Financial Press Releases
Press Release in accordance with CONSOB Regulation No. 11971/1999 and subsequent modifications
THE SHAREHOLDERS’ AGM OF DADA APPROVES THE PARENT COMPANY AND CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AT 31/12/2007: CONSOLIDATED REVENUES* AT EURO 158.5 MILLION (+42% COMPARED TO 2006), EBITDA** AT EURO 22.2 MILLION (+41%), NET PROFIT AT EURO 12.5 MILLION (8% OF REVENUES)
Florence, April 24, 2008 - The Shareholders’ AGM of Dada S.p.A. (MTA STAR: DA.MI), under the chairmanship of Paolo Barberis, today unanimously approved the parent company and consolidated financial statements of Dada for the year ended December 31, 2007, as proposed by the Board of Directors in the meeting of March 10.
Group performance in 2007
Consolidated Revenues at Group level in 2007 amounted to Euro 158.5 million compared to Euro 111.4 million of 2006, a growth of 42%.
The Dada.net business unit contributed 67% to consolidated sales in 2007 (compared to 72% in 2006); the Dada.Adv business unit contributed 18% to consolidated sales in 2007 (18% in 2006), while the Dada.Pro business unit contributed 15% (10% in 2006).
International business during 2007 recorded growth thanks to the strengthening in the countries in which the Group was already present in 2006 and thanks to the beginning of activities in new foreign markets. International business accounted for 47% of the consolidated turnover compared to 39% in the previous year with a significant contribution from the Brazilian, Spanish and US markets. In the fourth quarter of 2007, the activities of Dada USA Inc. were conferred into the Joint Venture with Sony BMG Music Entertainment LLC named Dada Entertainment LLC.
The consolidated
EBITDA of the Group in 2007 amounted to Euro 22.2 million compared to Euro 15.7 million in the previous year, registering growth of 41%.
The consolidated
EBIT of the Group in 2007 was Euro 15.8 million (with a margin on revenues of 10%), with a significant growth on Euro 10.8 million (+47%) in 2006. The depreciation on tangible assets amounted to Euro 2 million, while amortisation of intangible assets amounted to Euro 3.3 million. The write downs and non-recurring charges amounted to Euro 1 million (Euro 0.9 million in 2006).
The
Net Profit in 2007 was Euro 12.5 million, with a margin on revenues of 8%, while in 2006 it amounted to Euro 12.45 million. This figure was influenced by the change of the tax rates introduced by the new tax law in force from 2008. The new law introduced a reduction of the IRES rate from 33% to 27.5% and the IRAP rate from 4.25% to 3.75%, thus the Group reviewed the calculation of deferred income taxes in previous periods. The overall effect of this change amounted to Euro 636 thousand.
The consolidated
Net Financial Position at December 31, 2007 was Euro -16.8 million, compared to a value of Euro +11.5 million at December 31, 2006 and of Euro -18.3 million at September 30, 2007. In 2007, the financial position was significantly impacted by the acquisition of Namesco Ltd., which was completed in July 2007 with a total outlay of Euro 36.7 million.
Consolidation scope
Comparing the 2007 full year with previous years, it is worth noting that:
- in 2006, Planet Com S.p.A. was consolidated for 6 months (sold in July 2006) and Softec for 12 months sold in April 2007 and was therefore consolidated for just 3 months in 2007. The total net effect of this change on revenues was Euro -4.8 million in 2007;
- in 2007, the following were fully consolidated: for 6 months the company Namesco Ltd (purchased in July 2007) and therefore with a contribution to revenues of Euro 6.8 million compared to 2006. Nominalia S.l. (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 the fourth quarter of 2006, the activities relating to Dada.net in the United States were prevalently carried out by Dada USA Inc with a net effect on revenues of Euro 2.6 million. These activities were conferred to the Joint Venture Dada Entertainment LLC which began activities on October 1, 2007.
The Parent Company Dada S.p.A in 2007 recorded revenues of Euro 106.4 million compared to Euro 68 million of 2006, a growth of 55%. The EBIT amounted to Euro 4 million. The short-term Net Financial Position amounted to Euro +9.5 million compared to Euro +3.5 million at December 31, 2006.
The Shareholders’ Meeting also decided upon the allocation of the Net Profit of the parent company Dada S.p.A. of Euro 965,886: 5% was allocated as legal reserve and the remainder to extraordinary reserves.
Outlook for the current year
The results in 2007 were an improvements on the results of 2006 and also on the forecasts. At present, there are no elements which alter the guidelines announced on December 4, 2007 which forecast consolidated revenues for 2008 of over Euro 190 million.
Subsequent events to the year-end
On January 9, 2008, the transfer of the entire share capital 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.
On January 30, 2008 Register.it S.p.A. completed the full acquisition of Nominalia S.l., acquiring the remaining 25% of the company shares, for an amount of Euro 650,000 thousand.
Other resolutions of the Shareholders’ Meeting
The Shareholders’ Meeting of Dada, meeting today, also confirmed the appointment to the Board of Directors of Dada of Monica Alessandra Possa, Human resources and Organisation Manager of RCS MediaGroup S.p.A., already co-opted in 2007 to the Board of Dada as a non-executive director. Her curriculum vitae is available on Dada's corporate website at page http://dada.dada.net/en/cvpossa.
The Board of Directors, also proceeded with the renewal, prior to the withdrawal of the existing one, of the authorisation of the Board of Directors to purchase up to a maximum number of ordinary shares representing one-tenth of the share capital and the placement of Company shares within 18 months from the authorisation date in order to give the Company an important tool of strategic and operational flexibility which allows the Company to have treasury shares at its disposal and to carry out purchase/sale, share swaps and conferment operations and also to acquire shareholdings.
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 share on the day before each 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 transaction between the predetermined proposal to sell and the predetermined proposal to buy. The utilisation of the treasury shares must take place at a price, or at a valuation, not lower than 95% of the average reference price recorded in the previous thirty stock exchange trading days prior to the sales deed or, if prior, to the official commitment deeds, in accordance with current regulations and will be accounted in accordance with applicable norms and accounting standards. The Company at present does not hold any treasury shares in portfolio.
The executive responsible for the preparation of the corporate accounting documents of Dada S.p.A., Mr. Federico Bronzi, declares, in accordance with article 154 bis, paragraph 2, of the Consolidated Finance Act, that the accounting information contained in the present press release corresponds to the underlying accounting documents, records and accounting entries.
* From October 1, 2007, the subsidiary Dada Entertainment LLC is valued in the consolidated financial statements of the Dada Group under the equity method.
** EBITDA: before write-downs and extraordinary items.
