DGAP-News: Successful start to FY 2012 for United Internet
(firmenpresse) - DGAP-News: United Internet AG / Key word(s): Quarter Results
Successful start to FY 2012 for United Internet
09.05.2012 / 18:51
---------------------------------------------------------------------
- Growth in new customer contracts of 320,000 to 10.99 million
- Sales up 15.7% to new record of EUR 576.9 million
- Strong earnings growth in established business fields
- Expansion course accelerated with heavy investments in new business
fields
- 2012 guidance confirmed
Montabaur, May 9, 2012. United Internet AG once again continued its growth
path as Europe's leading internet specialist in the first quarter of 2012.
The company succeeded in raising both sales and the number of customer
contracts to new record levels and significantly increased earnings in its
established business fields. At the same time, the company invested heavily
in establishing and developing new business fields. With the targets
already achieved in the first quarter of 2012, United Internet is well on
track to meet its forecast for 2012 as a whole.
Business development of the Group
In the first quarter of 2012, consolidated sales of United Internet AG rose
to the new record level of EUR 576.9 million - representing year-on-year
growth of 15.7%. Sales in established business fields increased by 15.0% to
EUR 570.8 million. In addition, sales in new business fields amounted to
EUR 6.1 million (prior year: EUR 2.2 million). United Internet also achieved
strong growth in its customer contracts: with the addition of 320,000 new
contracts to 10.99 million, the corresponding growth figure for the first
quarter of 2011 (+210,000 new contracts) was easily exceeded.
At the same time, United Internet also succeeded in raising earnings
significantly in its established business fields during the first quarter
of 2012. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization
(EBITDA) grew by 11.5%, from EUR 95.9 million last year to EUR 106.9
million, while earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) improved by 12.2%,
from EUR 76.0 million last year to EUR 85.3 million.
As announced in the forecast for the full year 2012, this positive earnings
development in established business fields was used to invest heavily in
the development of new business fields. The main focus was placed on the
international marketing campaign for the 1&1 MyWebsite, and the development
of De-Mail applications. In line with planning, EBIT-effective start-up
losses of EUR 37.0 million (prior year: EUR 5.7 million) were incurred for
these activities in the first quarter of 2012. These start-up losses result
mainly from high expenditures for marketing the 1&1 MyWebsite in six
European nations, the USA and Canada and are part of total start-up losses
planned for new business fields in 2012 of EUR 86 - EUR 124 million.
As a result of these start-up losses, there was an expected overall decline
in key earnings figures of United Internet AG compared to the same period
last year. EBITDA amounted to EUR 70.5 million (prior year: EUR 90.5
million) and EBIT totaled EUR 48.3 million (prior year: EUR 70.3 million).
Pre-tax earnings (EBT) stood at EUR 44.4 million (prior year: EUR 64.8
million), while earnings per share (EPS) amounted to EUR 0.15 (prior year:
EUR 0.20).
'The dynamic growth in our established business fields gives us the
strength to invest heavily in new business fields. Thanks to the positive
development of our business andthe gradual decline in start-up losses from
new business fields over the coming quarters, we are well on track to reach
the targets we set for 2012 as a whole,' states Ralph Dommermuth, CEO of
United Internet, in his assessment of the figures for the first quarter of
2012.
Group development Quarterly comparison Q1 2011 Q1 2012 ChangeUnited Internet's business is divided into the segments, 'Access' and
(in EUR million)
Established business fields
Sales 496.4 570.8 + 15.0%
EBITDA 95.9 106.9 + 11.5%
EBIT 76.0 85.3 + 12.2%
New business fields
Sales 2.2 6.1 + 177.3%
EBITDA -5.4 -36.4
EBIT -5.7 -37.0
Total
Sales 498.6 576.9 + 15.7%
EBITDA 90.5 70.5 - 22.1%
EBIT 70.3 48.3 - 31.3%
'Applications', as described below.
Development of business in the 'Access' segment
As a result of the positive development in customer figures, 'Access' sales
grew by 16.9% to EUR 375.6 million in the first quarter of 2012. Despite
greatly increased costs for new customer acquisition (+160,000 contracts in
Q1/2012 compared to +80,000 in the same period last year), there was strong
year-on-year growth in EBITDA to EUR 41.3 million (prior year: EUR 31.1
million) and EBIT to EUR 34.8 million (prior year: EUR 23.8 million).
Development of Access segment Q1 Q1 ChangeThe number of Access contracts grew by 160,000 contracts to 4.24 million in
Quarterly comparison (in EUR million) 2011 2012
Sales 321.2 375.6 +16.9%
EBITDA 31.1 41.3 +32.8%
EBIT 23.8 34.8 +46.2%
the first quarter of 2012.
Customer contracts in Access segment March 31, Dec. 31, March 31,'The strong development in customer growth and sales in our 'Access'
(in million) 2011 2011 2012
Access, total 3.71 4.08 4.24
of which DSL complete (ULL) 2.37 2.51 2.58
of which Mobile Internet 0.37 0.79 0.94
of which narrowband / T-DSL / R-DSL 0.97 0.78 0.72
segment illustrates the dynamic trend resulting from our successful
penetration of the Mobile Internet market over the last two years,'
concludes Ralph Dommermuth. 'We intend to take the same approach in our
'Applications' segment. International expansion and the development of new
cloud and e-business products will open up new business fields for us. The
investments we make today will therefore lay the foundation for our future
success.'
Development of business in the 'Applications' segment
Thanks to strong customer growth, sales in the 'Applications' segment also
rose by 13.5% to EUR 201.2 million in the first quarter of 2012. In the
segment's established business fields, sales grew by 11.4% to EUR 195.1
million. In addition, there was also revenue from new business fields of
EUR 6.1 million (prior year: EUR 2.2 million).
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in
the established business fields rose from EUR 64.3 million last year to EUR
67.1 million, while earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) improved from
EUR 51.7 million last year to EUR 51.9 million.
These strong earnings in its established business enabled United Internet
to make planned investments in new business fields. This resulted in
EBIT-effective start-up losses of EUR 37.0 million (prior year: EUR 5.7
million).
Development of Applications segmentIn the first quarter of 2012, the number of Applications contracts grew by
Quarterly comparison (in EUR million) Q1 Q1 Change
2011 2012
Established business fields
Sales 175.1 195.1 + 11.4%
EBITDA 64.3 67.1 + 4.4%
EBIT 51.7 51.9 + 0.4%
New business fields
Sales 2.2 6.1 +177.3%
EBITDA -5.4 -36.4
EBIT -5.7 -37.0
Total
Sales 177.3 201.2 +13.5%
EBITDA 58.9 30.7 -47.9%
EBIT 46.0 14.9 -67.6%
160,000 to 6.75 million (of which 2.83 million abroad). This growth in
contracts resulted from 120,000 new Business Applications contracts (of
which 60,000 contracts for the 1&1 MyWebsite) and 40,000 new Consumer
Application contracts, raising their respective totals to 4.79 million and
1.96 million. The number of ad-financed accounts grew from 30.8 million to
31.0 million.
Customer contracts in Applications March 31, Dec. 31, March 31,Outlook
segment (in million) 2011 2011 2012
Total fee-based contracts 6.26 6.59 6.75
of which domestic 3.74 3.86 3.92
of which foreign 2.52 2.73 2.83
Ad-financed accounts 28.3 30.8 31.0
In view of the successful start to its fiscal year 2012, United Internet AG
can confirm its guidance for the full year and expects an increase in sales
of approx. 15% in its established business fields as well as strong growth
in earnings. The company intends to use this growth in earnings for heavy
investment in new business fields. Depending on market and customer
developments, start-up losses of EUR 86 - EUR 124 million (prior year: EUR
61.1 million) are expected from the year-long international marketing
campaign for the 1&1 MyWebsite, and the development and launch of De-Mail
applications. In addition to growth of approx. 900,000 customer contracts in
its established business fields, the company believes that these investments
will enable it to gain an additional 200,000 - 300,000 customer contracts
for its new business field '1&1 MyWebsite'. Depending on the size of the
investments actually made, consolidated EBIT in 2012 is expected to reach
EUR 243 - EUR 281 million (prior year without positive effect from the sale
of Versatel shares: EUR 253.0 million). This corresponds to an EPS result of
EUR 0.80 - EUR 0.90.
Based on strong customer growth in 2012, United Internet anticipates a
significant improvement in earnings in 2013 - both in its established and
in its new business fields. EPS is expected to then lie between EUR 1.00
and EUR 1.10.
About United Internet
With 11 million fee-based customer contracts and 31 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 5,800 employees, of which more than 1,600 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, InterNetX, Sedo and affilinet), United Internet stands for
outstanding operational excellence with around 42 million customer accounts
worldwide. United Internet also holds equity interests in listed companies
and owns numerous investments in young internet companies.
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: mschaps(at)united-internet.de
Internet: www.united-internet.de
End of Corporate News
---------------------------------------------------------------------
09.05.2012 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a
company of EquityStory 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: info(at)united-internet.de
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
---------------------------------------------------------------------
168994 09.05.2012
Themen in dieser Pressemitteilung:
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 09.05.2012 - 18:51 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 144631
Anzahl Zeichen: 13581
contact information:
Kategorie:
Business News
Diese Pressemitteilung wurde bisher 248 mal aufgerufen.
Die Pressemitteilung mit dem Titel:
"DGAP-News: Successful start to FY 2012 for United Internet"
steht unter der journalistisch-redaktionellen Verantwortung von
United Internet AG (Nachricht senden)
Beachten Sie bitte die weiteren Informationen zum Haftungsauschluß (gemäß TMG - TeleMedianGesetz) und dem Datenschutz (gemäß der DSGVO).
