Press Release in accordance with CONSOB Regulation No. 11971/1999 and subsequent modifications
Approval of Dada S.p.A. unaudited Financial Statements and Consolidated Financial Statements as at December 31, 2007
2007 FINANCIAL RESULTS APPROVED:
RCONSOLIDATED REVENUES* AT EURO 158.5 MILLION (+42% COMPARED TO 2006),
EBITDA** AT EURO 22.2 MILLION (+41%), NET PROFIT OF EURO 12.5 MILLION (WITH A MARGIN ON REVENUES OF 8%).
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING CALLED FOR APPROVAL OF 2007 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, FOR AUTHORIZATION OF BUYBACK AND PLACEMENT OF COMPANY SHARES AND FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTORS
Florence, March 10, 2008 - The Board of Directors of Dada S.p.A. (MTA STAR: DA.MI), chaired by Paolo Barberis, today unanimously approved the unaudited civil Financial Statement and the Consolidated Financial Statement as at December 31, 2007.
The Board of Directors also called the shareholders’ annual general meeting for April 24, 2008 in first call and for April 26, 2008 in second call: the agenda of the meeting includes the approval of the Financial Statements as at December 31, 2007, the resolutions subsequent to the reached term of the position of a Board member co-opted on July 27, 2007, as well as the request for renewal, prior to the retraction of the existing one, of the authorization of the Board of Directors to purchase up to a maximum number of ordinary shares representing one tenth of the share capital and placement of Company shares within three years from the authorization date in order to give the Company an important tool of strategic and operational flexibility which allows the Company to have owned bought shares at its disposal and to carry out prospective operations like buying and selling, trade-in, bestowal even for acquiring participations.
According to the Board’s proposal, the purchase price of Company shares shall not be less than 20% and more than 10% of the official Stock Exchange price of the shares themselves as of the day before every purchase, and the acquisitions will be executed under the laws and regulations of the Italian Stock Exchange managed by Borsa Italiana S.p.A., for which the regulator does not allow the direct match of the proposed negotiation on both the sell side and the buy side. The Company at the moment does not hold in its portfolio any owned shares.
During today’s meeting, the Board also resolved upon the destination of the Net Profit of the parent company Dada S.p.A. equal to Euro 965,886: 5% was destined as legal reserve and the remaining portion as extraordinary reserve.
Group performance in 2007
Consolidated Revenues at Group level in 2007 were equal to Euro 158.5 million compared to Euro 111.4 million of 2006, with a growth of 42%.
The business unit Dada.net contributed to the consolidated sales of 2007 by 67% (compared to 72% in 2006); the business unit Dada.Adv contributed to consolidated sales of 2007 by 18% (18% in 2006), while the business unit Dada.Pro was equal to 15% (10% in 2006).
International business sales during 2007 registered a growth thanks to the strengthening of the countries in which the Group was already present in 2006 and thanks to the opening of the activities in new foreign markets. International business accounted for 47% of the consolidated turnover compared to 39% of the previous year with a significant contribution of the Brazilian, Spanish and US markets. In Q4 2007 the activities of Dada Usa Inc. were bestowed on the Joint Venture called Dada Entertainment LLC based on equal terms with SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT LLC.
The consolidated EBITDA of the Group in 2007 was equal to Euro 22.2 million compared to Euro 15.7 million of the previous year, registering a growth of 41%.
The consolidated EBIT of the Group in 2007 was positive for Euro 15.8 million (with a margin on revenues of 10%), with a significant growth compared to 2006, when it was positive for Euro 10.8 million (+47%). The amortization and depreciation on tangible assets amounted to Euro 2 million while the intangible assets reached Euro 3.3 million. The write downs and non-recurring charges were equal to Euro 1 million (in 2006 it was Euro 0.9 million).
The Net Profit in 2007 was Euro 12.5 million, with a margin on revenues of 8%, while in 2006 it was equal to Euro 12.45 million. This figure was influenced by the change of the fiscal rates foreseen by the new fiscal law in force from 2008. The new law activated a reduction of the Ires fiscal rate from 33% to 27.5% and Irap fiscal rate from 4.25% to 3.9%, thus the Group reviewed the calculation of differed income taxes of the previous periods. The overall effect of this change was equal to Euro 636,000.
The consolidated Net Financial Position as at December 31, 2007 was equal to Euro -16.8 million, compared to a value of Euro +11.5 million as at December 31, 2006 and of Euro -18.3 million as at September 30, 2007. In 2007 the financial position was significantly influenced by the acquisition of Namesco Ltd., which was completed in July 2007 with a total outlay of Euro 36.7 million.
Comparing the 2007 full year with previous periods, it is worth noting that:
- in 2006 Planet Com S.p.A. was consolidated for 6 months (sold in July 2006) and Softec S.p.A. for all 12 months in 2006 and Q1 in 2007, sold in April 2007. The net effect of this change on revenues was equal to Euro -4.8 million in 2006;
- in 2007 Namesco Ltd. (acquired in July 2007) was fully consolidated for 6 months with a contribution to revenues of Euro 6.8 million compared to 2006. Nominalia SL (consolidated for 6 months in 2006) and Upoc (consolidated for 5 months in 2006) were consolidated for 12 months with a total contribution to revenues of Euro 4.3 million;
- in Q4 2006 the sales related to the service Dada.net in the USA was mainly carried out by Dada Usa Inc. with a net effect on revenues of Euro 2.6 million. These activities were bestowed to the Joint Venture Dada Entertainment LLC which started on October 1, 2007.
The parent Company Dada S.p.A in 2007 registered revenues of Euro 106.4 million compared to Euro 68 million of 2006, with a growth of 55%. The EBIT was equal to Euro 4 million. The short-term Net Financial Position was equal to Euro +9.5 million compared to Euro +3.5 million as at December 31, 2006.
Business outlook for the current year
The performance for year 2007 registered improvements of the economic results compared to those referred to the same period of the previous year and an increase compared to the estimates. At present there are no elements which modify the guidelines announced on December 4, 2007 which forecast consolidated revenues for 2008 over Euro 190 million.
Subsequent events to the end of the year
On January 9, 2008, the transition from Dada S.p.A to Dada.net S.p.A. of the company Media Dada Science and Development (Beijing) Co. Ltd., which distributes Dada.net’s products in China, was completed at book value of its whole share capital.
On January 30, 2008 Register.it S.p.A. completed the global acquisition of Nominalia SL buying out the remaining 25% of the company shares, for an amount of Euro 1.3 million.
We hereby recall the press release dated March 6, 2008 referring to the new share capital undersigned and disbursed by Dada S.p.A. due to the effect of the partial subscription of the increase capital and due to two stock option plans deliberated by Dada S.p.A.’s Board of Directors respectively on June 20, 2005 and March 16, 2006.
The executive manager in charge of writing the Company’s accounting documents, Federico Bronzi, according to the second comma of article 154 bis of D.Lgs 58/98, declares that the accounting information contained in the present release matches with the account books and the accounting entries of the Company.
* Starting from October 1, 2007 the participation in Dada Entertainment LLC is consolidated using the equity method.
** EBITDA: before write-downs and extraordinary items
