Ad-hoc | 26 September 2002 10:48

Hunzinger Information AG english

Hunzinger Information acquires remaining shares of action press Ad-hoc-announcement processed and transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Hunzinger Information acquires remaining shares of action press – One of the world’s leading suppliers of press photography Frankfurt am Main, 26th September 2002 – Hunzinger Information AG (Frankfurt am Main) announced today that it has acquired the remaining shares in action press gmbh & co. kg (Hamburg) thereby increasing its majority stake of 50.2%, acquired in 2000, to 100 percent. The purchase of action press makes Hunzinger Information one of the world’s leading suppliers of press photography and photo reports. The acquisition price was stated as EUR 10 million, which was paid in cash. The action press archives contain more than 900,000 digital press photos and over six million photos in the categories of historic events, show business, society, politics, business and science. The professional content provider converts a picture into digital format every 180 seconds. With about 1,500 national and international customers, action press is one of the most important sources for photo-journalism reports, photo sales and photo archives. More than 650 agencies and photographers, of which over 250 are located abroad, plus 22 international partner agencies in 20 countries, produce top quality photojournalism reports from around the world. Currently, the company is increasingly using the Internet as a main sales channel. Action press has continued to grow as revenues have risen from EUR 6.4 million in 2000 to EUR 7.3 million in 2001. In 2001 action press recorded higher than planned earnings: net income rose 50 percent to EUR 0.6 million (2000: EUR 0.4 million) and results from ordinary business activities soared by 40 percent to EUR 0.7 million (2000: EUR 0.5 million). Action press anticipates that revenues will rise again in 2002 to EUR 7.5 million. In contrast to the general development noted in the market in 2001, revenues posted by the Hunzinger Information Group rose during the year by 4.2 percent to EUR 23.9 million (2000: EUR 22.9 million). In addition to action press, which saw its revenues rise by 14.1 percent, the infas opinion research Institute recorded a gain of over 22 percent to EUR 5 million (2000: EUR 4.1 million). As previously announced during the first half report, PR activities were influenced by poor economic conditions and declined by 6.6 percent to EUR 11.6 million (2000: EUR 12.4 million). The results from ordinary business activities in the three areas of business (photography, polling/market research and PR) amounted to EUR 1.3 million. At the end of the first six months of 2002 Hunzinger Information AG reported an equity capital ratio of 42.9 percent. After a 34-year career, the founder of action press, Hartmut Doerk (64) announced that he would retire as head of the company on October 1, 2002. The company’s executive management consists of Moritz Hunzinger (43), Katharina Doerk (37) and Sven ten Doornkaat Koolman (34), who are chief editors for international and domestic activities, respectively, and, since September 1, 2002, Ulf Schmidt-Funke (38) who is in charge of the firm’s overall business administration. end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 26.09.2002 Issuer’s information/explanatory remarks concerning this ad-hoc-announcement: Brief portrait of Hunzinger Information AG Employees The Hunzinger Information AG employs 960 people in 28 countries including 142 full-time employees in Germany who work in the Group’s three business areas: PR, photography and public opinion polling (+0.7 percent gain in comparison to the previous year); the number of employed authors and photo-journalists has remained unchanged at 820. Board of Management The Board of Management of Hunzinger Information AG consists of the founder of the company, Moritz Hunzinger, who has direct responsibilities for all business operations and the business areas of PR and photography; Menno Smid (53), who is responsible for the business area public opinion polling market and social research (infas Institute for Applied Social Sciences GmbH in Bonn). As of January 1, 2003 Hunzinger will begin a new five year contract as Chairman of the Board of Management. Shareholder structure In addition to the 36% of shares, which are widely held, the major shareholders in Hunzinger Information AG are the BGAG Beteiligungsgesellschaft der Gewerkschaften AG (trades union holding company), the DBB Deutsche Beamtenbund (German Civil Service Association), the Effecten-Spiegel AG and Moritz Hunzinger, who founded the company in 1979. Hunzinger Information Aktiengesellschaft action press – weltweit digitaler Presseservice · Hunzinger PR · infas Meinungsforschung 60322 Frankfurt am Main, Holzhausenstraße 21 Telefon (069) 15 20 03-20, Telefax (069) 15 20 03-33 http://www.hunzinger.de, info@hunzinger.de, WKN: 609 710 (HUZG.F) ——————————————————————————– WKN: 609710; ISIN: DE0006097108; Index: Listed: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt; Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hannover, München und Stuttgart 261048 Sep 02