Leonardo: FY 2020 results confirm robust and resilient business performance, Orders at € 13.8 bn. Successful execution with positive FOCF at € 40 mln. Continued confidence in medium-long term core business fundamentals

Rome  09 March 2021 18:38 Inside Information

Successfully steered and navigated the Group through 2020, in an extraordinary scenario effectively addressed

  • Continued strong order intake of € 13.8 billion
  • Resilient revenue performance at € 13.4 billion
  • EBITA at €938 million, with solid performance in main businesses and cost savings offsetting civil market pressures
  • Net results at € 243 million
  • Delivered record Q4 cash generation to enable FY FOCF to be positive 40 million
  • 2020 Integrated Report: ESG embedded across our business and ecosystems

Solid 2021 Guidance

  • Assuming progressive improvement in the global health situation through the year with consequent normalization of operating and market conditions as restrictions are eased
  • Continued strong commercial momentum, new orders at ca. € 14 bn
  • Continued top line resilience, revenues at € 13.8-14.3 bn
  • Improving EBITA at € 1,075-1,125 mln
  • FOCF will continue to benefit from military/governmental and continued pressures on civil side
  • Taken action to address the challenges in the civil side

Medium-Long Term

  • Military/governmental showing robustness and resilience
  • Solid backlog and order intake confirm confidence we have the right products and service for the future
  • Addressing challenges in a complex scenario
  • New opportunities post Covid-19 leveraging transversal capabilities

Leonardo's Board of Directors, convened today under the Chairmanship of Luciano Carta, examined and unanimously approved the draft of Group consolidated and Leonardo S.p.A. financial statements at 31 December 2020.

Alessandro Profumo, Leonardo CEO, stated “We have addressed the 2020 challenging environment achieving strong performance with orders at € 13.8 billion, revenues at € 13.4 billion, EBITA at € 938 million and FOCF positive for € 40 million. Our resilient military and governmental business is in good shape enabling us to deliver results despite Covid impact on civil business. Our strong foundations and core fundamentals give us firm confidence in both the short-term and medium-long term. We are catching new opportunities post Covid leveraging existing transversal capabilities and we are fully focused to create value sustainably for all our stakeholders”.

 

Leonardo's first Integrated Annual Report

Leonardo's first Integrated Annual Report aims to offer in a single document a complete, measurable and transparent view of the value generated by the company, connecting financial performance with environmental, social and governance information.
A representation of the development strategies and performances achieved, of the way in which the company creates innovative solutions with its supply chain partners and the scientific research ecosystem, of the way in which it operates responsibly in the countries where it is present, of the use it makes of all its capital, both financial and non-financial.
In this manner, Leonardo strengthens its focus on sustainability within the vision of the next decade, expressed by the Be Tomorrow – Leonardo 2030 Strategic Plan, which outlines the strategic priorities underlying the path to innovation and sustainable development.


2020 Results

The year 2020 saw the Leonardo Group cope with the effects of the pandemic in a scenario that was out of the ordinary and unprecedented, thanks to the strength and diversification of its portfolio of products and solutions and its widespread presence all over the world.

Even if the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the financial position and performance in 2020, the business fundamentals and prospects in the medium to long-term remain unchanged.
In spite of the serious crisis that struck the civil aviation sector and its main global players, Leonardo gave further proof of its resilience in that its sales performance was at the same level as the previous year, while benefitting from orders gained from domestic customers in government and military sectors.

Even with regard to Revenues, the actions taken to limit the effects of government measures restricting movement and the steps taken for the protection of health, in addition to higher production volumes on the programmes in the defence sector, both in the Aircraft Division and in the Helicopters and Electronics sectors, were responsible for a result that was practically the same as in 2019, thus also offsetting a substantial decline in production rates imposed by the main aviation customers Boeing, Airbus and ATR.

While benefiting from the actions taken to bring the business back to full operation and ensure cost reduction, industrial performance and profitability were impacted by the slowdowns recorded during the first phase of the emergency and by a lower demand in the civil aviation sector that affected in particular the Aerostructures Division, helicopters in the civil sector and the ATR JV, which were heavily hit by the drop in demand from the operators in the sector.

Finally, cash flow, while being affected by lower revenues and the slowdowns caused by the pandemic, posted a slightly positive value thanks to an exceptionally high level of proceeds recorded during the last quarter. The Group's net debt remained stable at pre-Covid 2019 levels, after excluding the effects of dividends paid, strategic M&A transactions and the recognition of financial liabilities deriving from new leases.


Key Performance Indicators

Group
(Euro million)
2019
2020
Chg.
Chg. %
New orders
14,105
13,754
(351)
(2.5%)
Order backlog
36,513
35,516
(997)
(2.7%)
Revenues
13,784
13,410
(374)
(2.7%)
EBITDA(*)
1,817
1,458
(359)
(19.8%)
EBITA (**)
1,251
938
(313)
(25.0%)
ROS
9.1%
7.0%
(2.1) p.p.
 
EBIT (***)
1,153
517
(636)
(55.2%)
EBIT Margin
8.4%
3.9%
(4.5) p.p.
 
Net result before extraordinary transactions
722
241
(481)
(66.6%)
Net result
822
243
(579)
(70.4%)
Group Net Debt
2,847
3,318
471
16.5%
FOCF
241
40
(201)
(83.4%)
ROI
16.7%
11.3%
(5.4) p.p.
 

(*) EBITDA this is EBITA before amortisation, depreciation (net of those relating to goodwill or classified among “non-recurring costs”) and adjustments impairment.

(**) EBITA is obtained by eliminating from EBIT the following items: any impairment in goodwill; amortisation and impairment, if any, of the portion of the purchase price allocated to intangible assets as part of business combinations, restructuring costs that are a part of defined and significant plans; other exceptional costs or income, i.e. connected to particularly significant events that are not related to the ordinary performance of the business.

(***) EBIT is obtained by adding to earnings before financial income and expense and taxes and taxes the Group’s share of profit in the results of its strategic Joint Ventures (GIE-ATR, MBDA, Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio).