Corporate | 19 August 2004 07:59

SHS creates solid financial structure in the first six months of 2004:

Corporate-news announcement sent by DGAP. The sender is solely responsible for the contents of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– SHS creates solid financial structure in the first six months of 2004: Equity ratio doubled -Financial liabilities cut in half -EBITDA positively impacted by extraordinary items -Restructuring of foreign operations has begun -Cooperation with SAP marks a milestone for GUARDEAN software Munich, August 19, 2004 – SHS Informationssysteme AG, Munich, the IT solutions provider, focused on restructuring its balance sheet and successfully implemented its debt relief program in the first six months of 2004. The capital increase in the second quarter and the related entry of a strategic investor enabled the Group to cut its financial liabilities almost in half from EUR 20.2 million at the end of 2003 to EUR 11.9 million. This has led to a sustainable improvement of the balance sheet of SHS and significantly reduced regular interest charges. “We did our homework,” says Dirk Roesing, chief executive officer of SHS AG. “Our debt relief program enabled us to improve our credit worthiness and extended our financial leeway. The SHS Group has regained a healthy financial structure.” The company, which is listed in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt stock exchange, achieved a total output of EUR 6.5 million in the second quarter of 2004 (Q2/2003: EUR 7.2 million). The EBITDA was EUR 2.04 million (Q2/2003: EUR 0.1 million). A look at the first half of 2004 reveals a total output of EUR 13.3 million in the first six months of 2004 (Q1+Q2/2003: EUR 15.1 million). The EBITDA for the first six months of the current year was EUR 2.05 million (Q1+Q2/2003: EUR 0.3 million). It was positively impacted by extraordinary items stemming from the sale of the French company SHS Apsia and the balance- sheet measures in connection with the non-cash capital increase. As of June 30, 2004, the company had 432 employees in Germany and Spain (June 30, 2003: 501). At EUR 13.7 million, the equity of the company at the half-year mark of 2004 was considerably higher than on December 31, 2003 (EUR 7.8 million). This was due to the capital increase of EUR 5.3 million in the second quarter of 2004 and other positive effects of debt relief measures. As a result, the company’s equity ratio almost doubled from 22 percent to 41 percent. In the past months, SHS has begun to realign its foreign operations: After the sale of the French subsidiary SHS Apsia, the Munich-based company will concentrate on its core business. In the future, the company’s focus will be exclusively on achieving growth in its product and project business in Germany and Spain. The restructuring measures involving the Spanish subsidiary are scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. Dirk Roesing, chief executive officer of SHS AG, comments: “From now on, all our efforts will once again be focused on our business in Germany and Spain, especially on further developing and marketing our customer risk and customer value solutions.” In this context, SHS made an important step by entering into cooperation with Walldorf-based SAP AG in the second quarter of 2004. The new credit management software from SAP, which can access external data internationally through SHS’s Agency Gateway, has been shipped to selected customers since late June. Munich-based SHS Informationssysteme AG is listed on the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and operates a subsidiary in Spain. The IT services provider focuses on offering customer management and credit risk management solutions to companies with a broad customer base. In 2003, the company recorded revenues of EUR 29.8 million. The customers of SHS AG include T-Mobile, O2, Telefónica, France Telecom, Barclaycard and other international companies in the information and financial sectors. For more information, see http://www.shs.de . Further information: SHS Informationssysteme AG Wolfgang Brand Tel: +49 – 89 – 747257- 0 e-mail: wolfgang.brand@shs.de HOSCHKE & CONSORTEN Grit Muschelknautz Tel: +49 – 40 – 369050-41 e-mail: g.muschelknautz@hoschke.de end of message, (c)DGAP 19.08.2004 ——————————————————————————– WKN: 507240; ISIN: DE0005072409; Index: Listed: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin- Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München und Stuttgart 190759 Aug 04