EQS-News: TAKKT AG: TAKKT strengthens resilience in 2024 and lays foundation for accelerated growth

TAKKT strengthens resilience in 2024 and lays foundation for accelerated growth
 

• TAKKT confirms strategy with its three pillars Growth, OneTAKKT, Caring
• Strategic mid-term goals comprise gaining market share, improving profitability and strong cash generation
• Focus in 2024 is on strengthening resilience by further improving cost structures

Stuttgart, Germany, March 28, 2024. TAKKT is on track with its transformation into a more integrated, customer-focused, and growth-oriented company. The implementation of the strategy with the three pillars of Growth, OneTAKKT and Caring is taking place in three phases with its own set of operational priorities and strategic focus areas:

1. Restart (2021 und 2022): Cultural transformation to a more integrated, customer-focused and growth-oriented company and implementation of the new organizational structure.
2. Resilience (2023 und 2024): Implementation of value and growth drivers and improvement of gross profit margin, cost structures and cash generation in an environment of subdued demand.
3. Acceleration (2025 bis 2028): Return to growth trajectory and acceleration of value and growth drivers as well as further evolution of the business model.

“We are on the right track and confirm our strategy. Throughout this multi-year transformation process, we constantly adjust to the shifting conditions as necessary and continuously develop our value and growth drivers,” says CEO Maria Zesch.

TAKKT has reached significant milestones in its growth initiatives during the transformation in recent years and has centralized important support functions and made them more efficient by establishing Group functions, particularly in the areas of IT and logistics. At the same time, the effects of the economic environment, such as high interest rates, increased costs and investment restraint, are overshadowing the positive impact of the measures. “In the current environment, we are focusing on strengthening our resilience, working on structural cost reduction and improving cash management. And we are continuing our work on transformation. The stronger we position ourselves today, the better our chances of gaining market share in the future. Our clear goal is profitable growth - and to outgrow the competition,” says CEO Maria Zesch.

In the coming years, TAKKT aims to accelerate organic growth, improve the EBITDA margin to 12 percent and maintain strong cash generation. In addition, the Group intends to continue to fulfill its corporate responsibility towards customers, employees, society, and the environment. Further information on the strategic goals and the value and growth drivers can be found in the 2023 Annual Report published today.

Sustainability has long been an integral part of TAKKT’s strategy. The Group very closely integrates sustainability and responsibility with economic success. A prime example of this is the product rating for sustainable products - the “enkelfähig” rating. TAKKT thus offers customers a simple and attractive way to choose a “green” product. “The significant success of these products underscores the increasing importance of sustainability in B2B purchasing decisions. Last year, we increased the share of “enkelfähig” products to nearly a quarter of total sales,” says CEO Zesch. TAKKT was awarded the prestigious German Sustainability Award 2024 in the “Investment Goods – Distribution” category for its commitment to sustainability.

Current economic forecasts for 2024 anticipate continued weak momentum in Europe overall and a slowdown in the pace of growth in the US. The purchasing managers' indices for the manufacturing sector remain well below the 50-point threshold, signaling a challenging environment. “In this environment, we started the new year in a very similar way to how the previous one ended. We are still experiencing very subdued demand and remain focused on strengthening our gross profit margin, cost management and cash flow. After the weak start, we expect a reversal of the trend over the course of the year, with a gradual improvement in each quarter. Depending on the timing and extent of this stabilization, we anticipate an organic sales decline for the full year in the high single-digit to low double-digit percentage range,” says CFO Lars Bolscho.

TAKKT will further work to improve its cost structures in 2024 and reduce the cost base by at least EUR 15 million through adjustments to other costs and personnel. As a result of these structural adjustments, one-time expenses will increase significantly compared to the previous year and are expected to impact the reported margin by one to one and a half percentage points. The Group expects the EBITDA margin adjusted for one-time costs to be in the range of 8.0 to 9.5 percent. “We will continue to work on strengthening cash generation throughout the year and anticipate additional contributions from the reduction of net working capital and improved cash conversion. As a result, free cash flow will enjoy a more stable development than EBITDA,” says CFO Bolscho.

At the Shareholders’ Meeting on May 17, 2024, the Management Board and Supervisory Board will propose the distribution of a dividend totaling one euro per share. Last year, Thomas Schmidt and Dr. Florian Funck announced that they would be stepping down from the Supervisory Board at the 2024 Shareholders’ Meeting. The shareholders will therefore elect two new members to the Board. The candidates for succession on the Supervisory Board are Hubertus Mühlhäuser and Stefan Räbsamen. Hubertus Mühlhäuser has many years of international leadership experience from his work as CEO at CNH Industrial N.V. (NYSE: CNHI), one of the largest capital goods groups, and Welbilt Inc. (NYSE: WBT), a global manufacturer of catering equipment. He thus brings expertise for relevant TAKKT customer groups as well as for the target markets. Stefan Räbsamen has been a partner at the audit and advisory firm PwC Switzerland since 2002 and was Chairman of the Board of Directors from 2019 to 2022. He has extensive expertise in the areas of auditing, due diligence, transformation, and capital markets. “We are pleased that Hubertus Mühlhäuser and Stefan Räbsamen are two very suitable candidates to be proposed to the Shareholders’ Meeting and will continue the good and trusting cooperation with the Supervisory Board,” says CEO Maria Zesch.

Analysts’ conference: March 28, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. (CET).

To participate at the analysts’ conference, please click on the following link to register: Registration analysts' conference

Financial calendar
TAKKT will publish the figures for the first quarter on April 25, 2024.

Key figures for the TAKKT Group for the 2023 Financial Year
(in Mio. Euro)

About TAKKT AG

TAKKT AG is the leading omnichannel distributor for business equipment in Europe and North America. The Group is represented in more than 20 countries with its Industrial & Packaging, Office Furniture & Displays and FoodService divisions. The product range of the subsidiaries comprises more than 600,000 products for the areas of plant and warehouse equipment, office furniture, transport packaging, display articles and equipment for the food service industry, hotel market and retailers. The company is listed on the SDAX and is represented in the Prime Standard of the German Stock Exchange.

Contact
Benjamin Bühler    Phone +49 711 3465-8223
Email: [email protected]