Corporate News from 30 September 2021

HMS Bergbau AG: Strong half-year result 2021 in challenging market environment

- Total output 1HY 2021: +27.3% to EUR 164.9 million

- EBITDA 1HY 2021: EUR 944 thousand after EUR 552 thousand in 1HY 2020

- Equity ratio of 24.7 percent as at 30 June 2021

- 2021: HMS Bergbau AG again certified as CO₂-friendly company

- Positive overall outlook

Berlin, 30 September 2021: HMS Bergbau AG, one of the leading independent raw materials trading and marketing companies in Germany, today published its 2021 half-year report.

Amid a pandemic market environment characterised by internationally successful vaccination campaigns and strong global economic recovery effects, demand for raw materials has also developed positively. As a result, raw material prices have risen continuously in the first eight months of the current 2021 financial year, in some cases to new record highs.

In this challenging market environment, we as an international commodity trader were able to further expand our trading activities in the commodities coal, metal ores, lithium and beryllium, as well as in the cement and fertilizer sectors during the first half of 2021. At the same time, we strengthened the trading business operated by HMS Bergbau AG in Asia and Africa, where the Group once again generated more than 90 per cent of its volumes traded.

Overall, the Group's total output in the first six months of 2021 increased by a significant 27.3 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year. In addition to the increase in sales from EUR 35.4 million to around EUR 164.9 million, which was driven by higher volumes and price increases, the earnings situation also improved. EBITDA in the first half of 2021 amounted to around EUR 944 thousand, compared to EUR 552 thousand in the first half of 2020. The equity ratio was a solid 24.7 per cent as at 30 June 2021.

As part of our strategy of becoming a vertically integrated, international raw materials trading group, we acquired a 51 per cent interest in Maatla Resources (Pty.) Ltd, a project company in Botswana, in April 2021. In addition to deepening the value chain by mining its own raw material deposits amounting to 1.2 million tons of coal per year, HMS Bergbau AG also secured the global marketing rights after the mine is commissioned.

In addition, a bond totalling EUR 8 million was placed as part of a private placement. The proceeds from this placement are to be invested primarily in operating activities as well as in new and existing project developments.

The HMS Bergbau AG Group will continue to operate in a sustainable and responsible manner in 2021. As in the previous year, the entire HMS Group offset its administrative and internal operating CO₂ emissions by investing in international climate protection projects. The Group's goal is to reduce greenhouse gases on a sustainable basis, which has earned HMS Bergbau AG certification as a CO₂-friendly company since 2020. In achieving this goal, HMS Bergbau AG takes the Paris Climate Agreement into account in conducting its operational activities and will also continue to make an active contribution to climate protection by supporting international climate protection projects.

The HMS Group believes it is well positioned with its global activities with on-site presence in a market with steadily increasing world energy consumption. China, Indonesia, and India will continue to be significant consumers of coal. Coal tends to provide flexible power production and supply for these developing countries, without which less prosperity and economic growth could be realised.

Overall, the management of HMS Bergbau AG views the medium-term outlook as positive. Accordingly, the Group aims for higher earnings and sales volumes in the years ahead.

The Management Board

About HMS Bergbau AG:

HMS Bergbau AG, Berlin, is one of the leading independent commodity trading and marketing companies in Germany. Its core business is the international buying and selling of coal and raw materials such as ores, fertilizers and cement products. Customers include renowned international power producers and industrial consumers, to whom raw materials are delivered in-time worldwide. HMS Bergbau AG, which is primarily active in Asia, Africa and Europe, also develops first-class commodity reserves. The Company holds exploration licences for Silesian coal deposits through its Polish subsidiary, Silesian Coal International Group of Companies S.A. Furthermore, the Company provides complex transport solutions for its customers. Founded in 1995, HMS Bergbau AG is listed on the Basic Board of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.