Berentzen-Gruppe Aktiengesellschaft significantly increased its revenues in the first quarter of the 2023 financial year and reported a positive operating result (EBIT).
People are longing for social gatherings, conviviality, lighthearted revelry, and joy of life in company with others. The lockdowns, contact prohibitions, and other restrictions imposed in the wake of the protracted coronavirus pandemic only heightened this thirst for life. Now that most pandemic restrictions have been lifted, people have begun to party together again – be it in their private homes, in bars, or in clubs. A significant part of our product portfolio is meant for precisely these moments of conviviality and joy of life. This development therefore presents great opportunities and potential for the further profitable growth of the Berentzen Group.
Our brands Berentzen,Puschkin and Mio Mio in particular enjoy a very high degree of brand recognition in Germany and are also among the top-selling brands in their respective categories. We have continually refined our product portfolio over time. The corporate group today is broadly positioned in the three segments of Spirits, Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Fresh Juice systems. Thus, people can enjoy our products from morning to night. And this broad segment coverage also makes us especially resilient in the face of crisis.
As a typical “German Mittelstand” enterprise with a lean, focused organisation, we are capable of responding quickly to newly emerging market trends, unlike many of our competitors. Our processes and structures are agile and flexible. And so, we are always able to take the lead in implementing action plans and seizing market opportunities. This puts us in a position to act as the first mover or early adopter in our relevant markets.
Since the launch of our premiumisation strategy, we have continually enhanced the quality of our revenues and therefore also our relative and absolute gross profit margins. Although this dynamic course of growth was temporarily interrupted by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, it resumed immediately after the end of the pandemic. Notwithstanding the challenges, we generated a positive EBIT and were therefore profitable in every single quarter of the pandemic.
We want the shareholders of Berentzen-Gruppe Aktiengesellschaft to benefit from the success of our company in the form of a regularly paid, highly attractive dividend. Provided that the necessary conditions are met, at least 50% of the group’s consolidated profit will be distributed to shareholders in each and every financial year. The dividend pay-out ratio for the 2021 financial year was 56%, corresponding to a dividend yield of 3.5% based on the company’s share price at the end of 2021.
Having been in business for more than 260 years, we think in terms of decades, not quarters! To live up to our social responsibility, we have implemented an ambitious ESG strategy. The bywords “0 – Zero Accidents and Improved Health”, “100 – One Hundred Percent Resource Efficiency”, and “100 – One Hundred Sustainable Products” are backed by various concrete measures by which we make our contribution to the sustainable transformation of society. In recognition of our sustainability activities to date, we achieved “Gold” status in the ECOVADIS Ranking already in 2021, putting us in the top 5% of all companies evaluated for this purpose. Moreover, the business magazine “Capital” named us one of Germany’s 100 most climate-friendly companies in January 2022.
Our business is built on solid finances. An always positive rate of internal financing, right-sized debt funding with long maturities, and a sufficiently good equity ratio are the cornerstones of our funding philosophy. On this basis, and thanks to an overall low level of net debt, we can always raise the funds we need to finance further growth.
Thorsten Schmitt
Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations
Phone: +49 (0) 5961 502-215
E- Mail: thorsten.schmitt@berentzen.de