DGAP-News: TOMORROW FOCUS AG / Key word(s): Final Results TOMORROW FOCUS AG publishes results for 2014: consolidated revenue up by 7 percent and Group operating EBITDA by 13.5 percent 20.03.2015 / 09:02 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Corporate News TOMORROW FOCUS AG publishes results for 2014: consolidated revenue up by 7 percent and Group operating EBITDA by 13.5 percent Munich, Germany, 20 March 2015 - At EUR 161.5 million, consolidated revenue at TOMORROW FOCUS AG in financial 2014 was 7.0 percent up on the previous year's figure of EUR 151.0 million. Revenue in the Travel segment rose by 11.5 percent from EUR 85.9 million in 2013 to EUR 95.8 million. This was mainly due to an excellent performance from the Group's hotel rating and holiday booking portal, HolidayCheck AG, which generated a year-on-year increase in revenue of around 13 percent compared with just single-digit growth in the sector as a whole, thus allowing it to capture a greater share of the market. Zoover, the leading hotel rating portal in the Benelux countries, was also able to further increase its market share by maintaining a stable level of revenue and boosting its profitability in a slightly contracting Dutch travel market. Publishing segment revenue stood at EUR 33.7 million, equivalent to a slight rise of 1.8 percent on the figure of EUR 33.1 million in 2013. With many advertising customers moving away from conventional display advertising towards other digital advertising formats, a trend that was particularly noticeable from the first quarter of 2014, the in-house content portals operated by TOMORROW FOCUS News+ GmbH responded successfully to the challenge by swiftly establishing alternative sources of income such as video and native advertising and increasing both their reach and revenue figures. Facing the same trend in advertising behaviour, the Group's digital marketing subsidiary, TOMORROW FOCUS Media, successfully positioned itself as a cross-digital sales house in the financial year of 2014. At EUR 31.9 million, revenue in the Subscription segment for financial 2014 was on a par with the previous year. EliteMedianet GmbH, which operates the premium online matchmaking agency ElitePartner, deliberately accepted a single-digit decline in revenue as a way of improving its operating result. By contrast, jameda GmbH, which operates a physician rating portal by the same name, achieved a high double-digit percentage increase in its revenue along with very satisfactory profits. As required by International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the revenue figures shown for 2013 and 2014 have been adjusted to exclude RPC Voyages SAS, Cellular GmbH and Tomorrow Focus Technologies GmbH (2013), which are classed as discontinued operations. The earnings figures for these two companies are shown separately as follows: In financial 2014, Group earnings after taxes from discontinued operations stood at minus EUR 14.3 million compared with minus EUR 0.5 million in the previous year. In financial 2014, consolidated earnings per share from discontinued operations stood at minus EUR 0.25 compared with minus EUR 0.01 in the previous year. Group operating EBITDA (earnings from operating activities before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) rose by 13.5 percent in financial 2014 to EUR 23.5 million (2013: EUR 20.7 million). Group EBITDA for financial 2014 was down 12.6 percent year on year at EUR 25.6 million (2013: EUR 29.3 million). Group EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) stood at EUR 17.4 million for the financial year 2014, 12.6 percent lower compared with the figure of EUR 19.9 million for 2013. The consolidated financial result of the TOMORROW FOCUS Group for the financial year 2014 was minus EUR 3.5 million compared with minus EUR 4.8 million in the previous year. Group EBT (earnings before taxes) for the financial year 2014 was 7.9 percent lower at EUR 13.9 million compared with EUR 15.1 million in 2013. Group earnings after taxes from continuing operations for the financial year 2014 stood at EUR 10.6 million, down 14.5 percent on the previous year's figure of EUR 12.4 million. Group earnings after taxes including discontinued operations for the financial year 2014 totalled minus EUR 3.7 million compared with EUR 12.0 million in 2013. Consolidated earnings per share from continuing operations for the financial year 2014 were EUR 0.18 (2013: EUR 0.21). The foundations are in place for positive revenue growth in financial 2015. After adjusting for the acquisition or disposal of long-term equity investments, it should therefore be possible to achieve a percentage increase in the TOMORROW FOCUS Group's revenue in the high single digits or low double digits compared with financial 2014. The Management Board anticipates a year-on-year rise of at least ten percent in Group operating EBITDA. Reflecting the importance of the Travel segment, the Group plans to focus consistently on measures to develop its travel brands and products. The German version of the 2014 annual report will be published on 31 March 2015; the English version will follow soon after. Notes The earnings figures for the financial years of 2014 and 2013 include a number of exceptional items. The main details are outlined below: Under IFRS rules, amortisation and depreciation on the assets identified during purchase price allocation following the financial 2012 corporate takeovers of WebAssets B.V., NetMoms GmbH and TOMORROW Travel B.V. came to EUR 1.7 million in 2014 (financial year 2013: EUR 1.7 million). In financial 2013, owing to the difficult economic situation in the Netherlands and the resulting need to revise forecasts for the next few years, goodwill at TOMORROW Travel B.V. (Tjingo) was written down by EUR 1.7 million. Earnings in financial year 2014 were boosted by other income totalling EUR 2.2 million from the revaluation of earn-out and put/call obligations towards the former minority shareholders of WebAssets B.V. and jameda GmbH. The corresponding figures for financial 2013 include other income totalling EUR 8.8 million from the revaluation of earn-out and put/call obligations towards the former minority shareholders of WebAssets B.V. About TOMORROW FOCUS AG TOMORROW FOCUS AG (ISIN DE005495329) is based in Munich, Germany, and is one of the leading exchange-listed Internet groups in Germany. The Group has a workforce of around 750, and its business operations are divided into three segments: Travel, Publishing and Subscription. The Travel segment includes HOLIDAYCHECK AG, which operates a number of hotel review and travel booking portals by the same name; the travel division of WEBASSETS B.V., which operates the ZOOVER hotel review portals; and TOMORROW TRAVEL B.V., which operates the Dutch online travel agent TJINGO. The Subscription segment is made up of ELITEMEDIANET GmbH, which operates the premium online dating agency ELITEPARTNER.de; JAMEDA GmbH, which operates the physician rating portal JAMEDA.de; and ORGANIZE.ME GmbH, which operates an app-based document organisation and reminder system. The Publishing segment includes TOMORROW FOCUS Publishing GmbH with the subsidiaries TOMORROW FOCUS Media GmbH (one of Germany's leading digital marketing providers) and TOMORROW FOCUS News+ GmbH, which operates a number of Internet portals such as the news journalism and utility site FOCUS Online; the news portal and platform for views THE HUFFINGTON POST; the stock market information portal FINANZEN100; and the parent portal NETMOMS; and the meteorological arm of WEBASSETS B.V., which operates the METEOVISTA and WEERONLINE weather portals. Media and Investor Relations contact: TOMORROW FOCUS AG Armin Blohmann Neumarkter Strasse 61 81673 München Germany phone +49 (0)89 9250 1256 fax +49 (0)89 9250 2403 email [email protected] www.tomorrow-focus.de http://twitter.com/tomorrowfocus http://facebook.de/tomorrowfocus http://youtube.com/tomorrowfocus --------------------------------------------------------------------- 20.03.2015 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The DGAP 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: TOMORROW FOCUS AG Neumarkter Str. 61 81673 München Germany Phone: +49 (0)89 9250-1256 Fax: +49 (0)89 9250-2403 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.tomorrow-focus.de ISIN: DE0005495329 WKN: 549532 Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service --------------------------------------------------------------------- 335261 20.03.2015