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U ROYAL UNIBREW Company Announcement No 21/2021 - 28 April 2021 Q1 2021 Trading Statement Q1 2021 strong start in Off - Trade All figures in this Trading Statement refer to restated figures as a consequence of an IFRS 15 reassessment unless otherwise stated ( see below and Appendix 1 for further explanation ) . Royal Unibrew delivered a strong commercial and financial start to the year with record high volumes , net revenue and EBIT . The performance is driven by strong execution in the Off - Trade business , especially in Denmark and Italy . In Off - Trade , all key markets have outperformed last year , and generally , our market positions have been further strengthened in most markets in Q1 . Volumes have increased significantly in the Danish Off - Trade channel driven by our non - alcoholic beverages , where our low / no calorie soft drinks are growing significantly , and from increased domestic demand , as the border between Denmark and Germany has been closed . In Finland , our low / no alcohol portfolio is growing strongly , albeit still from a relatively low base . Continued strong momentum in International is driven by malt and beer in Africa as well as cider / RTD in Asia . Uncertainty continues to be high regarding future COVID - 19 impacts on our business . Societies are slowly reopening , but continue to experience temporarily setbacks . The speed at which the On - Trade business and Border Trade will return to more normal levels , lift of gathering restrictions and peoples ' ability to travel , are all factors that will be important for our full - year perfor- mance . That said , we have strong momentum across our business , we have prepared for the reopening , and our organization is ready to capture every opportunity presented , no matter what reopening scenario will play out . Financial highlights Q1-2021 Net revenue for Q1 2021 amounted to DKK 1,605 million compared to DKK 1,478 million for Q1 2020. Growth is supported by a positive Easter effect , as sell in to Easter was in Q1 2021 compared to sell in last year being in Q2 . Net revenue and earnings of a beverage business for the first quarter of the year do not reflect a proportional share of net revenue and results for the year . The period represents the winter season when sales and earnings are usually at a lower level compared to other quarters of the year . Moreover , the first quarter in both 2020 and 2021 were significantly impacted by COVID - 19 . Earnings before interest and tax ( EBIT ) for Q1 2021 was DKK 29 million higher than in 2020 and amounted to DKK 229 million ( 2020 : DKK 200 million ) . The EBIT margin increased by 0.8 percentage point to 14.3 % . The EBIT margin was negatively impacted by channel mix . EBIT in Q1 2020 , was negatively impacted by bad debt provisions related to COVID - 19 . Loss on debtors are at relatively normal levels , however , we see a potential future risk as On - Trade customers continues to be affected by restrictions . Outlook The full - year EBIT outlook range is narrowed to DKK 1,525-1,625 million ( previously : DKK 1,475-1,625 million ) . SELECTED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY RATIOS mDKK Volume ( thousand hl ) Net revenue EBITDA EBITDA margin ( % ) EBIT EBIT margin ( % ) Profit before tax Net profit for the period Free cash flow Net interest - bearing debt NIBD / EBITDA ( times ) ² Equity ratio ( % ) Q1 2021 Q1 20201 FY 2020¹ 2,536 2,216 11,093 1,605 1,478 7,315 318 287 1,861 19.8 19.4 25.4 229 200 1,515 14.3 13.5 20.7 223 188 1,505 177 145 1,198 -102 -72 1,414 2,448 2,832 2,193 1.3 1.6 1.2 39 37 40 Earnings per share ( EPS ) 3.7 3.0 24.1 1 Figures are restated as described below ( more restated figures in Appendix 1 ) . 2 Running 12 months basis Net interest - bearing debt increased by DKK 255 million compared to year - end 2020. Calculated on a running 12 months basis , NIBD / EBITDA was 1.3x . Restatement of revenue due to IFRS 15 and technical increase in medium - term EBIT margin target We have reassessed the IFRS 15 accounting policy concerning customer contracts and on that background we have changed our handling of some customer contract - related costs . This means that some sales costs are reclassified to rebates , and as a consequence revenue and sales costs are reduced by the same amount , whereas EBIT is unchanged . In appendix 1 , we restate the affected quarterly numbers for 2020 , as well as the annual numbers from 2017-2020 are presented . In Q1 2021 , the adjustment is DKK 47 million ( Q1 2020 : DKK 46 million ) . On a full year basis the effect on EBIT margin in 2020 is 0.7 percentage points and as a result of this change in the interpretation of IFRS 15 , we increase our medium - term EBIT margin target from 19-20 % to 20-21 % . The IFRS 15 reassessment had a positive effect on the EBIT margin of around 0.4 percentage points in Q1 2021 ROYAL UNIBREW A / S FAXE ALLÉ 1 DK - 4640 FAXE CVR NO 41956712