United Internet on track. Successful start to FY 2009
Montabaur, April 20, 2009. Despite the recession and the resulting weakness of the online advertising market, United Internet got off to a successful start in its fiscal year 2009.
Consolidated sales of United Internet AG grew by 5.3% over the previous year, from EUR 402.0 million to EUR 423.4 million. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were up slightly on the previous year at EUR 83.5 million (prior year: EUR 83.2 million) as were earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) at EUR 70.7 million (prior year: EUR 70.4 million). As a result of negative profit contributions from associated companies and increased interest payments, earnings per share (EPS) amounted to EUR 0.16 (following EUR 0.19 in the previous year).
| Quarterly comparison in EUR million | Q1 2008 | Q1 2009 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | 402.0 | 423.4 | 5.3% |
| EBITDA | 83.2 | 83.5 | 0.4% |
| EBIT | 70.4 | 70.7 | 0.4% |
"The figures posted for the 1st quarter of 2009 underline the strength of our business model," says Ralph Dommermuth, CEO of United Internet AG, "although recession-motivated budget cuts by advertisers and the resulting pressure on margins obviously left their mark on our Online Marketing segment."
Product business:
In the dominant "Products" segment ? with the brands 1&1, GMX, WEB.DE, Fasthosts and InterNetX, as well as united-domains AG acquired on March 1, 2009 ? the number of fee-based customer contracts as of March 31, 2009 rose by 290,000 to 8.24 million, compared with December 31, 2008. The product lines "Information Management" and "Webhosting" displayed particularly strong growth. The number of "Information Management" customer contracts grew by 50,000 to 1.41 million in the 1st quarter of 2009. "Webhosting" grew by 240,000 contracts to 3.86 million ? due in part to the initial consolidation of united-domains AG. The number of webhosting contracts outside Germany rose by 50,000 to 1.98 million. In the company?s DSL business, the number of DSL connections remained unchanged from year-end at 2.82 million in total, although the number of all-inclusive DSL packages grew by 270,000 to 1.05 million in the 1st quarter.
| Customer contracts in million | Mar. 31, 2008 | Dec. 31, 2008 | Mar. 31, 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Information Management | 1.24 | 1.36 | 1.41 |
| Webhosting | 3.31 | 3.62 | 3.86 |
| - of which abroad | 1.63 | 1.93 | 1.98 |
| Internet Access | 2.83 | 2.97 | 2.97 |
| - of which DSL | 2.70 | 2.82 | 2.82 |
| - of which all-inclusive DSL packages | 0.20 | 0.78 | 1.05 |
| - of which resale DSL/T-DSL | 2.50 | 2.04 | 1.77 |
| Total | 7.38 | 7.95 | 8.24 |
Total sales in the Product segment grew by 7.7% to EUR 372.8 million. EBITDA and EBIT were also up slightly on the prior-year figures at EUR 77.9 million and EUR 65.7 million, respectively.
Online Marketing:
Whereas the Product business has proved highly resistant to the economic crisis, the key financials of the "Online Marketing" segment were heavily influenced by the noticeable reduction in advertising spending and by changes in the policy and algorithms of the company?s most important partner in the field of search engines. As expected, total segment sales were down on the previous year at EUR 50.4 million (-9.7%), as were EBITDA and EBIT at EUR 3.0 million (-43.4%) and EUR 2.5 million (-47.9%), respectively. Nevertheless, the segment made a positive contribution to earnings - despite a far more adverse economic climate.
| Segment development in EUR million | Q1 2008 | Q1 2009 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product segment | |||
| Sales | 346.0 | 372.8 | 7.7% |
| EBITDA | 77.2 | 77.9 | 0.9% |
| EBIT | 64.9 | 65.7 | 1.2% |
| Online Marketing segment | |||
| Sales | 55.8 | 50.4 | -9.7% |
| EBITDA | 5.3 | 3.0 | -43.4% |
| EBIT | 4.8 | 2.5 | -47.9% |
"Against the backdrop of our successful start to fiscal year 2009, we confirm our current forecasts. We expect a slight increase in sales for the Group as a whole. We also aim to maintain the record EBITDA and EBIT figures we achieved in fiscal year 2008 ? despite the expected ongoing weakness of the online advertising sector in 2009," states Ralph Dommermuth.
The quarterly financial statements of United Internet AG will be published together with the report on the 1st quarter of 2009 on May 13, 2009.