Cobham SATCOM (formerly known as Thrane & Thrane A/S), a market-leading provider of radio and satellite communications solutions to the maritime and land markets, has today announced its 2020 year-end financial results, reporting positive growth despite a challenging year heavily impacted by COVID-19. The results are the first full end of year figures posted since the acquisition of Cobham by Advent International, one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors.
Successful transition following acquisition
January 2020 saw the formation of Cobham SATCOM Group (Cobham SATCOM) as a stand-alone business in the Cobham Group under the ownership of Advent International. Since then, Cobham SATCOM has embarked on a transitional journey, which led to the establishment of the new Group, and the optimization of investments in the land and maritime core businesses. As part of the transition, Cobham SATCOM successfully sold Cobham Aerospace ApS to Cobham Aerospace Communications at the end of 2020. In conjunction with this, Sea Tel, Inc. became a legal part of the Cobham SATCOM Group. Other priorities included the launch in 2020 of a digital transformation designed to transform Cobham SATCOM into a fully-fledged digitalized enterprise shaping the landscape for remote connectivity. The year also saw Leif Ottosson join the Cobham SATCOM board in connection with the Advent International acquisition. He was appointed CEO in January 2021.
Focus on growth, cost reductions and consolidation
Cobham SATCOM finished the 2020 financial year with revenues of TDKK 1,092,463. This is only a slight decrease of 5.5% compared to 2019, with the business facing significant challenges as a result of COVID-19. A strong focus on growth and cost-reducing measures resulted in an improvement in gross margins from 16.9% in 2019 to 29.4% in 2020, an EBITDA before special items of US$ 37.9m, and a very strong Balance Sheet with a solvency ratio of 64.3%, driven by the restructuring of the Group where all intercompany loans were re-paid.
Growth was driven by a strong performance from the land business which generated a solid growth of 42.8% compared to 2019, driven by new products and the completion of major significant installations in 2020. The Maritime business proved more sensitive to the pandemic, and revenue has decreased by 21.1% compared to 2019, primarily driven by changes in market demands in the first half of 2020. In the second half of the year, revenues recovered with an upwards trajectory in sales, which provides a strong baseline for 2021. In the coming year, Cobham SATCOM expects solid organic growth in revenue and increasing operating profit driven by the positive momentum in the maritime business by 2020-year end, as well as a number of new launches in 2021.
Management Commentary
Leif Ottosson, CEO of Cobham SATCOM Group (Cobham SATCOM), said: “2020 has been a truly most extraordinary year, which saw the formation of the Cobham SATCOM Group as a standalone business within the Cobham Group under the ownership of Advent International”.
“In a year where the world was challenged by the most severe pandemic of our lifetime, Cobham SATCOM managed to establish itself as a standalone business, improve its cost structure, return to growth and improve EBITDA before special items by more than 600%. This transformation is a direct result of the restructuring that has been undertaken, good growth in our land business, and the focus and dedication of each and every Cobham SATCOM colleague to continuously improve our performance and maintain our technology leadership in challenging times. I am proud of what we have achieved together in such a short period of time and I am confident that we will continue to deliver on our ambitious targets in 2021 and beyond.”