plenum AG / Final Results
31.03.2008
Release of an Ad hoc announcement according to § 15 WpHG, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Ad hoc - Announcement plenum AG March,31 2008
plenum attains profit threshold in 2007 - promising outlook for 2008
plenum posts EBIT of EUR 0.2 m (PY: EUR -0.9 m)
core business 'Management Consulting' again reports growth; 34.5%
discontinued operations reduce total revenues
plenum anticipates EBIT of EUR 1.2 m for 2008
Wiesbaden, March 31, 2008 plenum AG (Prime Standard, ISIN DE 0006901002)
has returned to a profit zone according to preliminary figures for FY 2007
and the completion of the refocusing strategy.
The emphasis of the refocusing strategy:
1. to successively exit the software development business (finalized as of
December 31, 2006)
2. to sell the agency, stoll & fischbach (effective September 30, 2007) and
3. to extensively expand the core business in Management Consulting
In Q4 2007 gross revenues of about EUR 4.7 m were reported; representing a
plus of 38.2% over the prior year's comparative quarter (Q4 2006: EUR 3.4
m) and 17.5% over the prior quarter (Q3 2007: EUR 4.0 m). In all,
Management Consulting generated gross revenues of approx. EUR 15.9 m in
2007 (PY: approx. EUR 11.8 m) thereby soaring by 34.7%. Based on the 26%
expansion reported in consulting revenues between 2006 and 2005, management
considers this as confirmation of their focusing efforts in the consulting
business.
Following the discontinuance and sale of business operations with weak
margins or deficits, total revenues have therefore significantly declined
for FY 2007 from EUR 26.5 m in 2006 to EUR 22.4 m (based on preliminary
figures). The agency, stoll & fischbach, contributed revenues of EUR 9 m in
2006 and approx. EUR 5.1 m until its disposal in October. The software
development business contributed about EUR 4.4 m to revenues in 2006; this
loss of revenues could be fully compensated already in 2007 from the strong
growth in the consulting business (EUR plus 4.1 m). Adjusted for the
discontinued operations, revenues from the remaining business climbed 31.1%
from EUR 13.2 m to EUR 17.3 m in 2007.
The implemented business reorganization and the positive development in the
core business have had a notable effect on plenum's earnings. Thus, the
gross margin saw a jump from 17.0% in 2006 to 30.4% in 2007, which is now
at the target level. Because of the new hires in the consulting business
during the first half 2007, the rise in the gross margin has not yet had a
full effect on the EBIT development. Overall, the EBIT for 2007 did however
increase by EUR 1.1 m to EUR 0.2 m (PY: EUR -0.9 m). The net income for
2007 will be at approx. EUR 0.3 m based on the existing net tax loss
carryforward and a slightly positive financial result. The positive effect
on profit was evident in Q4 2007, which was the first quarter without the
agency business, (stoll & fischbach): earnings (EBIT) climbed by about EUR
0.5 m from approx. EUR -0.3 m in Q4 2006 to approx. EUR +0.2 m; thereby
reaching an EBIT margin of about 4.1%.
The order backlog in consulting amounted to approx. EUR 4.7 m as of
December 31, 2007 (PY: EUR 1.8 m) and is expected to rise to over EUR 5.5 m
as of March 31, 2008. The positive development in the order backlog is
mainly attributable to the continued consolidation process in the bank and
insurance environment. The Company's cash and cash equivalents totaled
approx. EUR 4.5 m as of the balance sheet date 2007 and form a solid basis
for further business expansion.
Based on the promising outlook for 2008, plenum AG anticipates growth in
the consulting business of between 15% and 20% also for 2008. Consequently,
revenues for the entire FY 2008 should amount to about EUR 20 m and the
EBIT should reach approx. EUR 1.2 m (EBIT margin: approx. 6%). plenum
expects revenues of approx. EUR 9.0 m and EBIT of approx. EUR 0.5 m for the
first half 2008. The second quarter will be stronger than the first quarter
due to seasonal business.
for the following years plenum expects an annual organic growth rate of
approximately 15% to 20%. The more favourable distribution of fixed
costs together with a target gross margin of approximately 30%, which was
already reached in 2008, gives the opportunity to increase the EBIT margin
gradually to approximately 12%.
The Company's consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2007
will be available on April 29, 2008. Interested parties can obtain the
Company Annual Report via Internet under www.plenum.de or via eMail under
aktie@plenum.de or directly from plenum Aktiengesellschaft, Investor
Relations, Hagenauer Str. 53, 65203 Wiesbaden.
Regarding plenum AG:
plenum AG (Prime Standard, ISIN DE0006901001) is a leading German
Management Consulting Firm focusing on solutions for strategic task
completion as part of the industrialization of service providers,
particularly financial service providers and energy suppliers. Its core
competencies include marketing and communications, business process
optimization and outsourcing, IT-Efficiency and IT-Outsourcing as well as
Human Resources and Skill Management. The chain of services runs from
strategy development right up to monitoring successful implementation.
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Information and Explaination of the Issuer to this News:
Information and comments from the issuer of this report:
This report contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties due to current expectations, estimates, predictions and
forecasts as well as the use of estimates by the management of plenum AG.
Such forward-looking comments comprise the predictions of budgets,
strategies and outlooks. Forward-looking statements can also be identified
by words such as 'anticipates', 'expects', 'preliminary', 'plans',
'predicts', and similar terms. Forward-looking statements are no guarantees
of future performance and the Company's actual results may differ
significantly from the results discussed in this section.
Regarding further information or inquiries, please contact:
plenum AG
Investor Relations
Hagenauer Str. 53
65203 Wiesbaden
Tel.: +49 (0)611-9882-0
Fax: +49 (0)611-9882-496
Email: aktie@plenum.de
Internet: www.plenum.de
Investor Relations
FINREL GmbH financial relations
Stefan Bülling
Barnerstr. 14
22765 Hamburg
Tel.: +49 (0)40-39834-641
Fax: +49 (0)40-39834-649
Email: info@finrel.de
Internet: www.finrel.de
DGAP 31.03.2008
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Language: English
Issuer: plenum AG
Hagenauer Straße 53
65203 Wiesbaden
Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)611 9882-361
Fax: +49 (0)611 9882-496
E-mail: aktie@plenum.de
Internet: www.plenum.de
ISIN: DE0006901002
WKN: 690100
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard), Stuttgart;
Freiverkehr in Berlin, München, Hamburg, Düsseldorf
End of News DGAP News-Service
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DGAP-Adhoc: plenum AG:plenum attains profit threshold in 2007 - promising outlook for 2008
| Source: EQS Group AG