Bekaert: First quarter trading update 2021

Bekaert makes a very strong start to 2021
All-time high quarterly sales – substantial volume growth

Highlights

• Record-high quarter revenue: consolidated sales of € 1 128 million (+19%) and combined sales of € 1 339 million (+23%)

• Global demand rebound and strong momentum in Latin American and Indian markets

• Working capital on sales further down to 13%, despite the impact from wire rod price increases

• More than € 1 billion cash on hand with € 60 million incremental liquidity over year-end 2020

• Strong balance sheet: debt deleveraging continued in the first quarter

Our business focus and priorities

• Continued focus on protecting the health and safety of our employees and their families through the Covid-19 pandemic

• Secured raw material supplies to ensure delivery continuity to customers worldwide

• Further accelerated profit restoration and improvements across all business units and at Group level

  • Product and business mix improvements, in line with our strategy to upgrade the business portfolio

  • Pricing discipline aligned with raw materials price evolutions

• Continued effective control on cost and working capital

Attachment

• p210512E - Trading update Q1 2021