JSC CleanR Grupa closes 2022 with EUR 68 million in consolidated turnover and starts nonfinancial reporting practice

CleanR Grupa (Group) has closed the economically and geopolitically challenging year of 2022 with stable financial results, with all key indicators showing growth. The last 12 months have been symbolic for the Group because of a change in its corporate structure, the Group’s Board Member Guntars Levics informed.

Notwithstanding the challenging economic circumstances and an unpredictable situation in the financial markets, the Group’s consolidated turnover grew by 26 percent, or EUR 14.2 million, reaching EUR 68 million in 2022.

Despite the significant cost increases seen in 2022 – a considerable rise in energy prices, which had a serious impact on the waste management business, and a pressure of inflation on wages and supply chains, which affected the environmental services business – the Group managed to raise its EBITDA by 5 percent to EUR 10.4 million.

Investments in production upgrades, modernization, and automation, as well as the development of waste sorting and recycling infrastructure totaled EUR 9.6 million last year, EUR 240,000 were disbursed to employees to mitigate the effects of the energy crisis and EUR 14.9 million were paid in taxes.

At the same time, 2022 was a special year for CleanR Grupa also because of strategically completed sustainability homework which included working out a medium-term sustainability strategy, which has been implemented according to the stakeholders` expectations, estimates of greenhouse gas emissions and the identification of taxonomy-relevant activities, affirming the sustainability of the Group’s operations in the environmental context. These activities have resulted in the publication of the Group’s first nonfinancial report, which is also the start of regular annual sustainability reporting to inform stakeholders and the public about the progress in achieving the Group’s defined goals.

Notably, CleanR Grupa is the first enterprise in the Latvian environmental services industry to release such a report. “Although in accordance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive CleanR Grupa as one of Latvia’s large enterprises is required to start regularly publishing sustainability reports from 2025, we have chosen to start doing it already now, even before it becomes a mandatory requirement. Companies of CleanR Grupa make up the foundation of Latvia’s circular economy, and this is possible primarily because we have set ourselves strict sustainability standards which we follow in our everyday operations,” says the Group’s Board Chairman Guntars Levics.

Last year the Group worked on preparing its medium-term Sustainability Strategy 2023-2025, and according to the expectations of the company’s impact parties and materiality analysis, Latvia’s leading group of environmental services companies has defined four prioritized sustainability areas: reduction of the climate impact and circularity solutions; employee development and wellbeing; accessibility of services, including innovation, digitalization and environmental education; as well as sustainable procurement and a responsible supply chain.

“The lessening of the climate impact and circularity solutions are already a part of our everyday work. In recent years we have taken significant steps in that direction by taking energy efficiency measures, for instance, introducing LED lights, replacing the heating systems, and investing over EUR 2.5 million in more environmentally friendly transport vehicles running on compressed natural gas. This year, we plan to replace nearly half of the Group’s transportation fleet with hybrid or electric vehicles,” Levics said.

He also stressed infrastructure as one of the most essential elements promoting the circular economy including waste sorting and recycling. So far, the Group’s companies have already automated a package sorting center and developed a construction material sorting and recycling center. Also, the CleanR plastic recycling plant, one of the most advanced facilities of this type in the Baltics, started operating at full capacity in 2023.

At the same time, the Group has been expanding waste sorting infrastructure for Latvia’s residents, including by offering innovative solutions. By the end of 2023, the Group plans to install 100 additional textiles containers in Riga, Pierīga and other municipalities serviced by CleanR, as well as to expand the construction of underground containers by apartment houses in Riga.

According to the CleanR Grupa’s board member, the number of the Group’s clients has surpassed 50,000 in all Latvia, while the number of residents served by the Group exceeds half a million. Already now, the Group has introduced various online self-service options including a mobile app, which was launched last year and serves as the Group’s unified client service platform Manai Videi. “Our goal is to provide 75 percent of the Group’s clients with convenient and accessible digital service options by 2025,” Levics added.

For the Group, 2022 has been a year of significant change and investments. Last year CleanR Grupa completed several acquisition deals, which included the purchase of a majority stake in JSC Zaļā josta, a provider of a producer responsibility system. The Group has thereby significantly strengthened its presence in the segment of responsibility systems for producers of packaging and environmentally harmful products.

To facilitate an even faster development and growth of the Group’s companies, in December 2022 CleanR Grupa raised EUR 15 million through a bond issue on the Nasdaq Riga First North stock exchange.

About JSC CleanR Grupa

CleanR Grupa operates Latvia’s leading environmental services companies. The Group includes household waste management company JSC CleanR, industrial waste management company JSC CleanR Verso, producer responsibility system provider JSC Zaļā josta, as well as environmental services companies: cleaning services provider JSC Vizii, urban environment manager JSC Vizii Urban, and apartment houses manager Vizii Domus.

For further media-related information, contact:

Zane Auziņa

Head of Public Relations at AS CleanR Grupa

E-mail: [email protected]

Mobile: +371 26119423