TOMORROW FOCUS AG / Key word(s): Change in Forecast/Profit Warning
06.08.2015 12:50
Dissemination of an Ad hoc announcement according to § 15 WpHG, transmitted
by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Ad hoc announcement
TOMORROW FOCUS AG set to increase investment in Travel segment / Updated
forecast for 2015 in light of changes to Group structure
Munich, Germany, 6 August 2015 - The Management Board of TOMORROW FOCUS AG
has today decided to concentrate strategically on sustainable measures to
accelerate growth in customer numbers and revenue across its existing
Travel segment operations. To this end, over the next 18 months it will
scale up investment in a range of product and marketing campaigns designed
to attract new and retain existing customers.The company wants to harness
the potential of new target groups and thus attract in particular customers
who do not yet make their holiday bookings online. Furthermore the
company's intention is to persuade existing customers to use its portals
more frequently for their holiday planning. This decision forms part of the
Group's wider strategic realignment. Henceforth, TOMORROW FOCUS AG will
concentrate on the brands that make up its Travel segment, namely
HolidayCheck, MeteoVista, MietwagenCheck and Zoover.
In view of these fundamental changes in the Group's structure, the original
forecast for the financial year of 2015 has been revised. In percentage
terms, TOMORROW FOCUS AG aims to generate mid-to-high single digit revenue
growth in the Group's continuing operations (revenue generated in financial
year 2014: EUR 100.1 million) with Group operating EBITDA at least reaching
the break-even point.
At EUR 54.7 million, consolidated revenue from continuing operations in the
first half of 2015 was 3.4 percent higher compared with the figure of EUR
52.9 million for the same period in 2014. Consolidated revenue from
continuing operations in the second quarter was up by a modest 0.8 percent
year-on-year from EUR 24.1 million in 2014 to EUR 24.3 million in 2015.
This slight improvement in revenue was accompanied by a significant rise in
costs, and the operating result was therefore below expectations.
Group operating EBITDA from continuing operations in the first half of 2015
stood at EUR 4.1 million, down 57.7 percent on the previous year's
six-month total of EUR 9.7 million.
At EUR 0.5 million, Group operating EBITDA from continuing operations in
the second quarter of 2015 was 88.9 percent lower compared with EUR 4.5
million in the same quarter of 2014.
Group operating EBIT from continuing operations stood at EUR 0.8 million in
the first half of 2015 compared with EUR 6.8 million in the same period of
2014.
Group operating EBIT from continuing operations in the second quarter was
down from EUR 3.1 million in 2014 to minus EUR 1.1 million.
Group operating EBT from continuing operations stood at EUR 0.2 million in
the first half of 2015 compared with EUR 4.4 million in the same period of
2014.
Group operating EBT from continuing operations in the second quarter of
2015 was minus EUR 1.4 million (second quarter 2014: EUR 1.7 million).
Consolidated earnings per share for all the Group's operations stood at EUR
0.25 for the first half of 2015 compared with minus EUR 0.01 in the first
six months of 2014.
Consolidated earnings per share for all the Group's operations in the
second quarter of 2015 were EUR 0.26 (second quarter 2014: EUR 0.03).
One of the main factors was a substantial appreciation of the Swiss franc
against the euro. The resulting increase in personnel and rental costs at
HolidayCheck AG (Bottighofen, Switzerland) reduced the Group's total
earnings in the first half-year of 2015 by around EUR 1.7 million, of which
EUR 0.6 million in the second quarter of the year.
At the same time, the German-language travel sector experienced strong
competition between travel portal operators in the first half of 2015. One
effect of this was to drive up marketing costs at HolidayCheck AG by a
considerable margin.
For reasons of comparability, the above earnings figures for the first half
of 2015 have been adjusted to exclude non-recurring costs of EUR 2.5
million (of which EUR 0.7 million in the second quarter of 2015). The main
cost items here were EUR 1.0 million (EUR 0.4 million non-recurring in the
second quarter of 2015) for the revaluation of a long-term incentive
programme and EUR 1.2 million (of which EUR 1.0 million in the second
quarter of 2015) for Group restructuring measures. The consolidated
earnings figures for the first half and second quarter of 2014 have been
adjusted to exclude non-recurring costs of EUR 1.6 million linked to the
early takeover of WebAssets B.V.
As at 30 June 2015, the equity ratio stood at 61.1 percent compared with
53.7 percent as at 31 December 2014.
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Information and Explaination of the Issuer to this News:
About TOMORROW FOCUS AG
TOMORROW FOCUS AG (ISIN DE005495329) is based in Munich, Germany, and is
one of the leading exchange-listed Internet groups in Germany. The
company's main business models are based on digital transactions,
predominantly in the travel sector. The Group has a workforce of around
400. The Travel segment includes HOLIDAYCHECK AG, which operates hotel
review and travel booking portals by the same name as well as the car
rental portal MIETWAGENCHECK; WEBASSETS B.V., which operates the ZOOVER
hotel review portals and the METEOVISTA/WEERONLINE weather portals; and
TOMORROW TRAVEL B.V., which operates the Dutch online travel agent TJINGO.
Furthermore the company portfolio includes JAMEDA GmbH, which operates the
biggest German physician rating portal JAMEDA.de; and ORGANIZE.ME GmbH,
which operates an app-based document organisation and reminder system.
Media and Investor Relations contact:
TOMORROW FOCUS AG
Armin Blohmann
Neumarkter Strasse 61
81673 München
Germany
phone +49 (0)89 9250 1256
fax +49 (0)89 9250 2403
email a.blohmann@tomorrow-focus.de
www.tomorrow-focus.de
http://twitter.com/tomorrowfocus
http://facebook.de/tomorrowfocus
http://youtube.com/tomorrowfocus
06.08.2015 The DGAP 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: TOMORROW FOCUS AG
Neumarkter Str. 61
81673 München
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)89 9250-1256
Fax: +49 (0)89 9250-2403
E-mail: a.blohmann@tomorrow-focus.de
Internet: www.tomorrow-focus.de
ISIN: DE0005495329
WKN: 549532
Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated
Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover,
Munich, Stuttgart
End of Announcement DGAP News-Service
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DGAP-Adhoc: TOMORROW FOCUS AG set to increase investment in Travel segment / Updated forecast for 2015 in light of changes to Group structure
| Source: EQS Group AG