Preliminary figures with record levels for sales, earnings and customer contracts - Earnings per share up more than 52%
Montabaur, March 11, 2008. 2007 was the most successful year in United Internet?s history. The preliminary unaudited consolidated figures released by the Management Board of United Internet AG today show record levels of sales, earnings and customer contracts. This dynamic growth is expected to continue in 2008.
According to preliminary figures, consolidated sales of United Internet AG grew by 26.7 percent in fiscal year 2007 to EUR 1,487.4 million (prior year: EUR 1,174.1 million). Preliminary earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) improved by 39.6 percent, from EUR 221.2 million (prior-year figure) to EUR 308.8 million. Preliminary earnings before taxes (EBT) rose by 36.9 percent, from EUR 171.3 million (prior-year figure) to EUR 234.5 million. EBT includes various non-recurring items with a net positive effect of EUR 2 million. According to preliminary calculations, earnings per share (EPS) improved by 52.4 percent, from 42 cents to 64 cents per share. Including discontinued operations, EPS rose to 93 cents.
Annual comparison in EUR million | 2006 | 2007 | Growth |
---|---|---|---|
Umsatz | 1.174,1 | 1.487,4 | 26,7% |
EBITDA | 221,2 | 308,8 | 39,6% |
EBT | 171,3 | 234,5 | 36,9% |
EPS in EUR | 0,42 | 0,64 | 52,4% |
Quarterly comparison in EUR million | Q4 2006 | Q4 2007 | Growth |
---|---|---|---|
Umsatz | 329,7 | 414,3 | 25,7% |
EBITDA | 44,0 | 73,3 | 66,6% |
EBT | 30,9 | 52,5 | 69,9% |
EPS in EUR | 0,09 | 0,17 | 88,9% |
Customer contracts in million | 12-31-2006 | 09-30-2007 | 12-31-2007 |
---|---|---|---|
Information Management | 1,09 | 1,19 | 1,21 |
Webhosting* | 2,78 | 3,14 | 3,21 |
Davon Ausland* | 1,18 | 1,50 | 1,55 |
Internet Access | 2,44 | 2,68 | 2,81 |
Davon DSL | 2,27 | 2,54 | 2,67 |
Gesamt | 6,31 | 7,01 | 7,23 |
* After statistical adjustment for general domain agreements of Fasthosts Ltd., acquired in 2006.
?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.?
There was very dynamic growth in paid subscriptions in the Product segment. As of December 31, 2007 we had a total of 7.23 million customer contracts with the brands 1&1, GMX, WEB.DE, InterNetX and Fasthosts. ?This represents strong growth with a net addition of 920,000 new contracts. One of the key growth drivers was our webhosting business. In this area, we achieved year-on-year growth of 430,000 customer contracts to reach 3.21 million. We expect this trend to continue. We also expect a further boost to growth from our recent entry into the Spanish market.?
?In the field of Information Management, where we offer mainly advertising financed e?mail services, there was a total of 21.8 million active users at the end of the year. This represents an increase of around 2.5 million over the previous year. At the same time, we raised the number of pay products by 120,000 subscriptions to 1.21 million,? continues Dommermuth.
?The number of our DSL customers rose by 400,000 in 2007 to 2.67 million ? of which 130,000 were gained in the fourth quarter. Although this was the best quarter of the year, we are not satisfied as we expected even stronger customer growth. We see the reason for this slower growth above all in the excessively long activation times of Deutsche Telekom for the provision of house connections.?
In total, the company?s Product segment grew by 26.1%, from EUR 1,001.0 million in 2006 to EUR 1,261.9 million. EBITDA rose by 39.7% from EUR 200.0 million to EUR 279.4 million, while EBT improved by 46.3% from EUR 150.3 million to EUR 219.9 million.
The Online Marketing segment also posted significant improvements in all key performance indicators with strong growth rates. Sales in this segment grew by 30.2%, from EUR 172.6 million to EUR 224.8 million. EBITDA improved by 94.2% from EUR 22.3 million to EUR 43.3 million, while EBT grew by 49.5% from EUR 19.8 million to EUR 29.6 million. This increase in earnings includes non-recurring items with a net positive effect of EUR 7.4 million from the 2nd quarter of 2007.
The final audited and certified figures for fiscal year 2007 will be presented at the annual press conference in Frankfurt on April 4, 2008.