Tomorrow Focus AG increases revenue by 44.5 percent in the first quarter of 2010 - earnings up year on year despite extensive investment

TOMORROW FOCUS AG / Quarter Results

10.05.2010 10:24

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Tomorrow Focus AG increases revenue by 44.5 percent in the first quarter of
2010 - earnings up year on year despite extensive investment

Munich, Germany, 10 May 2010 - TOMORROW FOCUS AG, one of Germany's foremost
listed internet media groups, continued its growth path also in the first
quarter of 2010.

TOMORROW FOCUS has released definitive first-quarter results for 2010
showing the highest quarterly revenue figure in the history of the company.

The consolidated revenue for the first quarter of 2010 was up 44.5 percent
year on year, from EUR 19.8 million to EUR 28.7 million.

This was the result of a significant growth in revenue in all three
segments:
In the E-Commerce segment, revenue grew by 42.1 percent to EUR 21.0
million, boosted considerably by clear double-digit growth in the revenue
of both HolidayCheck and ElitePartner.
In the Portal segment, revenue was up 55.1 percent to EUR 5.8 million,
partly owing to the increase in business with external marketing customers
in the field of premium marketing, and partly because AdJug Ltd. had not
been fully included in the group's financial statements for the first
quarter of 2009.
Thanks to the very positive performance of the mobile internet service
provider Cellular, the Technology segment's revenue rose by 40.2 percent to
EUR 1.8 million.

Earnings are also up in all Group companies, despite significant charges
against earnings as a result of investments in the company's further
growth. The Group invested EUR 3.9 million more in advertising than in the
same quarter of 2009. HolidayCheck and ElitePartner took advantage of
favourable advertising terms for their successful customer acquisition
programmes. As in 2009, the positive impact of these investments will also
be reflected in the figures of later quarters.

Group earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Group
EBITDA) were up 24.1 percent in the first quarter of 2010 to EUR 2.4
million, compared with EUR 1.9 million in the first three months of 2009.

Group earnings before interest and taxes (Group EBIT) were up 13.2 percent
to EUR 1.1 million, compared with EUR 1.0 million in the first quarter of
2009.

Group earnings before taxes (Group EBT) were up from minus EUR 1.5 million
in the first quarter of 2009 to minus EUR 0.1 million in the first quarter
2010.

Consolidated net income for the period before minority interest rose to
minus EUR 1.0 million, compared with minus EUR 1.9 million in the first
three months 2009.

Consolidated net income for the period after minority interest rose to
minus EUR 0.7 million, compared with minus EUR 1.8 million in the first
quarter of 2009.

Total Group net income for the period was up from minus EUR 1.9 million to
minus EUR 1.0 million.

Consolidated earnings per share rose to minus EUR 0.01, compared with minus
EUR 0.03 in the first quarter of 2009.

In addition to the higher marketing costs referred to above, these figures
include start-up losses and scheduled price mark-downs in new business
segments, which resulted in charges against earnings of EUR 1.5 million,
compared with EUR 0.7 million in the first quarter of 2009.

The equity ratio as at 31 March 2010 shows further improvement at 53.2
percent, compared with 46.7 percent as at 31 March 2009.

Further investments in the E-Commerce segment are planned during the
remaining quarters of the year with the aim of increasing revenue and
earnings in the long term.
For instance, HolidayCheck AG is preparing for entry into the French
market, where, in addition to submitting hotel ratings, people will also be
able to book package holidays, a facility already available in Germany,
Austria, Poland and Switzerland.
The dating agency ElitePartner will make further investments in marketing
in the second quarter following the promising growth in new customers.
ElitePartner is also currently making the technological preparations
necessary to internationalise its own platform during the coming year.

In the Portal segment, further investments are planned to expand the reach
of the automated business models finanzen100.de, jameda.de and
nachrichten.de. Additionally, work is being done to relaunch the website of
FOCUS Online, which should result in higher revenue from the third quarter
owing to new forms of advertising. The online advertising exchange AdJug
will continue to invest in expanding its reach in Germany.

In the Technology segment, Cellular and TOMORROW FOCUS Technologies will
again focus on attracting new customers.

The Management Board expects the very volatile economic conditions to
continue. Nevertheless, the Board is confident that the growth path can be
continued during the remainder of the current financial year. The
E-Commerce segment in particular should continue to profit from favourable
advertising terms. In addition to this, another primary objective is to
increase the equity ratio further. The Management Board will continue to
act with extreme caution.

The German version of the interim report for the first quarter of 2010 is
scheduled for publication on 12 May 2010 at www.tomorrow-focus.de. The
English version of the report will follow at the end of the month.



Media & Investor Relations contact: 
TOMORROW FOCUS AG
Armin Blohmann
Steinhauser Strasse 1+3
81677 München
Germany
phone: +49 (0)89 9250-1256
fax: +49 (0)89 9250-2403
email: a.blohmann@tomorrow-focus.de 
www.tomorrow-focus.de




10.05.2010 Ad hoc announcement, Financial News and Media Release
distributed by DGAP.
Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de

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Language:     English
Company:      TOMORROW FOCUS AG
              Steinhauserstr. 1-3
              81677 München
              Deutschland
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:       Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
              in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hannover, München, Hamburg, Stuttgart
 
End of News                                     DGAP News-Service
 
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