Sky Deutschland AG / Key word(s): Miscellaneous/Legal Matter
22.11.2010 21:48
Dissemination 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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Munich, 22 November 2010. Within the scope of an audit according to
sections 37n et seq. WpHG, the Bundesanstalt für
Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht ('Federal Financial Supervisory Authority')
('BaFin') determined that the annual financial statement and the annual
consolidated financial statement on the accounting date 31 December 2007
and the annual report and the consolidated annual report for the financial
year 2007 of the company formerly known as Premiere AG (now: 'Sky
Deutschland AG'), as well as the half-year financial report on the
reference date of 30 June 2008 and the interim financial report for the
first six months of the financial year 2008 were flawed.
BaFin arrived at the following assessments:
* The subscriber number stated in the financial reports of the company had
been too high by around 623,000 in the financial year 2007 and by around
611,000 in the interim report for the first six months of the financial
year 2008.
* Information on the total compensation for the acquisition of the
Bundesliga sublicense from Arena in 2007, consisting of payments in the
amount of EUR 335 million and 16.4 million shares, was not provided in the
(consolidated) financial report for the financial year 2007.
* Furthermore, risks in connection with the planned acquisition of the
Bundesliga rights for the 2009/2010 to 2011/2012 seasons in 2008 were not
adequately assessed and explained. It would have been necessary to report
the possible consequences of failure on obtaining the rights or of a
restriction of exclusivity of the Bundesliga rights with respect to the
situation of the company in the (consolidated) financial report.
* In the annual consolidated financial statement from 31 December 2007 and
the half-year financial report from 30 June 2008, the value of the company
assessed was too high by EUR 248.4 million respectively EUR 251.9 million.
The acquisition of the sublicense of the Bundesliga rights from Arena Sport
Rechte und Marketing GmbH ('Arena'), a subsidiary of Unitymedia GmbH, and
the assets connected to the acquisition, as well as the taking over of the
contracts and some employees should not have been entered into the books by
the company as a 'business combination' in the sense of IFRS 3.4.
* In the half-year financial report from 30 June 2008, the profit position
has been declared at an amount that is at least EUR 10 million too high. In
2005, the company had obtained from FIFA a package of free- and pay-TV
sports broadcast rights for the 2010 World Cup and in 2008, it resold a
portion of the free-TV sports broadcast rights. Sky incorrectly allocated
the acquisition costs to the free- and pay-TV sports broadcast rights,
meaning that the share of the acquisition costs allocated as expenses
compared to the reported revenue was too low.
* In addition, in the interim financial report on 30 June 2008, the
existing risks for the financial position of the group with regard to the
threat of an unexpected breach of credit terms (financial covenants) in the
financing contracts and the possibility of cancellation from the banks
providing credit as of 30 September 2008 was not sufficiently pointed out.
The findings of BaFin currently have no direct consequences on the balance
sheet. Sky Deutschland AG considers the findings of BaFin to be
inapplicable and will have the findings of BaFin legally reviewed.
Should the findings of BaFin be final and conclusive, Sky Deutschland may
have to correct its annual financial statements beginning in the financial
year 2007. Furthermore, Sky may be subject to fines and damages may be
claimed by third parties.
This ad hoc release is available on the Internet at info.sky.de.
Contact for press:
Wolfram Winter
Senior Vice President
Tel.: +49 89/99 58-50 00
wolfram.winter@sky.de
Contact for investors and analysts:
Christine Scheil
Vice President Investor Relations
Tel.: +49 89/99 58-10 10
christine.scheil@sky.de
22.11.2010 DGAP's Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements,
Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de
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Language: English
Company: Sky Deutschland AG
Medienallee 26
85774 Unterföhring
Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)89 9958-02
Fax: +49 (0)89 9958-6239
E-mail: ir@sky.de
Internet: info.sky.de
ISIN: DE000SKYD000
WKN: SKYD00
Indices: MDAX
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
in Hamburg, München, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Stuttgart, Hannover
End of Announcement DGAP News-Service
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DGAP-Adhoc: Sky Deutschland AG: Conclusions of BaFin regarding the annual financial statement and the annual consolidated financial statement for 2007 as well as the half-year financial report as of 30 June 2008
| Source: EQS Group AG