Following a year of strong growth in 2011, TOMORROW FOCUS AG moved seamlessly into 2012 with a further increase in revenue. After adjusting for the AdJug Group (since 1 August 2011 TOMORROW FOCUS AG is no longer the majority shareholder), the Group’s consolidated revenue from operating activities in the first quarter of 2012 showed a year-on-year increase of 16.2 percent from EUR 31.3 million to EUR 36.4 million.
This first-quarter increase was mainly achieved thanks to positive results in all three of the Group’s operating segments.
Revenue in the Transactions segment rose by 16.5 percent to EUR 27.6 million. HolidayCheck AG delivered another outstanding performance with double-digit growth in revenue. Furthermore, at the end of April, HolidayCheck.de emerged as the winner in a review of hotel rating portals conducted by the German consumer organisation Stiftung Warentest. HolidayCheck AG’s international business performed exceptionally well, with first-quarter revenue up more than 100 percent on the same period in the previous year.
Further contributions to this strong first-quarter performance came from EliteMedianet GmbH, which operates the online dating agency ElitePartner.de, and from jameda GmbH, which operates the physician ratings portal jameda.de.
After adjusting for the AdJug Group, the Advertising segment put on 17.8 percent year on year to reach EUR 6.1 million. This increase was driven in part by a superb first-quarter performance from Germany’s second-biggest digital marketing specialist TOMORROW FOCUS Media.
The news portal FOCUS Online, which recorded a new all-time high of around 10.3 million unique users in January 2012, also made a substantial contribution to the segment’s revenue figures.
First-quarter revenue in the Technologies segment was 8.6 percent higher year-on-year at EUR 2.7 million. Both companies in the segment delivered a strong performance. Cellular GmbH again benefited from a sustained high level of demand for mobile applications, while TFT GmbH established a strong position in the e-Commerce sector.
Although consolidated earnings for the first quarter 2012 were below the level of the previous year as a result of a EUR 3.7 million increase in internationalisation and marketing costs for the sustainable expansion of market share at HolidayCheck, the figures were nevertheless above expectations.
Group earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Group EBITDA) for the first quarter of 2012 were 12.0 percent lower at EUR 4.2 million compared to the previous year’s figure of EUR 4.7 million.
At EUR 2.9 million, Group earnings before interest and taxes (Group EBIT) for the first quarter of 2012 were down 16.5 percent from the previous year’s figure of EUR 3.5 million.
Group earnings before taxes (Group EBT) for the first quarter of 2012 stood at EUR 1.1 million, 39.3 percent down on the previous year’s figure of EUR 1.8 million.
Group earnings after taxes for the first quarter of 2012 were 57.6 percent lower at EUR 0.4 million compared to EUR 1.0 million recorded in the first quarter 2011.
Group comprehensive income for the first quarter rose from EUR 0.0 million in 2011 to EUR 0.4 million in the current financial year.
Consolidated earnings per share for the first quarter of 2012 were EUR 0.01 compared to EUR 0.02 in 2011.
The second quarter of 2012 has started well with all three operating segments experiencing renewed year-on-year growth. The Management Board is therefore confident that the Group can deliver another double-digit increase in revenue from operating activities in financial 2012, both through organic growth and through further suitable acquisitions in the areas of Transactions and Advertising, and that it can therefore maintain the successful record of operating profit achieved in the previous year.
The German version of the 2012 first-quarter report of the TOMORROW FOCUS Group will be published on the website at www.tomorrow-focus.de on 8 May. The English translation of the report will be available subsequently.