Advanced Inflight Alliance AG / Release of an announcement according to Article 37x of the WpHG [the German Securities Trading Act]
14.05.2010 08:48
Interim report according to Article 37x of the WpHG, transmitted by
DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Advanced Inflight Alliance AG
Interim Report of the Management
within the 1st Half Year 2010
according to paragraph 37x WpHG
Nonbinding Voluntary Translation
General conditions within the period under review
The gradually emerging recovery of the airline industry in 2009 has
continued in the first months of 2010. In March 2010 the worldwide
passenger numbers compared with the same period last year rose by
approximately 10.3 per cent. However, for April 2010 the International Air
Transport Association (IATA) expects a dip in growth especially for the
European aviation due to cancelled flights in connection with the Icelandic
volcanic ash cloud. The Advanced Inflight Alliance Group experienced no
notable effects concerning this matter in the period under review.
Beginning May 2010 the American airline industry announced the merger of
Continental Airlines and United Airlines. This underlines the continuation
of the consolidation within the airline industry. The Advanced Inflight
Alliance Group expects no notable immediate effects out of this major
merger. Both airlines are customers of the company.
Within the sector of on-board entertainment no substantial changes occurred
in the period under review. Due to the current developments within the
airline industry the sector of on-board entertainment also continues to
experience a certain pricing and consolidation pressure.
Also in the period under review the Advanced Inflight Alliance Group has
been influenced by the development of the foreign currency exchange rates
for the Canadian Dollar, the Pound Sterling and the US Dollar. The table
below shows the developments of the exchanges rates of the relevant
currencies against the Euro in the period under review:
|[![CDATA[|[pre|]]]|]
01.01.2010 31.03.2010 12.05.2010
USD/Euro 1,44 1,35 1,27
CAD/Euro 1,51 1,37 1,30
GBP/Euro 0,89 0,89 0,85
|[![CDATA[|[/pre|]]]|]
In May the decline of the Euro continued significantly due to the near
insolvency of Greece.
Important events in the period under review
On February 2nd, 2010 the Chief Financial Officer of Advanced Inflight
Alliance AG, Peter Biewald resigned from his post with immediate effect for
personal reasons.
On March 3rd, 2010 the Supervisory Board of the company unanimously
dismissed the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Otto Dauer, with
immediate effect for important reasons and terminated his contract
exceptionally. Furthermore the Supervisory Board appointed Dr. Ruediger
Berndt as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Wolfgang Brand as Chief
Financial Officer effective from March 3rd, 2010. The registration in the
commercial register was executed on March 19th, 2010.
On March 3rd, 2010 Dr. Ruediger Berndt stepped down from his post as
Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Advanced Inflight Alliance AG. On
April 8th, 2010 Dr. Dieter Lehner, lawyer in Munich, was appointed as
member of the Supervisory Board by the District Court. The appointment by
the court was made according to § 104 AktG as the company, after the
resignation of Dr. Ruediger Berndt, did not have the necessary number of
Supervisory Board members for a quorum any more.
On April 12th, 2010 the Supervisory Board of the company, which was
completed by the appointment of Dr. Dieter Lehner by the court, came
together for its constituent meeting. In this meeting Rudolf Seidl was
elected Chairman of the Supervisory Board and Dr. Andreas Beyer deputy
Chairman of the Supervisory Board. The company published this in an adhoc
announcement on April 12th, 2010.
In April 2010 the former member of the Board of Directors, Otto Dauer,
filed a lawsuit against the company at the Munich District Court to
challenge the extraordinary termination of his employment contract and the
rescission of the extension of his contract in 2009. The Board of Directors
of the Advanced Inflight Alliance AG is of the opinion that this claim is
unfounded and therefore has little chance for success. Based on this
perception the filing of the claim should have not material impact on the
companies results of the current business year. This also has been made
public in the adhoc announcement on April 12th, 2010 by the company.
Already as part of the acquisition of Fairdeal Multimedia Pvt. Ltd. in
August 2008, the Advanced Inflight Alliance Group agreed to take over
Fairdeal Studios Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, India at a later date. On March 31st,
2010 the take over of the Fairdeal Studios Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, India has
been agreed to be executed on April 1st, 2010.
In the financial year 2008 the Advanced Inflight Alliance AG did take up an
acquisition loan from HypoVereinsbank AG to finance the acquisition of DTI.
Besides the scheduled six-monthly repayment in the amount of 1.0 million
Euros, the contract contains an additional extraordinary repayment in case
the company has generated an excess cash flow. This regulation is
applicable for the first time to the full year accounts as of December
31st, 2009 and resulted in an extraordinary repayment in the amount of 1.0
million Euros, which was executed on May 7th, 2010.
Business development in the first quarter 2010
Consolidated revenues for the first quarter 2010 totalled about 26.3
million Euros, following about 27.4 million Euros in the comparable period.
Significant reasons for this moderate decline have been price concessions
to customers. Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and
Amortisation (EBITDA) adjusted for foreign currency effects were about 2.5
million Euros in the first quarter 2010 which is below the EBITDA adjusted
for foreign currency effects of about 3.1 million Euros in the same period
last year. The first quarter 2010 however is influenced by extraordinary
expenses in connection with the change in the Board of Directors of the
company (gratuity, legal costs) of about 0.3 million Euros as well as
expenses in connection with the introduction of a new accounting- and
consolidation software of about
0.2 million Euros. Adjusted for foreign currency effects and extraordinary
effects the EBITDA was about 3.0 million Euros in the first quarter 2010
which was slightly below previous years figure.
The EBITDA including the booked but to a large extend not realised foreign
currency effects and all extraordinary effects was 2.0 million Euros as of
March 31st, 2010.
In the period under review the cash flow of the Advanced Inflight Alliance
Group was marked by one instalment of the Earn-Out-payment to the sellers
of DTI in the amount of 1.3 million Euros as well as the extraordinary
excess cash flow repayment to HypoVereinsbank AG in the amount of 1.0
million Euros. In the second quarter 2010 one further instalment of the
Earn-Out-payment (1.3 million Euros), a further regular repayment
instalment of the HypoVereinsbank AG loan (1.0 million Euros) as well as in
case of the relevant shareholder approval the payment of the proposed
dividend (1.45 million Euros) are to be made. Due to the company's good
cash position those payments can be executed.
Risk situation
The overall risk situation compared to the risk reporting as of December
31st, 2009 only showed a moderate change. An additional risk materialized
in form of the interruption of the air traffic caused by the Icelandic
volcanic ash cloud. So far the interruptions of the air traffic due to the
volcanic ashes did not cause any notable impact on the company. However,
further extensions of these interruptions of the air traffic could generate
negative impacts on the company's profitability.
Outlook
For the financial year 2010 the Advanced Inflight Alliance Group still
forecasts a consolidation of the business performance. The company will
review the overall cost structure in the coming months. Initial savings
especially in the area of external costs as consultancy fees will have a
positive impact on the second half of the year.
The Annual General Meeting of the company will take place in Munich on
June 7th, 2010. Board of Directors and Supervisory Board are proposing a
dividend payment of 10 Cents per share to the Annual General Meeting. A
shareholder sent a request for an addendum to the agenda to the company.
All documents in connection with the Annual General Meeting are published
on the company's web page.
Munich, May 14th, 2010
Advanced Inflight Alliance AG
The Board of Directors
14.05.2010 08:48 Ad hoc announcement, Financial News and Media Release distributed by DGAP. Medienarchiv at |[![CDATA[|[a href="http://www.dgap-medientreff.de"|]www.dgap-medientreff.de|[/a|]]]|] and |[![CDATA[|[a href="http://www.dgap.de"|]www.dgap.de|[/a|]]]|]
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Language: English
Company: Advanced Inflight Alliance AG
Schellingstr. 35
80799 München
Deutschland
Internet: www.advanced-inflight-alliance.com
End of News DGAP News-Service
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