Report on the first nine months of 2008
Nov 3, 2008 8:33 AM
Tipp24 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Moderate growth for Tipp24 Online gaming portal added to core business (Hamburg, 3 November 2008) The unresolved legal situation surrounding the German State Treaty on Gaming continued to play a dominant role in the first nine months of fiscal year 2008: Tipp24 AG made more moderate progress in the period under review than in previous years. Revenue – consisting mainly of commissions and additional fees – rose by 15.8 percent to EUR 32,986 (prior year: 28,491) thousand in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. During the same period, there was year-on-year growth in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of 20.3 percent to EUR 6,299 (5,238) thousand. The EBIT margin increased by 0.7 percentage points to 19.1 percent. The first nine months of the previous year were burdened, however, by special items amounting to EUR 1,772 thousand. After adjustment for this amount, there would have been a year-on-year fall in EBIT of 10.1 percent. At EUR 245,906 (218,176) thousand, billings were up 12.3 percent over the previous year. The number of new registered customers grew by just 95 (220) thousand during the period under review. The main reasons were a lack of attractive jackpots and the more difficult registration process for new customers – brought about by the new State Treaty on Gaming introduced at the beginning of the year. Jens Schumann, Chairman of the Executive Board of Tipp24 AG, states: 'Although the Federal Constitutional Court’s recent non-acceptance decision was a blow to us, we still believe that the State Treaty on Gaming contravenes higher-ranking EU law, especially with regard to the general Internet ban. The verdict of Berlin’s Administrative Court confirming this is still valid. We therefore continue to believe that our appeals for temporary legal protection from Germany’s administrative courts will be successful.' Product portfolio expanded with addition of online gaming portal The company expanded its product portfolio in late September with the addition of its new online gaming portal Tipp24games.de. At its IPO in 2005, Tipp24 already announced that it intended to add further product fields to its core business of brokering state lottery products. The new, so-called skill-based games are not subject to the restrictive regulations of Germany’s State Treaty on Gaming. Italy: licence awarded for operation and Internet marketing of online gaming On 28 October 2008 Giochi24, a subsidiary of Tipp24 AG, was awarded a licence for the operation and marketing of online gaming. This licence enables Tipp24 to market in Italy all state-licensed Italian gaming products via the Internet. The specific use of the licence for lottery products depends on technical specifications being provided by the state, which the company expects by early 2009. Tipp24 concretises annual forecast Due to the chance omission of high jackpots in Germany and Spain in the first three quarters of the period under review, Tipp24 has concretised the forecast made in its last annual report: the company confirms customer growth of at least 100 thousand new customers. However, Tipp24 only expects an increase in EBIT of at least 10 percent if there is at least one very large jackpot in Germany (25-30 million euros) during the fourth quarter. Otherwise, the company expects billings, revenues and EBIT to reach the prior-year level. Following the current transition phase of the European lottery markets, Tipp24 expects a return to its historically proven medium-term growth targets – an annual increase in revenue of 30 percent and a disproportionately stronger increase in EBIT. About Tipp24 AG: Tipp24 was established in 1999 and is now the market leader for lottery products in the Internet on the basis of billings. The company succeeded in achieving impressive growth rates right from the start. Almost all state lottery products are supplied. It only takes a few mouse clicks to buy a lottery ticket – round the clock, quickly and reliably. The ticket receipt is kept safely, winners are notified about their prizes automatically by text message and e-mail and prizes are credited automatically. Subsidiaries of Tipp24 (www.tipp24.de) are Ventura24 in Spain (www.ventura24.es), Puntogioco24 (www.puntogioco24.it) in Italy and MyLotto24 (www.mylotto24.co.uk) in the UK. Shares in Tipp24 AG have been traded at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 2005. Tipp24 AG Andrea Fratini Head of Media and Public Relations Tel.: +49 40 32 55 33-660 E-mail: presse@tipp24.de Internet: www.tipp24.de/presse/ 03.11.2008 Financial News transmitted by DGAP ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: English Issuer: Tipp24 AG Straßenbahnring 11-13 20251 Hamburg Deutschland Phone: +49 (0)40 325533-0 Fax: +49 (0)40 325533-77 E-mail: office@tipp24.de Internet: www.tipp24-ag.de ISIN: DE0007847147 WKN: 784714 Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service ---------------------------------------------------------------------------