Global Blue Reports 9M FY24/25 Financial Results With Double-digit Growth

   -- 
 Strong YoY growth in Group 9M Revenue of 20% to EUR381m, with a 34% 
      increase in Adjusted EBITDA(1) to EUR154m 
 
   -- 
 Solid improvement in 9M Adjusted EBITDA margin of 4.2pts to 40.4% and a 
      61% drop-through(2) 
 
   -- 
 Continued increase in LTM Adjusted EBITDA to EUR188m vs. EUR175m in the 
      previous quarter 
 
   -- 
 Reiterating financial guidance(3) for FY24/25 Adjusted EBITDA of EUR185 
      - 205m, expecting to achieve towards the top half of the range 
 
   -- 
 Strategic milestone reached with the announcement of the acquisition of 
      Global Blue by Shift4 on February 18, 2025 
 
SIGNY, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--February 26, 2025-- 

Global Blue Group Holding AG (NYSE:GB and GB.WS) today announces its financial results for the third quarter and nine month period ended December 31, 2024.

Global Blue's CEO, Jacques Stern, commented:

"We are pleased to report a strong 9M performance with 20% revenue growth, in line with Sales-in-Store growth. Once again, we have significantly outperformed the luxury market thanks to our unique exposure to high net worth and affluent shoppers.

"This strong growth, combined with our high operating leverage, led to a 34% increase in Adjusted EBITDA and a 4.2pt increase in margin, resulting in LTM Adjusted EBITDA rising to EUR188 million, a EUR24 million improvement over the last three quarters.

"Given this strong performance, we expect to achieve towards the top half of our financial guidance for FY24/25 Adjusted EBITDA of EUR185 - 205 million.

"Furthermore, on February 18, 2025, we reached a significant milestone in our journey when we announced the acquisition of Global Blue by Shift4. The transaction consideration equates to a $2.5 billion enterprise value (13x CY2024 Adjusted EBITDA) and is expected to close by the third quarter of calendar year 2025".

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Shift4 acquisition Global Blue

On February 16, 2025, Global Blue and Shift4 entered into a definitive agreement under which Shfit4, will acquire 100% of Global Blue shares.

Under the terms of the definitive agreement, Shift4 intends to acquire Global Blue for $7.50 per common share in cash, representing a 15% premium to Global Blue's closing share price as of February 14, 2025, through a tender offer and a subsequent statutory merger. Shift4 intends to acquire Global Blue's Series A Preferred shares at $10.00 per preferred share and Series B Preferred shares at $11.81 per preferred share.

The acquisition has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of Shift4 and Global Blue, and the board of directors of Global Blue has unanimously resolved that it will recommend to the Global Blue shareholders to accept the tender offer. The transaction is expected to close by the third quarter of calendar year 2025, subject to regulatory approvals, other customary closing conditions, and a minimum tender of 90% of Global Blue's issued and outstanding common shares and preferred shares on a combined basis.

Strong financial performance

In Q3 FY24/25, the Group achieved 20% year-over-year revenue growth, to EUR131 million and 31% year-over-year Adjusted EBITDA growth to EUR52 million. For 9M FY24/25, this resulted in a 20% year-over-year increase in revenue to EUR381 million and a 34% year-over-year increase in Adjusted EBITDA to EUR154 million, with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 40.4% and drop-through of 61%.

Furthermore, continued strong cash conversion significantly reduced the net leverage ratio(4) to 2.6x at the end of December 2024, from 3.6x at the end of December 2023, approaching the Group's long-term target of <2.5x.

Repricing of Term Loan and Revolving Credit Facility

In December 2024, Global Blue successfully allocated the repricing of the Term Loan and Revolving Facility, reducing the interest rate margin on the Term Loan by 50 basis points from 3.75% p.a. to 3.25% p.a. In aggregate, over the last twelve months, Global Blue achieved a 175 basis points reduction in the Term Loan margin to 3.25% p.a.

Financial Guidance

Reflecting the strong performance in the period, and notwithstanding the additional EUR5 million of fixed costs to accelerate investments in future growth initiatives, Global Blue reiterated its financial guidance for FY24/25 Adjusted EBITDA of EUR185 - 205 million and expects to achieve towards the top half of this range.

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

Q3 FY24/25 Financial Performance

 
 
                                                                   Q3 FY24/25 
                                    Q3         Q3         Q3          vs. 
  EURM                            FY22/23    FY23/24    FY24/25    Q3 FY23/24 
------------------------------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ------------- 
 Revenue 
  Tax Free Shopping Solutions      64.4       80.3       97.8 
  Payments                         16.2       22.3       25.1 
  Post-Purchase Solutions           6.1        6.8        8.6 
 Revenue                           86.7      109.4      131.4         20% 
 Variable costs                   (22.1)     (25.3)     (30.0) 
 Contribution(5)                   64.6       84.1      101.4         21% 
 Fixed costs                      (40.5)     (44.3)     (49.2) 
 Adjusted EBITDA                   24.1       39.8       52.2         31% 
  Adjusted EBITDA Margin(%)        27.8%      36.3%      39.7%       +3.4pts 
 Adjusted Depreciation & 
  Amortization                    (9.2)      (9.7)      (12.9) 
 Net Finance Costs                (3.7)      (12.0)     (13.9) 
 Adjusted Profit before Tax        11.1       18.1       25.3         40% 
 Adjusted Income Tax Expense      (3.7)      (7.0)      (8.8) 
 Non-Controlling Interests        (0.8)      (1.9)      (2.1) 
 Adjusted Net Income Group 
  Share                            6.6        9.1        14.4         58% 
 

Revenue

The Group delivered revenue of EUR131.4 million, a 20% year-over-year increase, driven by a solid performance across all business lines.

Tax Free Shopping Solutions delivered revenue growth of 22% year-over-year, reaching EUR97.8 million, benefiting from strong progression of Sales-in-Store(6) . Continental Europe reached EUR81.6 million, a 20% increase, while Asia Pacific reached EUR16.2 million, a 32% increase.

Payments delivered revenue of EUR25.1 million, a 13% year-over-year increase, ahead of the 8% increase in Sales-in-Store, predominantly driven by pricing evolution.

Post-Purchase Solutions delivered revenue growth of 26% year-over-year, reaching EUR8.6 million, driven by a strong performance in the ZigZag business.

Contribution

Given the strong focus on variable cost optimization, the Group delivered a contribution of EUR101.4 million contribution, a 21% year-over-year increase, and maintained a high level of contribution margin with Tax-Free Shopping Solutions at 87%, FX Solutions at 94%, and Post-Purchase Solutions at 55%.

Adjusted EBITDA

Strong revenue growth together with Global Blue's high operating leverage profile resulted in an Adjusted EBITDA of EUR52.2 million, a 31% year-over-year increase. Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded by 3.4pts to 39.7%, with a 56% drop-through.

9M FY24/25 Financial Performance

 
 
                                                                   9M FY24/25 
                                    9M         9M         9M          vs. 
  EURM                            FY22/23    FY23/24    FY24/25    9M FY23/24 
------------------------------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ------------- 
 Revenue 
  Tax Free Shopping Solutions     166.4      235.2      290.8 
  Payments                         44.1       61.3       68.8 
  Post-Purchase Solutions          14.1       20.6       21.5 
 Revenue                          224.7      317.1      381.1         20% 
 Variable costs                   (56.8)     (73.5)     (83.2) 
 Contribution                     167.9      243.6      297.9         22% 
 Fixed costs                     (111.2)    (128.9)    (144.0) 
 Adjusted EBITDA                   56.7      114.7      153.9         34% 
  Adjusted EBITDA Margin(%)        25.2%      36.2%      40.4%       +4.2pts 
 Adjusted Depreciation & 
  Amortization                    (27.0)     (27.6)     (36.4) 
 Net Finance Costs                (27.6)     (36.6)     (43.5) 
 Adjusted Profit before Tax        2.1        50.6       73.9         46% 
 Adjusted Income Tax Expense      (7.5)      (19.6)     (25.7) 
 Non-Controlling Interests        (1.7)      (5.6)      (7.4) 
 Adjusted Net Income Group 
  Share                           (7.1)       25.3       40.8         62% 
 

Revenue

The Group delivered revenue of EUR381.1 million, a 20% year-over-year increase, driven by a particularly strong performance in Tax Free Shopping Solutions.

Tax Free Shopping Solutions delivered revenue of EUR290.8 million, a 24% year-over-year increase, benefiting from strong progression in Sales-in-Store. Revenue in Continental Europe reached EUR243.6 million, a 21% year-over-year increase, while revenue in Asia Pacific reached EUR47.2 million, a 43% year-over-year increase.

Payments delivered revenue of EUR68.8 million, a 12% year-over-year increase, ahead of the 6% growth in Sales-in-Store, driven by the increased margin on treasury gains and pricing evolution. Revenue in FX Solutions reached EUR33.3 million, a 7% year-over-year increase, while revenue in Acquiring reached EUR34.3 million, a 17% year-over-year increase, and revenue in the Hospitality Gateway business reached EUR1.3 million, a 32% year-over-year increase.

Post-Purchase Solutions delivered revenue of EUR21.5 million, a 5% year-over-year increase. Revenue growth was impacted by management's decision to move away from certain ZigZag carrier contracts.

Contribution

Given the strong focus on variable cost optimization, the Group delivered a contribution of EUR297.9 million, a 22% year-over-year increase, and maintained a high level of contribution margin with Tax Free Shopping Solutions at 86%, FX Solutions at 94% and Post-Purchase Solutions at 58%.

Adjusted EBITDA

The Group delivered Adjusted EBITDA of EUR153.9 million in 9M FY24/25, a 34% year-over-year increase, reflecting strong revenue growth and the high operating leverage profile of the business. Adjusted EBITDA margin improved by 4.2pts to 40.4%, with a 61% drop-through. Consequently, there has been a continued improvement in the LTM Adjusted EBITDA to EUR188 million, up from EUR175 million in the previous quarter.

Adjusted Profit before Tax

The Group delivered Adjusted Profit Before Tax of EUR73.9 million in 9M FY24/25, a 46% year-over-year increase. The strong growth reflects the increase in Adjusted EBITDA, partially offset by an EUR8.8 million increase in depreciation and amortization, largely attributed to increased capital expenditure in improving technology base over the last two years, and a EUR6.9 million increase in net finance costs due to higher interest expenses during the period.

Cash Flow, Balance Sheet, and Net Debt

Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditure increased by EUR30.5 million year-over-year to EUR117.3 million. This increase, combined with the normalization in Working Capital, and taking into account lease payments, interest and income tax, contributed to an increase in Free Cash Flow(7) of EUR24.4 million to EUR55.3 million vs. EUR30.9 million in the same period last year.

As at December 31, 2024, Group Net Debt(8) decreased to EUR488.2 million, consisting of Gross Financial Debt of EUR610.0 million and Cash & Cash Equivalents of EUR121.8 million, resulting in a net leverage ratio of 2.6x, a significant improvement from 3.6x at December 31, 2023.

Furthermore, in December 2024, the Group successfully allocated the repricing of the Term Loan and Revolving Facility, reducing the interest rate margin on the Term Loan by 50 basis points from 3.75% p.a. to 3.25% p.a. In aggregate, over the last twelve months, Global Blue achieved a 175 basis points reduction in the Term Loan margin to 3.25% p.a.

FINANCIAL GUIDANCE

Reflecting the strong performance in the period, and notwithstanding the additional EUR5 million of fixed costs to accelerate investments in future growth initiatives, Global Blue has reiterated its financial guidance for FY24/25 Adjusted EBITDA of EUR185 - 205 million and expects to achieve towards the top half of this range.

(1) The table below provides a reconciliation between Profit and Adjusted EBITDA.

 
                     For the three months       For the nine months 
                      ended December 31          ended December 31 
 EURM                      2024         2023          2024         2023 
------------------  -----------------  ------  -----------------  ------ 
 Profit for the 
  period                   33.9         14.9          78.8         26.3 
 Profit margin (%)        25.8%         13.6%        20.7%         8.3% 
 Income Tax 
  Expense                  12.3          8.6          35.2         21.5 
 Net Finance Costs         13.9         12.0          43.5         36.6 
 Exceptional 
  Items*                  (21.9)        (6.5)        (43.4)        (0.5) 
 Depreciation & 
  Amortization             14.0         10.8          39.7         30.9 
------------------  -----------------  ------  -----------------  ------ 
 Adjusted EBITDA           52.2         39.8         153.9         114.7 
 Adjusted EBITDA 
  Margin (%)              39.7%         36.3%        40.4%         36.2% 
------------------  -----------------  ------  -----------------  ------ 
 

*Exceptional Items consist of items which Global Blue does not consider indicative of its ongoing operating and financial performance, not directly related to ordinary business operations and which are not included in the assessment of management performance.

(2) Drop-through refers to the portion of Revenue growth that drops through to the Adjusted EBITDA line.

(3) A reconciliation of the foregoing guidance for the non-IFRS metric of Adjusted EBITDA to net income (loss) cannot be provided without unreasonable effort because of the inherent difficulty of accurately forecasting the occurrence and financial impact of the various adjusting items necessary for such reconciliation that have not yet occurred, are out of our control, or cannot be reasonably predicted. For the same reasons, the Company is unable to assess the probable significance of the unavailable information, which could have a material impact on its future IFRS financial results.

(4) Net Leverage refers to Net Debt divided by the last 12 months Adjusted EBITDA.

(5) Contribution refers to revenue less variable costs.

(6) Sales-in-Store refers to the Issued Sales-In-Store (Spend), like-for-like (at constant merchant scope and exchange rates).

(7) The table below provides a reconciliation of Free Cash Flow.

 
                                                                         9M 
  EURM                                                   9M FY24/25    FY23/24 
------------------------------------------------------  -----------  --------- 
 Net increase / (decrease) in cash and cash 
  equivalents                                               34.3      (139.1) 
 Net payments / (proceeds) from loans and borrowings, 
  and related costs                                         3.6        204.7 
 Net payments / (proceeds) from issuance of share 
  capital, and related costs                                1.5        (45.1) 
 Dividends                                                  2.8         3.2 
  Net acquisitions of assets                                 2.4         2.3 
 Net foreign exchange difference                           (1.1)       (1.0) 
 Acquisition of treasury shares                             3.4          - 
 Payment of hedge instrument                                3.1          - 
 Payments of NCI put options                                2.4          - 
 Other movements                                            2.9         5.9 
------------------------------------------------------  -----------  --------- 
 Free Cash Flow                                             55.3        30.9 
------------------------------------------------------  -----------  --------- 
 

(8) The table below provide a reconciliation of net debt.

 
 EURM                                             9M FY24/25   FY23/24 
-----------------------------------------------  -----------  -------- 
 IFRS Net Debt                                      437.2       522.3 
 Lease liabilities - repayable within one year      (10.3)      (8.8) 
 Lease liabilities - repayable after one year       (18.9)     (14.8) 
 Capitalized financing cost                          24.4       23.8 
 Gain from debt modification                         55.9         - 
-----------------------------------------------  -----------  -------- 
 Net Debt                                           488.2       522.5 
-----------------------------------------------  -----------  -------- 
 

WEBCAST INFORMATION

An audio recording of commentary on the results, along with supplemental financial information, can be accessed via the Investor Relations section of the company's website at Global Blue Group Holding AG - Investor Relations.

NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURES

This press release contains certain Non-IFRS Financial Measures. These non-IFRS measures may not be indicative of Global Blue's historical operating results nor are such measures meant to be predictive of Global Blue's future results. Not all companies calculate non-IFRS measures in the same manner or on a consistent basis. As a result, these measures and ratios may not be comparable to measures used by other companies under the same or similar names. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on the non-IFRS measures presented in this press release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements regarding Global Blue or its management's expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions, or strategies regarding the future. The words "anticipate," "believe", "continue", "could", "estimate", "expect", "intends", "may", "might", "plan", "possible", "potential", "predict", "project", "should", "would" and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements are based on Global Blue's current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on Global Blue. There can be no assurance that the future developments affecting Global Blue will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond Global Blue's control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These include commercial expectations and other external factors, including the potential closing of the proposed acquisition of Global Blue and considerations related to such transaction, political, legal, fiscal, market and economic conditions and factors affecting travel and traveller shopping, including the global COVID-19 pandemic and applicable legislation, regulations and rules (including, but not limited to, accounting policies and accounting treatments), movements in foreign exchange rates, inflation and other factors described under "Risk Factors" in Global Blue's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024

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