DGAP-News: vwd Vereinigte Wirtschaftsdienste AG / Key word(s): Half Year Results/Forecast vwd group improves profitability and raises guidance for 2011 11.08.2011 / 07:25 --------------------------------------------------------------------- vwd group improves profitability and raises guidance for 2011 vwd AG/half-year results/guidance - Tapping cost synergies generates margin increases - EBITDA improves with nearly stable sales - Positive sales and earnings effects anticipated as a result of new business in Italy - Guidance for entire year of 2011 raised Frankfurt am Main, August 11, 2011 - vwd Vereinigte Wirtschaftsdienste AG, a leading provider of financial information in Europe, reports the following financial results for the first half of 2011: Key financial figures: |[![CDATA[|[pre|]]]|] in EUR '000 Q2 2011 Q2 2010 1st HY 2011 1st HY 2010 Sales 18,687 18,918 36,952 37,308 EBITDA 2,382 2,256 4,026 3,827 EBIT 1,358 1,171 1,954 1,649 Net income 762 717 913 833 Earnings per share in 0.026 0.020 0.029 0.022 EUR |[![CDATA[|[/pre|]]]|] First half of 2011 During the first half of 2011, vwd largely put the financial crisis behind it and got off to a strong start in fiscal year 2011. In operating terms, our business proceeded in an orderly fashion. In strategic terms, we were able to address new areas. While sales remained at last year's level, earnings power markedly increased again. Demand for cross-media publication and communication concepts slipped further in the first quarter of 2011 but stabilized in the second quarter of the year. A key role was still played here by the consolidation of the mutual-fund industry and by the expiration of contracts terminated in 2010. vwd's financial portal finanztreff.de was able to take advantage of positive trends in the market for online advertising. At Trading Solutions, the vwd group profited from the high volatility and the positive performance of stock markets during the first half of 2011. During this period, Classification Services were in high demand and could be further expanded. vwd's solid position in the business with private customers could be maintained with real-time solutions. In the first six months of fiscal year 2011, vwd's sales nearly matched the previous year's level (EUR 37,307.6 thousand), declining slightly by EUR 355.2 thousand to EUR 36,952.4 thousand. Total sales, including capitalized assets amounting to EUR 301.6 thousand (EUR 159.9 thousand), totaled EUR 38,132.3 thousand (EUR 38,674.6 thousand). In the first half of the year, the vwd group was able to tap further cost synergies from earlier acquisitions. As a result, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose by EUR 199.0 thousand to EUR 4,025.7 thousand (EUR 3,826.7 thousand). Last year, EBITDA included a total of EUR 402.0 thousand that resulted from a retained dividend that did not occur this year. As a result, operating earnings improved by EUR 601.0 thousand. Depreciation, amortization and impairment related to a purchase-price allocation totaling EUR 926.1 thousand had a stronger impact on EBIT compared with the same period last year (EUR 867.0 thousand). Exchange-rate fluctuations especially had a negative effect on EBIT, which rose by EUR 305.0 thousand to EUR 1,953.6 thousand (EUR 1,648.6 thousand). Excluding the nonrecurring effect from the retained dividend, EBIT would have risen by 56.7 % over the previous year's level. Earnings before taxes (EBT) rose by EUR 89.8 thousand to EUR 1,253.9 thousand (EUR 1,164.1 thousand). This increase is even more impressive because the fictional interest expense from the existing put option to acquire the remaining shares of the EDG Group rose sharply to EUR 516.1 thousand (EUR 286.6 thousand). Earnings per share climbed to EUR 0.029 during the first half of 2011 (EUR 0.022). Second quarter 2011 In the second quarter of 2011, business outpaced the level generated in the first quarter of the year. But compared with the same quarter last year, the business changed very little in overall terms. Nonetheless, the vwd group demonstrated during the second quarter that it is quite capable of turning new regulations into tailored solutions for customers. With the newly developed PIB Service, the vwd group is now providing the market with a uniform standard for product information leaflets. Other financial institutions have committed themselves to this legal standard, and these institutions are relying on the vwd group for implementation. During the second quarter of 2011, the vwd group took another significant strategic step in its push to expand the European nature of its business by entering the Italian market. During the second quarter of 2011, the vwd group generated sales of EUR 18,687.2 thousand compared with EUR 18,917.5 thousand in the same quarter last year. This amounts to a decrease of EUR 230.3 thousand. Compared with the first quarter of this fiscal year, sales rose by EUR 422.0 thousand. This increase reflected the typical spring surge in business. Significant gains could be made in earnings. Quarterly EBITDA totaled EUR 2,381.5 thousand, about EUR 125.5 thousand over the previous year's level of EUR 2,256.0 thousand. In the same quarter last year, the retained dividend related to a loss of rights of some shares had a positive effect, enabling earnings improvements to be measured EUR 402.0 thousand higher in the second quarter of 2011. In the second quarter of 2011, depreciation, amortization and impairment related to purchase-price allocations totaling EUR 449.8 thousand (EUR 433.5 thousand) were carried out. During the second quarter, EBIT climbed by EUR 187.3 thousand from EUR 1,170.5 thousand to EUR 1,357.8 thousand. As a result of a higher measurement of the existing put option to acquire the remaining shares of the EDG Group, the fictional interest resulting from this increased to EUR 286.3 thousand (previous year: EUR 159.8 thousand). The result from ordinary operations rose by 7 % to EUR 948.9 thousand (EUR 886.5 thousand). Income taxes rose by EUR 273.1 thousand to EUR 459.2 thousand (EUR 186.1 thousand). Tax loss carry-forwards of the parent company caused the company to recognize deferred tax assets totaling EUR 272.3 thousand (EUR 1.0 thousand). Net income after minority interests rose by 33.3 % from EUR 487.7 thousand to EUR 650.1 thousand. Earnings per share in the quarter totaled EUR 0.026 compared with EUR 0.020 in the same period last year. Business developments in the company's individual segments: Segment Market Data Solutions (MDS) In the MDS segment, sales with market-data systems, browser-based applications and portfolio-management solutions climbed by 1.0 % to EUR 17,421 thousand (EUR 17,248 thousand). Business with the 'vwd market manager financials' was particularly strong in the Netherlands and Belgium. The system transformation involving market-data provision from Infoscreen to 'vwd market manager financials' resulted in a small decrease in sales in Switzerland. In Germany, the vwd group continued to generate significantly higher sales in the area of market-data provision and portfolio-management systems than it did in 2010. The solid license business is that much more satisfying because nonrecurring income from the project business has stayed at last year's low level. The business with private customers remained at about last year's level. The segment's EBITDA increased by 1.9 % to EUR 1,886.0 thousand (EUR 1,851.0 thousand). Segment Technology Solutions (TS) At EUR 9,151.0 thousand, sales in the TS segment were slightly below the previous year's level (EUR 9,225.0 thousand). The decrease of -0.8 % resulted from the lack of nonrecurring income from the project business in the second quarter. In the first quarter, nonrecurring income rose slightly. While its regular business involving the provision of market data to daily newspapers remained very stable, the transaction business generated higher sales. Material expenses and other operating expenses were reduced in the segment. Personnel expenses rose slightly. The cost-cutting steps initiated in this segment gave a boost to earnings. EBITDA rose by 23.1 % to EUR 1,054.0 thousand (EUR 856.0 thousand). Specialised Market Solutions (SMS) Increased sales for certificate ratings and higher advertising revenue at the financial portal finanztreff.de were unable to prevent the business slowdown in the area of listing services from resulting in a drop in sales of -4.2 % to EUR 10,380.0 thousand in the SMS segment (EUR 10,835.0 thousand). But business conditions in the area of publication and communication services did stabilize during the second quarter of 2011, so that the very negative trend was stopped. As sales declined, we were able to once again strongly reduce material expenses and other operating expenses attributable to the segment. Rising personnel costs had an adverse effect on the segment. The cost-cutting measures were unable to completely offset the drop in sales and the rise in personnel costs. As a result, EBITDA fell by EUR 34 thousand (-3.0 %) to EUR 1,086.0 thousand (EUR 1,120.0 thousand). Sales guidance for 2011 Demand for the marketing and communication services of the vwd group continues to face a number of uncertainties. The vwd group stands by the guidance that we issued at the beginning of the year. For the entire year, the group expects business will continue to revive and that the company will grow once again. vwd expects to see the new business in Italy make its first contribution to this growth. For 2011, the group has further narrowed and slightly raised its guidance. Management expects sales to total between EUR 80.0 million and EUR 83.0 million and EBITDA to total between EUR 8.8 million and EUR 9.5 million. Forward-looking statements This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the present views, expectations and assumptions of the vwd group and are based on information available to the company at the time this press release was prepared. Forward-looking statements are no guarantee that future events and developments will actually occur. Rather, they are associated with risks and uncertainties. Future performance by and developments at the vwd group could differ materially from the expectations and assumptions provided here as a result of many factors. In particular, changes in economic conditions, new legal parameters, competition and trends in financial markets could affect the company. The Interim Report 2011 can now be downloaded from the home page of the vwd group at http://www.vwd.com/vwd/investor_relations.htm. Further information: Investor Relations Carsten Scharf Telephone: +49 69 50701-270 Fax: +49 69 50701-114 E-mail: investorrelations@vwd.com vwd Vereinigte Wirtschaftsdienste AG Tilsiter StraÃe 1 60487 Frankfurt am Main www.vwd.com About vwd group: vwd group offers customised information, communications and technology solutions for the financial markets. As a leading European provider, it specialises in meeting individual customer requirements in the areas of asset management, retail banking, private banking and wealth management. It offers innovative solutions for financial service providers, investors and the media. vwd's business is driven by innovation, flexibility, customer centricity and strong commitment to local needs. With around 470 employees at 18 locations in 5 countries vwd is a public company, listed at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ISIN DE0005204705). The group's best-known brands are: finanztreff.de, vwd fonds service, vwd market manager, vwd portfolio manager, vwd PortfolioNet, TradeLink and Tai-Pan. End of Corporate News --------------------------------------------------------------------- 11.08.2011 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. DGAP's Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de --------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: English Company: vwd Vereinigte Wirtschaftsdienste AG Tilsiter StraÃe 1 60487 Frankfurt am Main Germany Phone: +49 (0)69 50701-316 Fax: +49 (0)69 50701-114 E-mail: cscharf@vwd.com Internet: http://www.vwd.com ISIN: DE0005204705 WKN: 520470 Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (General Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service --------------------------------------------------------------------- 135165 11.08.2011
DGAP-News: vwd group improves profitability and raises guidance for 2011
| Source: EQS Group AG