Financial performance 2019/20.

With an increase in revenue of 4.8 percent, fiscal 2019/20 went very well for EOS Consolidated. The EBT was once again substantially higher than the previous year’s excellent level. At EUR 651.3 million, the investment volume in receivables purchasing has fallen slightly compared with the previous year (EUR 668.4 million), but from a group perspective continues to be at a consistently high level. The main drivers of this positive development were the increase in revenue due to strong business performance in Eastern Europe as well as a high level of investment in secured and unsecured receivables and a strong push towards digitalization.

Germany is again the strongest performing region in the EOS Group. The decline in respect of the previous reporting period resulted primarily from the sale of EOS Health Honorarmanagement AG. On the fiercely competitive German market, EOS was able to win some significant receivables packages and increase the investment volume compared with the previous year. By systematically pursuing its strategy of risk diversification in existing markets, EOS was able to again increase its share of revenue, especially in Eastern and Western Europe. EOS companies in Eastern Europe achieved a particularly high increase in revenue of 31.3 percent. This can largely be attributed to much higher revenues from receivables purchases, especially in Russia and Poland, but also in Croatia and Hungary. Western Europe also had a very gratifying operating performance, particularly in Belgium, France and Austria. This region closed the financial year with a year-on-year increase in revenue of five percent. EOS subsidiaries in North America also reported a five percent increase.

The revenue of EOS Consolidated for the 2019/20 financial year by individual region:

	Difference from previous year	2019/20	2018/19
	%	EUR (000)	EUR (000)
Germany	-11.08	303,335	341,128
Western Europe	+5.02	231,975	220,885
Eastern Europe	+31.28	266,741	203,188
North America	+5.33	51,039	48,456
EOS Consolidated	+4.85	853,090	813,657

2019/20 was also successful in respect of the bottom line: EOS Consolidated reported a net income of EUR 269.9 million, an increase of 15.2 percent.

Despite the sale of two group companies in the 2018/19 reference year, sales revenues in the reporting year were up by 4.8 percent, or EUR 39.4 million. The EBITDA saw an even greater increase than the sales revenues. However, compared with the previous reporting period this was aided by the first-time application of the IFRS 16 standard (reallocation of lease expenses). The EBT (+13 percent), which is comparable to the previous year, and the net income (+15.2 percent) has increased significantly more than the revenue. In both periods the result is underpinned by non-recurring earnings from the sale of subsidiaries, which are shown in the financial result.

	2019/20	2018/19
	EUR (000)	EUR (000)
Revenue	853,090	813,657
Total operating income	869,054	834,537
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA)	343,427	283,587
Earnings before tax (EBT)	305,695	270,501
Net income	269,892	234,194

The total assets of EOS Consolidated decreased by 0.5 percent year-on-year to EUR 2.2 billion. As well as being a consequence of increased working capital management, this decline was due primarily to the sale of EOS Health Honorarmanagement AG. This was counteracted by the ongoing intensive investment in secured and unsecured portfolios, whose book value increased in the last fiscal year by around EUR 200 million to EUR 1.83 billion. Purchased portfolios and real estate in inventories accounted for 83.3 percent of total assets. Other contributing factors were the systematic high level of investment in cutting-edge debt collection systems and the use of advanced analytics, as well as usage rights activated for the first time in accordance with IFRS 16.

	2/29/2020		2/28/2019
	EUR (000)	%	EUR (000)	%
Fixed assets	263,548	12.0	217,650	9.8
Purchased receivables and real estate in inventories*	1,834,308	83.3	1,610,358	72.7
Receivables	22,002	1.0	212,306	9.6
Cash and cash equivalents	43,286	2.0	49,309	2.2
Other assets	39,684	1.8	124,663	5.6
Total assets	2,202,828	100.0	2,214,285	100.0

*Includes portfolio investments reported as loans receivable for structural reasons (financial presentation).

In the last financial year, the sale of EOS Health Honorarmanagement AG also influenced the total financing of EOS Consolidated. However, EOS was able to increase its equity through profit retention from the previous year and the issue of new profit-sharing rights. The equity-to-assets ratio rose by almost five percent to 33.5 percent, a comparatively high level for a financial services provider: The high positive free cash flow could be used to reduce the volume of refinancing from banks and the parent company, so that their share of debt financing was reduced by 5.9 percent compared with the previous year.

	2/29/2020		2/28/2019
	EUR (000)	%	EUR (000)	%
Equity	737,220	33.5	634,430	28.7
Provisions	105,510	4.8	85,923	3.9
Liabilities with banks	222,839	10.1	257,317	11.6
Liabilities with related parties and companies	925,484	42.0	1,027,028	46.4
Trade payables	46,177	2.1	38,397	1.7
Other liabilities	165,598	7.5	171,189	7.7
Total financing	2,202,828	100.0	2,214,285	100.0