Record figures again for United Internet Earnings per share up 36%
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Montabaur, November 8, 2007. The first 9 months of 2007 have been very successful for United Internet. The company succeeded in lifting sales and earnings to new record heights while strengthening its position as a highly profitable Internet Service Provider. Earnings per share (EPS) rose by 36%.
Consolidated sales of United Internet AG achieved year-on-year growth of 27.1% to EUR 1,073.1 million (comparable prior-year figure after deconsolidation and completed sale of twenty4help: EUR 844.4 million). Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) grew by 32.9% from EUR 177.2 million (comparable prior-year figure) to EUR 235.5 million. Earnings before taxes (EBT) of the United Internet Group improved by 29.6% from EUR 140.4 million (comparable prior-year figure) to EUR 182.0 million. These earnings figures include a non-recurring net positive effect from the Online Marketing segment in the second quarter of 2007 of EUR 16.8 million in EBITDA and of EUR 7.4 million in EBT. Earnings per share (EPS) climbed 117.1% from EUR 0.35 (split-adjusted prior-year figure, including EUR 0.02 from discontinued operations) to EUR 0.76, of which EUR 0.28 was from discontinued operations and EUR 0.03 from positive one-off effects. Adjusted for these items, EPS rose by 36.4% from EUR 0.33 last year to EUR 0.45 in the first 9 months of 2007.
"We are very satisfied with the development of business," says Ralph Dommermuth, CEO of United Internet AG. "Our company continues to make strong progress. We were able to reach new record levels of sales and earnings and post the best figures in the company's history - in spite of high investments to acquire new customers. The dynamic growth of our Product business continues to be rooted in the stable rise in paid subscriptions. As of September 30, 2007 we had a total of 7.07 million customer contracts. This represents strong growth in all product lines over the last 12 months with a net addition of 1.02 million new contracts."
"One of the key growth drivers is our non-German webhosting business. In this area alone, we achieved year-on-year growth of 390,000 fee-based customer contracts to reach 1.55 million. Together with the German market, we held some 3.20 million contracts as of September 30, 2007. In the field of Information Management, there was year-on-year growth of 120,000 contracts to 1.19 million and in DSL of some 470,000 to 2.54 million customer contracts," continues Dommermuth.
In addition to the acquisition of new customers and the launch of innovative products - such as our all-inclusive packages without Deutsche Telekom phone connections - the main focus of our DSL business in the past few months was placed on raising customer loyalty and expanding business with our current client base. Compared with the same period last year, the number of telephony customers rose from 560,000 to 1.60 million. The telephone minutes completed per month grew from 540 million to over 800 million.
"Following the launch of our all-inclusive packages on July 1, 2007, we were able to gain 120,000 new DSL customers in the third quarter of 2007. Business is running very well and it looks as though we will succeed in reaching our annual target of approx. 500,000 new DSL customers," explains Dommermuth.
In United Internet's Product segment, with its core brands 1&1, GMX and WEB.DE, there was year-on-year growth of 26.8% in the first 9 months of 2007, from EUR 721.8 million to EUR 915.5 million. EBITDA improved by 21.7% from EUR 167.9 million to EUR 204.4 million and EBT by 24.7% from EUR 130.9 million to EUR 163.2 million.
In the Online Marketing segment, the brands AdLINK, affilinet and Sedo benefited from the ongoing positive development of the online advertising market. Compared with the same period last year, sales in this segment grew by 28.6% from EUR 122.1 million to EUR 157.0 million. EBITDA rose by 132.7% from EUR 15.0 million to EUR 34.9 million, while EBT improved by 61.6% from EUR 13.8 million to EUR 22.3 million.
"We are also optimistic for the remaining months of the current fiscal year: we expect further strong growth with our all-inclusive DSL packages. We also see continued dynamic growth for our portal business, our international webhosting products and our Online Marketing segment. The roll-out of new products in Germany and abroad will also open up additional growth opportunities for us," explains Dommermuth. "In total, we expect year-on-year growth in earnings per share from continued operations - without one-off positive effects - of over 40% in 2007."
With 7.07 million customer contracts, United Internet AG is a leading Internet Service Provider (ISP). In its "Product" segment, the Group's value-added internet services and fast internet connections are directed at private users, small/home offices (SoHos) and small to mid-size enterprises (SMEs). These groups are served by the brands GMX, WEB.DE, 1&1, InterNetX and Fasthosts. In addition to its "Product" business, the Group is also engaged in "Online Marketing" (via the brands AdLINK, affilinet and Sedo).
end of announcement euro adhoc 08.11.2007 20:40:35
Further inquiry note:
Contact partner:
Marcus Schaps
United Internet AG
Head of Press and Public Relations
Phone: +49 2602/96-1076
Fax: +49 2602/96-1013
E-mail: mschaps@united-internet.de
Branche: Telecommunications Services
ISIN: DE0005089031
WKN: 508903
Index: TecDAX, Technologie All Share, HDAX, Midcap Market Index,
Prime All Share, CDAX
Börsen: Börse Frankfurt / regulated dealing/prime standard
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