EANS-News: asknet AG asknet publishes business figures for the first half of
2011
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Company Information/6-month report
Subtitle: *** Sales amount to EUR 32.5 million (-4.8%)
*** Gross profits of EUR 5.0 million at the previous year's level
*** Earnings impacted by an unscheduled provision and one-off fees
Karlsruhe, San Francisco (euro adhoc) - August 15, 2011 - asknet AG, a leading
supplier of global eCommerce solutions for software and digital media companies,
has announced its business figures for the first half of 2011. The Group
generated sales revenues of EUR 32.5 million in the first six months of 2011,
down approximately 5 percent from the previous year´s figure. Gross profits,
which represent the growth of the Group, were the same as in the previous year
at EUR 5.0 million in the reporting period, of which EUR 3.5 million came from
the eDistribution segment and EUR 1.5 million from ePortals. asknet Group´s
operating result (EBIT) was EUR -1.0 million. Earnings before taxes (EBT) came
to EUR -1.8 million.
The decline in earnings is mainly due to an unscheduled provision of EUR 763
thousand, which was set aside for an interest charge due to a formal error
during VAT calculations for software publishers by tax authorities. Responsible
tax authorities have since approved the suspension of execution applied for by
asknet. Tax authorities usually only approve a suspension of execution when
there are serious doubts about the lawfulness of a notice. No interest payments
will be due until further notice on account of the suspension of execution and
no additional interest will be incurred during the period of suspension. One-off
fees for Executive Board reorganization and strategic consultancy services also
impacted the net result for the first half of the year. After interest and
taxes, asknet reported a loss in the first half of the year of EUR 1.8 million.
Apart from a slight decline in growth in the eDistribution segment due to weaker
growth of existing customers and a lack of new customer agreements with major
software publishers, the ePortals segment continued to develop positively.
asknet already supplies approximately 80% of all German universities with
software products. The company aims to further consolidate its market leadership
in Germany and to accelerate the expansion of its software portals in
Switzerland and Austria. Furthermore, the experienced and well-versed executive
duo Michael Konrad and Dr. Dietmar Waudig will continue to consistently improve
results regarding sustainable profitability following CEO Michael Scheib´s
resignation effective July 15, 2011. "We expect to generate positive operating
cash flow as early as the fourth quarter of this year with the help of stringent
cost control", explained Michael Konrad.
The company is operating in an intact growth market with software and electronic
software distribution. The trend to supplement and substitute stationary trade
in the software market through the Internet as a sales channel continues.
The half-year report 2011 of asknet AG is available on the company website at
www.asknet.com.
About asknet:
asknet offers its clients customized outsourcing solutions for global software
sales via the Internet. Founded in 1995 as a spin-off of the Karlsruhe Institute
of Technology (KIT, formerly the University of Karlsruhe), the company has
become a leading independent global provider for electronic software
distribution. In addition to its fully integrated shop solutions for software
publishers, the company develops and maintains portals for software distribution
such as softwarehouse.de, one of Europe's largest platform for downloads of
standard software. In 2010, asknet posted sales of approximately
EUR 72.7 million. asknet´s clients include numerous providers of specialty
software such as F-Secure, IS3, Nero, NetObjects, Norman, and Panda Security.
The company also supplies software products to around eighty percent of German
universities.
Further inquiry note:
Martina Oerther
Director Corporate Marketing
Tel.: +49 (0)721 96 458-6369
Email: martina.oerther@asknet.com
end of announcement euro adhoc
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company: asknet AG
Vincenz-Priessnitz-Str. 3
D-76131 Karlsruhe
phone: +49 (0)721 96 458 6369
FAX: +49 (0)721-96 45899
mail: info@asknet.de
WWW: http://www.asknet.de
sector: Electronic Commerce
ISIN: DE0005173306
indexes:
stockmarkets: free trade: Berlin, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, München, Open Market /
Entry Standard: Frankfurt
language: English