Last close As at 05/08/2026
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Market capitalisation
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Research: TMT
Technicolor has issued a further update on how COVID-19 is affecting the group, having withdrawn guidance at the time of the AGM in March. With studios and advertisers halting all live action filming, Production Services is the most affected segment. DVD services has fair demand for its back catalogue, with production continuing for now, while Connected Home is building back up to speed as its Asian supply chains recover. We have withdrawn our forecasts while the economic picture clarifies. The €300m capital raise is set for Q220, having been approved by shareholders.
Technicolor |
Varying fortunes |
COVID-19 update |
Media |
22 April 2020 |
Share price performance
Business description
Next events
Analysts
Technicolor is a research client of Edison Investment Research Limited |
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Technicolor has issued a further update on how COVID-19 is affecting the group, having withdrawn guidance at the time of the AGM in March. With studios and advertisers halting all live action filming, Production Services is the most affected segment. DVD services has fair demand for its back catalogue, with production continuing for now, while Connected Home is building back up to speed as its Asian supply chains recover. We have withdrawn our forecasts while the economic picture clarifies. The €300m capital raise is set for Q220, having been approved by shareholders.
Year end |
Revenue (€m) |
EBITA |
PBT* |
EPS* |
DPS |
P/E |
12/17 |
4,253 |
151 |
47 |
(0.16) |
0.0 |
N/A |
12/18 |
3,988 |
98 |
7 |
(0.12) |
0.0 |
N/A |
12/19 |
3,800 |
42 |
(97) |
(0.24) |
0.0 |
N/A |
Note: *PBT and EPS are normalised, excluding amortisation of acquired intangibles, exceptional items and share-based payments.
Pandemic response – conserve cash
The strategy for rebuilding Technicolor’s finances outlined in February is centred on additional cost cutting, taking out a further €150m by FY22 on a run rate basis, and the proposed €300m fund raise. With the global spread of COVID-19 affecting both demand and the group’s ability to fulfil it, capital spend is being reined in further. In Production Services, the group is utilising government furlough schemes wherever it can to preserve its skill base for the restart of the live content industry, whenever that happens. Animation demand is still strong as studios and streamers look to replenish their content pipeline. Demand for Connected Home products is strong in North America, boosted by the broadband needs of those now home-based. The update notes ‘significant new orders from large customers’ but indicates that not all markets are as buoyant. To conserve cash further, new CEO Richard Moat is taking a 25% salary reduction, with the rest of the executive taking a 20% cut. The group is also offering its logistics expertise to governments to assist with distribution of medical supplies and its creative services for public information campaigns.
Refinancing to drive improving profitability
The rights issue was proposed well before the group’s markets were disrupted by COVID-19, with the proceeds intended primarily to meet working capital needs. Approval in principle was obtained from shareholders at an EGM on 23 March. A successful capital raise triggers 18-month extensions on both the existing RCF (which tapers from €250m through CY20 to €202.5m from December 2021) and the $125m facility from Wells Fargo. The rights issue as envisaged should reinforce the balance sheet and allow for investment to be made to drive improving profitability.
Valuation: Reflecting stock and market uncertainty
With management guidance and our forecasts currently under review, any judgement on valuation comes with more than the usual degree of caution. The share price has fallen by 69% year-to-date and at the current price, the group is trading at a historical EV/sales multiple of 0.3x, with the value of the equity dwarfed by the scale of the debt. The proposed refinancing would result in significant dilution.
Exhibit 1: Financial summary
€m |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
||
Year end 31 December |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
||
INCOME STATEMENT |
|||||
Revenue |
|
|
4,253 |
3,988 |
3,800 |
Cost of Sales |
(3,651) |
(3,521) |
(3,375) |
||
Gross Profit |
602 |
467 |
425 |
||
EBITDA |
|
|
345 |
266 |
301 |
Operating Profit (before amort. and except.) |
|
|
142 |
58 |
(12) |
Amortisation of acquired intangibles |
(9) |
(81) |
(54) |
||
Exceptionals |
(54) |
(127) |
(55) |
||
Reported operating profit |
40 |
(119) |
(121) |
||
Net Interest |
(96) |
(51) |
(84) |
||
Joint ventures & associates (post tax) |
1 |
0 |
(1) |
||
Exceptionals |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Profit Before Tax (norm) |
|
|
47 |
7 |
(97) |
Profit Before Tax (reported) |
|
|
(55) |
(170) |
(206) |
Reported tax |
(112) |
(54) |
(3) |
||
Profit After Tax (norm) |
(65) |
(47) |
(99) |
||
Profit After Tax (reported) |
(167) |
(224) |
(208) |
||
Minority interests |
0 |
(1) |
0 |
||
Discontinued operations |
(5) |
157 |
(22) |
||
Net income (normalised) |
(65) |
(48) |
(99) |
||
Net income (reported) |
(172) |
(68) |
(230) |
||
Average Number of Shares Outstanding (m) |
413 |
413 |
414 |
||
EPS - normalised (c) |
|
|
(0.16) |
(0.12) |
(0.24) |
EPS - normalised fully diluted (c) |
|
|
(0.16) |
(0.12) |
(0.24) |
Dividend per share (c) |
.06 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
||
Revenue growth (%) |
(6) |
(5) |
|||
Gross Margin (%) |
14.2 |
11.7 |
11.2 |
||
EBITDA Margin (%) |
8.1 |
6.7 |
7.9 |
||
Normalised Operating Margin (%) |
3.3 |
1.5 |
(.3) |
||
BALANCE SHEET |
|||||
Fixed Assets |
|
|
2,161 |
2,101 |
2,082 |
Intangible Assets |
1,567 |
1,591 |
1,483 |
||
Tangible Assets |
243 |
233 |
476 |
||
Investments & other |
38 |
26 |
40 |
||
Deferred tax and other |
313 |
251 |
84 |
||
Current Assets |
|
|
1,551 |
1,659 |
1,126 |
Stocks |
238 |
268 |
243 |
||
Debtors |
684 |
677 |
507 |
||
Cash & cash equivalents |
319 |
291 |
64 |
||
Other |
310 |
423 |
312 |
||
Current Liabilities |
|
|
(1,669) |
(1,909) |
(1,542) |
Creditors |
(947) |
(1,135) |
(825) |
||
Tax and social security |
(33) |
(34) |
(41) |
||
Short term borrowings |
(20) |
(20) |
(95) |
||
Other |
(669) |
(720) |
(581) |
||
Long Term Liabilities |
|
|
(1,514) |
(1,385) |
(1,604) |
Long term borrowings |
(1,077) |
(1,004) |
(1,203) |
||
Deferred tax |
(193) |
(193) |
(27) |
||
Other long term liabilities |
(437) |
(381) |
(401) |
||
Net Assets |
|
|
529 |
466 |
62 |
Minority interests |
3 |
1 |
0 |
||
Shareholders' equity |
|
|
532 |
467 |
62 |
CASH FLOW |
|||||
Net profit |
(167) |
(224) |
(208) |
||
Depreciation and amortisation |
240 |
234 |
322 |
||
Working capital |
71 |
2 |
(69) |
||
Tax and interest |
(57) |
(53) |
(76) |
||
Exceptional & other |
168 |
159 |
101 |
||
Net operating cash flow |
|
|
255 |
118 |
70 |
Capex |
(145) |
(113) |
(169) |
||
Acquisitions/disposals |
(25) |
1 |
(2) |
||
Equity financing |
1 |
0 |
1 |
||
Dividends |
(25) |
0 |
0 |
||
Other |
(13) |
28 |
3 |
||
Net Cash Flow |
48 |
34 |
(97) |
||
Opening net debt/(cash) |
|
|
679 |
778 |
733 |
FX |
(39) |
1 |
|||
Discontinued |
(88) |
105 |
0 |
||
Other non-cash movements |
(20) |
(95) |
(404) |
||
Closing net debt/(cash) |
|
|
778 |
733 |
1,234 |
Source: Company accounts
|
|
Research: TMT
Federated Wireless has completed a $13.7m Series C extension round to accelerate expansion of its connectivity-as-a-service partnership with Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services, first announced in February 2020. Pennant Investors, an existing investor, and Allied Minds each invested $6.85m to accelerate the roll-out of the leading private 4G/5G wireless cloud solution as well as to enable expansion of the spectrum controller for private wireless networks into the 6GHz band for 5G services. This extends the total Series C raise to $65m. Following the investment, Allied Minds owns 36.6% of Federated Wireless on a fully diluted basis (43.1% undiluted). We calculate Allied Minds’ holding in Federated Wireless alone to be worth 26.3p (fully diluted) versus the closing share price on 21 April 2020 of 26.4p.