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PubliGroupe with positive 1st half of 2014 operating result - strong digital growth - completion of Swisscom offer on 5 September 2014
[August 29, 2014]

PubliGroupe with positive 1st half of 2014 operating result - strong digital growth - completion of Swisscom offer on 5 September 2014


(Tensid Regulatory Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) News release PubliGroupe with positive 1st half of 2014 operating result - strong digital growth - completion of Swisscom offer on 5 September 2014 Lausanne, 29 August 2014 - PubliGroupe, one of the leading players in advertising technology and performance marketing in Europe, delivered a much better operating result of CHF 1.6 million in the first half of 2014 vis-à-vis an operating loss of CHF -9.9 million during the same period last year. The net result, on the other hand, is negative with CHF -46.4 million due to one-off effects linked to the sale of Publicitas. Excluding Publicitas, PubliGroupe generated over 80% of its sales with digital products and services if associates revenue is included.



Arndt C. Groth, CEO of PubliGroupe: "PubliGroupe delivered a positive operating result on the basis of a very strongly performing local.ch. At the same time, digital revenue stemming from programmatic buying and selling of advertising, real-time bidding and automation exhibited a substantial increase, whereby each one of these assets is well positioned to play an important role in a rapidly developing market environment. It is our ambition to continue to build up these well-developing assets under the new roof of Swisscom." Positive operating result,overall stable net revenue The operating result for the first six months of 2014 was positive at CHF 1.6 million vis-à-vis an operating loss of CHF -9.9 million during the same period last year. PubliGroupe's net result, on the other hand, is negative with CHF -46.4 million for the first half of 2014 compared to the loss of CHF -9.5 million in 2013. The high loss occurred due to one-off effects linked to the sale of Publicitas (CHF -39.5 million) in the range as communicated with the sale.

In the first half of 2014, net revenue reached CHF 121.5 million (previous year: CHF 122.5 million). In the first half of 2014, the total amounts billed to clients reached CHF 498.3 million. For the first half of 2013, the figure was CHF 518.9 million (-4%).


The Group's balance sheet remains sound. The reduction in PubliGroupe shareholders' equity is mainly related to the net impact of divestments (CHF -29.3 million) and the dividend payment (CHF -4.4 million).

As of 30 June 2014, the Group's equity stood at CHF 98.4 million (compared with CHF 135.0 million at the end of 2013), or 38% of its total assets (previous year: 30%).

Search & Find and DMS perform according to plan, reduced loss for Media Sales At Search & Find with the key participation local.ch, the operating result strongly increased from CHF 4.6 million in 2013 to CHF 9.4 million for the first six months 2014. Contrary to last year, the income pattern of Search & Find with local.ch became more evenly distributed between the first and the second semester. In 2014, there were more phone books produced than in the first half-year 2013. This effect will be compensated in the second half 2014.

At Search & Find, net revenue increased by 7% from CHF 48.0 million in 2013 to CHF 51.4 million in 2014. In line with previous years, online revenues continued to grow at a double-digit rate.

In the first six months of 2014, DMS produced an operating result of CHF -0.3 million compared to CHF 0.3 million in 2013. Continued development costs in strong growth companies provided for the lower 2014 result. In particular, investments occurred in Improve Digital, a leading sell-side platform technology provider in Europe, and Spree7, provider of a real-time advertising trading desk for independent advertising agencies.

In addition, there was a restructuring charge with RLVNT (previously SVBmedia) that continued to shift from being a traditional media agency to becoming a digital full-service agency.

Business volume, on the other hand, improved strongly at DMS for the first half of 2014. Net revenue saw a 44% increase from CHF 5.0 million in 2013 to CHF 7.2 million in 2014. Substantial growth at Improve Digital and Spree7, the two key developing companies, were the main reasons for this positive development. DMS also slightly profited from a newly acquired business in Scandinavia, Sellbranch, consolidated since June 2014.

At Zanox (47.5% PubliGroupe, 52.5% Axel Springer), whose revenue is not consolidated in the figures of PubliGroupe, the 5% growth seen for the full year in 2013 was slightly improved for the first six months of 2014: the 6% growth in net revenue in the first semester is a very strong sign that the European leader in performance advertising continues to find new business. Net revenue grew from EUR 226.3 million last year to EUR 239.3 million in 2014. In 2014, Zanox' operating result reached EUR 7.9 million, 1% up compared to the previous year (2013: EUR 7.8 million).

Media Sales (consolidated until 30 June 2014) accounted for an operating loss of CHF -2.8 million (previous year: CHF -8.6 million).

Outlook for 2014 Excluding Media Sales, for 2014 PubliGroupe anticipates consolidated net revenue of around CHF 150 million with an operating result in the range of CHF 15-20 million.

In Fall 2014, the execution of the previously announced sale of PubliGroupe's 25.07% stake in FPH Freie Presse Holding AG to Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ-Mediengruppe) will take place. The completion of this transaction of CHF 53 million is subject to approval by the shareholders of PubliGroupe which will be sought at the extraordinary general meeting taking place after the settlement of the Swisscom offer. This transaction will have a CHF 22.1 million non-operating loss effect (due to the reversal of acquired goodwill that was offset with equity. Shareholders' equity, on the other hand, will increase by CHF 7.4 million.

Swisscom offer According to the definitive final result, the holding of Swisscom in PubliGroupe amounts to 98.37%. The tender offer will be completed on 5 September 2014. With the settlement of the offer, Swisscom will become the new main shareholder of PubliGroupe and has announced that it will apply for cancellation of those PubliGroupe shares that have not been tendered. Minority shareholders will receive the offer price as compensation for the cancellation of their shares.

For further information: PubliGroupe Ltd Beat W. Werder Head of Corporate Communications Tel.: + 41 21 317 72 15 E-Mail: [email protected] The 2014 half-year results and the financial report are available at: http://www.publigroupe.com PubliGroupe Ltd Avenue Mon-Repos 22 P.O. Box 7203 1002 Lausanne Tel. + 41 21 317 71 11 Fax + 41 21 317 75 55 [email protected] www.publigroupe.com News release (PDF) ProviderChannelContactTensid Ltd., Switzerland www.tensid.chnewsbox.ch www.newsbox.chProvider/Channel related enquiries [email protected] +41 41 763 00 50 (c) 2014 Tensid Ltd., Switzerland.

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