12. Current Assets

Current assets as of June 30, 2023, decreased by 6.4% compared to December 31, 2022. The main reason for the reduction here was the sharp decrease in cash and cash equivalents by EUR 69,355 thousand or 41.1% from EUR 168,670 thousand as of December 31, 2022, to EUR 99,315 thousand as of June 30, 2023, also related  to the payment of the dividend of EUR 17,524 thousand to the shareholders of NORMA Group in May 2023. A detailed reconciliation of the change in cash and cash equivalents can be found in the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows.

Inventories also decreased significantly by EUR 22,544 thousand or 9.0% compared to December 31, 2022. The decrease mainly resulted from the reduction of inventories in the area of finished goods. The high level of inventories at the end of fiscal year 2022 (EUR 250,796 thousand) was attributable to effects in the course of production relocations and to effects resulting from the expiry of production cycles at customers.

On the other hand, trade receivables increased by EUR 38,483 thousand or 20.7% from EUR 186,309 thousand at the end of the year to EUR 224,792 thousand as of June 30, 2023. In addition to the seasonal increase, the reduction in receivables sold under the ABS and factoring programs led to an increase in trade receivables compared to December 31, 2022.

Compared to June 30, 2022, trade receivables increased slightly by 1.5%.

Inventories (H1 2023: EUR 228,252 thousand; H1 2022: EUR 230,548 thousand) declined slightly compared to June 30 of the previous year.