DGAP-News: JAXX SE / Key word(s): Quarter Results
JAXX SE: successful start to new year with strong Q1
10.05.2012 / 09:17
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JAXX SE: successful start to new year with strong Q1
- Record EBIT of EUR 1.8 million
- Revenue up 21 percent to EUR 18.5 million
- Disposal of lottery operations boosts liquidity to EUR 16.5 million
Kiel, May 10, 2012 -- The first three months of the 2012 financial year saw
JAXX SE (Deutsche Börse, Prime Standard, ISIN DE000A0JRU67) achieve its
best ever quarterly result. Revenue was increased by 21.1 percent, from EUR
15.3 million in the prior-year period to EUR 18.5 million in the first
quarter of 2012. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) reached EUR 1.8
million in the first quarter (previous year EUR 258 thousand), thus
equalling EBIT for the whole of 2011 after just three months of the year.
Sports betting business again performed particularly strongly: revenue
leaped by 45 percent to EUR 9.7 million (previous year EUR 6.7 million).
Sports betting business, which is based almost entirely on the mybet
product range, thus brought in over half of total consolidated revenue.
Efficient marketing, a sharp rise of more than 50 percent in betting stakes
placed over the Internet and a healthy increase in betting stakes per shop
played a major part in this rapid growth.
By contrast, revenue from casino and poker products increased by only 9
percent, from EUR 4.4 million to EUR 4.7 million. This development was
attributable to the loss of highly frequented casino products following a
change of provider in 2011. Revenue from horse betting climbed 47 percent
in the first quarter, from EUR 0.9 million to EUR 1.4 million. The 63.5
percent interest pferdewetten.de AG supplied impressive proof of how
profitable growth is still possible even in a difficult market niche.
Lotteries business declined by 17 percent, from EUR 3.2 million in Q1 2011
to EUR 2.6 million in Q1 2012. The bulk of this business was generated by
the lottery operations in German-speaking countries, which were disposed of
just a few days ago.
With a further optimised cost structure, earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) easily outperformed revenue, growing
138 percent from EUR 1.3 million in the previous year to EUR 3.0 million in
the first quarter of 2012. EBIT was increased almost seven-fold, from EUR
258 thousand in the prior-year period to EUR 1.8 million in the first
quarter of 2012.
Consolidated earnings for the first three months of 2012 came to EUR 1.1
million (previous year EUR 76 thousand), and earnings per share were EUR
0.05 (previous year EUR 0.00).
The very successful Q1 business performance pushed up cash holdings from
EUR 7.2 million at the start of the year to EUR 8.5 million at March 31,
2012. An amount of EUR 1.0 million is attributable to the divested
operations and will be netted against the sales proceeds of EUR 12.5
million. The group will accrue a further EUR 8.0 million in cash and cash
equivalents from the sale of the lottery operations in German-speaking
countries, and of the platforms JAXX.com and JAXX.de. The buyer is to be
granted a loan amounting to EUR 3.5 million.
The divested operations contributed approx. EUR 1 million to EBIT in the
first three months of 2012.
Outlook
Thanks to the financial resources from the sale of lottery operations,
business will be focused even more strongly on sports betting, casino and
poker products, and expanded. Future revenue growth will be underpinned in
the first instance by the acquisition of new customers in the Sports
Betting segment and by the opening of new sports betting shops.
Based on the licence for Schleswig-Holstein granted at the start of May,
the German-language product range at www.mybet.de will be launched, for
which marketing activities will be considerably increased. Especially the
UEFA European Championship being held in Poland and Ukraine offers an ideal
advertising environment for mybet to attract new users to its products.
In Italy, too, the mybet.it product range is scheduled to go online in time
for the start of the European Championship. In Spain, the licence is
expected to be granted during the second quarter of 2012, paving the way
for the marketing start for the new online casino to the approx. 500,000
users who are registered on the platforms of the JAXX subsidiary DIGIDIS.
Following the receipt of the Schleswig-Holstein licence and the disposal of
lottery operations, revenue for the 2012 financial year is likely to be in
the order of EUR 60 to 70 million. The opportunities for accelerated growth
from the opening-up of additional marketing channels will to some extent be
restricted in the current financial year by a significantly higher tax
burden and rising marketing expenses, along with the loss of the divested
lottery operations as a source of profit. The JAXX SE Management Board
stands by its forecast from the end of March of an EBIT bandwidth of
between EUR -4.0 million and EUR +4.0 million.
Key figures for Q1/2012
|[![CDATA[|[pre|]]]|]
Q1 2012 Q1 2011 Change
EUR '000 EUR '000 %
Gross revenue 60,185 45,607 +32.0
Revenue 18,491 15,268 +21.1
Sports Betting 9,696 6,677 +45.2
Casino & Poker 4,746 4,368 +8.7
Lotteries 2,617 3,164 -17.3
Horse Betting 1,382 943 +46.6
EBITDA 3,040 1,276 +138.2
EBIT 1,789 258 +593.4
Consolidated earnings 1,057 76 +1,290.8
Earnings per share (EUR) 0.05 0.00 n/a
31/03/2012 31/12/2011
Cash holdings 8,468 7,187
Shareholders' equity 23,710 22,763
Equity ratio 61.6 % 60.7 %
|[![CDATA[|[/pre|]]]|]
The Quarterly Report will be published and available for downloading today
on the websites www.deutsche-boerse.com and www.jaxx-se.com.
About JAXX:
JAXX SE, listed in the Prime Standard of Deutsche Börse, is a financial
holding company with holdings in international companies in the gaming
industry. JAXX currently holds interests in companies in Germany, the UK,
Italy, Spain, Austria, Malta and Belgium. JAXX SE has its headquarters in
Kiel. The holding companies cover the entire spectrum of the games and
gambling industry. Depending on national regulatory structures, they broker
or market sports and horse betting, lotteries, and casino and poker games.
The best-known brands of the JAXX Group include the sports betting provider
mybet.com. The shares of JAXX SE have been traded at Deutsche Börse since
1999 under ISIN DE000A0JRU67.
Contact:
JAXX SE
Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Stefan Zenker
Tel. +49 (40) 85 37 88 47
Fax +49 (40) 85 37 88 30
Mail stefan.zenker@jaxx.com
End of Corporate News
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Language: English
Company: JAXX SE
Jägersberg 23
24103 Kiel
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)431 88 104-0
Fax: +49 (0)431 88 104-40
E-mail: ir@jaxx.com
Internet: www.jaxx-se.com
ISIN: DE000A0JRU67
WKN: A0JRU6
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard);
Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München,
Stuttgart
End of News DGAP News-Service
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169099 10.05.2012
DGAP-News: JAXX SE: successful start to new year with strong Q1
| Source: EQS Group AG