6 August 2015
Company announcement no. 08-15
No Ads+ maintains its progress with more than 440,000 households now signed up. Revenue and profit of the Group are as expected for H1 2015, and expectations for FY2015 remain unchanged
- The planned activities and strategic objectives for H1 2015 were executed and achieved as expected.
- In H1 2015, the Group turned over DKK 511.6 million.
- For H1 2015, Group EBITDA stands at DKK 20.3 million, and EBIT before special items comes to a negative DKK 3.5 million.
- H1 2015 was characterised by extensive costs for marketing of No Ads+.
- Financial performance of the Online segment improved in line with expectations.
- At 30 June 2015, the Group’s net interest-bearing cash position comes to DKK 74.4 million, and cash resources stand at DKK 272.2 million.
For H1 2015, the Group’s revenue came to DKK 511.6 million, which is DKK 23 million, or 4%, down on H1 2014. Revenue of FK Distribution is declining due to the structural market development, resulting in lower volumes. The prices on distributing printed matter continue to drop as a result of – in the eyes of North Media A/S – illegal price competition on the part of Post Danmark. The Group’s EBIT before special items was a negative DKK 3.5 million for H1 2015, which is DKK 30.2 million down on the same period in 2014. This drop is attributable to the declining revenue of FK Distribution and higher costs for marketing No Ads+ and development of minetilbud.dk. The online activities improved their performance by DKK 3.3 million in the same period despite the massive marketing of håndværker.dk.
FK Distribution continues to up the number of households signed up for No Ads+ and increase options for advanced bargain hunting at minetilbud.dk
In H1 2015, more than 140,000 households signed up for No Ads+, including over 90,000 households in Q2 alone. The success of No Ads+ continues, and with more than 440,000 households registered at 30 June 2015, this activity is developing satisfactorily and as expected. The advertisement tax was adopted by the Danish Parliament in 2012, but has still not been implemented. And expectations are now that it will not be implemented at all. In June 2015, FK Distribution extended its distribution agreement with Dansk Supermarked until the end of 2017. COOP has terminated its agreement with FK Distribution effective from 1 January 2016.
BEKEY consolidates its market-leading position within electronic key systems for municipalities
BEKEY is now in operation or being tested in 18 Danish municipalities, and BEKEY wins the majority of the tenders offered. Earlier this year, BEKEY’s electronic key systems were supplemented with emergency call systems, and most recently a key box with BEKEY’s electronic access was added to the product portfolio. The level of activity has also increased outside Denmark, particularly in Sweden, and campaigns have been launched which have attracted considerable interest from municipalities. BEKEY is now in operation or being tested in 2 Swedish municipalities.
Newspaper activities maintained their market position with readership and financial performance on a par with last year
Revenue of the newspaper activities was slightly lower in H1 2015 when compared to H1 2014. This is attributable to decline in regional retail customers which is partially offset by upped sales to large customers and chains. Readership figures for Søndagsavisen were weaker than anticipated for Q1 2015. However, in April-June, they were 1% above last year’s figures based on preliminary monthly data from Gallup. The slightly lower revenue was compensated for performance-wise, to the effect that EBIT for H1 2015 was on a par with performance for the same period last year.
Emply Hire generates revenue growth for Ofir
In H1 2015, Ofir realised the considerable growth in revenue expected from the e-recruitment system Emply Hire. However, the sale of ads for media in Ofir’s job universe fared weaker than anticipated. In Q2 2015 Ofir has added social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn to Ofir’s job universe, which has substantially increased the number of applications received by employers when using Ofir.dk.
håndværker.dk continues to develop positively, seeing high growth in the number of builders registered
håndværker.dk (formerly Byggestart.dk and HentTilbud.dk) continues to develop positively, seeing growth in the number of builders and a reduced operating loss despite a massive increase in marketing costs in H1 2015.
BoligPortal.dk upholds its leading position in the market for advertising rental housing
As planned, BoligPortal.dk launched new products and improved usability within rental, co-operative and owner-occupied dwellings. BoligPortal.dk’s revenue growth was slightly below expectations for H1 2015, whereas the financial performance reflected the higher costs expected for product development.
Unchanged expectations for Group revenue and financial performance for FY 2015
The Group’s revenue is still expected to range from DKK 1,010 million to DKK 1,050 million for 2015. Group EBIT (before special items) is still expected to range from a negative DKK 20 million to a positive DKK 5 million for 2015.
Please contact Lars Nymann Andersen, CEO, at +45 40 36 26 30 and Kåre Wigh, CFO, at +45 25 65 21 45 for further information.
The Interim Report 2015 in its full is attached.
The Interim Report 2015 has been prepared in Danish and English. The Danish text shall be the governing text for all purposes and in case of any discrepancy the Danish wording shall be applicable.
