DGAP-News: zooplus AG / Key word(s): Quarter Results zooplus AG: Final Q1 figures confirm strong growth in sales 20.05.2015 / 07:31 --------------------------------------------------------------------- zooplus AG: Final Q1 figures confirm strong growth in sales - Total sales up 34% to EUR 170 million (Q1 2014: EUR 126 million) - Pre-tax profit rises 25% to EUR 1.6 million (Q1 2014: EUR 1.2 million) - Target for total sales increased to at least EUR 725 million for 2015, unchanged profit forecast of EUR 8-12 million for pre-tax profit - Logistics capacity across Europe expanded significantly Munich, May 20, 2015 - zooplus AG (WKN 511170, ISIN DE0005111702, ticker symbol ZO1), Europe's leading online retailer for pet supplies, confirms the positive start into the current year based on the final figures for the period from January to March 2015. Total sales in Q1 2015 - consisting of sales and other income - rose by 34.4% to EUR 169.8 million (Q1 2014: EUR 126.3 million, year-on-year increase of 30.2%). Sales, now EUR 164.6 million, are up by 36.4%, slightly ahead of the growth in total sales. Pre-tax profit (EBT) improved by 25.4% from EUR 1.2 million in the previous year to EUR 1.6 million in the first quarter of 2015. Dr. Cornelius Patt, CEO of zooplus AG, expects this performance to last: "Increasing sales - through advances in customer acquisition and remarkable achievements in customer loyalty - remains our top priority. To ensure that we maintain our excellent service quality while rapidly increasing volume we are expanding our dedicated logistics capacities across Europe to fulfill our future growth." For the French, Spanish and Italian markets, a fourth major logistics center, based in Chalon-sur-Saône, started its operations in March 2015. Additionally, a smaller warehouse, launched in the beginning of 2015 in Strasbourg, is handling certain types of orders for the German and French market. In conjunction with increased output at the two established locations in Tilburg and Wroclaw we are expanding total capacity by more than 40%. With increased capacity come streamlined processes and enhanced cost efficiency - this offsets the higher structural costs at an early stage of capacity utilization. "When presenting the preliminary Q1 sales figures, we raised the forecast for total sales in 2015 from around EUR 700 million to at least EUR 725 million as we are taking into account the advances in new and repeat customer business. While growth in new customer business is now considerably above budget, we reconfirm our existing forecast of pre-tax profit in the range of EUR 8 million to EUR 12 million for the full year," explains Dr. Patt. The company maintains a very strong balance sheet - equity increased to EUR 88.1 million as of March 31, 2015 (December 31, 2014: EUR 86.2 million). With total assets of EUR 142.2 million (December 31, 2014: EUR 138.6 million), the equity ratio as of March 31, 2015 was therefore steady at 62.0% (December 31, 2014: 62.2%). Cash and cash equivalents amounted to EUR 38.2 million as of the end of the quarter. zooplus will make its full report for the first three months of 2015 available as a download at investors.zooplus.com during the course of the day. Company profile: zooplus was founded in 1999 and is now Europe's leading online retailer for pet supplies in terms of sales and total sales. In the 2014 financial year, the latter totaled EUR 571 million - 69% of which is international. The company's business model has so far been launched successfully in 28 European countries. zooplus sells products for all major pet types. In particular, its product range includes pet food (dry and wet food and food supplements) and accessories such as scratching posts, dog baskets, and toys in all price categories. As well as a selection of over 8,000 products, zooplus customers also benefit from a variety of interactive content and community offerings. The pet supplies market is an important segment in the European retail landscape. Sales of pet food and accessories within the European Union amount to around EUR 25 billion. Because further vigorous growth is anticipated in the European e-commerce market, zooplus is expecting its dynamic performance to continue. Online at: www.zooplus.de Investor relations/media contact: Rolf Becker cometis AG Unter den Eichen 7 65195 Wiesbaden Phone: +49 (0)611-205855-40 Fax: +49 (0)611-205855-66 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.cometis.de --------------------------------------------------------------------- 20.05.2015 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: zooplus AG Sonnenstraße 15 80331 München Germany Phone: +49 (0)89 95 006 - 100 Fax: +49 (0)89 95 006 - 500 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.zooplus.de ISIN: DE0005111702 WKN: 511170 Indices: SDAX Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service --------------------------------------------------------------------- 359549 20.05.2015