Cnova - 2021 Second Quarter Activity & First Half Financial Performance

2021 Second Quarter Activity & First Half Financial Performance

Marketplace, Digital Marketing & Octopia dynamics drove a robust 2021 first half performance

AMSTERDAM - July 27, 2021, 07:45 CEST Cnova N.V. (Euronext Paris: CNV; ISIN: NL0010949392) (“Cnova”) today announced its second quarter activity and first half unaudited financial results for 2021.

1H21 Highlights

For the first half of 2021, Cnova demonstrated robust financial performance driven by solid B2C performance versus a challenging 2020 comparable period. Increasing marketplace GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) share, the continued acceleration of marketplace revenues and digital marketing as well as Octopia dynamic growth and commercial ramp-up continue to strengthen the Group’s profitable business model.

Marketplace performance at the heart of Cnova’s strategy to achieve profitable growth. The marketplace grew by +10% in the first half 2021 compared to last year now representing 46% of GMV share (+4 points), with. Comparing marketplace performance to first half 2019, GMV CAGR increased +15% and GMV marketplace share increased by +8 points.

Marketplace revenues¹ grew by +17% in the first semester, reaching €199m over the last twelve months (“LTM”).

This growth was supported by the acceleration of Cdiscount Fulfilment, which represented 35% of marketplace GMV in the first half 2021, increasing by +5 points y-o-y.

Digital marketing revenues increased by +44% in the first half 2021 compared to last year, reinforcing Cnova’s most profitable activity. It was powered by Cdiscount Ads Retail Solution (CARS), a 100% self-care advertising platform enabling both sellers and suppliers to promote their products and brands.

Octopia, Cnova's turnkey marketplace solution for EMEA retailers and e-merchants, showed strong growth with its solutions now fully operational for commercial roll-out: historical Products-as-a-Service and Fulfilment-as-a-Service solutions increased by +60% y-o-y. Merchant- and Marketplace-as-a-Service solutions benefited from a strong start with 3 contracts signed and 4 LOIs signed since the beginning of the year and with many other qualified prospects identified.

GMV reached nearly €2bn, increasing by +2% compared to 2020 and +14% vs. 2019. This solid performance was supported by a very strong first quarter, delivering a +12% GMV growth and a +34% Marketplace increase. The second quarter performance demonstrated resilience as compared to the exceptional second quarter last year, with a -6% decrease in GMV or -3% when adjusting Q2 2020 for mask sales². Comparing this first half of 2021 to H1 2019 performance, GMV Compound Annual Growth Rate ("CAGR") amounts to +7%.

As a result, and in light of exceptional circumstances during the second quarter of last year, EBITDA remains stable at €49m in 1H 2021. Comparing EBITDA performance to first semester 2019, CAGR reaches +58% over the last two years driven by +18% CAGR for marketplace revenues and +31% CAGR for digital marketing.

Emmanuel Grenier, Cnova's CEO, commented:

“Cnova is implementing the transformation of its business model at a good and steady pace, recording a solid performance in the first half of 2021. After a very dynamic first quarter, our second quarter remains robust with all KPIs well-oriented, especially when considering last-year’s exceptional second quarter. Our strategic positioning keeps proving to be relevant, generating sustainable profitable growth fueled by our B2B strategy and digital marketing activity. Leveraging on our leading ecommerce platform, our clear ambition is to become a global marketplace ecosystem leader. The ramp up of Octopia, our unique ready-to-operate marketplace B2B solution, is growing strong with 3 contracts signed and 4 LOIs signed in just 6 months paving the way for this growth strategy.”



Financial highlights







2^nd quarter & 1^st semester operational highlights

Operational highlights of the first half of 2021 demonstrate the successful shift towards our marketplace platform with a GMV share growing at a steady pace over the last two years, marketplace revenues growing at high double-digit and all marketplace related KPIs well-oriented.

Focus on 2^nd quarter operational highlights

Despite the exceptional impact of mask sales in the second quarter 2020, GMV performance remained robust posting a -6.1% y-o-y decrease but a +16.2% growth compared to 2019, i.e. a +7.8% CAGR over the last two years:

• Adjusted for €34m of non-recurring masks sales to SMEs, Group Casino and public institutions in the 2^nd quarter 2020, 2021 comparable GMV decreased by only -3.0%
• Supported by the marketplace, which contributed +10.3 points in the 2^nd quarter 2021 to 2 years growth, posting a +14.0% CAGR over the last two years
• B2C Services was a key contributor to y-o-y growth with 3.8 points and 4.1 points to 2-years growth. Cdiscount Energy is very dynamic, growing +69.7% y-o-y while travel is rebounding strongly in the months of May and June, quadrupling its GMV over the quarter compared to last year
• Octopia contributed to close to 2 points to 2^nd quarter GMV growth, tripling its GMV when comparing to the 2^nd quarter 2019

Momentum in active clients¹¹ growth remains strong with a +6.9% y-o-y increase at the end of the 2^nd quarter 2021 and +12.4% when comparing to active customers at end June 2019. This positive trend is supported by our TV media campaign that raised Cdiscount’s brand awareness to 59%¹² at the end of June 2021, a +4 points increase compared to last year.

Cdiscount à Volonté (“CDAV”), Cdiscount’s loyalty program, now encompasses 2.3 million members (+6.1% y-o-y growth) benefiting from 2.3 million SKUs available for express delivery +74% compared to last year.

Regarding traffic, Cnova remained solid and reached 22.0m unique monthly visitors on average in April and May 2021, a +13% growth compared to the 2^nd quarter 2019. As a result, Cnova consolidated its strong #2 position in France, also supported by a +22.1% growth on mobile over the same period. Traffic registered a total of 550 million visits during the 2^nd quarter of 2021.

Marketplace continued to be a key driving force of the GMV, posting a +14.0% CAGR over the last 2 years in the 2^nd quarter 2021, reaching 47.2% GMV share an increase of 0.6 point compared to last year but +6.6 points compared to 2019. It benefited from a growing GMV fulfilled by Cdiscount which represented on average 35.1% of the marketplace GMV in the 2^nd quarter 2021, a +6.9pts increase compared to last year.

First Half financial performance

*re-presented to consider Haltae (Stootie operations legal entity) financials reclassified in discontinued activities

Net sales amounted to €1,009.0m in the 1^st half 2021, a -3.8% decrease compared to 2020. Net sales recorded the impact of the acceleration of the profitable shift of product sales towards marketplace sales, which are only recognized for the amount of the associated commissions. Octopia together with marketplace revenues & digital marketing brought 3.0 points contribution to net sales growth in the 1^st half 2021.

Gross margin was €234.5m in the 1^st half 2021, representing 23.2% of net sales, a significant +3.0 points improvement compared to 2020. It benefited from a strong marketplace GMV share increase (+3.6 points) and associated revenues as well as the product mix evolution towards more recurring and high margin products (+2.7 points GMV share for Home, DIY & Leisure categories in the 1^st half 2021, supported by marketplace performance with +14.8% growth for these categories), as well as the development of B2C and B2B monetization revenues, in particular digital marketing¹⁷.

SG&A costs amounted to €(228)m in the 1^st half 2021, representing 22.6% of net sales, a +3.4 points increase y-o-y. Fulfillment costs, at 8.1% of net sales (-0.2 point), slightly decreased compared to the same period of last year as this cost line was significantly impacted in 2020 by exceptional lockdown circumstances and benefited in the 1^st half 2021 from a normalized situation in terms of logistics. Marketing costs represented 5.2% of net sales (+1.6 point), with such increase driven by a major TV media campaign launched in 2021 dedicated to the Home category that brought Cdiscount’s brand awareness up by 4 points y-o-y¹⁸. Technology & Content costs increased at 6.6% of net sales (+1.7 point) mainly impacted by the acceleration of the product & commercial development of Octopia solutions. General & Administrative expenses slightly increased at 2.6% of net sales as head office costs increased to support the acceleration of the new B2B activities.

As a result, 1^st half EBITDA remained essentially stable at +€49m as compared H1 2020, while exhibiting a +57.6% CAGR compared to H1 2019, representing 4.9% of net sales (+0.2 point vs 2020 and +2.9 pts compared to 2019). EBITDA benefited from a resilient marketplace performance and increased monetization revenues, mainly due to the high margin digital marketing segment.

Operating EBIT slightly decreased by €4m compared to 2020 to reach €6.5m but increased by €18m when compared to 2019, with depreciation and amortization increasing by €4m y-o-y mainly due to accelerated investment in relation to Octopia over the past 12 months.

Net financial expenses, mainly related to installment payment solutions offered to customers, amounted to €24m, decreasing by 4% despite GMV growth thanks to risk management improvement & enhanced scoring algorithms.

Net loss from continuing operations slightly improved by +€3.2m y-o-y to reach €(19.2)m but significantly improved compared to 2019 by +€21m.

Free cash flow before financial expenses amounted to €(6)m in the last twelve months, i.e. €41m decrease compared to the same period last year:

• Cash from continuing operations increased by +51%, up +€32.5m to reach €96.4m, driven by €21.3m EBITDA increase over the last twelve months
• Improving other cash operating expenses and taxes by €6m at €(13)m, as last year was impacted by exceptional Covid-19 expenses

Offset by

• Slightly negative change in working capital compared to more than a +€50m positive change in working capital last year as a result of:
  • restricted cash for €50.0m, representing the outstanding amount due to our third-party sellers (as of June 30, 2021). Cash restriction is due to the European regulation requesting marketplaces to restrict cash from their third-party sellers if they require to keep it more than 24 hours since 2^nd half of 2020. On a comparable basis, free cash flow before financial expenses would have increased by close to €45m.
  • an unfavourable comparable basis last year as the lockdown led to significant inventory shortage on direct sales.
• Accelerated capital expenditures to support Octopia solutions accelerated ramp-up & product development related to the industrialization of Cdiscount’s marketplace assets

Business Highlights

Marketplace growing double-digit, driving up revenues and profitability

• The marketplace gained +4 points of GMV share in the 1^st half 2021 compared to 2020 to reach 46%, thanks to a strong +10% GMV growth.

• Marketplace revenues amounted to €97m in the 1^st half 2021 growing +17% to reach €199m over the last twelve months.
  • Expansion of express delivery eligible marketplace SKUs is a key driver of growth, customer satisfaction and contributes to the development of our loyalty program, Cdiscount à Volonté (CDAV). It also supports the product mix re-orientation towards recurring product categories.
    • Fulfilment by Cdiscount kept growing at a fast pace, with a +5.4 points increase in marketplace GMV share in the first half 2021 to reach 34.7% on average.
    • Cdiscount Express Seller, launched in 2019 for sellers able to offer express delivery to CDAV customers, extended its offering by +88% at end June 2021 compared to last year, to reach 2.0 million eligible SKUs.
      
      

Product mix evolution towards recurring product categories building strong loyalty as well as increased profitability

• Cnova initiated at the start of last year a strategic product mix evolution towards Home, DIY & Leisure. These categories bring higher recurring purchase rates as well as higher marketplace share and higher margins. Consequently, the product mix evolution aims at generating more loyalty, repurchases and profitability. These categories experienced a +7% GMV growth in the 1^st half 2021 vs 2020, representing a +2.7 points increase of global product GMV. Marketplace for these categories was even more dynamic with +15% GMV growth in the 1^st half vs last year to reach 62% share (+4.4 points vs N-1).
  
  

B2C services high growth with Cdiscount Voyages (Travel) rebound in the 2^nd quarter

• B2C services GMV amounted to €128m in the 1^st half 2021, up +35% vs last year with a +107% take-off in the 2^nd quarter alone.
• Cdiscount Voyages (Travel) experienced a significant rebound in the 2^nd quarter
  • Quadrupling of travel GMV in the 2^nd quarter 2021 with +160% growth in the month of June
  • Flight tickets supported this performance with x4.6 GMV increase compare to last year in the 2^nd quarter 2021
• Cdiscount Energie (home energy) GMV grew by +68.5% in the 1^st half 2021 vs. 2020, supported by a strong subscriber growth of +79% compared to last year
• Cdiscount Mobile (cell phone plans) activity performed well during the 1^st half 2021 with an increase in sales of +38.5% vs. last year

Enhanced customer experience and record high NPS

• Cnova also carried on its “say yes to the customer” policy, with 90% positive and immediate answers to Cdiscount à Volonté customers claims at end of June (+15 points compared to June last year) and proactive preventive actions to ease customer journey. The goal is to reach 100% by the end of the year.
• It led to a significant +5 points NPS average improvement during the 1^st half 2021 (+8 points over 2 years) leading to a record high NPS compared to the same period last year, through intensified efforts to improve customer experience before, during and after the sale.

Dynamic digital marketing powered by Cdiscount Ads Retail Solution

• Digital marketing revenues increased by +44% in the 1^st half quarter 2021 compared to last year, reinforcing Cnova’s most profitable activity.
• It was supported by Cnova’s proprietary solution launched in the 2^nd quarter 2020, Cdiscount Ads Retail Solution (CARS), a 100% self-care advertising platform enabling both sellers and suppliers to promote their products and brands. Products sponsored through this platform grew by +91% in the 1^st half 2021.
• Cnova also kept adding complementary digital marketing features to reinforce its offer
  • Google Shopping campaign management for suppliers and marketplace sellers, benefiting from a x2.1 y-o-y increase in the 1^st half 2021.
  • Very promising start of Live shopping offer to our merchants & suppliers, providing to our customers qualitative content and live shopping experience with influencers, already streaming 51 live videos in the 1^st half 2021.

• Creation of a new brand, Cdiscount Advertising, encapsulating all in-house digital marketing services, for brands and marketplace sellers.

Octopia is growing fast, establishing itself as a turnkey marketplace solution for EMEA retailers and e-merchants

• Cnova’s turnkey marketplace solution offers 4 modular and ready-to-operate marketplace services to international retailers and e-merchants with a +60% growth in the 1^st half to €53m GMV:
  • Products-as-a-Service to bring products to small/medium websites and marketplaces in Europe grew +50% in the 1^st half 2021. Commercial teams have been materially reinforced to support this acceleration (x3 staff increase in the 1^st half 2021).
  • Merchants-as-a-Service to bring sellers to existing marketplaces and Marketplace-as-a-service to transform e-commerce websites into marketplaces for its 1^st semester of commercial ramp-up benefits from a promising start with 3 contracts and 4 LOIs signed.
  • Fulfilment-as-a-Service to bring multi-marketplace fulfilment solutions including cross-border shipping and warehouse management solution grew more than +230% in GMV and +130% in parcels, delivering more than 420k parcels in the 1^st half 2021.
• Octopia has launched a concrete action plan to increase brand awareness and visibility:
  • Implementation of a digital strategy with a dedicated team
  • Octopia has committed to a series of 7 major events between now and the end of 2021 to develop its reputation directly with retailers in France, Germany, the UK and Spain.
    
    

C Chez Vous and C-Logistics commercial acceleration, aiming to become leading transportation & logistics service providers in Europe

• Launch of the third Exotec cell (35 robots and 22,000 racks) in Bordeaux region warehouse of Cestas to support B2B expansion and fulfilment by Cdiscount.
• C-Logistics aims at being a leading e-commerce third-party logistics player with
  • 13 clients signed for the C Chez Vous Turnkey transport solution and 6 agreements in principle
  • 1 client signed the C-logistics full service of supply e-commerce operations and 1 agreement in principle

Cnova, a pioneer of sustainable logistics

• Already carbon-neutral on delivery, through actions to reduce our carbon footprint (3D packaging machines, bulk loading…) and the sequestration of residual emissions (partnership with the endowment fund Plantons pour l’Avenir).
• Industrialization of our partnership with the start-up Hipli, to propose reusable packaging to our customers before the end of the year

A long-term commitment to support our ecosystem

• Support to merchants to face the sanitary crisis, by extending our program dedicated to SMEs (free access to our marketplace ; dedicated team) and by donating €100k to the charity Fonds de Solidarité des Consommateurs et des Citoyens.
• External study to measure the socio-economic impact of Cnova: 47k jobs backed in France (92k in Europe) according to the study led by the B-corp consulting firm Utopies.

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Guidance confirmed

• On the back of this solid 1H21 performance, Cnova confirms its 2021 guidance
• The company confirms its objective to reach an EBITDA of €160m this year, corresponding to a 20%+ increase versus 2020, and c.100% increase versus 2019

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Cnova publishes today on its website, Tuesday July, 27^th, its 2021 semi-annual report.

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About Cnova N.V.

Cnova N.V., one of France’s leading e-Commerce companies in France, serves 10.5 million active customers via its state-of-the-art website, Cdiscount. Cnova N.V.’s product offering provides its clients with a wide variety of very competitively priced goods, fast and customer-convenient delivery options, practical and innovative payment solutions as well as travel, entertainment and domestic energy services. Cnova N.V. is part of Groupe Casino, a global diversified retailer. Cnova N.V.'s news releases are available at www.cnova.com. Information available on, or accessible through, the sites referenced above is not part of this press release.
This press release contains regulated information (gereglementeerde informatie) within the meaning of the Dutch Financial Supervision Act (Wet op het financieel toezicht) which must be made publicly available pursuant to Dutch and French law. This press release is intended for information purposes only.

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Appendices

Cnova N.V. 1^st Half 2021 Consolidated Financial Statements⁽¹⁾

*re-presented to consider Haltae (Stootie operations legal entity) financials reclassified in discontinued activities
1)   Unaudited financial statements
2)   SG&A: Selling, General and Administrative expenses
3)   Operating EBIT: operating profit/(loss) before other expenses (strategic and restructuring expenses, litigation expenses and impairment and disposal of assets expenses).
4)   In accordance with IFRS5 (Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations), HALTAE (formerly Stootie)’s post-tax net profit for the year ended 31 December 2020 and 2019 are reported under “Net profit/(loss) from discontinued operations”
5)   Adjusted EPS: net profit/(loss) attributable to equity holders of Cnova before other expenses and the related tax impacts, divided by the weighted average number of outstanding ordinary shares of Cnova during the applicable period.

*re-presented to consider Haltae (Stootie operations legal entity) financials reclassified in discontinued activities

*re-presented to consider Haltae (Stootie operations legal entity) financials reclassified in discontinued activities

1 Includes marketplace commissions after price discounts, marketplace subscription fee, as well as revenues from services to sellers (marketing services, financial services, etc.)
2 2Q20 figures adjusted for COVID-19 hygienic masks sold to SMEs, Group Casino & public institutions : €34m GMV, €28m Net sales
3 Re-presented to consider Haltae (Stootie operations legal entity) financials reclassified in discontinued activities

4 Gross merchandise volume (GMV) is defined as product sales + other revenues + marketplace business volumes + services GMV + taxes and is calculated based on approved and sent orders
5 Including travel, energy, ticketing, beauty
6 Including pro, 1001pneus, CB4X revenues, vouchers, fulfilment revenues (excluding fulfilment revenues from orders outside of Cdiscount.com that are part of Octopia perimeter) & marketing digital
7 Operating profit/(loss) from ordinary activities (EBIT) adjusted for operating depreciation & amortization
8 Calculated as marketplace GMV (see p. 2) divided by total product GMV (Marketplace GMV + Direct sales GMV – see p.2)
9 Includes marketplace commissions after price discounts, marketplace subscription fee, as well as revenues from services to sellers (marketing services, financial services, …)
10 Mixed baskets including both marketplace and direct sales products were also considered as marketplace baskets
11 Active clients at the end of June 2021 having purchased at least once through Cdiscount sites during the previous 12 months
12 Respondi June survey
13 Subscriber base on 31/12/2020
14 According to latest available Médiamétrie studies in Q2 (average between April & May)
15 Calculated as Marketplace GMV generated through merchants benefiting from Cdiscount’s fulfilment services divided by total Marketplace GMV
16 Includes marketplace commissions after price discounts, marketplace subscription fee, as well as revenues from services to sellers (marketing services, financial services, …)
17 Includes both revenues from marketing services to suppliers and marketing services to marketplace sellers (the latter being also included in total marketplace revenues)
18 Respondi June survey

Financial highlights

Financial performance (€ millions)

2021 1st Half 2020 1st Half3 Change vs 1H20 Change vs 1H19

Total GMV4

1,991 1,946

+2.3%

+13.5%

Ecommerce Platform

1,938 1,913

+1.3%

+11.4%

o/w Direct sales

865 906

-4.5%

-4.6%

o/w Marketplace

747 676

+10.5%

+32.8%

o/w Services5

128 95

+35.2%

+79.1%

o/w Other Revenues6

198 237

-16.6%

-0.1%

Octopia

53 33

+60.1%

+255.5%

Total Net sales

1,009 1,049

-3.8%

+1.4%

EBITDA7

49.4 49.6

-0.4%

+148.4%

% of net sales

4.9% 4.7%

+0.2pt

+2.9pts

Operating EBIT

6.5 10.9

-€4.4m

+€18.4m

% of net sales

0.6% 1.0%

-0.4pt

+1.8pts

Net Financial Results

(24.2) (25.2)

+€1.0m

-€0.2m

Net Profit from cont. operations

(19.2) (22.4)

+€3.2m

+€21.0m

Attachment

• Cnova Press Release - Q2 and H1 2021