Preliminary revenues for 2007 at upper end of forecast
Hannover (euro adhoc) -
- Revenues total EUR 214 million - up 24% year-on-year - EBIT between EUR 12.0 and EUR 12.5 million - previous year EUR 10.2 million - More than 600,000 new eCommerce customers - Foreign expansion gaining ground: Formation of Delticom North America Inc.
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31 January 2008 - Delticom AG (German Securities Code (WKN) 514680, ISIN DE0005146807, stock exchange ticker DEX), Europe's leading Internet tyre retailer, has substantially increased its revenues based on preliminary consolidated IFRS figures. Revenues have surged by around 24% year-on-year to EUR 214 million (previous year: EUR 173 million), at the upper end of the company's forecast (EUR 210 - 215 million). At the same time, EBIT of between EUR 12.0 million and EUR 12.5 million is anticipated for financial year 2007 (previous year: EUR 10.2 million).
eCommerce revenues totalled EUR 194 million, up 25% compared to 2006 (EUR 155 million). Revenues in the Wholesale division were up year-on-year from EUR 18 million to EUR 20 million.
Delticom's strong growth in 2007 was again due to the ongoing positive growth in business at its online shops such as www.reifendirekt.de. Delticom now has a total of 86 online shops in 30 countries. More than 600,000 new customers were acquired in 2007, raising the total number of customers to more than 1.8 million. There was also constant growth in the number of partner workshops: right now customers can have their tyres fitted in more than 20,000 workshops worldwide - with more than 5,000 in Germany alone.
In total, business with winter tyres in Germany was not as strong as in previous years: In mid-December, the BRV (Bundesverband Reifenhandel - German Tyre Retail Association) announced that a substantially lower number of tyres were sold in Germany in 2007 compared to 2006. This was due to reasons including the mild weather last winter and the fact that sales in 2006 were inflated by new statutory regulations. As a tyre retailer, Delticom was not able to fully break away from these developments, however it was able to increase its revenues last fiscal year in contrast to the trend in Germany.
International sales markets also became more important for Delticom in 2007. A key milestone in the company's internationalization strategy is the recently completed formation of Delticom North America Inc. in Portland, Oregon, USA. The Delticom Group is thus further expanding its presence in the North American online tyre market, creating the foundations for long-term sustainable growth into the US market. "Forming our own subsidiary in North America puts us right where our American customers are," commented Philip von Grolman, the Managing Board member responsible for the company's North American business.
Rainer Binder, a member of Delticom AG's Managing Board and Co-CEO commented on the preliminary revenues: "Fiscal year 2007 was excellent for Delticom. Although developments in the German market were not particularly pleasing, we were still able to reach our targets for 2007 as a high-growth, internationally oriented company. And what's most important: as the cost leader we were again able to combine growth with high margins."
Delticom will publish its full 2007 financial statements on 26 March 2008 on its Web site (www.delti.com) in the Investor Relations section.
Company profile:
Delticom was formed in Hanover in 1999 and has grown to become one of Europe's leading Internet tyre retailers. The company offers its private and business customers a wide range of products in its 86 online shops in 30 countries, including car tyres, motorcycle tyres, truck tyres, bus tyres, the respective rims, complete wheels (pre-mounted tyres on rims), select replacement car parts and accessories, engine oils and batteries. Delticom´s customers receive information on product characteristics and alternatives; they benefit from a comprehensive range of goods with more than 100 tyre brands and more than 25,000 tyre types. The products are supplied, depending on the customer's instructions, either directly to the customer, to a service partner, i.e., a workshop with which Delticom cooperates and which allows tyres to be delivered directly to their address to be mounted on the customer's vehicle, or to a different delivery address. In addition, Delticom's Wholesale division also sells tyres to wholesalers in Germany and abroad.
On the Internet at: www.delti.com Online tyre store in the UK: www.mytyres.co.uk
end of announcement euro adhoc
Contact:
Company
Delticom AG Investor Relations
Melanie Gereke
Brühlstraße 11
30169 Hanover
Tel.:+49(0)511-936 34-8903
Fax: +49 (0)89-208081147
e-mail: melanie.gereke@delti.com
IR Agency
cometis AG
Henryk Deter
Unter den Eichen
65195 Wiesbaden
Tel.:+49 (0)611-205855-13
Fax: +49 (0)611-205855-66
e-mail: deter@cometis.de
Branche: Electronic Commerce
ISIN: DE0005146807
WKN: 514680
Index: CDAX, Classic All Share, Prime All Share
Börsen: Börse Frankfurt / regulated dealing/prime standard
Börse Berlin / free trade
Börse Stuttgart / free trade
Börse Düsseldorf / free trade
Börse München / free trade