Carbures approves listing on the Continuous Market in 2018

• The Board of Directors approved initiating the necessary requirements in order to be listed on the Continuous Stock Market in 2018 from the Spanish Alternative Stock Exchange Market - MAB in Spanish – (the acronym for Mercado Alternativo Bursátil) to “as a natural transition given the company’s industrial reality”

• The Board has also approved a new Internal Code of Conduct keeping with the highest requirements established by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV)

• Negative EBITDA decreased by 63.6% between January and June 2017, from €-1.5 million to €-0.5 million.

• Carbures revenues were €40.3 million in 2017’s first semester, 33% greater than the amount invoiced in last years’ same period.

Madrid, October 31st 2017. Carbures’ revenues soars, its industrial capacity rises and the company approves listing on the Continuous Market by 2018. Carbures has presented today the audited financial results for the first semester of the year, providing three clear indicators which show proof of a healthy balance sheet and that the company is following the roadmap established in its consolidation and organic growth process: highest revenues for one semester, reduction of two thirds in negative recurrent EBITDA and reduction of debt. In addition to the first semester’s financial statements approval, Carbure’s Board of Directors approved yesterday to start the required formalities in order to cease trading in the Alternative Stock Exchange Market and list on the Continuous Market in 2018 as a natural step for the company, given the degree of maturity reached, and the increase of its industrial capacity and its business volume. This decision will be submitted to the General Shareholders Meeting for its final approval.

Total revenues for 2017’s first semester were €40.3 million, which is 33% higher than the amount for last year’s same period (€30.2 million). In line with its consolidation process, Carbures succeeded to increase its recurrent EBITDA by 63.6%, from €-1.5 million in the first semester of 2016 to €-0.5 million in this year’s period. A similar improvement was achieved in relation to net debt, which was lowered by nearly 43%, from €106 million in 2016’s financial year-end to €60.8 million at the close of 2017’s first six months. As a consequence of the sustained improvement of the results, the successful process of business consolidation and taking into account the industrial reality reached by the company, the Board of Directors has approved to start the needed formalities in order to cease trading in the Alternative Stock Exchange Market and to initiate its listing on the Continuous Market in 2018 as a natural step to continue growing.

The Chairman of Carbures, Rafael Contreras, says: “Our results show that, in the industrial level, Carbures is moving in the right direction. The results we are presenting today clearly improve the ones obtained a year ago and the forecasts are for continuous growth along this financial year and the next one”. At the same time, the CEO of Carbures, Borja Martínez-Laredo points out: “We have obtained good results between January and June, and we predict that the EBITDA’s improvement will be greater in the second half of 2017, given the company’s nature, with a marked seasonality in the second semester, mainly due to the start in the production of engineering projects which were developed in this first stage through two lines of business: Mobility and Aerospace”.

During this maturing period, Carbures stands firm in its business consolidation strategy and its organic growth momentum while focusing on its efficiency and operation restructuring plans, which are already having positive impact when it comes to the materialization of new opportunities. The internal reordering and synergies generation process launched in 2016 was reinforced in this financial year.

This year, the Company succeeded to secure the banks’ confidence, with the consequent increase of working capital, which has let the opportunity of acquiring new technology assets, composites production machinery, as well as new pieces and composites structures for the aviation, automotive and civil engineering sectors. The result of this was record first semester revenues, reaching €40.3 million euros.

Furthermore, the internal reorganising process, based on cost optimization and synergy generation, derived into a two thirds cut in the company’s negative EBITDA. Moreover, Carbures obtained a significant reduction of its debt due to credit transferring, going from €106 million of net debt at the end of 2016 to €60.8 million at the closing of 2017’s first semester, which means 43% less debt.

“The Company remains steadfast in its internal consolidation process, focused on fostering organic growth, mostly explained by the increase of the workload, our backlog and, at the same time, our industrial capacity to respond to that higher production demand. Financial results are still backing up our roadmap as a company, which nowadays has a different reality as the one we had barely two or three years ago”, highlights Rafael Contreras, Executive Chairman of Carbures.

Listing on the Continous Market

The company’s Board of Directors approved yesterday morning its listing on the Continuous Market, which will happen next year. The Board considers the company has reached a maturity and volume degree such that the appropriate decision in this moment is to start the formalities in order to list the company in the Continuous Market in 2018. The Executive Chairman of the company, Rafael Contreras, considers that “the Alternative Stock Exchange Market stage has come to an end as a market for small and medium companies. We already have a new business reality as a company. Our industrial capability is very different, our internal structure is well reinforced, and we count on a solid global positioning as composites parts producer for planes, cars, trains and civil engineering. The growth registered for the past two years situates us in a clear position of transition to the Continuous Market as a natural step to keep growing. Something that, nevertheless, has always been in our roadmap”. The approval of the listing formalities onto the Continuous Market by the Board of Directors should be submitted to the General Shareholders Meeting for its final approval. “The time has come for the company to stop trading in the Alternative Stock Exchange Market, which has already fulfilled its role in our development, improvement and development, but now it is up to us to contribute in the Continuous Market”, the Chairman concluded.

Carbures has been preparing internally and structurally in order to meet the higher requirements derived from the listing in the Continuous Market. In this sense, the company has reinforced its management in 2017, with the new additions of Borja Martínez-Laredo, as CEO, and Jorge Moreno, this past September, as CFO. The company fulfils so its roadmap and the highest requirements determined by the corporate government rules, adjusted to the National Securities Market Commission’s standards, with the intention of contributing in the Continuous Market.

In order to meet the requirements established by the National Securities Market Commission regarding Corporate Government, Carbures has approved a new Internal Code of Conduct.

Carbures’ CEO, Borja Martínez-Laredo, affirms that “we maintain our goal of continuing with the consolidation process initiated in 2016, with the prime objective of keeping growing organically, increasing our production capacity, and thus satisfying our rising orders book.” Martínez-Laredo states that “the listing in the Continuous Market will add higher reputation and transparency, it will also provide access to a new kind of investor, institutions, and it will generate a greater coverage from investment banks”.