Corporate | 6 April 2006 07:30

plenum AG: Financial Statements 2005 Confirm Forecast

Corporate-news transmitted by DGAP – a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— plenum AG: Financial Statements 2005 Confirm Forecast ▪ Sales revenues of EUR 27.5 million and EBIT with EUR -3.4 million confirm November 2005 fore-cast ▪ Cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2005 solid with EUR 5.8 million ▪ Consequent implementation of the Refocusing Strategy ▪ Excellent order entry with more than EUR 7.5 million in the first quarter of 2006 Wiesbaden, April 6th, 2006 plenum provides consulting services to facilitate the implementation of solutions to strategic problems with significant IT-emphasis, and complimented by the communications business acquired in 2000. Fiscal year 2005 was marked by the implementation of the Refocusing Strategy commenced at the beginning of the year. In particular, this implied the systematic withdrawal from the low-margin software-implementation business. According to the November 2005 forecast, sales revenues decreased from EUR 41 million in 2004 to EUR 27.5 million. Sales revenues from software-implementation services were cut from EUR 18.2 million in 2004 down to EUR 9 million. As expected, the EBIT amounts to EUR -3.4 million after EUR -1.8 million in 2004. The group net loss reached an amount of EUR -3.2 million (2004: EUR -1.7 million) due to a positive financial result and a slight tax income. Cash and cash equivalents are still very solid with EUR 5.8 million (2004/12/31: EUR 6.6 million). The workforce decreased by 19% to a total of 195 employees as of December 31, 2005. Refocusing Strategy Strengthens High-margin Consulting Business The Refocusing Strategy comprises three major areas of action: 1. The business with pure low-margin software-technical implementation tasks lacking strategic consulting potential will be completely withdrawn from by end of 2006. In 2004, the portion accounted for 44 % of group net sales. 2. Our consulting activities were concentrated both organizationally and thematically and now focus on four central, future-oriented needs of our clients: ▪IT-Strategy and Business Alignment ▪CRM and eBusiness ▪IT-Efficiency and IT-Governance ▪IT-Architecture and Technology Consulting 3. In 2005, the communications business was systematically positioned under the brand names plenum stoll & fischbach for integrated brand communication and DOM (Digital Online Media) for interactive marketing. Refocusing Strategy Will Be Completed at the End of 2006 The consequent continuation of plenum’s Refocusing Strategy requires a further cutback of the software-implementation segment as well as significant investments to grow the consulting business. As announced in November 2005, the medium-term goals until 2007 expect another reduction of sales revenues down to EUR 24 million and an EBIT of EUR -1.9 million. The Refocusing Strategy will be completed in 2006 and provides the basis for plenum’s return to breakeven in 2007. Success in Sales Especially in Consulting Segment A strong entry of new orders during this year’s first three months of more than EUR 7.5 million shows that due to the Refocusing Strategy successes in sales could be increased especially in the consulting segment. In summary, plenum is well-positioned for the challenges in consulting banks and insurance companies on strategic projects. The company’s annual report for the fiscal year ending on December 31, 2005 is now available. It can be downloaded at www.plenum.de or requested by sending an email to aktie@plenum.de or from: plenum Aktiengesellschaft, Investor Relations, Hagenauer Str. 53, 65203 Wiesbaden. Information and Explanations for this ad hoc Report by the Issuers This press release contains future-oriented statements that are based on current expectations, estimates, predictions, and forecasts as well as on the assessments and assumptions of the management of plenum AG. Such statements include state-ments about plans, strategies, and outlooks. Words such as “expect”, “most likely”, “preliminary” and similar expressions identify such future-orientated statements. These statements are not guarantees of future results and contain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are in part very difficult to foresee. Therefore, the actual consequences and results could deviate considerably from what has been stated in the future-orientated statements. plenum AG Investor Relations Hagenauer Strasse 53 65203 Wiesbaden eMail: aktie@plenum.de (c)DGAP 06.04.2006 ————————————————————————— language: English emitter: plenum AG Hagenauer Straße 53 65203 Wiesbaden Deutschland phone: +49 (0)611 9882-0 fax: +49 (0)611 9882-150 email: aktie@plenum.de WWW: www.plenum.de ISIN: DE0006901002 WKN: 690100 indexes: stockmarkets: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard), Stuttgart; Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, Hannover, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München End of News DGAP News-Service —————————————————————————