Press Release in accordance with CONSOB Regulation No. 11971/1999 and subsequent modifications
Approval of Dada S.p.A. and Dada Group Accounts as of December 31, 2006
DADA GROUP: APPROVED RESULTS FOR THE YEAR 2006.
CONSOLIDATED REVENUES OF EURO 111.4 MLN (+59.4% COMPARED TO 2005),
EBITDA* OF EURO 15.7 MLN (+23%),
NET PROFIT OF EURO 12.5 MLN (+74%).
THE NET FINANCIAL POSITION AT DECEMBER 31, 2006 WAS A CASH POSITION OF EURO 11.8 MILLION AFTER THE ACQUISITIONS OF NOMINALIA, UPOC NETWORKS AND TIPIC.
DAILY AVERAGE OF20,000 NEW PAY SUBSCRIBERS WORLDWIDE ON THE DADA.NET COMMUNITY.
USA, BRAZIL AND SPAIN ARE THE MARKETS WITH THE HIGHEST GROWTH.
Florence, March 9, 2007 – The Board of Directors of Dada today approved the parent company and consolidated financial statements as at December 31, 2006 and called the shareholders’ annual general meeting for April 20, 2007 in first call and for April 24, 2007 in second call.
In 2006, Dada’s market share in the web and mobile community and entertainment services continued to expand in domestic and international markets. Dada is present in 15 countries with the multimedia community Dada.net (www.dada.net), with a total subscriber base of over 7 million users and average daily growth of around 20,000 new paying subscribers, mainly in the USA, Brazil and Spain.
In the first months of 2007 the Dada Group has obtained further international expansion, particularly in emerging countries.
The beginning of the year saw the acquisition of 30% of E-Box S.r.l., which owns the Blogo platform, the most visited vertical blog platform in Italy and the agreement signed with Google for the international launch of friend$, the first worldwide business model which allows the sharing of web-advertising revenues between Dada, Google and the Dada.net users.
It was also noted that on December 6th 2006 Dada announced the preliminary expectations for consolidated revenues in 2007 should range between Euro 140 million and 150 million.
The Board of Directors also called the shareholders’ annual general meeting for April 20, 2007 in first call and for April 24, 2007 in second call: the agenda for the meeting includes the approval of the financial statements at December 31, 2006, the resolutions subsequent to the resignation of two Board members co-opted on November 9, 2006 and the renewal of the authorisation of the Board of Directors to purchase, up to a maximum number of ordinary shares representing 10% of the share capital, for a price not less than 20% and not higher than 10% of the reference price registered onthe day before each single purchase. The operations related to the stock purchase will be performed in accordance with the regulations of the Italian Stock Exchange (Borsa Italiana S.p.A.).
During today’s meeting, the Board also resolved upon the destination of the net profits of the parent company Dada, equal to € 7.266.833: a 5% legal reserve and the remaining portion extraordinary reserve.
Financial results
In 2006, Dada Group Revenues amounted to Euro 111.4 million (up 59.4% compared to the previous year and to the forecast of 90-95 million announced in December 2005), while the consolidated EBITDA* was Euro 15.7 million (up 23% compared to Euro 12.7 million in 2005).
Contributing to the growth in the Dada Group turnover in 2006 was the increasing importance of the consumer division, relating to the entertainment and community services offered by Dada.net, which accounted for 80% of consolidated revenues, compared to 67% in the previous year. The business division and the so-called “self provisioning” division (automated Internet services such as Internet domains and professional email) accounted for 10% each of Dada consolidated revenues respectively.
It is important to note Dada's strong growth in international markets during 2006, accounting for 37% of consolidated revenues, compared to 8% in 2005.
The Operating Result in 2006 was a profit of Euro 10.8 million, an increase compared to Euro 8 million in the previous year. Amortisation and depreciation of intangible and tangible fixed assets amounted to Euro 4 million, an increase compared to Euro 3.3 million in the previous year, due to the investments made in product development and capital expenditure during the year. The Net Profit also improved significantly, amounting to Euro 12.5 million and equal to 11% of the consolidated revenues, compared to Euro 7.2 million in the previous year.
The 2006 consolidated financial reporting differed compared with the previous year for the following reasons:-
- In 2005 the companies Ad Maiora S.p.A. and Planet Com S.p.A. were included for the whole 12 months, whereas in 2006 just Planet S.p.A. were consolidated for the first 6 months. These two companies were sold in December 2005 and July 2006 respectively. The overall pro-forma affect of this change meant that there were higher revenues of Euro 4.3 million recorded for 2005 compared to 2006.
- In 2006 the consolidated report included the results of 5 months of Nominalia S.L. (acquired at the end of July 2006), 4 months of UPOC Inc. (acquired at the end of August), 3 months of Tipic Inc. (acquired in October) and 1 month of the Dada Brazil company (created in July but operative from December). The revenues of these acquired companies totalled Euro 2.8 million in 2006.
Dada Group Net Financial Position as at December 31, 2006 was a cash position of Euro 11.8 million (Euro 23 million at the end of 2005).
This decrease is principally due to the investments made for the acquisitions of Nominalia SL, leader in the Internet domain sector in Spain, UPOC Networks Inc., a well established provider of web and mobile value added services in the US and Tipic Inc., an international leader in the blog and social networking sector with the Splinder and Motime brands.
In 2006, the Parent Company Dada S.p.A. recorded a similar result to that at Group level. Total revenues amounted to Euro 68 million, an increase of 51% compared to 2005. The Operating Result amounted to Euro 4.3 million and the short-term Net Financial Position of Euro 3.5 million, compared to Euro 11.3 million at December 31, 2005. This reduction is also related to the financing provided to Group companies for the investments previously described.
* after write-downs and extraordinary items of Euro 0.9 million
