33(0)1 53 65 24 78 - directiondelacommunication@groupe-casino.fr
Agence IMAGE 7
Karine ALLOUIS – Tel : +33 (0)6 11 59 23 26 - kallouis@image7.fr
Franck PASQUIER – Tel : +33 (0)6 73 62 57 99 - fpasquier@image7.fr
Disclaimer
This press release was prepared solely for information purposes, and should not be construed as a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell securities or related financial instruments. Likewise, it does not provide and should not be treated as providing investment advice. It has no connection with the specific investment objectives, financial situation or needs of any receiver. No representation or warranty, either express or implied, is provided in relation to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of the information contained herein. It should not be regarded by recipients as a substitute for the exercise of their own judgment. All the opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.
1Organic and same-store changes exclude fuel and calendar effects. Net sales and total and organic growth are impacted by the store disposals and closures carried out in 2019
Attachment
Paris, 22 October 2019,
In order to strengthen its liquidity and capital structure, the Group is negotiating the extension of all of its credit lines in France and announces its intention to raise new financings for a targeted amount of €1.5bn in order to refinance part of its existing debt.
The Group is working with the banks participating in its confirmed credit lines (whether syndicated or bilateral) to agree a new syndicated revolving facility, maturing in October 2023, for approximately €2.0bn. The Group has already received commitments from 14 French and international banks for more than €1.6bn, subject to final documentation and customary conditions.
In parallel, the Group intends to raise new financings for a target amount of €1.5bn, through a term loan facility (Term Loan B) and an additional senior secured debt instrument, both maturing in January 2024. The proceeds will be used to partially refinance the Group’s existing debt. Specifically, Casino intends to launch a tender offer on its bonds which mature in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
As part of these financing agreements, the Group plans to provide security over the following assets:
- Those banks involved in the new revolving facility and term loan investors will benefit from security over the main French operating subsidiaries, Casino Finance and the French holding companies owning the Group’s stakes in Latin America;
- The additional senior secured debt instrument will benefit from security over the shares of Immobilière Groupe Casino, which itself owns approximately €1.0bn of real estate assets in France.
The documentation for the new revolving facility, the term loan and the additional senior secured debt instrument will include covenants related to Casino dividend payments. Beyond an envelope which will allow the payment of an ordinary dividend1, additional dividend payments will only be permitted if Casino respects an agreed debt / EBITDA ratio post dividend distribution. This ratio will be calculated at the French perimeter (including E-commerce), based on gross debt less disposal proceeds allocated to debt reimbursement, and must not exceed 3.5x post dividend payment. As of end June 2019, this ratio was 6.4x.
The banks’ participation in the new syndicated revolving facility is conditioned upon Casino raising at least €1bn by May 2020, via the financings described above and/or proceeds of disposals that have not yet been signed.
The two parts of this project will significantly improve the Group’s liquidity and increase Casino’s average debt maturity in France. This strengthening of the capital structure will allow the Group to fully concentrate on reaching its operating, financial and strategic objectives as well as on executing its asset disposal plan. The Group confirms its intention to reach net debt in France of less than €1.5bn at end-2020 and maintain this level over time.
ANALYST AND INVESTOR CONTACTS
Régine GAGGIOLI – +33 (0)1 53 65 64 17
rgaggioli@groupe-casino.fr
or
+33 (0)1 53 65 24 17
IR_Casino@groupe-casino.fr
PRESS CONTACTS
CasinoGroup – Direction of Communication
Stéphanie ABADIE - sabadie@groupe-casino.fr - +33 (0)6 26 27 37 05
Groupe Casino Finance Corporation
or
+33(0)1 53 65 24 78 - directiondelacommunication@groupe-casino.fr
Agence IMAGE 7
Karine ALLOUIS - +33(0)1 53 70 74 84 - kallouis@image7.fr
Grégoire LUCAS - gregoire.lucas@image7.fr
This press release constitutes a public disclosure of inside information by the Company under Regulation (EU) 596/2014 (16 April 2014) and Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2016/1055 (10 June 2016).
Disclaimer
This press release may include forward looking statements. These forward looking statements can be identified by the use of forward looking terminology, including the terms as “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “may”, “assume”, “plan”, “intend”, “will”, “should”, “estimate”, “risk” and or, in each case, their negative, or other variations or comparable terminology. These forward looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts and include statements regarding the Company’s or any of its affiliates’ intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, the Company’s or any of its affiliates’ results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the industries in which they operate. By their nature, forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Readers are cautioned that forward looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that the Company’s or any of its affiliates’ actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development of the industries in which they operate may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward looking statements contained in this press release. In addition, even if the Company’s or any of its affiliates’ results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development of the industries in which they operate are consistent with the forward looking statements contained in this press release, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in subsequent periods.
The forward-looking statements and information contained in this announcement are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.
Groupe Casino Finance Company
1 This envelope will be calculated as 50% of the cumulated underlying net profit (Group share), including the contribution of discontinued operations, over the period at the French perimeter, with a floor of €100m distributable every year starting in 2021, plus an envelope of €100m than will be available in one or several installments over the life of the instruments.
Groupe Casino Finance Group
Attachment