The level of Group performance in the context of a global health crisis proves the strength of Rexel s economic model and the validity of the strategic choices made over the past four years, particularly the investments in digital technology and the sales force in order to enable Rexel to evolve from a pure retailer logistics coordinator to a data-driven services and solutions company.
And I would like to take this
opportunity to express my deep
gratitude to all Rexel employees for the
extraordinary dedication they showed
to serving our customers and the
greater community.
A solid financial performance
Next, resilience, because this
remarkable mobilization had, and
continues to have, a major impact
on the quality of our results. While
the first weeks after the start of the pandemic witnessed a sharp drop
in activity, our teams efforts swiftly
enabled us to rectify the situation
and deliver a financial performance for the year that surpassed
expectations. Our annual sales, at
around ¤12.6 billion, are only down 6.5% on a constant basis. Our Adjusted
EBITA margin comes to 4.2% with a
limited margin decline of 78 bps thanks
to our proven ability to control our
costs. We considerably increased
our free cash flow, which reached ¤613 million, an improvement of ¤151 million in one year. This enabled us to lower
our debt to ¤1.3 billion, a decrease of ¤611 million for the year, and our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio reached 2.14
times. Thus, our debt and our debt ratio
alike reached their lowest point since
Rexel s initial public offering in 2007.
A resilient business model
Finally, solidity, because this level of
performance in the context of a global
health crisis proves the strength of
Rexel s economic model and the validity