BEST S A : Group maintains high claim repayment level and launches new bond issue program

Repayments of claims due to BEST Capital Group in the fourth quarter of 2020 amounted to PLN 83.9 million, and in the entire last year they amounted to PLN 328.3 million, up by 15% and 25% YOY respectively.

BEST is preparing for major purchases of new claim portfolios. The Company's Management Board has launched a public bond issue programme with a total nominal value of up to PLN 200 million. A prospectus for the programme will soon be submitted to the KNF.

Total repayments from claim portfolios managed by BEST CG in the fourth quarter of 2020 amounted to PLN 93.6 million (+14% YOY), and over the whole year they amounted to PLN 365.4 million (+22% YOY).

- 2020 was a time of great market uncertainty in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we closed the year with a high repayment level of claims, which increased by as much as 25% compared to 2019. Despite low investments in new portfolios, our repayments from the managed portfolios have remained at a high level as a result of factors such as optimal collection strategies and cautious portfolio buying decisions in the previous years. This result also confirms high effectiveness and operating efficiency of BEST Capital Group - commented Krzysztof Borusowski, President of the Management Board of BEST.

In 2020, BEST CG invested PLN 10.1 million in new claim portfolios and the total nominal value of the acquired portfolios was PLN 75.3 million.

- We are expecting a significant recovery in the claims market to start in the second half of 2021. In the first half of last year, the claims market was almost completely brough to a standstill as a result of the pandemic, and earlier we had already downscaled our purchases due to the turbulence caused by the GetBack scandal and legislative changes in the rules of claiming repayments in court and enforcement proceedings introduced in 2018-2019. We could already see the first signs of the recovery at the end of the previous year. We believe that the increased supply of non-performing debt will lead to a drop in prices, creating a good environment for us to invest. This is why we are preparing for the recently announced issue of new bonds. Combined with an increase of the credit limit to PLN 250 million, it will allow us to return to the levels of investment seen in 2016-2018 - said Krzysztof Borusowski.

On Wednesday, 13 January, the Management Board of BEST adopted a resolution to establish a public bond issue programme with a total nominal value of up to PLN 200 million.

- We are finalising our work on the prospectus. We are planning to submit it to the Polish Financial Supervision Authority in the coming days - announced the President of the Management Board of BEST.

BEST has been an active participant of the corporate bonds market for over a decade. In that time, BEST CG issued bonds with a total nominal value of PLN 1,044 million, of which PLN 747 million have been repaid.

- Last year alone, we redeemed bonds worth a total of PLN 226 million, some of them before the set date. These were mainly bonds issued as part of public offerings 2015-2016. I expect that many investors who bought our bonds in the past will also be interested in acquiring BEST's debt securities this time. I am confident that BEST will continue to be seen as an attractive and safe issuer of bonds. Our Group's good financial standing is confirmed by the high level of repayments from the managed portfolios, accompanied by one of the lowest debt ratios in the industry - said Krzysztof Borusowski.

At the end of September, BEST's net debt to equity ratio was 1.00, while the maximum permissible level of this ratio specified in the terms of issue of the Company's bonds is 2.50.

Repayments under claim portfolios and investments in new portfolios

Information about BEST S.A.

BEST Capital Group is one of the largest debt collection companies in Poland, and it invests actively in non-performing claim portfolios using securitisation funds. BEST S.A. has been listed at the Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW) since 1997.

BEST S.A., as a member and co-founder of the Association of Financial Companies in Poland, and a co-founder and moderator of the Good Debt Collection Practice actively contributes to the development and shaping of the claims market in Poland.

In 2019, BEST Capital Group's operating revenues amounted to more than PLN 222 million, and full cash EBITDA exceeded PLN 223 million. The carrying amount of the managed claim portfolios at the end of 2019 was nearly PLN 1.0 billion.

This advertisement is published in connection with the public offer of bonds issued by BEST S.A. (Issuer) as part of the Issuer's issue programme. The only legally binding document concerning the issue of bonds by the Issuer as part of the issue programme is the base prospectus, which, once approved by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, along with supplements and updates to the base prospectus and the final terms of issue for the respective given series of bonds, will be published on the Issuer's website (www.best.com.pl).