EOS clearly profitable despite slight decline in revenue and earnings
High level of investment in secured and unsecured receivables accompanied by targeted cost-cutting measures
Corporate responsibility to be firmly embedded in business model
Hamburg, August 11, 2021 – Despite all the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hamburg-based EOS Group successfully concluded its 2020/21 financial year (ending on 28 February). With a slight decline in revenue of 7.1 percent to EUR 792.5 million, the financial investor and technology-driven debt collection service provider reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of EUR 312.4 million (previous year: EUR 343.4 million). Apart from the restrictions on collection activity due to statutory moratoriums in several countries, the financial year was marked by a decline in the volume of non-performing loans (NPLs) on offer on the receivables market. Nevertheless, EOS was once again able to invest a significant sum (EUR 534.3 million) in secured and unsecured receivables and real estate in need of restructuring.
“In view of the difficult conditions of the last year, the positive operating result was by no means a given,” says Klaus Engberding, CEO of the EOS Group. “We needed to continually assess the wider implications of the pandemic, make the right investment decisions and adjust our costs accordingly. I am therefore extremely proud of the fantastic achievement of our teams who faced up to these challenges and made this success possible through their dedicated collaboration.”
Social responsibility to become integral part of business model
The ongoing development of the organization and heavy investment in IT to improve business operations were the key drivers behind the sustained stability of EOS. The values-driven yet forward-looking approach of EOS, which is part of the Otto Group, also contributed to its success. With a new corporate responsibility (CR) strategy, the EOS Group aims to firmly embed four key actionable areas into its business model in future. In this context, the focus is on solution-driven and sustainable debt relief for defaulting consumers, proactive funding initiatives and (financial) education measures, climate-neutral operation by 2030, and the championing of strict and binding industry standards in all 26 countries where the company is located.
“As one of the leaders in our industry we are absolutely aware of our responsibility towards society. Through our actions, we do not just want to help the economic system to function by improving the financial situation of our clients and of defaulting payers; we also aim to use our new CR strategy to do our part to change the world we operate in for the better overall,” says Engberding.
Overview of key figures:
2020/21
2019/20
Sales revenue (in EUR million)
792.5
853.1
of which
Germany
289.1
303.3
Eastern Europe
249.7
266.7
Western Europe
207.1
232.0
North America
46.6
51.0
EBITDA (in EUR million)
312.4
343.4
Different figures may appear in tables due to rounding.
Germany remains the most important EOS market
With a turnover of EUR 289.1 million and a 36.5 percent share of consolidated revenue, Germany continues to be the region with the highest revenue within EOS Consolidated. At EUR 168.2 million, the investment level in receivables and real estate was stable. “Our success is primarily due to our operational excellence and understanding of our customers’ needs, which makes us a strong and reliable partner in the debt purchasing and fiduciary collection business,” says Andreas Kropp, member of the EOS Group's Board of Directors with responsibility for the German market. “Even in this challenging year, we continued to systematically pursue the digitalization of the company and in doing so have given a substantial boost to our future viability.”
As a longstanding member of the German Association of Debt Collection Companies (BDIU), EOS has continued its commitment to high ethical standards in the industry. In the last financial year it also established an in-house ‘hardship case community’, where specially trained personnel find solutions for cases of debt affecting people in permanently dire financial straits. Moreover, the company is committed to financial education for children and young people through its finlit foundation, whose ‘ManoMoneta’ initiative has already reached more than 100 schools.
Eastern Europe once again the highest earning region in the EOS Group
Despite a decline in revenue to EUR 249.7 million, Eastern Europe is still the highest earning region within EOS Consolidated. EOS has its own subsidiaries in 15 countries in Eastern Europe. A major driver for this result was the substantial year-on-year increase in results in Russia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Poland. In addition, EOS was able to increase investment in NPLs in the region in the last financial year by around three percent to EUR 195.3 million. The highest NPL investments were made in Croatia, Poland and Russia.
“Thanks to our local expertise we made substantial investments in secured and unsecured NPLs again this year and are going to rigorously pursue this strategy again in the current financial year,” says Marwin Ramcke, member of the EOS Group’s Board of Directors responsible for the Eastern European region. “We are also pushing ahead with the digitalization process and are successively rolling out our international collection software ‘Kollecto+’, which we developed in-house, in all Eastern European countries where EOS is represented.
In addition, an international HR department was established in Hungary. As well as strategic HR issues, it will also manage the Group’s cultural change process outside of Germany.
Stable business performance in Western Europe
The continued stable business performance in France, Belgium, Spain and Denmark enabled EOS to report a good result overall for Western Europe. At EUR 207.1 million, the region accounted for more than a quarter (26.1 percent) of the total revenue of EOS Consolidated. Moreover, the EOS companies in France and Belgium were able to reinforce their position as leading providers for debt purchases. In Spain too, EOS increasingly shifted its focus from fiduciary collection to receivables purchasing, and was able to build up a strong market position as a buyer of debt portfolios.
Accordingly, EOS in Spain closed the year with record investments, e.g. in three NPL portfolios comprising a total 232,000 receivables and with a nominal value of EUR 810 million. “Thanks to our longstanding experience, and despite the lower volume of NPLs on the market, we were once again a preferred partner for our customers,” explains Dr. Andreas Witzig, member of the EOS Group’s Board of Directors with responsibility for Western Europe. “Our companies in the region are in a good position, so we are confident of being able to continue to expand our receivables purchasing activities in the new financial year.”
Higher sales revenues in North America
In North America, EOS was able to substantially increase its earnings from receivables purchases, despite a lower revenue overall of EUR 46.6 million. Solid investments in the USA were the key to this result. In Canada too, EOS was able to improve its result on a year-on-year basis in fiscal 2020/21 thanks to strict cost discipline. “The COVID-19 crisis hit the North American market hard, but we were in the position to offset the considerable loss of revenue on the earnings side through massive cost savings,” explains Dr. Andreas Witzig, member of the EOS Group’s Board of Directors with responsibility for North America.
About EOS Group
The EOS Group is one of the leading technology-driven financial investors and an expert in the processing of outstanding receivables. The company's core business is the purchase of unsecured and secured debt portfolios. With over 45 years of experience, EOS offers some 20,000 customers in 26 countries around the world smart services for all their receivables management needs. Its focus is on banks and companies from the real estate, telecommunications, energy supply and e-commerce sectors. EOS employs more than 6,800 people and is part of the Otto Group.
We use cookies on our website to enable you to have the best possible website visit. These include cookies that are necessary for the operation of the website, those that are only used for anonymous statistical purposes, cookies that are used for comfort settings and cookies that are used to provide you with personalized, interest-based content. You can decide yourself whether you want to allow the use of statistics, comfort, and marketing cookies. In addition, you can change/withdraw your consent at any time by clicking on the Change Cookies settings on the bottom of the website. Further information can be found in our Privacy Policy and in our Imprint.
Necessary
We use necessary cookies. These cookies are necessary for the operation and the basic functions of the website. In particular, they enable the security-relevant functioning of our website.
You can read about which cookies we use here.
Tool name
Cookieconsent_status
Tool provider
EOS Holding GmbH
Address of tool provider
Steindamm 71, 20099 Hamburg, Germany
Tool description
Essential cookie to save consent banner inputs.
Data processed
None
Purpose of data processing
To save consent
Retention period
60 days
Tool name
Java Session Cookie
Tool provider
EOS Holding GmbH
Address of tool provider
Steindamm 71, 20099 Hamburg
Tool description
Randomly generated session number essential for the proper functioning of the application software.
Data processed
None
Purpose of data processing
Proper functioning of website
Retention period
Session cookie – is deleted after you have closed your browser.
Comfort
If you allow comfort cookies, we can make use of our site easier for you. If you visit our website again to use our services, it will automatically be recognized that you already visited us and the entries and settings you made will automatically be recognized so that you do not have to enter them again.
You can read about which cookies we use here.
Tool name
Visitor
Tool provider
EOS Holding GmbH
Address of tool provider
Steindamm 71, 20099 Hamburg, Germany
Tool description
We use this cookie to make it easier for you to use this website.
Data processed
None
Purpose of data processing
Optimization, improvement of service
Retention period
Session cookie – is deleted after you have closed your browser.
Tool name
NEW_Visitor
Tool provider
EOS Holding GmbH
Address of tool provider
Steindamm 71, 20099 Hamburg, Germany
Tool description
We use this cookie to make it easier for you to use this website.
Data processed
None
Purpose of data processing
Optimization, improvement of service
Retention period
1 day
Statistics
We use statistical cookies to improve our offering and ensure a needs-based design and the continuous optimization of our website.
For this, we collect anonymized data for statistics and analytics, for example, to determine site traffic and user behavior and to adapt and improve our content and the website experience.
You can read about which cookies we use here.
Tool name
nmstat
Tool provider
Siteimprove GmbH
Address of tool provider
Rosenheimer Str. 143 C, 81671 Munich, Germany
Tool description
This cookie contains an ID character string for the current session. It contains non-personally identifiable information about which sub-pages the visitor enters – this information is used to optimize the user experience.
Data processed
None
Purpose of data processing
Analysis, statistics
Retention period
399 days
Tool name
AWSELB
Tool provider
Siteimprove GmbH
Address of tool provider
Rosenheimer Str. 143 C, 81671 Munich, Germany
Tool description
This cookie ensures that all statistics from the same session are captured contiguously.
Data processed
None
Purpose of data processing
Analysis, statistics
Retention period
Session end
Tool name
siteimproveses
Tool provider
Siteimprove GmbH
Address of tool provider
Rosenheimer Str. 143 C, 81671 Munich, Germany
Tool description
This cookie is used to track the sequence of pages viewed by the visitor during the website visit.
Data processed
None
Purpose of data processing
Analysis, website statistics
Retention period
Session cookie – is deleted after you have closed your browser.
Marketing
We use marketing cookies so that we can provide you with relevant and interest-based content when you visit our website.
You can read about which cookies we use here.
Tool name
Facebook Pixel
Tool provider
Meta Platforms Ireland Limited
Address of tool provider
4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin, D02, Ireland.
Tool description
Used by Meta to serve ads, measure and improve ad relevance, and offer advertising products on Meta.
Data processed
Ads Viewed | Pages Visited | Browser Information | Facebook Cookie Information | Facebook User ID | Geographic Location | Device Information | HTTP Header | Interactions with Ads, Services and Products | IP Address | Marketing Information | Usage Data & Behavior | Pixel ID | Referrer URL | User Agent
Purpose of data processing
Analysis | Conversion Tracking | Marketing | Social Media | Advertising
Retention period
__fbp (duration: 3 months)
Tool name
LinkedIn
Tool provider
LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company
Address of tool provider
LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland
Tool description
This cookie is used to obtain anonymized reports about the website target audience and the possibility of targeted advertising, e.g., in the context of retargeting.
Data processed
Device information, browser information, IP address, referrer URL and time stamp.
Purpose of data processing
Marketing, analysis, retargeting
Retention period
Cookie Name (duration: 90 days)
Tool name
Google Analytics
Tool provider
Google Ireland Limited
Address of tool provider
Google Building Gordon House, 4 Barrow St, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin 4, D04 V4X7, Irland
Tool description
Used to track website activity such as session duration, pages per session and the engagement rate of individuals using the site, along with the information on the source of the traffic
Data processed
Ads Viewed | Pages Visited | Browser Information | Facebook Cookie Information | Facebook User ID | Geographic Location | Device Information | HTTP Header | Interactions with Ads, Services and Products | IP Address | Marketing Information | Usage Data & Behavior | Pixel ID | Referrer URL | User Agent
Purpose of data processing
Ad personalization | Ad user data | Ad storage | Analytics storage