EANS-News: LHS announces business results for Q1 2009
Frankfurt am Main (euro adhoc) -
Turnover of EUR 24.2 million
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LHS, part of the Ericsson Group (NASDAQ:ERIC) and a leading provider of telecom billing and customer care systems across the wireless, wireline, and IP telecom markets worldwide, today announced its business results for the 1st quarter 2009 (period ended: March 31, 2009). The results were prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). They include the following key figures for the quarter:
In Q1 2009, the company achieved a turnover of EUR 24.2 million, which is only slightly below last year´s first quarter (EUR 24.8 million).
In the quarter under review, the adjusted EBITDA was EUR 2.0 million. In the same quarter of the previous year, the company achieved EUR 4.1 million. The net profit in Q1 2009 was EUR 0.7 million. During the same period of the previous year, the company recorded EUR 3.2 million. Both results are due to decreased license revenues in the first quarter of 2009.
The earnings per share for the period under review stood at EUR 0.05 (undiluted and diluted).
Highlights of the first quarter
In the period under review, three contracts were signed for new projects in North Africa and Europe. The projects consist of migrations to a newer version of BSCS iX. The number of installations with BSCS iX thus reached 54. In Q1 2009, LHS continued to expand its market share in the target markets - today approximately 118 million postpaid mobile communications customers are billed with BSCS solutions. This is equivalent to approximately 23 percent of postpaid mobile communications customers in the LHS target markets, and around 10 percent around the world. On the reporting date of March 31, 2009, LHS was operating 132 BSCS installations around the world. On the occasion of the Mobile World Congress in February 2009 in Barcelona, LHS introduced BSCS iX Release 3. The first projects with the latest billing and customer care solution are expected to be implemented in the second quarter of 2009. In the period under review, the company created 23 new jobs, including 12 in Frankfurt/Main. Thus at the end of the first quarter 2009, LHS had a total of 792 employees worldwide. In the same quarter of the previous year, this number was 703. Thus the number of employees increased by almost 13 percent over the course of the year.
"With a slight drop in turnover compared to the same quarter of the previous year, we have experienced the most difficult business quarter of our recent company history," said Wolfgang Kroh, CEO of LHS Aktiengesellschaft. "Due to a shift in the turnover mix, the licensing ratio dropped to 19 percent, which primarily impacted our top-line and bottom-line results. However, based on the positive feedback for new projects that we received early in Q2, we are optimistic that we will be able to perform substantially better in Q2 2009 recovering from the turnover shortfall. At the same time we expect to increase our year on year turnover in the first half of the year and in fiscal 2009 as planned, despite the more difficult market situation," Kroh concluded.
Reluctant investment climate and difficult market conditions The corporate results of LHS Aktiengesellschaft are due to the reluctant investment behavior of new and existing customers because of the difficult economic climate. However, in general the basic structures of the market for telecommunications software have not changed. Similar to leading market analysts, LHS expects moderate growth at most for the overall customer care and billing software markets in the years 2009 and 2010 - if not actual decline. Prior to the crisis, the market was considered to have a growth potential of five to six percentage points.
The complete quarterly report is available as of today at our website: http://www.lhsgroup.com/ir-en
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About LHS LHS, part of the Ericsson Group (NASDAQ:ERIC), is a leading independent software vendor (ISV) of billing and customer care systems in the telecom industry. The company's award-winning solutions are used by the world's leading network and virtual operators, to generate and manage consistent revenue streams. LHS Business Support Systems offer full convergence on various levels, supporting the complete range of business models both across the mix of fixed and mobile services, as well as prepaid and postpaid services.
LHS builds innovative systems that enable our customers to introduce new services fast, helping drive revenues up, while keeping operational costs to a minimum.
LHS´ headquarters are located in Frankfurt, Germany, with main offices in Brazil, France, Malaysia, and the UAE. LHS Aktiengesellschaft as the Group´s Holding company is a public company listed on the Frankfurter Stock Exchange (LHS400).
For more information, please visit www.lhsgroup.com
About Ericsson Ericsson is the world's leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators. The market leader in 2G and 3G mobile technologies, Ericsson supplies communications services and manages networks that serve more than 250 million subscribers. The company´s portfolio comprises mobile and fixed network infrastructure, and broadband and multimedia solutions for operators, enterprises and developers. The Sony Ericsson joint venture provides consumers with feature-rich personal mobile devices.
Ericsson is advancing its vision of `communication for all´ through innovation, technology, and sustainable business solutions. Working in 175 countries, more than 70,000 employees generated revenue of USD 27 billion (SEK 209 billion) in 2008. Founded in 1876 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm and NASDAQ.
For more information, visit www.ericsson.com or www.ericsson.mobi.
end of announcement euro adhoc
Further inquiry note:
LHS
Antonia Walter-Krisch
Vice President Marketing & Communications
Herriotstrasse 1
60528 Frankfurt/Main
Phone: +49 (0)69-2383 3000
Fax: +49 (0)69-2383 5710
E-Mail: enquiries@lhsgroup.com
Commercial Register: Amtsgericht Frankfurt/Main - Registration Number HRA 42727
Personally Liable Partner: LHS Management GmbH - Registration Number HRB 77913
Amtsgericht Frankfurt/Main
Management Board: Wolfgang Kroh, Axel Barta, Dr. Jens Troetscher
Fink & Fuchs Public Relations AG
Stefanie Wegner
Senior Consultant
Berliner Strasse 164
65205 Wiesbaden
Phone: +49 (0)611-74 131-66
Fax: +49 (0)611-74 131-22
E-Mail: stefanie.wegner@ffpr.de
www.ffpress.net
Branche: Software
ISIN: DE000LHS4000
WKN: LHS400
Börsen: Börse Frankfurt / official dealing/prime standard
Börse Berlin / free trade
Börse Stuttgart / free trade
Börse Düsseldorf / free trade
Börse München / free trade