TOMORROW FOCUS AG has maintained the strong growth of the first half-year into the third quarter of 2012, posting the highest revenue figure in its history for a single quarter.
The Group’s consolidated third-quarter revenue showed a year-on-year increase of 22.5 percent from EUR 33.3 million in 2011 to EUR 40.8 million.
Consolidated revenue for the first nine months rose by 17.0 percent from EUR 94.7 million in 2011 to EUR 110.8 million.
This was mainly achieved thanks to positive results in the Group’s two biggest segments, Transactions and Advertising.
Revenue in the Transactions segment rose by 20.3 percent to EUR 83.1 million in the first three quarters of 2012 compared to EUR 69.1 million over the same period in 2011.
As well as HolidayCheck AG, further contributions to this strong performance came from EliteMedianet GmbH, which operates the online dating agency ElitePartner.de. The Group’s new travel company holdings, Webassets B.V. and Tomorrow Travel B.V., generated around EUR 5 million towards the segment total.
Total revenue in the Advertising segment over the first three quarters stood at EUR 18.5 million, up 12.1 percent on the equivalent figure of EUR 16.5 million in 2011.
These results were driven in equal measure by Germany’s widest-reaching digital marketing specialist TOMORROW FOCUS Media and the news portal FOCUS Online.
At EUR 9.2 million, revenue in the Technologies segment for the first three quarters was 1.5 percent higher compared to the equivalent 2011 figure of EUR 9.1 million.
As detailed below, the Group’s earnings figures for the first nine months of 2012 were affected by several non-recurring items that are explained below:
In accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs), the acquisitions of Webassets B.V. and Tomorrow Travel B.V. produced amortisation and depreciation for the first three quarters of EUR 0.7 million on assets identified during purchase price allocation.
The acquisitions made by TOMORROW FOCUS AG in the second quarter and in the third quarter in France and in the Netherlands involved the restructuring of HolidayCheck AG, with a particular focus on the activities of HolidayCheck International. The resulting cost to the Group of around EUR 1.6 million will generate tangible synergy effects at HolidayCheck AG from 2013 onwards.
Earnings were boosted by TOMORROW FOCUS AG’s earlier than expected acquisition of the remaining 45 percent stake in Tomorrow Travel B.V., which operates the Dutch online travel agency Tjingo.nl. The Dutch company’s existing shareholders exercised their contractually agreed put option and sold their holdings to TOMORROW FOCUS AG for EUR 4.0 million. The sale took effect on 30 September 2012. Since the mentioned liabilities were valued at EUR 7.5 million when TOMORROW FOCUS AG acquired its majority holding, the deal resulted in a EUR 3.5 million boost to consolidated earnings. The early completion of this takeover will help to speed up the integration of Tomorrow Travel B.V. as part of the travel operations of TOMORROW FOCUS AG.
In addition, TOMORROW FOCUS AG sold its 20 percent minority holding in AdJug Ltd., which operates two Internet advertising marketplaces in the United Kingdom and in Germany, to AdJug’s majority shareholder, the international media and advertising group Dentsu Inc. The sale took effect on 1 September 2012 and generated EUR 1.3 million. The deal contains a performance-related earn-out agreement covering AdJug Ltd.’s German operations.
AdJug and TOMORROW FOCUS will continue to work together on the marketing of advertising space. AdJug’s residual balance sheet value of EUR 2.0 million will be written off.
Although some of the Group’s operating results for the first nine months of 2012 were slightly down on the previous year, the figures remained nevertheless within expectations.
Group earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Group EBITDA) for the first nine months of 2012 were 1.0 percent higher at EUR 14.0 million compared to the previous year’s figure of EUR 13.9 million.
Group EBITDA for the third quarter of 2012 stood at EUR 6.3 million, up 22.4 percent from the corresponding figure of EUR 5.2 million in 2011.
At EUR 9.7 million, Group earnings before interest and taxes (Group EBIT) for the first three quarters of 2012 were down 6.6 percent from the previous year’s figure of EUR 10.4 million.
Despite amortisation and depreciation on acquisitions, Group EBIT for the third quarter was EUR 4.3 million, an increase of 4.9 percent on the figure of EUR 4.1 million achieved in the same period of 2011.
Group earnings after taxes for the first nine months of 2012 were 21.9 percent lower at EUR 4.5 million compared to EUR 5.7 million recorded in the same period of 2011.
The equivalent third-quarter figure stood at EUR 2.6 million, down 19.3 percent from the previous year’s total of EUR 3.2 million.
Consolidated earnings per share for the first nine months of 2012 were EUR 0.08 compared to EUR 0.11 in the first nine months of 2011.
The figure for the third quarter 2012 was EUR 0.05 compared to EUR 0.06 in the same quarter of 2011.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, TOMORROW FOCUS AG sold the digital rights to the brands TV-Spielfilm, Fit for Fun, and Cinema for EUR 5.8 million to the Burda News Group, which had previously taken over editorial operation and product management of the three portals as a licensing partner in 2009. The sale produced non-recurring earnings of EUR 5.2 million. The Group’s digital ad network TOMORROW FOCUS Media will continue to market the portals’ online and mobile content.
In light of the Group’s current performance and with due regard for the above non-recurring items, the Management Board anticipates an increase in earnings per share to between EUR 0.25 and EUR 0.28 for the financial year 2012. The corresponding figure for 2011 was EUR 0.21.
The Management Board is also confident of the Group’s prospects for the financial year 2013, especially with regard to the Transactions segment, which should deliver further growth in revenue and earnings. In part, this is achievable thanks to the acquisitions in France and in the Netherlands, which have helped to reduce the cost of further internationalising the segment’s travel operations. Other potential acquisitions in the Transactions and Advertising segments are currently being examined.
The German version of the 2012 third-quarter report of the TOMORROW FOCUS Group will be published on the website at www.tomorrow-focus.de during the course of the day. The English translation of the report will be available subsequently.
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: Transactions, Advertising and Technologies.
The Transactions segment includes HOLIDAYCHECK AG, which operates a number of hotel rating and travel booking portals by the same name; WEBASSETS B.V., which operates the ZOOVER hotel rating portals and the METEOVISTA/WEERONLINE weather portals; TOMORROW TRAVEL B.V., which operates the Dutch online travel agent TJINGO; RPC VOYAGES SAS, which operates the French online travel agent ECOTOUR; ELITEMEDIANET GmbH, which operates the premium online dating agency ELITEPARTNER.de; and JAMEDA GmbH, which operates the physician ratings portal JAMEDA.de.
The Advertising segment includes TOMORROW FOCUS MEDIA GmbH, one of the leading German online marketing providers, which markets numerous well-known portals on behalf of business partners in addition to those operated by the Group itself, such as the news and utility journalism site FOCUS Online and the stock market information portal FINANZEN100.
The Technologies segment includes CELLULAR GmbH, one of Germany’s leading full-service agencies for mobile platforms, and TFT GmbH, which provides technology and creative services for web-based IT and e-commerce solutions.