Success continues – dividend payment established at €0.65 per share
Munich, March 8, 2006 – In 2005 the telegate group continued on its sustained success. For the third time the company has announced a record in revenue and profit. For the first time in the company’s ten year history a dividend payment is planned for the fiscal year just concluded. The year of 2005 was characterised by intensive building-up work in Germany and abroad. „In the past twelve months we have made considerable investments in the future capabilities of telegate and thereby laid the basis for further growth,“ explained Dr. Andreas Albath, the chairman of the Management Board of telegate AG.
Final results 2005
In 2005 telegate achieved an annual net income to the amount of €27.1 million. (fiscal year 2004: €27.3 million). However, in this previous year’s result a one-off special effect to the amount of €7.8 million has to be taken into consideration. When adjusted by this amount, an annual comparison shows a clear increase in profits for 2005. At €150.1 million the sales proceeds have risen for the period under review by over 6 per cent compared to the previous year (fiscal year 2004: €141.2 million). The growth in revenues in the telegate business segments was strongly differentiated. While the domestic business virtually stayed stable with a revenues of €115.2 million, telegate’s revenues abroad was significantly more at €34.9 million. In the international segment an increase of 40 per cent was achieved in comparison with the previous year. The foreign share in the group’s revenues thereby rose in 2005 to around 23 per cent (fiscal year 2004: 18 per cent. Earnings before interest, taxes and depreciations (EBITDA) improved in the fiscal year 2005 by 6.5 per cent to €37.9 million. Thereby telegate exceeded its own guidance for the fiscal year 2005 and was able to improve the profit margin once again. The company has, with a shareholders’ equity ratio of around 50 per cent (2004: 43 per cent) as of December 31, 2005, a holding in liquid assets to the amount of €51.4 million (2004: €33.8 million).
Dividend payment
On the basis of the net earnings for the year 2005 the company concretized its dividend plans: „For the first time in the ten years the company has been in existence our shareholders can participate in the positive earnings development in the form of a dividend,“ explained Dr. Andreas Albath. At the shareholders’ meeting on 15th May 2006, the Management Board and Supervisory Board will suggest a payment to the amount of €0.65 per share. This corresponds to a distribution sum of €13.6 million and a dividend yield of over 3 per cent on the basis of the current share prize level. With its first-time dividend payment in 2006 the company is simultaneously giving a signal for a long-term dividend policy.
Business development and outlook for 2006
The telegate group’s business strategy – creation of growth through innovation and internationalization – has demonstrated visible success in 2005. What must be stressed is the positive development in Germany. For the first time in five years personnel were again taken on in the Call Center locations in those economically weak areas of East Germany. „In the past twelve months we have overall successfully integrated around 450 employees into our teams,“ said Dr. Andreas Albath. Across Europe the telegate group employs around 2,600 workers. Despite fierce competition, telegate is reckoning on a continuation of the dynamic business development in 2006 as well.
In the Germany/Austria segment two themes continued to characterize the development. On the one hand, the consistent alignment of the product portfolio with the premium demand and on the other the anchoring of telegate as the leading partner in the business customer sector. With a coherent „one brand – all media“ strategy, the company reacts to changing consumer patterns. In 2005 the whole DA service had been expanded into new media channels such as the internet or mobile. The development of new services aimed at usage value will continue to be pursued in future. Customer orientation plays a central role in the competition for business customers. Apart from the marketing of information platforms, the focus will be above all on the expansion of the Call Center Services business.
The international segment stands for further growth dynamic. The presence of the telegate group in other European countries will be further reinforced. France made a significant contribution to the turnover in the fourth quarter of 2005 and has enormous market potential. In Italy and Spain telegate also presents itself today as the expert in DA business. A comprehensive pan-European network of partners of around 20 telecommunications providers profits from this competence, as they are provided daily with services of the highest quality. In the medium term business abroad should contribute to the group’s turnover with around 50 per cent and therefore become a stable second pillar for the telegate group.
Press contact:
Claudia Strixner
Head of Public Relations
telegate AG
Fraunhofer Str. 12a
82152 München-Martinsried
Tel.: 089/ 8954-1188
Fax: 089/ 8954-1189
E-Mail: claudia.strixner@telegate.com
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