Ad-hoc | 30 March 2000 08:55

Ad hoc-Service: Telegate AG english

Ad hoc-announcement edited and sent by DGAP. The sender is responsible for the contents of this announcement. —————————————————————————— Revenues of telegate AG rose 118 percent in the 1999 business year: On the way to becoming one of Europe’s leading service providers Munich, 30 March 2000. telegate AG, Munich, increased its revenues by 118 percent to DM 173.5 million in the 1999 business year. With the addition of the financial result and other income, telegate AG recorded a post-tax profit of DM 4.4 million for the last business year. The operating result was DM 2.4 million. Thus, the number 2 in the German telephone inquiries market has continued its rapid process of expansion. Furthermore, telegate reached the break-even point in the third quarter of 1999, i.e., significantly earlier than expected. The result per share is DM 0.36. “Only three and a half years after being founded and nine months year after the initial public offering, this is unequivocal evidence of the high quality of our services”, says Dr. Klaus Harisch, CEO of telegate AG. The largest slice of the revenues cake – DM 151 million – came from telephone information services. This represents an increase of 98 percent compared to the year before (DM 76.2 million). In 1999, the average rate of growth from one quarter to the next was approx. 23 percent. “This reflects the growing demand for our information and service facilities”, says Dr. Harisch. Altogether, telegate AG recorded 92.5 million calls last year (1998: 47.8 million). 11880, the German directory inquires service, alone received 82.9 million calls. Revenues in this service segment came to DM 134.2 million, which represents an increase of 77 percent compared to the year before (DM 75.7 million). International directory inquiries and other information services contributed DM 2.3 million (1998: DM 600,000). Only introduced in the third quarter of 1999, the call completion service added another DM 14.5 million to total revenues. This service is rapidly gaining in popularity: at present, around 35 percent of all callers have their calls completed the number required. The services call-by-call and telephone conferencing belong to the business unit telephony. The call-by-call service, which started in the second half of the third quarter, generated revenues of DM 9.9 million. Another DM 12.5 million came from business field call-centre services, where telegate handles its outsourcing activities. In 1999 telegate received some 8.9 million calls (1998: 1.6 million calls and revenues of DM 3.2 million) via outsourcing partners. Finally, the new data business unit, which is still being built up, brought in revenues of DM 100,000. As telegate finance director, Dirk Roesing, put it, “Our results are well over the figures planned and we are particularly pleased with the way the outsourcing business has developed. We are proud of the fact that more and more companies are placing their trust in us and asking us to carry out services on their behalf.” On the basis of improved cost structures, telegate AG was able to increase the gross margin to 37.1 percent in 1999 (1998: 30.9 percent). On 31 December 1998, the company employed 1,283 people. By the turn of the millennium, this figure had jumped to 2,364. “This continuous process of expansion has only been possible thanks to our highly qualified staff at home and abroad”, emphasises Roesing. Last year, gross investments, excluding public subsidies and depreciation, amounted to DM 27.7 million. All company loans, which were taken out to cover start-up losses, have been repaid. There were also no amounts due to banks as per 31 December 1999, by which time liquid reserves had risen to more than DM 100 million. “For telegate. this represents a solid foundation for financing our international expansion plans, for the establishment of our internet activities and for taking shareholdings in suitable companies”, says Dirk Roesing. telegate anticipates revenues of around DM 300 million for the business year 2000. “In April, we will open three new call centres with a total of around 300 new jobs in Brandenburg, Schwedt and Stralsund, in order to cater for the growing demand for our services”, says Dr. Klaus Harisch. “Today, telegate’s aided level of awareness in Germany has already reached 75 percent.” telegate’s subsidiary, 11880.com GmbH, made a start on the internet in March 2000 with an online business directory inquiries service offering detailed information on about 3.5 million companies in Germany. However, this is only the beginning. Dr. Klaus Harisch: “We plan to expand our internet portal rapidly. No matter whether via the internet or telephone, telegate provides the operator, who can connect calls, book concert tickets, book flights or call a taxi. The customer only has to remember one number: 11880”, explains Harisch. telegate AG will open its first call centre in Spain in April. Italy will follow in May. This year, the company is anticipating revenues of around DM 50 million from its internet and foreign business activities. To make the 11880.com service portal known worldwide, telegate is sponsoring the BMW-Williams team in Formula 1 racing so that Ralf Schumacher’s car will bear the legend ‘11880.com’ throughout the 2000 season. CEO Harisch: “We want to put our foot down in the coming months.” The Munich-based telegate company was founded in 1996 and has been listed on the New Market of Frankfurt Stock Exchange since April 1999. Last year, the company recorded total revenues in excess of DM 173.5 million. The range of services offered includes numerous facilities, such as directory inquiries for the fixed-line network and all German mobile-telephone networks, call forwarding to around 4,500 service hotlines and telephone and address inquiries by post and fax. 11880.com, the telegate subsidiary founded in January 2000, provides an online directory service. Additional internet services are being planned, telegate AG employs approximately 2,500 people. Financial information: telegate AG Wolfgang Brand Fraunhofer Str. 20 D-82152 Munich-Martinsried Tel.:+49 89 8954-1120 Fax: +49 89 8954-1810 E-mail: wb@telegate.de Press information: Hoschke & Consorten Anja Meyer, Andreas Hoschke Deichstrasse 29 D-20459 Hamburg Tel: +49 40 361146 Fax: +49 40 361144 E-mail: a.meyer@hoschke.de End of Message