UMT AG publishes Annual Report 2022 at individual financial statement level: Equity base remains strong – strategic realignment towards scalable and digital core business
- Impairment of UMS GmbH significantly lower than announced in July due to external valuation report
- Continued strong equity base of EUR 38.7 million (equity ratio: 94.2 percent) for strategic realignment into digital and scalable core busines
- Examination of exit scenarios for Buchberger
UMT United Mobility Technology AG (“UMT AG”, Securities identification number WKN: A2YN70, ISIN: DE000A2YN702) today published its Annual Report 2022.
In view of the ongoing legal dispute regarding the Buchberger investment, it was not possible to prepare voluntary consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2022. As in previous years, the Company will therefore only be able to publish the separate financial statements of UMT AG in the 2022 annual report.
UMT AG continues to have a strong equity base. As a result, equity amounted to EUR 38.7 million as of December 31, 2022 (previous year: EUR 49.1 million), while the equity ratio was 94.2 percent compared with 97.9 percent in the previous year.
The valuation of the investment in UMS United Mobile Services GmbH (“UMS GmbH”) was only slightly adjusted to the overall economic situation in the separate financial statements. The impairment loss on UMS GmbH announced in July by the then Management Board is almost completely reversed. Instead, on the basis of a current external valuation report, the new Management Board is only making a minor write-down of TEUR 913 from TEUR 9,399 to TEUR 8,486 for the investment in UMS GmbH.
For the investment in Buchberger Baugeräte Handel GmbH and Buchberger Baumaschinen Service + Vermietung GmbH, the Management Board sees a need for impairment. Against the backdrop of legal uncertainty due to the ongoing lawsuit, the significantly gloomier economic outlook for the construction industry following the onset of the Ukraine crisis, and as a result of the change in the interest rate landscape, the Management Board considers a write-down of TEUR 8,200 from TEUR 23,500 to TEUR 15,300 to be appropriate. Due to the first-instance ruling in the ongoing Buchberger litigation, the auditor’s opinion regarding the valuation of the Buchberger investment was restricted, making consolidation impossible. The announcement of the consolidation of Buchberger as part of the 2022 consolidated financial statements was made before the legal dispute arose and was premature from today’s perspective.
UMT AG’s total operating performance fell by -90 percent to TEUR 31 in the past financial year (previous year: TEUR 304). The main reason for this is the decrease in revenue from TEUR 299 in the previous year to TEUR 20, which is mainly due to the fact that consulting and development revenue had to be booked out in connection with Buchberger.
As a result, gross profit decreased by -92 percent to TEUR 24 (previous year: TEUR 304) in the year under review. While earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of TEUR -1,337 (previous year: TEUR -411) deteriorated by 225 percent, mainly due to the TEUR 279 decrease in sales and the TEUR 546 increase in legal and consulting fees, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell to TEUR -10,450 (previous year: TEUR -411) as a result of the write-downs totaling TEUR 9,113 on the shares in the two Buchberger companies (TEUR 8,200) and in UMS GmbH (TEUR 913).
As a result, earnings before taxes (EBT) also deteriorated to TEUR -10,373 (previous year: TEUR -333). UMT AG’s net loss for the year was TEUR -10,379 (previous year: TEUR -352).
As the Buchberger investment does not correspond to UMT AG’s digital brand core, the Management Board has decided to examine exit scenarios for the investment in the two Buchberger companies and the associated legal dispute.
As part of the ongoing development of UMT AG’s strategic direction, the Management Board has decided that the future of UMT AG will lie in scalable and high-growth key technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), document management, smart rental, machine-to-machine communication and the Internet of Things (IoT). These areas not only represent progress in the technology world and the digital brand core of UMT AG, but also offer immense opportunities to optimize business processes and tap into new market segments. Supported by the strong equity base, strategic acquisitions will be examined here in order to put UMT AG back on a strong growth path.
The annual report is available on the Company’s website at https://umt.ag/en/financial-reports.