32. Financial Instruments

Classification of financial assets and financial liabilities

The classification of financial assets is based on the entity’s business model for their management and the contractual cash flow characteristics of the assets.

Measuring debt instruments at amortized cost is only permitted if a financial asset is held within a business model whose objective is to generate contractual cash flows from the asset and the contractual arrangements provide fixed dates for the payments. In addition, these payments must be solely payments of principal and interest.

If not all these criteria are met, the measurement must be at fair value. There is an irrevocable option to measure equity instruments not held for trading at fair value through other comprehensive income. In this case, all changes in value, with the exception of dividends, must be presented in other comprehensive income without the option of reclassification to profit or loss.

Carrying amounts and fair values of financial instruments by class, line item in the statement of financial position and measurement category under IFRS 9

In the tables shown on the following pages, the financial instruments are listed according to the above criteria, including the indication of their level in the fair value hierarchy. The measurement categories are described in notes 16 and 18 and in the “Derivative financial instruments” section.

Classification to the levels of the fair value hierarchy is based on the measurement methods used and is described in note 1 in the “Determination of fair values” section.

Carrying amounts of financial instruments classified by line item in the statement of financial position, class and category

The non-current financial assets included equity instruments of EUR 527 thousand (previous year: EUR 535 thousand) for which BLG LOGISTICS has exercised the option to recognize changes in fair value through other comprehensive income. These are immaterial investments in corporations for which there is no active market and the fair value cannot be reliably determined using measurement methods. Cost is therefore the best estimate of fair value.

No shares in these corporations were derecognized or sold in the reporting year. There are no plans to sell or derecognize parts of the reported equity investments in the near future.

Current finance receivables related to profit shares from partnerships classified as debt instruments. As the profit shares are not capital repayments but capital returns, they were measured at fair value through profit or loss.

With the exception of non-current bank loans and other financial loans, there were no significant differences between the carrying amounts and fair values of the financial instruments. The carrying amounts of trade receivables, current finance receivables, miscellaneous other finance receivables and cash and cash equivalents essentially corresponded to their fair values on account of their short-term nature. The investments in affiliated companies and current finance receivables from shareholder accounts were already measured at fair value, so there was no deviation from the carrying amount here. The carrying amounts of trade payables, current financial liabilities and other current financial liabilities essentially corresponded to their fair values on account of their short-term nature.

The following significant methods and assumptions were used to determine the level 3 fair values:

The fair values were determined using the discounted cash flow method based on the expected future cash flows and current interest rates for comparable financing arrangements that are either directly or indirectly observable on the market.

The yield curve of risk-free German government bonds plus a company-specific, matched-term risk premium was used as the market interest rate. With installment payment arrangements, the risk premium over the average maturity was taken into account.

The level 2 fair values of derivative financial instruments were based on external fair value measurements. The variable cash flows were determined using the forward rates of the benchmark rates used for the hedging instruments. The credit spread is not part of the hedging relationship.

The finance receivables measured at fair value in Level 3 relate to the recognition of profit shares of partnerships (see note 16), so that a separate measurement method was not applied here, as the recognition is derived from the respective financial statements and ownership interests in the partnerships.

The receivables developed as follows:

Movements between the different levels of the fair value hierarchy are recognized at the end of the reporting period in which they occur. In the reporting year, no movements occurred.

Net earnings by measurement category

The following net earnings were attributable to the measurement categories of the financial instruments:

Objectives and methods of financial risk management

The principal financial instruments used to finance the Group include non-current loans, current borrowings, lease liabilities, other borrowings, factoring and cash, including short-term deposits with banks. The focus is on financing the operations of BLG LOGISTICS. BLG LOGISTICS has access to a range of other financial instruments, such as trade receivables and payables, that arise directly as part of its operations.

Financial risk management is the responsibility of the Treasury department, whose tasks and objectives are described in a guideline adopted by the Board of Management. The central task besides managing liquidity and arranging financing is the minimization of financial risks at Group level. This includes preparing and analyzing financing and hedging strategies and contracting hedging instruments.

The Group’s principal risks resulting from financial instruments, which are presented in the following, consist of credit risks, foreign currency risks, liquidity risks and interest rate risks. The Board of Management has adopted a risk management guideline aimed at identifying and monitoring risks from an early stage. At Group level, the existing market price risk for all financial instruments is also monitored.

Hedge accounting is applied if derivative financial instruments are used as hedging instruments and the requirements for hedge accounting in accordance with IFRS 9 are met. The objective is to reduce inconsistencies in recognition or measurement arising for example from gains or losses from a hedging instrument not being credited or charged to the same account in the financial statements as the gains or losses from the hedged risk. The Group’s accounting policies for derivatives and other disclosures on hedge accounting are presented in the “Derivative financial instruments” section.

Credit risk

The Group’s credit risk mainly results from trade receivables and lease receivables. The amounts shown in the combined statement of financial position do not include allowance accounts for expected credit losses. Owing to the ongoing monitoring of receivables at management level and the use of commercial credit insurance depending on customer creditworthiness, we are not currently exposed to any significant credit risk. Disclosures related to credit risk and expected credit losses from trade receivables and lease receivables are contained in notes 16 and 18.

The credit risk in respect of cash and derivative financial instruments is limited because these are currently held exclusively at banks that have been awarded high credit ratings from international rating agencies, which are highly secure thanks to a joint liability scheme and/or at which there are offsetting opportunities via non-current loans.

The maximum credit risk of the Group is represented by the carrying amounts of the financial assets recognized in the statement of financial position (including derivative financial instruments with positive fair value). The Group is also exposed to credit risk through the acquisition of financial guarantees; at the end of the reporting period, this amounted to a maximum of EUR 29 thousand (previous year: EUR 48 thousand). At the reporting date, there were no significant credit risk mitigation agreements or hedges.

There are no significant concentrations of credit risk in the Group.

Impairment of financial instruments

At BLG LOGISTICS, the impairment requirements apply to financial assets measured at amortized cost, lease receivables and contract assets. They are reported in the net gains/losses from impairment. In addition, this item includes impairment of equity instruments measured at fair value through profit or loss. In these cases, the impairment is the difference between cost and fair value of the equity instrument in question.

Foreign currency risk

With very few exceptions, the Group companies operate in the eurozone and invoice only in euros. In this respect, currency risk could only arise in isolated cases, such as from foreign dividend income or the purchase of goods and services from abroad. An interest rate and currency swap has been concluded to hedge against the foreign currency risk from a variable USD loan granted in the context of Group financing. Further information is presented in the “Derivative financial instruments” section.

As of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, there were no significant currency risks in the Group.

Capital risk management

An important capital management goal for BLG LOGISTICS is to ensure the ability of the company to continue as a going concern in order to provide income to shareholders and to provide other stakeholders with the benefits to which they are entitled. Additional goals are to optimize liquidity security and maintain an optimum capital structure in order to reduce the costs of capital in general and the refinancing risk in particular in the long term.

BLG LOGISTICS monitors its capital on the basis of the equity ratio and other key performance indicators. Assurances have been made to all partner banks with regard to equal treatment and the change-of-control clause.

In 2023, the strategy continued to be to secure access to external funds at acceptable costs.

In the reporting year, equity increased from EUR 277,727 thousand to EUR 285,677 thousand; while total assets decreased slightly from EUR 1,336,518 thousand to EUR 1,317,368 thousand. Accordingly, the equity ratio improved from 20.8 percent to 21.7 percent. This is attributable in particular to the positive combined comprehensive income. This was contrasted with effects from the remeasurement of pension provisions in the amount of EUR -11,461 thousand as well as changes in the measurement of derivatives used as hedging instruments in cash flow hedges in the amount of EUR -5,582. The effects were recognized in other comprehensive income and relate to both fully consolidated companies and companies accounted for using the equity method, taking into account deferred taxes. The goal is to achieve an equity ratio of 30 percent.

Liquidity risk

Liquidity risks may arise from payment bottlenecks and the resulting higher financing costs. The Group’s liquidity is ensured by central cash management at the level of BLG KG. All significant subsidiaries are included in cash management. Due to the centralized management of capital expenditure and credit management, financial resources (loans/leases) can be provided in good time to meet all payment requirements.

The Group’s liquidity needs are covered by cash and committed credit facilities. As of December 31, 2023, the Group had unused current account credit facilities of around EUR 77 million (previous year: around EUR 63 million).

Measures designed to achieve BLG LOGISTICS’ sustainability targets are also attractive for potential lenders and can be criteria for granting loans. Our sustainability measures are thus a factor in ensuring that we can meet our liquidity requirements in the future.

In parallel, the BLG Group uses the non-recourse sale of receivables under a factoring agreement as an off-statement of financial position financing instrument to further optimize the structure of the statement of financial position. The obligations of the factor to purchase existing and future receivables are limited to a total maximum amount of EUR 75 million. BLG LOGISTICS is free to decide to what extent the revolving nominal volume is utilized. The risks material to disposal relate to the credit risk and the risk of late payment (late payment risk). The credit risk is transferred in full to the factor in return for payment of a factoring fee. There is no significant late payment risk. The receivables were therefore derecognized in full. The cash flows from factoring were recognized accordingly in cash flows from operating activities through the change in trade receivables. In connection with the ongoing engagement, the BLG Group recognized expenses (factoring fee, interest) in the amount of EUR 1,136 thousand (previous year EUR 321 thousand). The nominal volume of the receivables sold as of December 31, 2023 amounted to EUR 51.9 million (previous year: EUR 50.1 million).

The following tables show the contractually arranged (undiscounted) interest payments and principal repayments of non-current financial liabilities and derivative financial instruments (interest rate swaps).

All non-current financial instruments held at the end of the reporting period and for which payments had been contractually arranged were included here. Budget figures for future new liabilities are not included; current liabilities with maturities of up to one year were disclosed in the notes to the individual items in the statement of financial position.

The floating interest payments from financial instruments were calculated using the last interest rate fixed before the end of the reporting period.

Interest rate risk

The interest rate risk to which BLG LOGISTICS is exposed arises primarily from non-current loans and other non-current financial liabilities. Interest rate risks are managed with a combination of fixed-interest and floating-interest loan capital. The majority of the liabilities to banks have been concluded over the long term or fixed interest rates have been agreed through to the end of the financing term, either originally as part of the loan agreements or via interest rate swaps which have been concluded within micro-hedges for individual floating-interest loans. In addition, while interest rates were low and attractive for investments, a portion of the financing requirement of the coming years was hedged in the prior years by agreeing forward interest rate swaps. Of the loans with a total volume of EUR 90 million in tranches of up to EUR 15 million each, EUR 75 million has already been taken out with partner banks, starting in 2019. Further information is presented in the “Derivative financial instruments” section.

Interest rate risks are disclosed via sensitivity analyses in accordance with IFRS 7. These show the effects of changes in the market interest rate on interest payments, interest income and expenses, other income items and on equity. The interest rate sensitivity analyses are based on the following assumptions.

With regard to non-derivative financial instruments with fixed interest rates, market interest rate changes are only recognized through profit or loss if these financial instruments are measured at fair value. All fixed-interest financial instruments measured at amortized cost are not subject to interest rate risks within the meaning of IFRS 7. This applies to all fixed-interest loan liabilities of BLG LOGISTICS, including lease liabilities and other borrowings. When hedging interest rate risks in the form of cash flow hedge-designated interest rate swaps, changes to the cash flows and to the contributions to earnings induced by changes to the market interest rate of the hedged primary financial instruments and the interest rate swaps balance each other out almost completely, effectively eliminating the interest rate risk.

Gains or losses from remeasurement of hedging instruments to fair value are credited or charged directly to the hedging reserve in equity and are therefore included in the equity-related sensitivity calculation. Changes in the market interest rate of non-derivative variable-interest financial instruments whose interest payments are not structured as hedged items as part of cash flow hedges against interest rate risks have an effect on net interest income (expense) and are therefore included in the calculation of income-related sensitivities.

The same applies to interest payments from interest rate swaps which are, as an exception, not contained in a hedge accounting relationship in accordance with IFRS 9. In the case of these interest rate swaps, market interest rate changes also have an effect on the fair value and thus affect the remeasurement of financial assets or financial liabilities to fair value and are therefore included in the income-related sensitivity analysis.

If the market interest rate at the end of each reporting period had been 100 basis points higher (lower), it would have had the effects shown in the following table on earnings before taxes and on equity (before deferred taxes):

Fixed interest financial instruments

Fixed interest rates have been agreed for the following loans and other financial instruments. BLG LOGISTICS is thus exposed to interest rate risk for the fair value.

Lease liabilities are discounted using the interest rate implicit in the lease, if that rate can be determined. Alternatively, they are discounted at the incremental borrowing rate. The discount rate corresponds to the interest rate determined at the commencement date of the lease, unless a reassessment requires a remeasurement of the lease liabilities using a changed discount rate. This is the case if changes in the estimate regarding exercise or non-exercise of purchase, extension or termination options arise or changes to the scope, amount of contractual payments or the term of the lease are agreed.

Floating rate financial instruments

Floating interest rates have been agreed for the following financial instruments. The Group is thus exposed to interest rate risk for the cash flows. The corresponding interest rate swaps are shown with a negative sign, as the interest rate risk offsets the interest rate risk from the loans taken out.

There is an interest rate swap for a future loan, which is presented in the “Derivative financial instruments” section.

The Group’s other financial instruments, which are not included in the tables, are not subject to significant interest rate risk.

Derivative financial instruments

A prerequisite for the use of derivatives is the existence of a risk to be hedged. However, open derivative positions may arise in connection with hedging transactions in which the underlying transaction no longer exists or does not arise as planned. Interest rate derivatives are used exclusively to optimize loan conditions and to limit interest rate risks from floating interest payments in the context of financing strategies with matching maturities (cash flow hedges). Derivatives to hedge foreign currency risks are used exclusively to limit foreign currency risk in connection with financing in foreign currencies (cash flow hedges). Derivatives are not used for trading or speculative purposes.

The Group has set a hedging ratio of 1:1 for all hedging relationships. Premiums for country or credit risks (credit spread or foreign currency basis spread) are not part of the hedging relationships. Hedging costs are initially recognized in the hedge reserve in equity and reclassified to profit or loss over the term of the hedging relationship.

The existence of the economic relationship between the hedged items and the hedging instruments for assessing the hedge effectiveness is determined prospectively on the basis of significant features such as nominal amount, benchmark rate and maturity. Ineffectiveness is measured at the end of each reporting period according to the hypothetical derivative method. Ineffectiveness can result in particular from differences between the repricing time periods of the swaps and the loans.

Derivative financial instruments are recognized in the statement of financial position from the date the contract is concluded. They are measured at fair value on addition. Subsequent measurement is also at the fair value prevailing at the end of the reporting period. To determine the fair value of a swap, the expected cash flows are discounted on both sides of the swap based on the current yield curve. The difference between the two amounts is the net fair value of the swap. This market valuation of financial derivatives is the price at which one party would assume the existing contractual rights and obligations of the other party. The fair values are determined based on market conditions existing at the end of the reporting period.

If derivative financial instruments are used as hedging instruments and the requirements for hedge accounting in accordance with IFRS 9 are met, their accounting treatment depends on the type of hedging relationship and the hedged item. Derivative financial instruments that do not qualify for hedge accounting are classified as measured at fair value through profit or loss in accordance with IFRS 9.

The hedging relationship between the hedged item and the hedging instrument and the objective and strategy of risk management are documented at hedge inception in order to meet the conditions for hedge accounting. This also includes a description of how the effectiveness of the hedging relationship is determined. Effectiveness tests are performed at hedge inception and at the end of each reporting period as part of the ongoing review of whether the derivatives used offset the hedged risks from the underlying transaction.

The changes in the fair value of the effective portions of cash flow hedges are recognized directly in equity. The changes in the fair values of the ineffective portions of cash flow hedges and interest rate swaps that are not designated as hedging instruments in hedging relationships are recognized through profit or loss.

As with other financial assets, derivatives are derecognized when the BLG Group loses control over the underlying rights wholly or in part by selling or discharging them or transferring them to a third party in a manner that qualifies for derecognition. The amounts recognized in equity are reclassified to profit or loss in the period in which the hedged transaction is settled.

The following hedging instruments were in place at the ends of the reporting periods to reduce the interest rate risk from existing bank liabilities and the foreign currency risk from a variable USD loan granted in the context of Group financing:

The interest rate swaps involve the exchange of floating interest payments for fixed-rate payments. The Group is payer of the fixed amounts and recipient of the floating amounts.

The nominal amounts represent the gross volume of all purchases and sales. This figure serves as a benchmark for determining mutually agreed payments, but is not a receivable or liability that is eligible for recognition in the statement of financial position.

There is a forward interest rate swap with a volume of EUR 15 million for part of the financing requirements in the subsequent year to hedge against the interest rate risk from floating-rate loans to be taken out in the future. As the term of the forward swap commences in 2024, it is not included in the presentation of maturities as of the ends of the reporting periods. The interest rate swaps each have a term of ten years and are due at maturity. The hedged interest rate for the forward swap is 1.974 percent.

The hedging instruments in place as of the ends of the reporting periods had the following effects on the combined statement of financial position:

The carrying amounts of hedging instruments correspond to the calculated fair values. At the end of the reporting period, as in the previous year, all existing hedging instruments fulfilled the criteria for cash flow hedges.

The nominal amount of the interest rate and currency swaps in foreign currency as of December 31, 2023 was USD 1,500 thousand (previous year: USD 2,500 thousand).

The hedged items designated in hedging relationships had the following effects on the combined statement of financial position as of the end of the reporting periods:

The following amounts were recognized in connection with hedging relationships:

The composition of the hedge reserve presented in note 20, including deferred taxes, breaks down by risk category and other components resulting from hedge accounting as shown in table on the right:

Since the reference amounts are reduced by the repayment of the underlying loans in parallel with the loan proceeds, no gains or losses are recognized as long as the financial instruments are not sold. No sale is planned.