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In addition to the revenue forecast, the earnings targets were also met, the net profit target was slightly exceeded. Although other income was lower than in 2019, the expansion of business activities in the Group combined with a lower cost of materials ratio led to another improvement in gross profit. The share of personnel and other expenses in revenue also declined. As a result, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) improved to around EUR 11.55 million, an increase of more than 14% compared to the 2019 financial year (EBITDA 2019: EUR 10.10 million).

As expected, the consolidated net result (after minorities) was lower than in the 2019 financial year due to higher depreciation and higher tax expenses, reaching around EUR 3.27 million (2020: EUR 4.09 million). This corresponds to earnings per share (basic) of EUR 0.09 (2019: EUR 0.12).

In the fourth quarter of the 2020 financial year, the Lüdersdorf wind farm and – as part of the ongoing concentration on the strategic focus areas – the participation in ClimaLevel Energiesysteme GmbH were sold. Therefore, the 3U Group starts into the 2021 financial year from a lower base.

Against this backdrop, the Management Board expects Group revenue for the 2021 financial year to come in at the previous year’s level. It is not expected that the strong organic growth of the remaining divisions will fully compensate for the lacking revenue from the participations sold in 2020. In 2021, revenue in the range of EUR 58 million to EUR 63 million is expected to be generated. Also, income in the single-digit million range from the sale of assets has been included in the planning. The Management Board expects a slightly higher result before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of between EUR 11 million and EUR 13 million in view of the measures introduced to strengthen earnings and the increasing share of higher-margin business. This leads to an expected result for the 3U Group of between EUR 2 million and EUR 4 million.

As always, the actual business results may deviate from this forecast, for example due to acquisitions of companies in the field of cloud computing or the sale of operating units of the Group. The extent to which a renewed tightening of economic restrictions in the course of the fight against the COVID 19 pandemic could have a negative impact on business activity cannot be predicted with certainty. The extent to which a renewed tightening of economic restrictions in the course of the fight against the COVID 19 pandemic could have a negative impact on business activity cannot be predicted with certainty.

In view of the continued positive performance of the Group, the Management Board and the Supervisory Board are expected to propose distribution of a dividend of EUR 0.05 to the Annual General Meeting. The dividend will be paid out of the tax deposit account without the deduction of tax.

The Annual Report 2020 will be published on 30 March 2020.