ESPI 18/2020 Receiving a substantial financial subsidy

Management Board of IMS S.A. (“Company”, “Issuer”) hereby informs that on 13 May 2020 it received information that the Company was granted a subsidy of PLN 2.978.000 from the Polish Development Fund under the PDF Small and Medium Enterprises Financial Shield Programme (“Programme”) launched on 29 April 2020. Previously, three subsidiaries of the Issuer – IMS r&d Sp. z o.o., IMS events Sp. z o.o. and APR Sp. z o.o. – received subsidies in the amounts of PLN 380.000, 265.000 and 299.000 respectively.

Subsidies are subject to be repaid in 24 equal monthly installments, starting from the 13th calendar month, counting from the first full calendar month after the date of granting the subsidy. Basing on the conditions included in the regulations of the Programme, the Board of the Issuer estimates that about 50% of the received amounts of the subsidy, i.e. a total of approximately 2 million PLN, will be remitted.

ESPI 17/2020 Change in the date of publication of annual reports for 2019

The Management Board of IMS S.A. informs about the change of the date of publication of the separate annual report for 2019 and consolidated annual report for 2019. Both reports will be published on 20 May 2020, not as the Company informed on 8 May 2020. (according to current report no. 16/2020 of 27 April 2020). Change of the date of the publication of the reports results from the high involvement of the financial department of IMS S.A. in developing tools to support IMS Group companies in connection with the coronavirus pandemic.

At the same time, the Management Board of IMS S.A. informs that the final financial results for 2019 have not changed significantly in relation to the estimates for 2019 published on 10 February this year in current report no. 6/2020 (the differences are not greater than +/- PLN 0.1 million).

Detailed legal basis: §80 section 2 of the Regulation of the Minister of Finance of 29 March 2018 on the current and periodic information and § 21 section 3 of the Regulation of the Minister of Finance on the determination of other deadlines for the fulfilment of certain reporting and information obligations of 7 April 2020. (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 622 in connection).

ESPI 16/2020 Change in the date of publication of annual reports for 2019

The Management Board of IMS S.A. informs about the change of the date of publication of the separate annual report for 2019 and consolidated annual report for 2019. Both reports will be published on 8 May 2020, not as the Company informed on 29 April 2020. (according to current report no. 13/2020 of 24 March 2020). Change of the date of the publication of the reports results from the high involvement of the financial department of IMS S.A. in developing tools to support IMS Group companies in connection with the coronavirus pandemic.

At the same time, the Management Board of IMS S.A. informs that the final financial results for 2019 have not changed significantly in relation to the estimates for 2019 published on 10 February this year in current report no. 6/2020 (the differences are not greater than +/- PLN 0.1 million).

Detailed legal basis: §80 section 2 of the Regulation of the Minister of Finance of 29 March 2018 on the current and periodic information and § 21 section 3 of the Regulation of the Minister of Finance on the determination of other deadlines for the fulfilment of certain reporting and information obligations of 7 April 2020. (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 622 in connection).

ESPI 15/2020 Information on dividend policy

Management Board of IMS S.A. (“Company”, “Issuer”) announces the suspension of the Company’s dividend policy in relation to 2019 (i.e. the dividend paid in 2020).
The suspension of the applied dividend policy results from a widespread coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the Issuer’s activity (the Issuer informed about it in current reports no. 12/2020 and 14/2020). Thus, the Management Board revokes its recommendation concerning the payment of dividend for 2019 published in Current Report No. 6/2020.
The Management Board will inform the Ordinary General Meeting (“OGM”) on the date of convening the OGM whether and, if so, in what amount the Management Board will recommend the payment of dividend for 2019. The decision will depend on the current situation related to the coronavirus pandemic and the predictions concerning the economic situation in the future.

ESPI 14/2020 Information on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the activities of the IMS Capital Group – update

Management Board of IMS S.A. (“Company”, “Issuer”), with reference to current report no. 12/2020 of 16th March 2012, informs about current situation of IMS Group:

I.   Sales and liquidity

January and February were the “standard” sales months. In March, with the lockdown lasting for 58% of the month days, IMS Group companies recorded a decrease in sales compared to February at the level of  5%-20%. The exception is IMS Events, where due to the specifics of the industry, basically all events were cancelled. Here, the decrease was over 80% (however, only by 77 thousand PLN in money terms). The key factor from the point of view of IMS Group is that we are maintaining the level of subscription locations. Customers generally do not terminate their subscription contracts, they expect mainly price discounts or temporary suspension of service – this applies to customers who, as a result of a decision of the state authorities, have had to close their outlets. On the other hand, a large number of advertising customers declare that the money unspent so far will be spent as soon as the shopping centres begin to operate normally. 

IMS Group has unused credit lines of PLN 15 million available at the time of publication of this current report. Despite their maturity being  in July this year,  the Issuer’s Management Board, in order to ensure the financial security for the organization, has already started taking actions concerning extension of the said credit lines’ periods.

II.  Austerity measures

The following austerity measures have been widely and efficiently implemented:

A/ Restructuring of employment. Employment in the entire IMS Group was reduced by 30 people (approx. 20% of the total). In addition, salaries were reduced for all employees in the entire IMS Group. Estimated savings from the above mentioned employment reduction measures are PLN 480 thousand per month. Applications for the government workplace subsidies have been submitted for the period between April and June. The estimated monthly subsidy amount is PLN 70 thousand. The total savings concerning the employment plus the subsidy for workplaces constitute more than 50% of the IMS Group’s monthly expenditure on fixed wages. The payment of all previously unpaid bonuses was suspended.

B/ Negotiations with suppliers. In the second half of March, we started renegotiating all possible costs in all the Group companies. Most of the companies cooperating with were very cooperative and agreed to various discounts and rebates. The discounts we obtained at the moment amount nearly to 100 thousand PLN/month in the period between April and June.

The Issuer’s Management Board follows the information concerning the so-called anti-crisis shield and the possibility of using various types of public support by IMS Group companies on a current basis. 

III.   Employees, functioning of the organisation 

The IMS Group is functioning normally. The vast majority of our employees are working from. We are working all the time with our customers regarding sales and payments. Even in times of crisis we are acquiring new customers and signing contracts for new subscription locations.

ESPI 13/2020 Change of the date of publication of annual reports for 2019

The Board of Directors of IMS S.A. informs about the change of the date for publication of the separate and consolidated annual reports for year 2019. Both reports will be published on 29th April 2020 and not on 31st March 2020 as the Company originally informed (according to current report No. 1/2020 of 20th January 2020).

Detailed legal basis: §80 paragraph 2 of the Regulation on current and periodic information.

ESPI 12/2020 Information regarding the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the operations of the IMS Capital Group

The Board of Directors of IMS S.A. (“Company”, “Issuer”) in connection with the recommendation of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the Polish Financial Supervision Authority informs about the effects of the spread of SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus causing COVID-19 disease on the Issuer’s operations and financial results. In line with the assessment as at 16 March 2020, the Issuer expects that the coronavirus pandemic may affect adversely (at leasts in short term – 2-4 month outlook) the financial results and operations of the IMS Capital Group (“IMS Group”). The effects cannot be estimated as at the date of preparation of this report and depend on factors which remain beyond the Issuer’s control. In particular, the coronavirus pandemic may affect adversely revenues from advertising services rendered mostly in shopping centres and event related operations. At the same time, it is not possible to estimate the potential effect of the government assistance on the situation and results of the IMS Group.

The Board of Directors of the Issuer will analyse the situation connected with the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the operations and financial results of the IMS Group on an ongoing basis. Any new circumstances, having a significant effect on the financial results and the economic position of the Issuer will be published in separate communications.

ESPI 10/2020 Completion of the 1st Tranche of the Own Shares Buy-back Programme

The Board of Directors of IMS S.A. (“Company”, “Issuer”) with reference to current reports No. 4/2020 of 03.02.2020 and 5/2020 of 04.02.2020 informs that on 27th February this year the buy-back of own shares within the 1st Tranche of the Own Shares Buy-back Programme executed under Resolution No.10 of the Extraordinary General Meeting of 21 January 2020 was completed and cleared.

Within this Tranche the Company acquired 325,000 shares of the total nominal value of PLN 6,500, representing 1.00% of the Issuer’s share capital and giving right to 325,000 votes in the GM (1.00% of total votes). The shares were acquired by the Company at the price of PLN 4.00 per share. In line with the provision of Resolution No.10 of 21 January 2020 of the Extraordinary General Meeting of IMS S.A. own shares of the Company were acquired to be redeemed.

As at 27 February 2020 the Issuer holds the total of 1,274,245 own shares with the nominal value of PLN 25,484.90, of which:

– 949,245 shares, which in line with the resolution of the EGM of 21 January this year are subject to redemption,

– 325,000 own shares acquired in the above mentioned Tranche.

The Issuer, pursuant to Article 364 section 2 of the Commercial Companies Code, does not exercise its right to vote from own shares held.

Detailed legal basis: Article 2 paragraphs 2 and 3 of the COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2016/1052

ESPI 8/2020 IMS S.A. Board Member resignation

The Board of Directors of IMS S.A. (“Company”) informs that on 24 February 2020 Mr Wojciech Grendziński tendered his resignation from the position of the Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Company effective from 31 May this year. The resignation was tendered for personal reasons.

Detailed legal basis:

§5(4) combined with §9 of the Regulations of the Minister of Finance on current and periodic information published by issuers of securities and conditions for recognition as equivalent the information required by laws of non-EU member states.