Business development according to plan
Munich, August 30, 2006 – With a 27 percent increase in revenues to 88.2 million euros (HY1 2005: 69.7 million euros), telegate continued on its growth path in the first half of the 2006 fiscal year. The proportion of revenues generated outside Germany, which has continued to rise, has contributed significantly to the growth of the telegate Group. Whereas in the first six months of 2005 revenues of 12.4 million euros were generated outside Germany, this figure has now risen to 32.6 million euros for the same period in 2006. This means that telegate now generates around 37 percent of its revenues in other European countries (HY1 2005: 21 percent).
Due to investments in expanding its business activities in France in the reporting period, the results of the telegate Group deteriorated temporarily. In the first half of 2006, the company’s earnings before taxes, interest, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were negative at –4.5 million euros (HY1 2005: 22 million euros). This was mainly driven by the launch of the brand “118 000” in France and the related high marketing expenses which had a disproportionate impact on the results of the first six months. In addition, higher marketing expenses were incurred in Germany in the second quarter because of temporarily heightened competition, and capacity adjustments in France gave rise to one-time costs. On the other hand, profitability in Italy and Spain has had a very positive development, with a threefold increase in EBITDA from 0.7 million euros to 2.2 million euros in the reference period. For the further course of the year telegate is confident that profitability in the second half of 2006 will once again return to the levels seen in the past and forecasts an EBITDA of around 20 million euros for the second half of 2006.
Following the first payment of a dividend in May this year and the acquisition of the classic DA-business of SNT Deutschland AG as of June 22, 2006, telegate’s cash and cash equivalents decreased to 16.2 million euros as of June 30, 2006 (June 30, 2005: 48.8 million euros). telegate’s positive outlook for 2007 remains unchanged. Due to the expansion of its business model in Germany, especially in the business customer segment, and due to the growth in other countries, the company confirms its guidance published as part of the three years-plan of an EBITDA of around 50 million euros for 2007.
Press contact:
telegate AG
Claudia Strixner
Fraunhofer Str. 12a - 82152 München-Martinsried, Germany
Tel.: +4989/ 8954-1188 - Fax: +4989/ 8954-1189
e-mail: claudia.strixner@telegate.com
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