Corporate | 30 November 2007 08:00
ARAGON AG / Quarter Results Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer / publisher is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ++ Impressive results for the first nine months 2007 ++ Revenues doubled (+107%) to 82.0 million EUR ++ EBIT as of 30/09/2007 at 5.4 million EUR ++ Optimistic outlook for the annual results 2007 and the forthcoming year 2008 The results of Aragon AG for the first three quarters 2007 exhibits the consistency of continual growth over the last years. Just as the first half-yearly revenues of 2007 have more than doubled from those in the first half-year of 2006 from 24.8 to 49.8 million EUR, revenues in the third quarter 2007 in comparison with the same period in 2006 also rose from 14.67 to 32.1 million EUR. This is an impressive increase of 119%, resulting in total revenues of almost 82 million EUR for the first nine months of 2007. In comparing the first three quarters of 2006, in which revenues of 39.5 million EUR were generated, there was a notable growth in 2007 of 107%. Due to the scalable business model of the Aragon Group, the rise in costs of approx. 98% in comparison with the third quarter of 2006 and 99% compared with the first three quarters of 2006 could be kept well below the growth of gross margin, resulting in a drastically improved EBITDA in the first three quarters from 0.25 million EUR in 2006 to 6.2 million EUR in 2007. Even more notable was the growth in EBIT – whereas EBIT for the first three quarters in 2006 was negative, minus 0.3 million EUR, the Aragon Group was able to achieve a distinctive plus in the first three quarters of 2007 with an EBIT of 5.4 million EUR. Since the introduction of the new business segment Banking & Banking Services in the 4th quarter of 2006, for the first time, with revenues of 27.1 million EUR, a seven-figure EBIT of 1.3 million EUR could be contributed to the Aragon group’s pre-tax profit. Due to its impressive success, biw Bank für Investments und Wertpapiere AG was able to increase its revenues by over 165% (7.5 million EUR) up to 12.0 million EUR, in comparison with the 4th quarter 2006 – their first quarter of consolidation into the Aragon Group. In addition, biw, with up to 300,000 trades per month, is processing one third of the trade volume of the market leader. The business segment Retail Sales is furthermore the main revenue and earnings source. With a growth in revenues of more than 42% from 38.9 to 55.3 million EUR, EBITDA could be increased eightfold from 0.7 to 5.4 million EUR. However, the development of the subsidiary inpunkto finanz GmbH was not very positive. The expected break-even has not yet been achieved, which led the Management Board of Aragon into deciding to appoint a new Managing Director with sound expertise in this area. However, the positive development of the Aragon subsidiaries Jung, DMS & Cie. AG and BIT Treuhand AG, as well as the consolidation effect from the acquisition of the GAMAX Broker Pool AG – with an additional gain of 2.2 million EUR, has more than helped in making up for the unplanned losses made by inpunkto. Likewise, the development of the business segment Institutional Sales has also been positive. The revenues have risen from kEUR 651, in the comparison period of previous year, to over 1.0 million EUR – a 56.2% increase. Therewith, this relatively young business segment has achieved an EBITDA-margin of 37.5%. The Management Board was also pleased with the recent announcement that Credit Suisse took an 8% stake in the shares of Aragon AG. With the involvement of Credit Suisse an operative cooperation agreement was contracted, which will have a positive effect on the company results for this year as well as the forthcoming years. For the entire year 2007, the Management Board is expecting a good end-of–year-business and therewith again positive figures for the 4th quarter in line with the positive development of the company to date. For the forthcoming year 2008, the Management Board is extremely confident about the continuing growth rate. With changes in regulations introduced by the VVR (European Insurance Mediation Directive) and the FRUG (Financial Market Directive - MiFID - Implementation Act), as well as the planned introduction of Capital Gains Tax in 2009, the conditions that will allow for a stronger turnover in 2008 have been set. Furthermore, the 'Buy-and-Build' strategy of Aragon is well positioned for the challenges ahead. For 2008, the Management Board expects the growth of the Aragon Group to be accelerated through further acquisitions. The quarterly report for the third business quarter 2007 is available on our company website: www.aragon-ag.com. Contact: Aragon Aktiengesellschaft Achim Pfeffer Leiter Investor Relations Tel.: +49(0)611 890 575-574 Fax: +49(0)611 890 575-99 E-Mail: achim.pfeffer@aragon-ag.de Contact: Aragon Aktiengesellschaft Achim Pfeffer Leiter Investor Relations Tel.: +49(0)611 890 575-574 Fax: +49(0)611 890 575-99 E-Mail: achim.pfeffer@aragon-ag.de 30.11.2007 Financial News transmitted by DGAP ----------------------------------------------------------------------