20.05.2014
United Internet AG DE0005089031
DGAP-News: Successful start to fiscal year 2014 for United Internet
DGAP-News: United Internet AG / Key word(s): Quarter Results
Successful start to fiscal year 2014 for United Internet
20.05.2014 / 07:15
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- Sales up 12.7% to new all-time high of EUR 709.9 million
- EBITDA grows 22.8% to EUR 112.1 million, EBIT up 31.3% to EUR 89.7
million
- EPS improves 34.8% to EUR 0.31
- Guidance for full year 2014 confirmed
Montabaur, May 20, 2014. Figures published today for the first quarter of
2014 reveal that United Internet AG is continuing its growth course as
Europe's leading internet specialist. There were further strong
improvements in sales, the number of customer contracts and key earnings
ratios. At the same time, the company once again made heavy investments in
new customer acquisition, the expansion of existing customer relationships,
and new business fields - thus cementing the basis for future growth.
Development of the Group
In the first quarter of 2014, consolidated sales of United Internet AG were
increased to the new record level of EUR 709.9 million - representing
growth of 12.7% over the first quarter of the previous year.
There was also a further rise in United Internet's customer figures with
the addition of 190,000 contracts, taking the total to 13.64 million
customer contracts.
This customer growth was driven by the Access segment, where the company
gained 110,000 Mobile Internet contracts and 70,000 DSL contracts. A
marketing campaign for 1&1 DSL premium tariffs was conducted in this
segment during the first quarter of 2014. As part of the campaign, new and
existing customers (when changing to a premium tariff) were able to opt for
the addition of a heavily subsidized (or even free) brand-name tablet.
Costs of approx. EUR 14 million incurred during the campaign were directly
expensed in the first quarter of 2014. These investments will already have
a positive impact on earnings as of the second quarter of 2014.
In the Applications segment, the company made changes to sales and
marketing measures for its Business Applications - as previously announced
- during the reporting period. As part of this change, there was less focus
on new customer acquisition in the first quarter of 2014 (+10,000 contracts
in the entire segment) and more focus on the expansion of business with
existing customers. The success of this measure is clearly illustrated by
strong year-on-year growth in segment revenue (+11.9%), due for example to
the first-time sales of over 90,000 new top-level domains (nTLDs). As a
result of increasing contribution margins and reduced advertising spending,
start-up losses in new business fields (De-Mail and 1&1 MyWebsite) were
reduced to EUR 11.9 million in the first quarter of 2014 (prior year: EUR
28.7 million).
At Group level, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization (EBITDA) rose by 22.8%, from EUR 91.3 million to EUR 112.1
million, and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) by 31.3%, from EUR
68.3 million to EUR 89.7 million. Earnings per share (EPS) improved by
34.8%, from EUR 0.23 in the previous year to EUR 0.31.
The free cash flow position underlines the entire Group's ability to
generate very healthy levels of cash - while at the same time achieving
strong qualitative growth. At EUR 115.9 million, this figure was well above
the prior-year level (EUR 77.8 million).
"With the key figures in customer contracts, sales, and earnings we reached
in the first quarter of 2014, as well as the investments already made, we
are well on course to meet our targets," commented Ralph Dommermuth, CEO of
United Internet, and added: "The second quarter has started well, we expect
approx. 220,000 new customer contracts (approx. 180,000 Access, 40,000
Applications). Against this backdrop, we can also confirm our forecast for
2014 as a whole and continue to expect an increase in fee-based customer
contracts of over 800,000 and sales growth of about 10%. We are also
planning a strong rise in earnings: after start-up losses in new business
fields and advertising costs for the "E-Mail made in Germany" initiative,
EBITDA is expected to improve to around EUR 520 million (prior year: EUR
407.2 million). Earnings per share are likely to be between EUR 1.40 and
EUR 1.50 (prior year: EUR 1.07)."
Group development (in EUR million) Q1 2013 Q1 2014 Change Sales 629.7 709.9 + 12.7% EBITDA 91.3 112.1 + 22.8% EBIT 68.3 89.7 + 31.3% EPS (in EUR) 0.23 0.31 + 34.8%* Free cash flow is defined as net cash inflows from operating activities, less capital expenditures, plus payments from disposals of intangible assets and property, plant and equipment An overview of all key figures and the report on the first three months of 2014 can be found on the corporate website www.united-internet.de under Investor Relations. About United Internet With 13.64 million fee-based customer contracts and 31.65 million ad-financed free accounts, United Internet AG is Europe's leading internet specialist. At the heart of United Internet is a high-performance "Internet Factory" with 6,900 employees, of which around 2,000 are engaged in product management, development and data centers. In addition to the high sales strength of its established brands (1&1, GMX, WEB.DE, united-domains, Fasthosts, Arsys, InterNetX, Sedo and affilinet), United Internet stands for outstanding operational excellence with around 45 million customer accounts worldwide. Contact Marcus Schaps Head of Press and Public Relations United Internet AG Elgendorfer Strasse 57 56410 Montabaur Germany Tel: +49 2602/96-1076 Fax: +49 2602/96-1013 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.united-internet.de End of Corporate News --------------------------------------------------------------------- 20.05.2014 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. DGAP's Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de --------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: English Company: United Internet AG Elgendorfer Straße 57 56410 Montabaur Germany Phone: +49 (0)2602 / 96 - 1100 Fax: +49 (0)2602 / 96 - 1013 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.united-internet.de ISIN: DE0005089031 WKN: 508903 Indices: TecDAX Listed: Regulierter Markt in Berlin, Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service --------------------------------------------------------------------- 269389 20.05.2014
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