euro adhoc: PC-SPEZIALIST FRANCHISE AG
Earnings
PC-SPEZIALIST - Earnings target 2001 appears realistic following announcement of provisional figures for the first nine months
New targets for fiscal 2002 (E)
Bielefeld (ots-euro adhoc) -
Disclosure announcement transmitted by euro adhoc. The issuer is responsible for the content of this announcement.
[05.11.2001 - 07:01]
Based on its provisional figures for the first nine months, PC-SPEZIALIST Franchise AG (Sec. Id. No. 687380) was able to increase earnings per share by 32% to EUR 0.50 (previous year: EUR 0.38). As a result, the company has already achieved 63% of its target for the full fiscal year, in spite of the fact that industry pundits had predicted a Q3 decline of around 14.2% in Germany's PC market. On the basis of this performance, the company's Management Board believes that its targeted earnings per share of EUR 0.80 are realistic, provided that the fourth quarter, which is traditionally considered one of the most buoyant periods within this sector, develops normally. One of the main prerequisites within this respect is that Christmas sales are not affected by the general economic malaise.
Revenues amounted to EUR 10.67 million and were thus slightly lower than the figure posted in the previous year (EUR 11.86 million). This performance is mainly due to the Management Board's decision to temporarily discontinue its strategy of channelling revenues from its franchise partners through its Virtual Distribution system, which was introduced in 2000 and enables the company's partners to order items directly from suppliers using a PC-SPEZIALIST intranet solution. Although the company would easily have been able to attain its revenue targets via this system, the prime objective of a long-term increase in value added as well as sustainable income levels would not have been guaranteed at this moment in time. With this in mind, PC-SPEZIALIST has decided to adjust its revenue target of EUR 49.39 million for 2001 to EUR 12.92 million. The company has also taken the precautionary measure of planning new targets for fiscal 2002, which do not yet include the area of Virtual Distribution.
The Management Board expects to generate revenues of EUR 15.03 million in 2002, with an increase in income of 50%, taking earnings per share (EPS) to EUR 1.20, as opposed to an EPS figure of EUR 1.54. The company's revised and more conservative estimates for the coming year have taken account of experts' predictions regarding the continued weakness of the economy. At the same time, the current economic environment offers decentralised structures such as PC-SPEZIALIST and MICROTREND palpable opportunities for growth, mainly due to the fact that they have opted for independent entrepreneurs and do not use central warehousing.
Details will be discussed this morning by the Management Board as part of a teleconference with analysts and members of the press.
Contact: PC-SPEZIALIST Franchise AG Mark Schröder, Investor Relations Phone: +49(0)521 96 96 292 Fax: +49(0)521 96 96 296 mailto: ir@pcspezialist.de
Further inquiry note:
Mark Schröder