Press Release in accordance with CONSOB Regulation No. 11971/1999 and subsequent modifications
DADA APPROVES 2006 FIRST HALF-YEAR RESULTS:
REVENUES OF EURO 48.8 MILLION, EBIT OF EURO 5.1 MILLION.
THE INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION CONTINUES WITH SUCCESS.
Consolidated revenues of Euro 48.8 million (+63% compared to the first half of 2005).
Ebitda of Euro 7.2 million (+15% compared to the first half of 2005).
Ebit of Euro 5.1 million (compared to Euro 4.6 million in the first half of 2005).
Positive Net Financial Position of Euro 23.1 million.
In the first half of 2006 Dada continued its international expansion through the localisation of its community and entertainment services via web and mobile: international business accounts for 34% of consolidated sales, compared to 1% in the first half of 2005.
Florence, September 11, 2006 – The Board of Directors of Dada S.p.A. (MTAX of Borsa Italiana, STAR segment), under the chairmanship of Paolo Barberis, today approved the Half-Year Report of the Dada Group as at June 30, 2006 prepared in accordance with the IAS/IFRS international accounting standards – International Financial Reporting Standard.
The first half of 2006 saw the continual growth in web and mobile services and experienced a strong growth in international revenues: the contribution of the international business in fact amounted to 34% of consolidated sales, compared to 1% in the first half of 2005.
In addition to the Italian market, Dada offers its community and entertainment services to users in the USA, the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Austria, China, Brazil and Australia.
Results for the six months to June 30, 2006
In the first six months of 2006 the Dada Group recorded Consolidated Sales of Euro 48.8 million with an increase of 63% compared to the same period in the previous year, which recorded consolidated sales of Euro 29.9 million.
The Ebitda was Euro 7.2 million, with a margin percentage on revenues of 14.7%, before write-downs and extraordinary items of Euro 0.5 million. The Ebitda in the first half of 2005 was Euro 6.3 million.
The Ebit of the Dada Group in the first six months of 2006 was a profit of Euro 5.1 million and equal to 10.4% of consolidated sales, an increase compared to the Euro 0.5 million in the first half of 2005.
The amortisation and depreciation on tangible and intangible assets amounted to Euro 1.6 million.
The Net Result in the first half of 2006 was a net profit of Euro 4.6 million, after income taxes of Euro 470 thousand and minority interest share of Euro 50 thousand, with a percentage on consolidated revenues of 9%. In the first half of 2005 this aggregate was Euro 3.4 million.
The short-term Consolidated Net Financial Position at June 30, 2006 was a positive amount of Euro 23.1 million, compared to Euro 23 million at December 31, 2005.
In the first half of 2006, the Parent Company Dada S.p.A. recorded sales of Euro 28.5 million, compared to Euro 15.6 million in the same period in 2005. The Ebit of the Parent Company was a profit of Euro 2.9 million, and the NFP was Euro 11 million.
The complete transition document to the international accounting standards for the Parent Company Dada S.p.A., prepared in accordance with IFRS 1 (“First-time adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standard”), will be subject to a full audit and made available within October 31, 2006.
Segment results
- Consumer Division
The consumer offer of Dada - expressed through the community Dada.net (www.dada.net) and the brands Life.dada.net, Mobi.dada.net and Love.dada.net – is characterized by a rich range of fee-based community and entertainment products and services to communicate, entertain and educate, accessible both via PC and mobile phone (the latter through the SMS/MMS channel and on the “Decks” - the micro-portals of the main mobile phone operators).
In the first half of 2006, Dada’s international consumer services grew significantly, resulting in the opening of two international offices at New York and Peking, in addition to its main offices at Florence and Milan in Italy.
The Dada consumer offer is now available in Italy, the USA, the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Austria, China, Brazil and Australia, for a total “addressable market” of over 700 million mobile users on second and third generation networks.
The strength of Dada’s services worldwide comes from the convergence of a large number of applications, from Entertainment/Infotainment to Social Networking and Dating, in a single all inclusive subscription, accessible via web and mobile, together with a rich library of content.
In this context, Love.dada.net (http://love.dada.net) represents the development from Incontri by SuperEva.com, the leading dating portal in Italy, with over 2.8 million users worldwide.
Mobi.dada.net (http://mobi.dada.net) represents the mobile offer of Dada, consisting of a wide range of added value services for mobile phone personalisation and entertainment and currently present in 11 countries.
Life.dada.net (http://life.dada.net) is the ideal space where users can freely express themselves, publish and share writings, photos, video and chat not only via pc but also via mobile.
Having recently renewed its technology, the original portal of Dada superEva.it remains an all-encompassing research engine, used to search the web but also to meet people online.
In the first half of the year, the revenues from the above-mentioned services and the online advertising of the Dada network through the internal agency Dada Ad accounted for 76% of consolidated sales, an increase compared to the same period in the previous year when the division accounted for 63% of consolidated sales.
- Business Division
With the brand Dada Solutions, Dada also operates in the development of advanced web projects and the provision of technological platforms to businesses offering the final user a large range of mobile content, services and applications.
In the first half-year of 2006 this division accounted for 15% of Dada’s revenues.
- Self Provisioning Division
Through the subsidiary Register.it S.p.A., Dada offers automated registration services of Internet domains, premium e-mail management and web site hosting, primarily aimed at medium and small businesses. With more than 250,000 active domain names, 250,000 premium emails under management and over 150,000 web sites hosted on its evolved hosting solutions, Register.it S.p.A. (http://we.register.it) is the only Italian operator able to offer the protection of the domain name in over 185 different extensions. In relation to the self-provisioning area, the current period saw the introduction of the registration of the .eu domains at a European level. Currently Register.it has registered approximately 30,000 European domains. In May Register.it was also officially authorised by the consortium mTLD to accept the registrations for the new domains .MOBI (Mobile Top Level Domain). After approximately 4 months from the launch already 2,200 .MOBI domains have been booked through the web site www.register.it.
In the first-half of 2006, the revenues from the self-provisioning division accounted for 9% of Dada’s consolidated sales.
Extraordinary operations after the end of the first half-year
As already announced, it is recalled that in further execution of the Group's optimisation plan of the corporate structure, on July 4, 2006 Dada sold the 50% held in Planetcom S.p.A and on July 21, 2006 Dada increased its holding from 97% to 100% in the share capital of Register.it S.p.A.
On August 4, 2006, Dada, through Register.it, completed the agreement for the acquisition of Nominalia S.L, Spanish leader in domain registration and provision of hosting solutions, strengthening its leadership in the sector and accelerating its international expansion.
On August 5, 2006, Dada further strengthened its presence on the American market with the formalisation of the acquisition of Upoc Networks Inc, an experienced player in the US market for Internet and mobile added value services. The operation, through the US subsidiary Dada Mobile Inc., was completed on August 22, 2006.
Further information
The Board took notice of the resignation of the directors Vittorio Colao and Aldo Bisio and, after thanking both for their contribution to the Company, may subsequently integrate the Board.
