2020 Annual Report

HLEE Group closes fiscal 2020 positively despite coronavirus pandemic

HLEE Group looks back on a challenging year due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

• Consolidated sales amounted to CHF 414.7 million (previous year: CHF 505.6 million).
• Despite the pandemic-related reduction in sales, a positive operating result (EBIT) of CHF 17.4 million (previous year: CHF 32.5 million) was generated.
• Consolidated net profit was CHF 0.1 million (previous year: CHF 17.9 million).
• The equity ratio remained constant at 36.6 % (previous year: 37.0 %).

The consolidated total assets amounted to CHF 962.7 million.

Development of the operating segments in 2020

In the Film segment, the Constantin Film Group revised its targets in fiscal 2020 owing to the closure of movie theaters and the temporary suspension of shooting in conjunction with the national lockdowns in March and November. There were a total of six in-house and co-productions in theatrical production, including the in-house production "Caveman" and the productions "Hui Buh 2", "Resident Evil Reboot" and "Zwischen uns". Four movies were released in German movie theaters in theatrical distribution in the fiscal year, including "After We Collided". This movie ranked tenth on the German theatrical market in terms of audience in 2020. The exploitation of three of the four movies was interrupted by the second lockdown and the associated movie theater closures. Another four releases originally planned for the end of the year have not yet gone ahead owing to closures on account of the pandemic. These titles will be rescheduled and exploited after theaters reopen. Home entertainment exploitation retained a strong market position thanks to a balanced portfolio, including theatrical successes such as "Das perfekte Geheimnis" and "Die 3!!!". In TV exploitation/license trading, various license sales of in-house and third-party productions took place. "Black Beauty", a production originally intended for global theatrical exploitation, was sold to the streaming service Disney+. In free TV, sales were generated in particular by the start of initial licenses such as "Fack Ju Göhte 3" (Sat. 1). In the pay TV sector, there were also the initial licenses for "Das perfekte Geheimnis" (Sky) and "Der Vorname" (Sky).

In the Sport- and Event-Marketing segment, the TEAM group the development of commercial concepts and rights packages for the 2021/22 to 2023/24 cycle of the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, and the newly founded UEFA European Conference League in the reporting year.

After developing the marketing concept for the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for the period from 2023 to 2027, Highlight Event AG focused on selling the orchestra's media and marketing rights for this period.

In the reporting year, the Sports segment continued to focus on optimizing its portfolio of rights, improving and creating new digital content and marketing environments in addition to cross-platform content exploitation, networking and capitalization.

The second season of the World Boxing Super Series was completed successfully with the Cruiserweight final. The winner, Mairis Briedis, was voted "fighter of the year".

Outlook 2021

The Board of Directors continues to monitor the current COVID-19 situation this year and regularly reviewing the measures taken. Once the national COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted, however, the HLEE Group is ready to return to stable and economically successful business activities with major growth potential, including with a strong theatrical program in the Film segment, the new Bundesliga rights for the 2021/22 season onward and the start of the third season of the World Boxing Super Series in the Sports segment.

The Annual General Meeting for fiscal 2020 will take place in June 2021.

The detailed 2020 annual report is available at http://www.hlee.ch/Geschaeftsberichte.

Contact:
Highlight Event and Entertainment AG
Investor Relations
Netzibodenstrasse 23b
4133 Pratteln, Switzerland
Tel.: +41 41 226 05 97
Fax: +41 41 226 05 98

[email protected]
http://www.hlee.ch