In the first half of 2021, SIA Group recorded revenues of €260 million from Card & Merchant Solutions, up 16.7% on the same period of 2020

In the first half of 2021, SIA Group reported revenues of €381.6 million, up 13.6% YoY, „entirely on an organic basis”, the company says. Revenues maintained a geographical diversification in line with 2020 (approximately 70% in Italy and 30% abroad), according to the press release.

EBITDA amounted to €145.7 million, up 28.1% on the same period last year, with an EBITDA margin of 38% up 4% over the first half of 2020, driven by payment transaction volumes returning to pre-Covid 19 growth levels.

If variable incentives, not yet defined as of 30 June 2021, to be paid to some customers are taken into account, revenue growth stands at 12.7% and EBITDA growth at 25.4%.

At the level of the market segments in which SIA Group operates, the following results were obtained in the first half of the year:

Card & Merchant Solutions, representing 68% of the total revenues generated by the Group – approximately split between activities linked to issuing (63%) and acquiring (37%) services – recorded revenues of €260 million, up 16.7% on the same period of 2020. In the first half, the segment benefited from a significant growth in revenues mainly related to issuing transactions (+8% YoY), thanks to the positive trend in volumes and the startup of services for new customers;

Digital Payments Solutions, representing 20% of the Group’s total revenues, recorded revenues of €76.2 million, up 8.3% on the same period of 2020. The segment was positively impacted by the performance of revenues from volumes managed in particular in Clearing and Gateway services (+19% YoY) and the development of projects in the Clearing and Public Sector areas;

Capital Market & Network Solutions, representing 12% of the Group’s total revenues, reported revenues of €45.4 million, up 6.3% on the same period of 2020, due to growth in Network Services volumes (up 241% YoY).

In the first half of 2021, costs amounted to €235.9 million, an increase of 6.2% YoY compared to the same period in 2020.

Group’s normalized earnings reached €59.2 million, a significant increase compared to the first half of 2020 (+52.6%).

As of 30 June 2021, Net Financial Debt amounted to €910.4 million, compared to €919.1 million at 31 March 2020. The net debt/EBITDA ratio as of June 2021 was 2.9x, down from 3.2x in the previous quarter.

„SIA has displayed a high degree of resilience in its business model and its ability to seize the positive trends in the payments segment as well as to initiate and complete new partnerships with banks and major corporates, despite the current ever-changing scenario and the inevitable uncertainty surrounding the speed of recovery,” the company explains.