• Consolidated sales of € 4.8 billion (+28%) and combined sales of € 5.9 billion (+32%)
• Underlying EBIT of € 515 million, up +89% from last year, resulting in a margin of 10.6% (versus 7.2%)
• EBIT of € 513 million, doubling last year’s result and generating a margin of 10.6% (versus 6.8%)
• Underlying EBITDA of € 689 million (+44%), delivering a margin on sales of 14.2 % (versus 12.7%)
• Underlying ROCE of 23.7%, almost doubling the performance of 2020 (12.2%)
• EPS of € 7.14 per share, tripling the result of the previous year (€ 2.38) 
• Average working capital on sales ratio of 12.6%, compared with 16.4% last year
• Net debt of € 417 million, -31% down from € 604 million at the close of 2020, resulting in net debt on underlying EBITDA of 0.61, less than half of last year (1.26) 
• Cash on hand was € 677 million at the end of the period after € 460 million net cash outflow related to debt repayments, compared with € 940 million at the close of 2020

^¹ All comparisons made are relative to the fiscal year 2020

Bekaert has achieved a new performance milestone in 2021. We made significant progress on the company’s strategy and achieved record sales, solid margin growth, and the lowest debt leverage to date.  

Committed to return value to our shareholders

The financial performance of 2021 and the successful execution of the strategic plan have strengthened Bekaert’s cash generation perspectives for the coming years. 

The Board of Directors seeks to maintain a balanced approach between funding future growth and enhancing shareholders’ returns.

• The Board will propose to the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in May of 2022 a 50% gross dividend increase to € 1.50 per share.
• In addition, the Board has approved a share buyback program of an amount up to € 120 million, to be initiated in March 2022. Under the program, Bekaert may repurchase outstanding shares for a maximum consideration up to € 120 million, over a period up to twelve months. The purpose of the program is to reduce the issued share capital of the company. All shares repurchased as part of this arrangement will be cancelled. 
  More information on the share buyback program is included in Part II, Governance Statements, ‘Shares’.

Focus and effectiveness of our actions in 2021

We have accelerated our transformation towards higher value creation. Our key actions in 2021 included:

Volume growth and market share increase in target markets, enabled by:

• Capturing the opportunities from reverse globalization effects
• Driving growth through a customer-centric and go-to-market strategy and focus 
• Securing supply chain excellence to ensure delivery continuity to our customers worldwide

Structural improvement of the overall Bekaert performance, driven by:

• Product and business mix improvements, in line with our strategy to upgrade the business portfolio
• Acceleration on our transformational innovation, digitalization, and sustainability strategy
• Pricing discipline aligned with cost inflation
• Acceleration of commercial and manufacturing excellence programs
• Continued effective working capital and cost control 

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Strengthened financial position

The average working capital on sales ratio further improved from 16.4% last year to 12.6% in 2021. Cash on hand was € 677 million at the end of the period. 
Net debt was € 417 million, € -187 million or -31% down from € 604 million at the close of 2020, resulting in net debt on underlying EBITDA of 0.61, the lowest leverage to date.

On 31 December 2021, equity represented 43.4% of total assets (35.8% at year-end 2020). The gearing ratio (net debt to equity) was 19.9%, significantly down from 39.4% at year-end 2020 due to strong deleveraging.

More details on Bekaert’s 2021 financial performance are included in Part II, Financial Statements, and in the FY2021 press release that was published on 25 February 2022.

Bekaert achieved consolidated sales of € 4 840 million in 2021, well above 2020 (+28%) and 2019 (+12%). The year-on-year growth versus 2020 stemmed from higher volumes (+ 9%) and a positive impact from passed-on wire rod price changes and other mix effects (+19%). Currency movements were negligible on the consolidated sales level. Sales in the fourth quarter of 2021 were the highest quarter sales of the year, despite seasonality effects.

Combined sales totaled € 5 854 million for the year, up +32% from 2020 and +14% from 2019. Organic sales growth of Bekaert’s joint ventures in Brazil (+59%) was partly offset by the devaluation (-7.7%) of the Brazilian real, resulting in a top-line increase of +51%.

Bekaert achieved an operating result (underlying EBIT) of € 515 million in 2021. This corresponds to an increase by € +243 million or +89% compared to 2020 and resulted in a margin on sales of 10.6% (7.2%). Including one-off items (€ -1.5 million), EBIT was € 513 million, representing an EBIT margin on sales of 10.6% (versus € 257 million or 6.8% in 2020). Underlying EBITDA was € 689 million (14.2% margin) compared with € 479 million (12.7%) and EBITDA reached € 677 million, or a margin on sales of 14.0% (versus 12.5%).

Overhead expenses (underlying) decreased as a percentage on sales by -50 basis points to 8.4%, compared to 8.9% in 2020, but increased by € +73 million in absolute numbers due to higher provisions for short-term and long-term incentive programs, the acceleration of digital, sustainability, and innovation programs, and the overall business activity rebound versus the previous year.

Underlying other operating revenues and expenses increased from € +8 million last year to € +20 million in 2021. Reported other operating revenues and expenses (€ +34 million) were significantly lower than last year (€ +51 million) due to the lower gain on sale of real estate in 2021.
Interest income and expenses amounted to € -41 million, down from € -56 million in 2020 and a result of the lower amount of interest adjustment derivative financial instruments in 2021 compared to 2020 and to a -26% reduction in interest-bearing financial gross debt in 2021. Other financial income and expenses amounted to € +4 million (€ -30 million in 2020). The 2021 increase was from significantly less negative foreign exchange translation results and from € +9.4 million valuation gain on the VPPA (Virtual Power Purchase Agreement) contract in the US.

Income taxes increased from € -57 million to € -133 million. The overall effective tax rate dropped from 33% to 28%, driven by the utilization of previously unrecognized deferred tax assets in entities that turned profitable.

The share in the result of joint ventures and associated companies was € +108 million (versus € +34 million last year), reflecting the strong performance of the joint ventures in Brazil.

The result for the period thus totaled € +451 million, compared with € +148 million in 2020. The result attributable to non-controlling interests was € +44 million (versus € +13 million in 2020) and the result for the period attributable to equity holders of Bekaert was € +407 million versus € +135 million in 2020. Earnings per share amounted to € +7.14, tripling the result of 2020 (€ +2.38).

More details on the financial results are included in Part II: Financial Statements of this report. Other marketplace related data such as direct economic value generated and distributed are available in the Financial Statements §5.1, §5.3, §5.4, §5.6, §6.13.           

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