Ad-hoc | 7 August 2002 08:00

freenet.de AG english

freenet.de AG reports first positive EBT in Q2/2002 Ad-hoc-announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– freenet.de AG reports first positive EBT in Q2/2002 · + 1.02 million euro EBT (IAS) in Q2 /2002 · + 2.38 million euro EBITDA (IAS) in Q2/2002 and · Positive consolidated EBITDA for the entire first six months as well (0.8 million euro/IAS) · Revenues up by + 45 % during the first six months (18.67 million euro) compared with same period last year; 90 % gross yield margin · Online service now counts more than 5.6 million members; more than 3.2 million active access customers at end of Q2/2002 freenet.de AG, Hamburg – For the first time in its history, freenet.de AG has achieved positive consolidated earnings before taxes from ordinary operating activities (EBT/IAS) of 1.02 million euro for Q2/2002 (compared with minus 2.74 million euro for Q1/2002). At the same time, the realized consolidated earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation/amortization (EBITDA/IAS), up by 2.38 million euro, were well in the profitability zone (Q1/2002: minus 1.59 million euro). At 0.8 million euro, freenet.de had clearly positive EBITDA for the first half of the year (minus 5.95 million euro during the same period last year). freenet.de AG will continue to implement its past corporate strategy, which is designed to result in economies of scale. freenet.de’s management also expects to achieve overall positive EBITDA for the year 2002. Thanks to its clear EBITDA profitability, freenet.de is cash flow positive and was able to increase its cash and cash equivalents from 55.41 million euro (Q1/2002) to 57.33 million euro (Q2/2002). Q2/2002 Q1/2002 Q2/2001 Q1-Q2/2002 Q1-Q2/2001 Total revenues 9,665 9,009 6,380 18,674 12,888 E-commerce Segment 2,131 1,539 1,543 3,670 2,886 Advertising Segment 3,158 2,808 1,580 5,966 3,032 Connectivity Segment 4,160 4,479 2,850 8,639 6,095 B-2-B Segment 216 183 407 399 875 EBITDA (IAS) 2,381 1,589 -2,883 792 -5,951 EBT (IAS) 1,021 -2,743 -3,407 -1,722 -6,881 Group result (IAS) -2 -1,545 -1,806 -1,547 -4,157 (IAS; EUR in thousands/Source: freenet.de AG) end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 07.08.2002 Issuer’s information/explanatory remarks concerning this ad-hoc-announcement: Once again, the key drivers behind the first six months’ record revenues of 18.67 million euro – up by 45 % year-on-year (1st half 2001: 12.89 million euro) – were the advertising and e-commerce divisions, again bucking the market trend. During the first six months of 2002, freenet.de increased its adsales by 97 % over the same period last year, from 3.03 million euro to 5.97 million euro; e-commerce revenues increased from 2.89 million euro in the first half of 2001 to 3.67 million euro (plus 27 %) – this may be attributed in part to freenet.de’s greatly increased reach. Connectivity revenues for the first six months grew from 6.1 million euro (previous year) to 8.64 million euro. B2B revenues for the six months of 2002 amounted to 399,000 euro. The revenues generated by freenet.de AG translate to a gross yield margin of 90 percent for the first six months of the year. At the end of the 2nd quarter, 3.23 million households used freenet.de to access the Internet; at the same time, 5.66 million members had registered for one of freenet.de’s many services such as E-Mail Office, Community etc. ——————————————————————————– WKN: 579200; ISIN: DE0005792006; Index: Listed: Neuer Markt in Frankfurt; Freiverkehr in Berlin, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München, Stuttgart, Hannover 070800 Aug 02