• Growth in new customer contracts of 910,000 to 10.67 million
• Sales up 9.8% to reach new record of EUR 2.094 billion
• Pre-tax earnings rise 16.1% to EUR 250.6 million
• Earnings per share climb 36.2% to EUR 0.79
• Forecast 2012: approx. 15% sales growth

Montabaur, March 12, 2012. The Management Board of United Internet AG (ISIN DE0005089031) today announced the preliminary and unaudited consolidated results according to IFRS for the fiscal year 2011.

Group development
In its fiscal year 2011, consolidated sales of United Internet AG grew by 9.8% from EUR 1.907 billion last year to EUR 2.094 billion. United Internet also achieved strong growth in customer contracts: with the addition of 910,000 new contracts to 10.67 million, growth easily exceeded that of the previous year (610,000 new contracts).

Despite increased marketing expenditure for this contract growth, heavy smartphone subsidizing, and high investments in the development of new products and further international expansion, United Internet posted a good result. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) grew by 2.0% year on year to EUR 364.8 million (prior year: EUR 357.7 million), while earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) improved by 1.7% to EUR 276.0 million (prior year: EUR 271.5 million). Compared to the previous year, earnings before taxes (EBT) increased by 16.1% from EUR 215.8 million to EUR 250.6 million. These earnings include a positive net balance of EUR 18.7 million resulting from the sale of Versatel shares in the second quarter, the valuation of call options received in this connection, and the at-equity result of Versatel. The resulting positive earnings effect amounted to EUR 0.07 per share.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, an amount of EUR 3.5 was written down on Sedo's French affilinet company and EUR 6.4 million on shares held in Hi-media, France. As a result of the current tax audit, EUR 16.2 million was recognized as an additional tax/interest expense in the consolidated financial statements for the fourth quarter.

Earnings per United Internet share (EPS) rose by 36.2% in total, from EUR 0.58 last year to EUR 0.79.

Dividend
The Management Board of United Internet AG will propose to the Supervisory Board the payment of a dividend amounting to EUR 0.20 per share from the balance sheet profit of 2011. The Annual Shareholders' Meeting on May 31, 2012 will vote on this joint resolution of the Management Board and Supervisory Board.

Development of business in the "Access" segment The strong growth in customer contracts was accompanied by an increase in sales of the "Access" segment of 11.2% to EUR 1.368 billion. Despite increased marketing investments for customer growth and the full expensing of smartphone subsidies in the fast-growing Mobile Internet business (520,000 new contracts in 2011 compared to 180,000 in the previous year), there was strong year-on-year growth in segment EBITDA to EUR 152.3 million (prior year: EUR 122.6 million) and in segment EBIT to EUR 122.2 million (prior year: EUR 92.0 million).

The number of Access contracts grew by a total of 450,000 contracts, from 3.63 million as December 31, 2010 to 4.08 million as of December 31, 2011.

Development of business in the "Applications" segment Sales of the "Applications" segment also grew by 7.3% to EUR 725.8 million. Adjusted for currency effects, segment growth amounted to 8.2%. Business outside Germany grew by 9.9% and contributed a total of EUR 219.2 million (prior year: EUR 199.5 million) to segment sales. Key earnings figures in this segment comprise high expenditure for the development of new Cloud products, the cost of international expansion, and greatly increased marketing expenses, especially for the launch of the 1&1 Do-It-Yourself Homepage in 5 foreign markets. A total of EUR 61.1 million was expensed. As a result of these burdens, there was an expected year-on-year decline in segment EBITDA to EUR 183.4 million (prior year: EUR 232.7 million) and in segment EBIT to EUR 125.0 million (prior year: EUR 177.3 million).

The number of Applications contracts grew by 460,000 to 6.59 million in fiscal year 2011 (of which 2.73 million abroad). Ad-financed accounts rose by 28.0 million to 30.8 million.

Outlook
In its established business fields, United Internet AG expects an increase in sales of approx. 15% and strong growth in earnings. United Internet intends to use this growth in earnings for heavy investment in new business fields. Depending on market and customer developments, an additional EUR 86 - 124 million (prior year: EUR 61.1 million) is to be invested in the market entry in Italy, in a year-long international marketing campaign for the 1&1 Do-It-Yourself Homepage in 7 European nations and the USA, and in the development and launch of De-Mail applications. In addition to growth of approx. 900,000 customer contracts in its established business fields, the company expects that these investments will enable it to gain an additional 200,000 - 300,000 customer contracts for its 1&1 Do-It-Yourself Homepage. Depending on the actual size of the investments, consolidated EBIT in 2012 is expected to reach EUR 243 - 281 million (prior year without Versatel effect: EUR 253 million). This corresponds to an EPS result of EUR 0.80 - 0.90.

Based on strong customer growth in 2012, United Internet anticipates a significant improvement in earnings in 2013 - both in its established and in its new business fields. EPS is expected to then lie between EUR 1.00 and EUR 1.10.

Final company figures and annual financial statements
The final, audited und certified company figures and annual financial statements for fiscal year 2011 will be published on March 29, 2012.

back to overview