Amica Group reviews 2023, finalises new long-term development strategy

Amica Group, Poland's largest domestic appliance manufacturer, felt the weakening of consumer demand across Europe last year, like the rest of the industry. However, Amica took adaptive actions and invested in efficiency, which allowed it to achieve better financial results than the previous year despite lower sales. The publication of the long-term development strategy for 2024 and beyond is scheduled for late May to early June this year.

In 2023, Amica Group achieved over 2.8 billion PLN in sales revenue, marking a nearly 17% decline from 2022. Decreased demand was noted across all major product categories and geographical markets. Sales of products and goods in Poland and Scandinavia decreased by 13%, in Western Europe by 15%, in southern markets by 18%, and in eastern markets by 31% year-on-year.

- The entire domestic appliance industry in Europe faced a downturn in 2023, along with persistently high costs for raw materials, components, and rising employee wages. However, Amica has been able to quickly take appropriate adaptive and optimisation actions, responding to customer needs and building value for shareholders. As a result, we achieved improved results compared to the previous year and are consistently implementing our ESG strategy. 2023 provides a solid foundation for achieving the long-term goals set out in our new strategy, which I expect to be made public later this half-year, says Jacek Rutkowski, CEO of Amica S.A.

In 2023, Amica Group's EBITDA margin increased by 2.3 percentage points, resulting in a 58% year-on-year increase in EBITDA to over 137 million PLN. The company also achieved nearly a fivefold increase in consolidated operating profit (83.3 million PLN), and almost an eightfold increase in gross profit (23 million PLN). Despite the environment of high interest rates, Amica increased its net result by 5.7 million PLN, reducing the loss at this level to 4 million PLN. Amica also generated nearly 116 million PLN in positive cash flows from operating activities, and by the end of December, cash reserves exceeded 152 million PLN.

- We maintained our net debt to EBITDA ratio at a low level, below 0.7, which is consistent with safe ranges for other balance sheet and liquidity parameters, while also showing room for financing development not only with equity but also through external financing. We also increased our sales profitability indicators, and the RONA, or net asset profitability, entered the double-digit zone, comments Michał Rakowski, Vice President of Amica Group's Finance and HR.

Amica Group, as the first among Polish listed companies, announced a long-term development strategy in May 2014. The HIT2023 strategy was formally in effect until the end of last year. Work is now underway on a strategy covering the next decade, with publication expected at the turn of May and June this year. Meanwhile, in December 2022, Amica Group presented the Sustainable Development Strategy "Action for Climate", which sets social, governance, and environmental goals through to 2040 and 2050. Amica's quality and activity in the ESG area were recognised last year, among others by investors, with Amica receiving the Capital Market ESG Hero title from the Association of Individual Investors. Additionally, the company received the ESG Symbol 2023 award, intended for institutions that can serve as a model for others. Amica also won the prestigious Silver CSR Leaf awarded by the Polityka Weekly in cooperation with the Responsible Business Forum and Deloitte. In Polityka's CSR Leaf ranking, Amica was recognised as one of the Polish CSR leaders due to its investments in renewable energy sources, closed-loop economy, and employee education. Amica was also among the winners of the Employer competition of "Rzeczpospolita". The editorial team awarded the company for implementing ESG-related solutions, appreciating employee engagement in sustainable development processes and transparent communication and management principles.

Amica has long been engaged in the life of local communities. One example of this is that it is the founder of the Amica Volleyball Academy, the second largest of its kind in Poland. The project, which envisages a three-year training cycle carried out by students from primary schools in the Greater Poland region, aims to develop sporting talents, promote sports, and a healthy lifestyle. Additionally, as part of the partnership for sustainable development, the company joined the "Together Let's Change Poznań" campaign under the patronage of the City of Poznań. This campaign promotes partnerships between companies in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with particular emphasis on Goal 17 – Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development. This is just part of a wide range of social initiatives through which Amica annually donates over 3 million PLN for social purposes.