CEVA held its critical Annual General Meeting (AGM) this week. All resolutions were approved by shareholders. Among the key resolutions was the proposal to renew governance following CMA CGM’s successful completion of its Public Tender Offer to acquire CEVA.
Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CMA CGM, has been elected as Chairman of the CEVA Board of Directors, with Rolf Watter acting as Vice-Chairman.
Marvin O. Schlanger, Victor Balli, Dr. Rosalind Rivaz and John F. Smith did not stand for re-election.
Rolf Watter, Daniel Hurstel and Emanuel R. Pearlman were re-elected for a one-year term of office until the AGM 2020.
Three new Board members have been elected: Farid Salem, Michel Sirat and Béatrice de Clermont-Tonnerre.
The three independent directors are Rolf Watter, Manny Pearlman and Béatrice de Clermont-Tonnerre.
Finally, KPMG has been elected as the independent auditor for the next one year term of office until the AGM 2020.
After the settlement of the public tender offer and taking into account additional shares CMA CGM has subsequently purchased in the market, it now holds more than 98% of the share capital and voting rights of CEVA.
CEVA Extends China-Europe Route to Spain
CMA CGM will therefore proceed with the squeeze out procedure and will file the claim for cancellation of the remaining outstanding CEVA shares.
In the first quarter of 2019, revenue increased by 1.1% in constant currencies to $1,698 million.
On a reported basis, the revenue in the first quarter declined by 5.2% year-on-year due to negative translation of foreign currencies such as the BRL, the TRY, the EUR and the AUD into USD.
Revenue at Anji-CEVA Joint Venture (owned 50% by CEVA) amounted to $369 million, an increase of 6.6% compared to the same period of 2018. In constant currency, the revenue increased by 13.2%.
The Group’s EBITDA 1 was US$134 million in the first quarter of 2019. On a pre-IFRS 16 basis the Group’s EBITDA represented $36 million resulting in an EBITDA margin of 2.1%.
As of 31 March, 2019, the company had a net debt of US$2,427 million, representing on a pre-IFRS 16 basis US$1,266 million, down 43% compared to US$2,228 million as of 31 March, 2018.
CEVA experienced continued strong momentum with new business wins up 12% in the first quarter of 2019. Significant new contracts and extensions were won in the first three months.
Despite a challenging global environment in the beginning of the year, CEVA has performed in line with its roadmap and targets and achieved a number of productivity improvements.
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