Munich, Germany, 4 August 2011 – TOMORROW FOCUS AG recorded further strong growth in the first half of 2011. According to the final results, both consolidated revenue and the key figures for Group earnings were well up on the same period in 2010.
After an adjustment to exclude revenue from Playboy Deutschland Publishing GmbH, which was sold on 1 November 2010, the TOMORROW FOCUS Group’s consolidated revenue for the first half of 2011 stood at EUR 68.0 million, up 27.0 percent on the previous year’s figure of EUR 53.6 million. If revenue from Playboy is included, the Group still achieved a year-on-year increase of 15.0 percent, from EUR 59.2 million to EUR 68.0 million.
The increase in revenue in the first half of the year was achieved thanks to positive results in all three of the Group’s operating segments.
In comparison with the same period in the previous year, revenue in the Advertising segment was 27.3 percent higher at EUR 17.3 million, largely on account of strong performances from the online marketing specialist TOMORROW FOCUS Media, the news and utility journalism portal FOCUS Online and the online advertising marketplace AdJug Ltd.
In the Technologies segment, revenue for the first half-year stood at EUR 5.9 million, a rise of 39.1 percent on the same period in 2010. The main driver here was the full-service agency Cellular, whose results were boosted by continued healthy demand for mobile applications.
Revenue in the Transactions segment (excluding Playboy) was up 25.4 percent at EUR 44.9 million. Once again, the top performer here was HolidayCheck AG, which benefited from the ongoing trend towards online booking for package holidays.
In the first half-year, TOMORROW FOCUS AG increased its spendings on the internationalisation of HolidayCheck by EUR 1.2 million, and there are clear signs that this investment is beginning to pay off. Visits to the Polish-language site at HolidayCheck.pl showed a year-on-year rise of 75 percent over the period, making it already Poland’s second biggest travel portal. At the same time, visits to the French-language portal at HolidayCheck.fr were up by over 200 percent. Both sites delivered an above-average increase in booking levels albeit from a relatively low base.
EliteMedianet GmbH, which operates the online dating agency ElitePartner.de, achieved a modest increase in revenue over the first half-year of 2011 despite intense competition. According to the company, ElitePartner further strengthened its leading market position among the premium dating agencies.
At EUR 8.7 million, Group earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Group EBITDA) for the first half of 2011 showed an improvement on the previous year’s adjusted figure of EUR 6.6 million to end the period up 32.1 percent.
Group earnings before interest and taxes (Group EBIT) for the first half of 2011 recorded a year-on-year increase of 60.7 percent from EUR 3.9 million (adjusted) in 2010 to EUR 6.3 million.
Group earnings before taxes (Group EBT) for the first half of 2011 stood at EUR 4.0 million, up 92.6 percent on the previous year’s adjusted figure of EUR 2.1 million.
Group earnings after taxes for the first six months rose by 224.0 percent from EUR 0.8 million (adjusted) in the previous year to EUR 2.5 million in 2011.
Consolidated earnings per share for the first half of 2011 were 66.7 percent higher at EUR 0.05 compared to EUR 0.03 for the same period of 2010.
The Management Board is confident that the positive results of the first six months will be maintained as the year continues.
The German version of the interim report of the TOMORROW FOCUS Group for the first half of 2011 will be published on the website at www.tomorrow-focus.de during the course of 12 August 2011. The English-language version will follow shortly.