Preliminary results for the year ended 31 Dec 2024

LEI: 213800HU63CWV5J8YK95                                                                                                     25 March 2025

                                          

W.A.G payment solutions plc ("Eurowag" or the "Group")

Preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2024

Consistent double-digit growth, strong cash generation and significant decrease in net leverage

W.A.G payment solutions plc ("Eurowag" or the "Group") today announces its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2024.

 

Full year financial and operational highlights

·	Total net revenue1 +14.0% to €292.5m (FY 2023: €256.5m).
	o  Payment solutions net revenue1 +13.6% to €166.9m, supported by strong growth from toll revenues +50.2% and 10.8% growth in active payment solutions trucks.
	o  Mobility solutions net revenue +14.6% to €125.6m, as a result of growth across our fleet management and work time management solutions and the annualisation of Inelo.
·	Adjusted EBITDA1 +12.0% to €121.7m (FY 2023: €108.7m), with an adjusted EBITDA margin1 of 41.6% (FY 2023: 42.4%)
·	Adjusted cash EBITDA1 of €88.7m, +23.2% (FY 2023: €72.0m).
·	Adjusted profit before tax1 decreased to €46.3m (FY 2023: €56.7m) due to higher finance costs and amortisation from intangibles. Statutory profit before tax increased to €11.7m (FY 2023: loss of €39.3m) with last year impacted by a non-cash goodwill impairment.
·	Strong cash generation reduced net debt1 to €275.5m (FY 2023: €316.8m) with net leverage2 at 2.3x (FY 2023: 2.9x), back within our target range of 1.5x-2.5x.
·	As a result of outperformance in cash generation, a special dividend of 3.0p per share, representing around €25.0m, to be proposed and subject to approval at the AGM in May 2025.

 

Commenced phased rollout of industry-first integrated platform, Eurowag Office

 

·	Capital expenditure of €46.0m (FY 2023: €50.9m), of which €35.0m (FY23: 38.0m) was capitalised R&D investment in the development and integration of our products and technology, including Eurowag Office, which got launched to the market in Q4 2024.
·	Phased migration already started, with existing fleet management and navigation solutions and a cohort of customers onto the platform with live-user testing.

 

 

Martin Vohánka, Founder and CEO, commented:

"Eurowag has had another strong year with double-digit net revenue growth, strong profitability and outperformance in cash generation. This has all been possible against a challenging macroeconomic backdrop, which makes me even more proud of what the teams have achieved.  

 

Looking forward, I remain confident in the future growth prospects for the business and delivering our FY 2025 guidance. The continued rollout of our new integrated platform will not only bring many benefits for our valued customers, but it will also accelerate our ability to cross-sell products and unlock further business efficiencies. This in turn drives our ability to deliver positive returns to our shareholders."

 

 

FY 2024 financials

 

Key statutory financials	FY 2024	FY 2023	YoY growth (%)
Revenue (€m)	2,236.6	2,088.1	7.1%
Profit before tax (€m)	11.7	(39.3)	129.8%
Basic EPS (cents/share)	0.39	(6.62)	105.9%
Net revenue1 (€m)	292.5	256.5	14.0%
Payment solutions net revenue (€m)	166.9	147.0	13.6%
Mobility solutions net revenue (€m)	125.6	109.5	14.6%

 

Alternative performance measures 1	FY 2024	FY 2023	YoY growth (%)
Adjusted EBITDA (€m)	121.7	108.7	12.0%
Adjusted EBITDA margin (%)	41.6%	42.4%	(0.8)pp
Adjusted cash EBITDA (€m)	88.7	72.0	23.2%
Adjusted basic EPS (cents/share)	4.65	6.49	(28.4)%

 

FY 2024 operational KPIs

	FY 2024	FY 2023	YoY growth
New Group KPIs
Total active trucks3	302,076	274,715	10.0%
Average number of products per truck3	2.7	2.5	0.2
Net promoter score (points)	40	39	1pt
Subscription revenue (%)	26.8	26.6	0.2pp
Payment solution KPIs
Average active payment solutions customers4	20,459	18,379	11.3%
Average active payment solutions trucks4	103,988	93,882	10.8%
Payment solutions transactions5	46.1m	37.4m	23.3%

 

Outlook and FY 2025 guidance

Eurowag has a proven track record of delivering double-digit organic growth, despite the economic pressures seen across the CRT industry over the last few years. Looking ahead, we are starting to see some signs of economic recovery in the first quarter with the load spot market and kilometres driven improving in some of our larger markets such as Poland; however the macro outlook across Europe remains uncertain. Notwithstanding this we remain confident in our business model, our ability to cross-sell and the delivery of the integrated platform, all of which underpin the Group's confidence in delivering its FY 2025 guidance and continued strong cash generation.

 

In-line with prior guidance, we expect low-teen net revenue growth and to maintain EBITDA margin. Going forward capitalised R&D will be capped at €50m, excluding investment in infrastructure and onboard units ("OBUs"). As a result, we expect Adjusted Cash EBITDA to be between €90m and €100m. The net leverage² ratio will fall to around 2.0x, after the payment of the proposed special dividend of €25.0m, remaining within our target range of 1.5x-2.5x. 

 

The Board will continue to evaluate the cash generation of the business and ensure priority is given to investing in the business in-line with its stated capital allocation priorities, before returning any further cash to shareholders.

 

 

 

Notes:

1.     Please refer to the Performance review section and see Note 2 Alternative Performance Measures ("APMs") of the accompanying financial statements. The Group used "Net revenue", defined as revenue less costs of goods sold in the Annual Report and in other information supplied to markets, a subtotal similar to gross profit.

2.     Net leverage covenant calculation, as per our bank definition, uses Adjusted EBITDA for the last twelve months divided by net debt which includes lease liabilities and derivative liabilities (Note 13).    

3.     An active truck is defined as a vehicle that has paid for a service in a given month. Average number of products per truck is defined as the average number of products used by an active truck in a given month.

4.     An active customer or truck is defined as using the Group's payment solutions products at least once in a given month.

5.     Number of payment solutions transactions represents the number of payment solutions transactions (fuel and toll transactions) processed by the Group for customers in the period.

 

 

Investor and analyst presentation today 

Martin Vohánka (CEO) and Oskar Zahn (CFO) will host a virtual presentation and a Q&A session for investors and analysts today, 25 March 2025, at 9.00am GMT. The presentation and webcast details are available on the Group's website at https://investors.eurowag.com 

 

Please register to attend the investor presentation via the following link:

https://sparklive.lseg.com/WAGPAYMENTSOLUTIONS/events/8a54db57-3052-4e6b-8efb-692c7f18514e/eurowag-2024-full-year-results-announcement-w-a-g-payments-solutions-plc

 

To view the webcast, you will need to register with SparkLive, which should only take a moment. 

 

Should you want to ask questions at the end of the presentation, please use the following link:

https://eurowag-2024-full-year-results-announcement-march2025.open-exchange.net/registration

 

ENQUIRIES

Eurowag
Carla Bloom

VP Investor Relations and Communications

+44 (0) 789 109 4542

[email protected]

 

Sodali & Co

Justin Griffiths, Gilly Lock

IR and international media

+44 (0)20 7100 6451

[email protected]

 

About Eurowag

Eurowag was founded in 1995 and is a leading technology company and an important partner to Europe's CRT industry, with a purpose to make it clean, fair and efficient. Eurowag enables trucking companies to successfully transition to a low carbon, digital future by harnessing all mission critical data, insights and payment and financing transactions into a single ecosystem and connects their operations seamless before a journey, on the road and post-delivery. investors.eurowag.com

 

 

 

Chief Executive Officer's review

 

After another pivotal year at Eurowag, I am proud of how much progress the business has made in delivering the market's first end-to-end digital platform for the CRT industry.

 

We are in the key stages of transforming our business from what was a fuel card company only a few years ago to a data-centric and AI driven company, changing Europe's CRT industry for good and supporting it to become clean, fair and efficient. The European road transport industry supports 75% of the physical goods economy¹; it represents 5% of GDP² and provides employment to 20 million people³. Despite the scale and importance of this industry, trucking companies face many challenges today, and only a few companies are able to resolve them.  At Eurowag, we focus on nothing else but tackling these challenges at their root cause and are fully committed to supporting the transformation of this industry to net zero by 2050. Our vision is about the total digitisation of the industry, which will help support the fragmented ecosystem, decarbonisation and low profitability, and create a better workforce environment.

 

Financial highlights

We have made significant steps forward across the business this year whilst delivering strong financial results against a challenging macro backdrop. Total net revenue for the full year was €292.5m(FY 2023: €256.5m), representing 14.0% year-on-year growth, in-line with our guidance and significantly ahead of market growth indicators. To gauge general market conditions, we look at both toll mileage and the Product Manufacturing Index ("PMI") in Germany, Europe's largest market, which was flat to declining⁴ in 2024. Net revenue growth in the year would have been 9.9%, assuming a full year contribution from Inelo from 1 January 2023⁵. Both our payment solutions and mobility solutions grew double digits, demonstrating our products and services are truly mission critical to our customers. Despite the slow growth across Europe and headwinds in the spot freight market with less kilometres driven, we were still able to grow the number of active payment solutions trucks and active payment solutions customers, by 10.8% and 11.3% respectively. Our total number of active trucks at the end of the year was 302,076, a 10.0% increase from last year.

 

Our Adjusted EBITDA margins were broadly flat on last year at 41.6% (FY 2023: 42.4%), despite navigating through the integration of our acquired businesses as well as investment in transforming our own internal systems and processes. Adjusted Cash EBITDA grew 23.2% to €88.7m reflecting the strong cash generation of the Group. Overall, the Group delivered an Adjusted profit before tax of €46.3m (FY 2023: €56.7m), with statutory profit before tax increasing to €11.7m (FY 2023: loss of €39.3m) with last year impacted by a non-cash goodwill impairment. This year, we focused on cash generation and deleveraging and were able to reduce our Net leverage to 2.3x, down from 2.9x at the end of 2023.

 

Building an integrated platform

As we built and acquired different product capabilities over the last few years, it became even more apparent that our customers are in need of a digital solution allowing them to streamline workflows via one click solutions, from order to cash. Today, planning a job to completion is delivered through manual processes and 10 or more systems that do not connect to each other. Even before the Eurowag Office official launch in September 2024 at the IAA Expo in Hanover, we started to populate the platform with our original products, such as fleet management and transport management solutions, including navigation, which was followed by the migration of a small cohort of customers. Using a staged approach, we are significantly reducing the execution risk and are able to get instant customer feedback about the user experience of the platform, which we can update in real time. Customer feedback is key to the success of this platform, and we were pleased to receive very promising feedback at the IAA Expo, as well as from three truck manufacturers which we have partnered with to include our navigation solution within their dashboard infotainment systems. This is the first step for Eurowag to connect directly with a customer when they acquire a new truck, and gives us the opportunity to cross sell Eurowag Office. We are now in discussion with the manufacturers about how we can evolve our co-operation, through expanding our product offering by converting customers into the full Eurowag Office product suite over time, as well as engaging with truck dealerships. This is a new sales channel for us, and one we are very excited about.

 

Whilst our focus is to continue building and enhancing our integrated platform, we continue to invest in our current products and services in order to retain customers as well as keep growing the business. This year we expanded our energy network to around 15,000 stations, as well as supported our customers' transition to alternative fuels. Our European Electronic Toll Solution ("EETS") is another product in which we have invested in this year and we are starting to see the returns, with our net revenues from tolls almost doubling. During the year we expanded our EETS network to Slovakia, taking the total markets with EETS licences to 11, whilst our European coverage for toll services, including national, is 23 countries.

 

Sustainability

In 2024, we continued to focus on our sustainability action plan and its four pillars: climate action, customer success and wellbeing, community impact and responsible business.

 

During the year, we have made material progress in defining and building our Decarbonisation as a Service offering, including customer advisory, fleet renewal, green fuel corridors and accessibility to an alternative fuel network and the measurement and reporting of CO₂ emissions for customers. This is a growing area of commercial focus for us, as more customers seek a trusted partner to help them navigate the upcoming transformation of the industry and meet the evolving demands of their partners, including compliance with legislation changes.

 

Eurowag offers the largest network of hydrotreated vegetable oil⁶ ("HVO") for heavy-duty vehicles in Europe, and during 2024 it opened up the first HVO corridor in Central Eastern Europe. Our liquefied natural gas⁷ ("LNG") network now covers 60% of all LNG stations across Europe, and during the year we became the first CRT-focused eMobility Service Provider ("eMSP") offering Charging as a Service. We have expanded our HVO and bioLNG refuelling network and saw a 63-fold increase in the HVO volume compared to last year and achieved 20% bioLNG coverage in our LNG network across Europe; our active alternatively fuelled trucks in the portfolio increased to 1,537 in 2024 (780 in 2023).

 

We have also become an official member of the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification ("ISCC") programme. This prestigious certification is a key industry standard for carbon certification and is essential for selling alternative fuels.

 

We continue expanding our community impact programme, while developing four new charity partnerships, running our largest-ever employee-led philanthropy initiative (1,295 employees donated €259,000 to over 275 good causes across 17 countries) and donating emergency relief following local disasters in our communities and markets.

 

People

As the Group becomes more tech focused, we have also invested in our Senior Leadership Team. I am delighted with the appointments of our new Chief Operations Officer, Felipe Alves, and Chief Commercial Officer, Francesco Nazzarri, both bringing a wealth of experience in tech and transformational roles. We have also appointed our Chief Strategy Officer, Ivan Jakúbek, who recently held the joint Chief Commercial Officer position until mid-2024, to manage and oversee the delivery of the platform as Chief Strategy and Product Officer. This will ensure stability and continuity in another pivotal year for the delivery of our platform.

 

Our People and Culture Ambassadors Network continued its work to drive engagement and improve employee experience. In 2024, we refreshed our Culture Manifesto, which redefines and reinforces the shared beliefs and behaviours that unite all Eurowag employees. Throughout the Group, we continued the work started in previous years to foster a safe environment for all our colleagues, which come from so many different cultures and backgrounds.

 

In June we hosted a Women's Summit through our Women's Network, where we were joined by our brand ambassador, Iwona Blecharczyk, who shared insights into her transformative career journey.

 

In January 2025, as part of Eurowag's ongoing succession planning, Paul Manduca, Chairman, and Sharon Baylay-Bell, Chair of the Remuneration Committee, indicated their intention to step down from the Board. When Paul steps down at the AGM in May 2025, he will be succeeded by Steve Dryden, who has served as the Chair of our Audit and Risk Committee since joining the Board in June 2023, and Sharon, who stepped down in February 2025, has been succeeded by Sophie Krishnan as Remuneration Committee Chair. I am grateful to Paul for the experience and insights he has brought as Chairman over the last four years as a listed company and I would also like to thank Sharon for the significant role she played in our success.

 

Priorities for the year ahead

Whilst we still see macro headwinds across Europe in 2025, we remain confident that what we are trying to achieve by digitising the CRT industry is unique and creates massive opportunities ahead. This year our focus will be about migrating Eurowag key products onto the platform, with toll, energy payments and eWallet being a priority. The other area of focus is evolving our indirect sales channel with our truck manufacturing partners, creating a digital onboarding experience for new customers, as well as getting commercial terms in place with truck distribution outlets across Europe. Finally, the delivery of the integrated platform and continued investment in strengthening our internal systems and processes underpin the Group's confidence in delivering meaningful returns to both customers, shareholders and the broader society in the medium term.

 

^Notes:

^{1.      CVDD, page 40, issued 05/2021, BSG.}

^{2.      Eurostat.}

^{3.      Eurostat / Internal company estimate.}

^{4.      Source: truck toll mileage index and PMI, Federal Statistical Office, Wiesbaden.}

^{5.      Q1 2023 excludes the contribution from Inelo, which was acquired on 15 March 2023.}

^{6.     HVO is a biofuel made by the hydrocracking or hydrogenation of vegetable oil. These methods can be used to create substitutes for gasoline, diesel, propane, kerosene and other chemical feedstock. Diesel fuel produced from these sources is known as green diesel or renewable diesel.}

^{7.     Liquefied natural gas is natural gas that has been cooled down to liquid form. Natural gas burns significantly cleaner and produces lower emissions of sulphur, nitrogen and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.}

 

Financial review 

Another strong financial performance from the Group driven by increased net revenue and cost efficiencies. Net revenue performance was supported by payment solutions growth of 13.6% and mobility solutions growth of 14.6%. Net revenue growth in the period would have been 9.9%, assuming a full year contribution from Inelo from 1 January 2023. Our adjusted EBITDA increased by 12.0% to €121.7m (FY 2023: €108.7m) and the Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased slightly to 41.6% (FY 2023: 42.4%), in part due to higher credit losses in the year. Adjusted cash EBITDA increased by 23.2% to €88.7m (FY 2023: €72.0m) as a result of higher EBITDA and slightly lower capitalised R&D spend.

 

On a statutory basis, the Group reported a profit before tax of €11.7m (FY 2023: loss of €39.3m), an increase of 129.8% year-on-year, mainly as a result of a goodwill impairment in FY 2023 of €56.7m which didn't reoccur in FY 2024. Basic EPS increased by 105.9% to 0.39 cents per share (FY 2023: 6.62 cents loss per share). Adjusted basic EPS decreased year-on-year to 4.65 cents per share (FY 2023: 6.49 cents) driven by lower Adjusted net profit attributable to equity holders.

 

The above trading performance contributed to a positive Net debt reduction to €275.5m (FY 2023: €316.8m) and an improved Net leverage ratio of 2.3x (FY 2023: 2.9x). 

 

Performance review 

As in prior years, adjusted and other performance measures are used in this announcement to describe the Group's results. Adjustments are items included within our statutory results that are deemed by the Board to be one-off by virtue of their size and/or nature. Our adjusted measures are calculated by removing such adjustments from our statutory results. Note 2 of the accompanying financial statements includes reconciliations.

 

	Adjusted   (€m)	Adjusting items (€m)	FY 2024   (€m)	Adjusted   (€m)	Adjusting Items (€m)	FY 2023   (€m)
Net revenue	292.5	-	292.5	256.5	-	256.5
EBITDA	121.7	14.8	106.9	108.7	78.9	29.8
EBITDA margin (%)	41.6%	-	36.5%	42.4%	-	11.6%
Depreciation, amortisation and impairments	(45.7)	19.8	(65.5)	(40.4)	17.1	(57.5)
Share of net loss of associates	(0.7)	-	(0.7)	(0.5)	-	(0.5)
Operating profit/(loss)	75.3	34.6	40.7	67.8	96.0	(28.2)
Finance income	2.7	-	2.7	14.7	-	14.7
Finance costs	(31.7)	-	(31.7)	(25.8)	-	(25.8)
Profit/(loss) before tax	46.3	34.6	11.7	56.7	96.0	(39.3)
Income tax	(14.0)	(5.2)	(8.8)	(10.0)	(5.8)	(4.2)
Profit/(loss) after tax	32.3	29.4	2.9	46.7	90.2	(43.5)
Loss after tax from discontinued operations	-	-	-	(0.5)	-	(0.5)
Basic earnings per share (cents)	4.65		0.39	6.49		(6.62)

 

Revenue 

 

	FY 2024 (€m)	FY 2023 (€m)	YoY (€m)	YoY change (%)
Revenue	2,236.6	2,088.1	148.5	7.1%
Payment solutions	2,111.0	1,978.6	132.4	6.7%
Mobility solutions	125.6	109.5	16.1	14.6%
Net revenue	292.5	256.5	36.0	14.0%
Payment solutions	166.9	147.0	19.9	13.6%
Mobility solutions	125.6	109.5	16.1	14.6%

 

The Group's revenue increased by 7.1% year-on-year to €2,236.6m, driven mainly by higher volumes partially offset by lower fuel prices (a corresponding increase was reported for costs of energy sold). Revenue is reported net of Toll volumes charged to customers on behalf of Toll Operators. Revenue, including Toll charges and net of customer discounts, was €3,751.9m (FY 2023: 3,214.2m) and grew by 16.7%, as a result of our geographical expansion of our EETS Toll solution and the new CO₂ charges imposed on drivers in Germany and Austria.

 

The Group delivered double-digit net revenue growth of 14.0% to €292.5m, of which €53.1m was contributed by Inelo. Payment solutions net revenue grew by 13.6% year-on-year. As mentioned above, this increase reflects strong growth in toll net revenues of 50.2%, primarily as a result of new CO₂ charges in Germany and Austria, as well as strong EVA sales due to geographical expansion of our EETS solution. Mobility solutions net revenue grew by 14.6% year-on-year, reflecting growth across transport management, work time management and fleet management solutions, as well as the annualisation of Inelo.

 

Corporate expenses 

Statutory operating expenses decreased by €33.1m to €251.1m (FY 2023: €284.2m). If we exclude the impact of goodwill impairment in FY 2023, there was an increase in statutory operating expenses driven by increased depreciation and amortisation, higher impairment losses of financial assets and increased operational spend to support net revenue growth. Further details are provided below.

 

	Adjusted   (€m)	Adjusting items (€m)	FY 2024   (€m)	Adjusted   (€m)	Adjusting items (€m)	FY 2023   (€m)
Employee expenses	92.3	3.4	95.7	85.1	11.7	96.8
Impairment losses of financial assets	13.6	-	13.6	8.9	-	8.9
Impairment losses of non-financial assets	-	-	-	0.0	56.7	56.7
Technology expenses	15.6	5.6	21.2	13.9	5.0	18.9
Other operating expenses	54.1	5.8	59.9	50.0	5.5	55.5
Other operating income	(4.8)	-	(4.8)	(10.1)	-	(10.1)
Total operating expenses	170.8	14.8	185.6	147.8	78.9	226.7
Depreciation and amortisation	45.7	19.8	65.5	40.4	17.1	57.5
Total	216.5	34.6	251.1	188.2	96.0	284.2

 

Adjusted total operating expenses increased by €23.0m to €170.8m, of which €5.2m related to the annualisation of Inelo. Adjusted employee expenses increased by 8.4% year-on-year to €92.3m. This increase was driven by salary increases as well as hiring the right people to support the business through the next phase of our transformation. Impairment losses of financial assets increased to €13.6m (FY 2023: €8.9m) as a result of higher-than-expected company insolvencies, particularly in markets such as Poland, Romania, Hungary and Portugal, peaked in the first half the year. The credit loss ratio increased marginally to 0.4% from 0.3% as the Group has robust credit risk management and cash collection processes. Adjusted technology expenses increased by 12.2% year-on-year to €15.6m (FY 2023: €13.9m) reflecting the Group's focus on technology transformation and cloud transition. Other operating income decreased by 52.5% year-on-year to €4.8m (FY 2023: €10.1m); last year's balance included a favourable FX forward gain of €8.0m, while in this year's balance, €3.0m relates to a legal settlement of a dispute following an acquisition. Adjusted depreciation and amortisation grew by 13.1% year-on-year to €45.7m (FY 2023: €40.4m), primarily due to the amortisation of acquired assets of Inelo.

 

Adjusting items

In FY 2024, the Group incurred costs of €34.6m (FY 2023: €96.0m), which were considered Adjusting items and have been excluded when calculating Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted profit before tax. These are summarised below:

 

 

 

	FY 2024 (€m)	FY 2023 (€m)
M&A-related expenses	6.3	4.4
ERP implementation1 and integration expenses	6.3	5.3
Strategic transformation expenses1	-	1.8
Share-based compensation	2.2	6.5
Impairment losses of non-financial assets	-	56.7
Restructuring costs	-	4.2
Adjusting items in operating expenses	14.8	78.9
Adjusting Items in depreciation and amortisation	19.8	17.1
Total Adjusting items	34.6	96.0

 Note:

1.     With the conclusion of the transformation programme at the end of 2023, with the exception of the SAP implementation, expenses are no longer categorised as strategic transformation expenses. As a result, FY 2023 SAP related costs of €5.3m have been reclassified as an ERP implementation expenses.

 

M&A-related expenses are primarily professional fees in relation to exploring opportunities for future growth but also includes a €2m settlement agreement with the Inelo shareholders. ERP implementation and integration expenses were €6.3m in the year, of which €6.1m (FY 2023: €5.3m) relates to the ERP implementation. We anticipate a further €13m of expenses relating to this implementation until the end of 2026. Strategic transformation expenses relating to integration costs of Inelo were negligible this year, compared to last year of €1.8m. 

 

Share-based compensation primarily relates to compensation provided prior to the IPO. These legacy incentive plans comprise of a combination of cash and share-based payments. No further share-based compensation adjusting expenses are expected in the future.  Amortisation charges of €19.8m relate to the amortisation of acquired intangibles in FY 2024 (FY 2023: €17.1m); the increase is due to the annualisation of Inelo.

 

Net finance expense 

Net finance expense in FY 2024 amounted to €29.0m (FY 2023: €11.1m). Finance costs increased mainly as a result of a full 12 months of debt following the Inelo acquisition together with higher factoring fees. Finance income reduced in-line with expectations as FY 2023 income included a gain arising from a change in functional currency of our payment solutions Czech entity in 2023.

 

Taxation  

The Group's Adjusted effective tax rate increased to 30.3% (FY 2023: 17.6%) primarily due to higher non-deductible interest expense relating to acquisition loans, increased rates in key tax regimes where the Group operates, reduced positive impact from foreign currency changes and some additional charges relating to previous years. Corporate income tax in the Czech Republic increased from 19% in 2023 to 21% in 2024; in the UK the rate increased from 19% on 5 April 2023 to 25%, and in Slovenia the rate increased from 19% in 2023 to 22% in 2024, while in Spain the rate remains at 24%. Further details can be found in Note 7 of the accompanying financial statements.

 

EPS  

Adjusted basic EPS decreased by 28.4% to 4.65 cents per share (FY 2023: 6.49 cents per share). Despite achieving an increased EBITDA, higher depreciation and amortisation together with increased finance expenses and tax led to an overall decrease. Basic EPS for 2024 was 0.39 cents per share, a 105.9% year-on-year increase.

 

Pay-out of deferred consideration and acquisition of non-controlling interests

In 2024, the Group paid deferred acquisition considerations of €9.8m in respect of subsidiaries and €27.5m in respect of non-controlling interests. Refer to Note 9 of the financial statements.

 

Cash and adjusted cash EBITDA performance 

During the period, the Group reported a net debt inflow of €41.3m (FY 2023: outflow of €319.6m). The basis of deriving this net debt movement is set out below:

 

Management free cash flow	FY 2024 (€m)	FY 2023 (€m)
Adjusted EBITDA	121.7	108.7
Non-cash items in Adjusted EBITDA	14.8	10.6
Tax	(11.5)	(9.3)
Net interest	(23.7)	(17.2)
Working capital	46.0	(44.4)
Free cash	147.3	48.4
Adjusting items - cash	(9.1)	(18.0)
Capital expenditure1	(45.7)	(48.5)
Payments related to previous acquisitions	(37.3)	(297.7)
Repayment of lease obligations	(5.2)	(5.4)
Other2	(8.7)	1.5
Movement in net debt inflow/(outflow)	41.3	(319.6)
Opening Net debt/cash3	(316.8)	2.8
Closing Net debt/cash3	(275.5)	(316.8)

 

Note:

1.     Includes proceeds from sale of assets.

2.     Other includes finance costs relating to factoring and bank guarantees, FX movements, and other non-cash adjusting items.

3.     Please refer to Note 2 Alternative Performance Measures (APM's) of the accompanying financial statements. 

 

As at 31 December 2024, the Group's net debt position stood at €275.5m, compared with €316.8m as at 31 December 2023. 

 

Tax paid increased to €11.5m (FY 2023: €9.3m), primarily due to increased profitability together with increased payments on account required in jurisdictions such as the Czech Republic (€4.6m) and Poland (€2.8m).

 

Interest paid increased to €24.4m (FY 2023: €17.4m), reflecting a full year cost of debt following the Inelo acquisition. Interest costs are expected to reduce as the Group continues to focus on reducing its Net leverage position.

 

Non-cash items in Adjusted EBITDA predominantly relate to the add back of share awards issued post-IPO and provision movements relating to credit losses of €14.8m (FY 2023: €10.6m).

 

Net working capital concluded with an inflow of €46.0m (FY 2023: outflow of €44.4m) driven mainly by a decrease in trade and other receivables. Following the working capital outflow in FY 2023, mainly due to challenging supply conditions in Spain, the Group worked hard to implement numerous cash flow and liquidity initiatives which are reflected in a stable trade payables position despite further growth in revenues. Inventory levels remained broadly in line with the prior year. Improved cash collections at year end were assisted by the last two working days falling during the week, as opposed to a weekend the previous year. This additional time allowed us to collect a higher amount of cash, process financed tax refunds and recover VAT refunds. This inflow was partially reduced by an increase in trade and employee-related liabilities.

 

Adjusting items relates to ERP implementation expenses together with M&A-related expenses as outlined in Note 2.

 

Adjusted Cash EBITDA grew 23.2% to €88.7m (FY 2023: €72.0m) as a result of adjusted EBITDA growing by 12.0% year on year and lower capitalised R&D spend of €35.0m compared to €38.0m last year.

 

Capital expenditure 

Capital expenditure in 2024 amounted to €46.0m (FY 2023: €50.9m), with continued investment in developing and maintaining our products as well as the development and integration of Eurowag Office. Capitalised R&D spend was €35.0m (FY 2023: €38.0m), of which €24.4m was spent on products and the Eurowag Office and €10. 6m on development of our technology and data systems which are the foundation of the integrated platform and will enable us to scale. The remaining capital expenditure included €7.2m on OBUs which are a large driver of revenue growth and €3.8m on infrastructure which mainly relates to our legacy truck parks, buildings and IT hardware.

 

Capital allocation and proposed special dividend

The Group's capital allocation priorities, in order of importance, are to focus on investment in the business to deliver strong organic growth and operational efficiencies, as well as deleveraging. The Group has guided capitalised R&D to be capped at €50m per year going forward, and this will be invested in delivery of the platform, which includes maintenance and development of the various products, as well as streamlining technologies and systems across the various acquired businesses. With large acquisitions behind us, the Group will consider smaller bolt-on opportunities that add new products to the platform or accelerate the number of trucks added to the platform.

 

Following the strong outperformance in cash generation in FY 2024, the Board is proposing a 3.0p special dividend per share. Subject to shareholders' approval on 22 May 2025, the ex-dividend date for shareholders for the special dividend is Thursday 26 June 2025 and the record date is 27 June 2025, and the dividend is payable on 3 July 2025.

 

Our target for net leverage will remain at 1.5x-2.5x. Net leverage is expected to fall to around 2.0x in FY 2025, after the payment of the proposed special dividend. The Board will continue to focus on and evaluate the cash generation of the business and ensure flexibility of investment in the business is maintained, before considering the return of any further cash to shareholders.

 

Financing facility and covenants 

The Group reduced its net debt position to €275.5m (FY 2023: €316.8m) delivering an improved net leverage ratio of 2.3x (FY 2023: 2.9x) which is now within the Board's target range of 1.5x-2.5x. As at 31 December 2024, the Group was compliant with all its financial covenants as shown in the table below.

 

Covenant	Calculation	Target	Actual 31 December 2024
Interest cover	The ratio of Adjusted EBITDA to finance charges	Min. 3.501	4.24
Net leverage	The ratio of total net debt to Adjusted EBITDA	Max. 3.752	2.34
Adjusted net leverage	The ratio of the Adjusted total net debt to Adjusted EBITDA	Max. 6.50	3.77

 

(1)      The Group agreed a lower interest cover from 4.0 to 3.5x in December 2024.

(2)      The covenant shall not exceed 3.50 in 2025 and onwards.

 

The Group also manages its working capital needs through the use of uncommitted factoring facilities, with average financing limits of €138.7m and average utilisation of 77.1% (FY 2023: €130.0m and 70.2% respectively), together with the use of uncommitted reverse factoring facilities in Spain with year-end financing limits of €35.0m and year end utilisation of €18.5m. The Group has a proactive approach to maintaining a strong financial position and has demonstrated its ability to optimise working capital.

 

Risk management

Risk identification, assessment and management are central to the Group's internal control environment. A risk management framework enables the Group to identify, evaluate, address, monitor, and report effectively the risks faced and achieve a balance between risks and opportunities.

The principal risks, together with details on trends, exposure and the mitigation measures implemented will be included in the 2024 Annual Report and Accounts.

 

Consolidated income statement

 

For the year ended 31 December

 

 

		2024			2023*
		Adjusted	Adjusting items**	Total	Adjusted		Adjusting items**		Total
	Note	€000	€000	€000	€000		€000		€000
Revenue	3	2,236,573	-	2,236,573	2,088,107		-		2,088,107
Cost of sales		(1,944,035)	-	(1,944,035)	(1,831,577)		-		(1,831,577)
Net Revenue		292,538	-	292,538	256,530		-		256,530
Operating expenses		(207,719)	(34,588)	(242,307)	(189,398)		(39,365)		(228,763)
Other operating income	4	4,777	-	4,777	10,089		-		10,089
Impairment losses of financial assets		(13,578)	-	(13,578)	(8,884)		-		(8,884)
Impairment losses of non-financial assets		-	-	-	-		(56,663)		(56,663)
Share of net loss of associates accounted for using the equity method		(746)	-	(746)	(504)		-		(504)
Operating profit/(loss)		75,272	(34,588)	40,684	67,833		(96,028)		(28,195)
Finance income	5	2,679	-	2,679	14,682		-		14,682
Finance costs	6	(31,667)	-	(31,667)	(25,794)		-		(25,794)
Profit/(loss) before income tax		46,284	(34,588)	11,696	56,721		(96,028)		(39,307)
Income tax (expense)/credit	7	(14,036)	5,196	(8,840)	(9,988)		5,747		(4,241)
Profit/(loss) from continuing operations		32,248	(29,392)	2,856	46,733		(90,281)		(43,548)
Loss after tax for the year from discontinued operations		-	-	-	(489)		-		(489)
Profit/(loss) for the financial year		32,248	(29,392)	2,856	46,244		(90,281)		(44,037)
Profit/(loss) attributable to:
Owners of the parent		32,088	(29,392)	2,696	44,644		(90,281)		(45,637)
Non-controlling interests		160	-	160	1,600		-		1,600
		32,248	(29,392)	2,856	46,244		(90,281)		(44,037)
Earnings per share - basic and diluted (Note 8):						2024 cents		2023 cents
Basic earnings/(loss) per share						0.39		(6.62)
Diluted earnings/(loss) per share						0.39		(6.62)

*Prior year has been re-presented. See Note 1 for further information.

**Adjusting items are disclosed separately in the financial statements where it is necessary to do so to provide further understanding of the financial performance. See Note 2.

 

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income

 

For the year ended 31 December

 

		2024	2023
		€000	€000
Profit/(loss) for the year	Note	2,856	(44,037)
Other comprehensive (expense)/income
Items that may be reclassified to profit or loss
Change in fair value of cash flow hedge recognised in equity		(2,605)	(7,139)
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations		(2,059)	16,539
Deferred tax related to other comprehensive income - cash flow hedge		351	154
Total items that may be reclassified to profit or loss		(4,313)	9,554
Items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss
Changes in fair value of equity investments at fair value through other comprehensive income		-	(15,475)
Total items that will not be subsequently reclassified to profit or loss		-	(15,475)
Total other comprehensive expense (net of tax)		(4,313)	(5,921)
Total comprehensive expense for the year		(1,457)	(49,958)
Total comprehensive (expense)/income attributable to:
Owners of the parent		(1,617)	(51,552)
Non-controlling interests		160	1,594
Total comprehensive expense for the year		(1,457)	(49,958)

 

 

Consolidated statement of financial position

 

at 31 December

 

		2024 €000	2023 €000
Assets
Non-current assets
Intangible assets	10	517,507	532,404
Property, plant and equipment		56,125	55,760
Right-of-use assets		19,192	22,226
Investments in associates	9	10,973	11,719
Deferred tax assets		9,165	9,564
Other non-current assets		6,479	4,845
		619,441	636,518
Current assets
Inventories		15,380	14,903
Trade and other receivables	11	370,967	396,943
Income tax receivables		3,308	2,205
Derivative assets		261	3,425
Cash and cash equivalents		107,430	90,343
		497,346	507,819
Total assets		1,116,787	1,144,337
Liabilities
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables	12	406,307	402,834
Borrowings	13	115,380	113,297
Lease liabilities		5,019	4,909
Provisions		2,126	2,529
Income tax liabilities		4,628	3,927
Derivative liabilities		1,183	188
		534,643	527,684
Net current liabilities		(37,297)	(19,865)
Non-current liabilities
Borrowings	13	267,547	293,822
Lease liabilities		14,260	17,417
Provisions		794	1,324
Deferred tax liabilities		26,488	28,878
Derivative liabilities		1,464	3,140
Other non-current liabilities		9,275	9,236
		319,828	353,817
Total liabilities		854,471	881,501
Net assets		262,316	262,836

 

Equity
Share capital		8,120	8,113
Share premium		2,958	2,958
Merger reserve		(25,963)	(25,963)
Other reserves		114	4,427
Put option reserve		(4,657)	(22,460)
Retained earnings		281,370	289,380
Equity attributable to equity holders of the Company		261,942	256,455
Non-controlling interests	15	374	6,381
Total equity		262,316	262,836

 

 

 

Consolidated statement of changes in equity

 

For the year ended 31 December

 

		Attributable to owners of the parent
	Note	Share capital	Share premium	Merger reserve	Other reserves	Put option reserve	Retained earnings	Total	Non-controlling interests	Total equity
		€000	€000	€000	€000	€000	€000	€000	€000	€000
At 1 January 2023		8,107	2,958	(25,963)	10,342	(12,526)	329,362	312,280	4,283	316,563
(Loss)/profit for the year		-	-	-	-	-	(45,637)	(45,637)	1,600	(44,037)
Other comprehensive (expense)/income		-	-	-	(5,915)	-	-	(5,915)	(6)	(5,921)
Total comprehensive income		-	-	-	(5,915)	-	(45,637)	(51,552)	1,594	(49,958)
Share options exercised		6	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	6
Share-based payments		-	-	-	-	-	7,604	7,604	-	7,604
Transactions with NCI in subsidiaries	15	-	-	-	-	(9,934)	(1,949)	(11,883)	504	(11,379)
Total transactions with owners recognised directly in equity		6	-	-	-	(9,934)	5,655	(4,273)	504	(3,769)
At 31 December 2023		8,113	2,958	(25,963)	4,427	(22,460)	289,380	256,455	6,381	262,836
Profit for the year		-	-	-	-	-	2,696	2,696	160	2,856
Other comprehensive (expense)/income		-	-	-	(4,313)	-	-	(4,313)	-	(4,313)
Total comprehensive (expense)/income		-	-	-	(4,313)	-	2,696	(1,617)	160	(1,457)
Share options exercised		7	-	-	-	-	-	7	-	7
Dividends paid		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Share-based payments		-	-	-	-	-	4,354	4,354	-	4,354
Transactions with NCI in subsidiaries	15	-	-	-	-	17,803	(15,060)	2,743	(6,167)	(3,424)
Total transactions with owners recognised directly in equity		7	-	-	-	17,803	(10,706)	7,104	(6,167)	937
At 31 December 2024		8,120	2,958	(25,963)	114	(4,657)	281,370	261,942	374	262,316