Financial Press Releases

Press Release in accordance with CONSOB Regulation No. 11971/1999 and subsequent modifications


2009 FIRST QUARTER CONSOLIDATED RESULTS:

REVENUES OF EURO 38.4 MILLION (EURO 40.6 MILLION IN 1Q 2008)

EBITDA* OF EURO 5.3 MILLION (EURO 7.0 MILLION in 1Q 2008)

EBIT OF EURO 2.4 MILLION (EURO 5.3 MILLION IN 1Q 2008)

NET PROFIT OF EURO 0.7 MILLION (EURO 3.9 MILLION IN Q1 2008)

REVENUES OF US JOINT VENTURE OF USD 12.4 MILLION
(not included in the consolidation)


GROUP ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE CONFIRMED




Florence, May 8, 2009 - The Board of Directors of Dada (MTA STAR: DA.MI), chaired by Paolo Barberis, today examined and approved the Interim report of the Dada Group at March 31, 2009.

Consolidated First Quarter 2009 Results

In an analysis of the Group results, the following factors are noted:
- in a difficult market environment with an across the board decrease in consumption, Dada has decided to concentrate on innovation and the development of new products, particularly in the Consumer sector: the development of complex and time-consuming new projects, such as "The Music Movement" in the Dada.net division and Simply in the Dada.pro division, incurred significant charges in the quarter - against which significant associated revenues were not recorded;
- the positive effects of the operating costs containment plan and the product portfolio review in the last part of the previous year, in part due to the changed operating environment, will be fully effective in the coming quarters.

The Dada Group recorded consolidated Revenues of Euro 38.4 million in the first three months of the year compared to Euro 40.6 million in the same period of the previous year. Revenues from the Joint Venture Dada Entertainment LLC (hereafter also the "JV"), not consolidated as the investment is valued under the equity method, amounted to USD 12.4 million in the quarter.

International activities accounted for 49% of Group revenues compared to 45% in 2008. This figure was affected by changes in the consolidation scope which accounted for approx. 4% of overseas revenues. This increases to approx. 55% if the Group share of revenues from the JV is considered. International growth was principally driven by the domain and hosting professional activities, thanks to the continued expansion of the customer base, with international clients now accounting for approx. 72% - sourced from the UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Holland.

The Dada.net division contributed Euro 17.3 million to consolidated revenues (44% of Group sales compared to 58% in the first quarter of 2008).
In the Consumer sector, the Dada.net division is currently placing a new reference brand for VAS services internationally, while the Dada Music brand will be identified exclusively with the "The Music Movement" offer which, although still in a development phase, counts more than 3 million tracks enjoyed every month from a current catalogue of over 2.2 million MP3 licensed songs and downloadable DRM-free, ensuring its place as one of the most innovative and competitive products in the digital music market. From the end of 2008, Dada has also made available to its users free unlimited streaming for the entire catalogue.
In the first quarter, within the value added services, Dada further expanded internationally its community and entertainment products and services via web and mobile: this expansion is principally focused in the Latin American region, particularly Argentina.

The Dada.pro division's contribution amounted to Euro 21.9 million (56% of Group revenues vs 42% in 2008).
In the Business sector, in the first quarter of 2009 the international reorganisation process of the Dada.pro division was completed, which today numbers 450 thousand business clients and 1.4 million domains managed in 7 European countries. The objective of this process is to equip the division with a structure capable of better tackling the increasingly internationalised Business market; in this regard, the integration of the Amen Group, purchased in July 2008, was completed successfully, which has further consolidated the European leadership in the sector for the registration of domains and the management of online presence.
In April, the Simply (www.simply.com) project was also launched, the online advertising platform of the Group, entirely developed in-house and available on networks worldwide, which allows small to medium- sized businesses to efficiently plan their advertising campaign utilising marketing tools for the selection of targets and analysis of results and website owners to expand advertising revenue.

Consolidated EBITDA amounted to Euro 5.3 million (from Euro 7.0 million in the same period of 2008), with a margin of 14% (17% in the previous year). The Ebitda was affected by the above-mentioned contraction of revenues of approx. 5% and the charges in the quarter for the development and launch of the new features of "The Music Movement" product of Euro 1.5 million.
The Ebitda was also affected by exchange rate movements, in particular Sterling, for a total amount of Euro 0.3 million.

The Group Ebit amounted to Euro 2.4 million in the period, 6% of consolidated revenues (Euro 5.3 million in Q12008). Amortisation and depreciation in the quarter amounted to Euro 2.4 million (Euro 1.6 million in 1Q2008) and write-downs and non-recurring charges amounted to Euro 0.3 million (Euro 0.1 million in 1Q2008): the increase in amortisation/deprecation is mainly due to investments in technology made for the development of new products and proprietary platforms necessary for expansion in new countries and the provision of new services, The Music Movement in the Dada.net division and Simply in the Dada.pro division.

Income taxes in the period amounted to Euro 1.1 million, principally relating to Irap regional taxes on the Italian companies and income taxes of foreign companies.

The consolidated Net Profit, after the minority share of Euro 0.2 million (90% of the Giglio Group and 30% of E-Box results) amounted to Euro 0.7 million, compared to Euro 3.9 million in the first three months of 2008.

The debt position as at March 31, 2009 was Euro 35.2 million compared to Euro 31.4 million at December 31, 2008. In particular, expenditure on intangible and tangible fixed assets amounted to Euro 4.1 million in the quarter. These expenditures were incurred for the purchases of servers and technological equipment of Euro 1.7 million and the development of products and processes and other intangible assets of Euro 2.4 million, while financing activities accounted for Euro 1.2 million, principally the repayment of loans and charges to service the debt.

Consolidation scope

The following changes in the consolidation scope took place:
- in the first quarter of 2009, the Amen Group and E-Box, purchased in July 2008, not included in the consolidation scope in the first quarter of the previous year, were fully consolidated;
- from July 1, 2008, due to the effect of the contractual agreements related to the acquisition of a 10% stake on July 9, together with put/call options to increase the shareholding up to 100% within two years from the closing date at the sole discretion of Dada, and in accordance with IAS/IFRS, the Giglio Group, owner of the Music Box channel, was fully consolidated. Therefore this was not included in the consolidation scope in the first quarter of 2008.
The total effect on consolidated revenues deriving from the above changes on the consolidation scope of the Dada Group was Euro 5.5 million.

Significant events in the first quarter of 2009

There were no significant events in the first quarter of 2009.

Significant events after the first quarter of 2009

At the Shareholders' AGM, which on April 23 approved the 2008 Financial Statements, the Board of Directors and the Board of Statutory Auditors were appointed for the years 2009-2011. The Meeting also renewed the authorisation to purchase and sale treasury shares within 18 months from the authorisation date.

Outlook for the current year

The trend in the first quarter of the year and the first outcome of the following period confirm the challenging market conditions in which the Company operates, which also affect the predictability of the Group results for the current year.
In order to face this situation of uncertainty and reduced visibility, the Group, as already stated previously, has promptly implemented a cost optimisation plan and has also started further actions aimed at focusing on the business areas with the most favourable risk and return profile.

Other resolutions

The Board of Directors of Dada also confirmed the Company structure, approved by the previous Board on December 3, 2008, with Paolo Barberis, Chairman of Dada S.p.A. continuing to hold a strategic role within the Group, Barbara Poggiali as Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of the Company as well as Managing Director of the Dada.net division, Lorenzo Lepri as Vice General Manager and Chief Corporate Officer, Claudio Corbetta as Managing Director of the Dada.pro division and Valentina Montanari as Chief Financial Officer.
The Board also verified the independence of the newly appointed directors Salvatore Amato, Alberto Bigliardi, Alessandro Foti, Vincenzo Russi and Danilo Vivarelli, in accordance with the Self-Governance Code for listed companies, accepted by the company, and article IA.2.13.6 of the Issuers' Regulations for markets organised and managed by Borsa Italiana S.p.A..
The Board also appointed the Internal Control Committee and the Remuneration Committee of the Group in accordance with the Self-Governance Code for listed companies, which are composed as follows:
Remuneration Committee:
Salvatore Amato (Independent Director)
Monica Alessandra Possa (Non-Executive Director)
Danilo Vivarelli (Independent Director, Chairman)
Internal Control Committee:
Salvatore Amato (Independent Director, Chairman)
Alessandro Foti (Independent Director)
Danilo Vivarelli (Independent Director)

Declaration of the executive responsible for the preparation of the accounting documents

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 correspond to the underlying accounting documents, records and accounting entries.

* EBITDA: before write-downs and extraordinary items




Enclosed:
    - Financial Statements Q12009