JDC Group AG

Earnings Release • May 31, 2011

News Details

Corporate | 31 May 2011 07:00

ARAGON AG: Aragon begins 2011 financial year with strong sales and earnings growth

ARAGON AG / Key word(s): Miscellaneous

31.05.2011 / 07:00

• Aragon begins 2011 financial year with strong sales and earnings growth

• Sales rise 17 percent to EUR 27.8 million

• EBIT of EUR 0.4 million - best Q1 earnings in past four years

• 51 percent increase in product turnover to EUR 528 million

• Guidance for 2011 confirmed

Aragon AG, one of the leading financial services companies in Germany and
Austria, has maintained its profitable growth, posting a successful start
to the 2011 financial year in the first quarter.

The company's sales in the first quarter of 2011 rose year-on-year by 17.5
percent to EUR 27.8 million (Q1 2010: EUR 23.7 million). This represents
the highest volume of first-quarter sales in the company's history.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA)
from continuing operations grew by more than 89.9 percent to EUR 961k in
the first three months of the year. (Q1 2010: EUR 506k). Earnings before
interest and taxes (EBIT) from continuing operations more or less
quintupled to EUR 433k (Q1 2010: EUR 88k).

'In 2011, we have succeeded once again not only in exceeding the previous
year's figures at the beginning of the new financial year, but also in
setting a new sales record: This is the best Q1 result in terms of sales we
have ever achieved at Aragon,' commented Dr. Sebastian Grabmaier, CEO of
Aragon AG.

Other key figures at Aragon AG also developed positively in the first three
months of the year. At around EUR 528 million, product turnover reached a
historic period high in the first quarter of 2011, and was 51 percent up on
the equivalent figure for the period from January to March 2010.
Particularly noteworthy is the fact that all of the product classes
marketed by Aragon AG showed double-digit turnover growth. The investment
fund holdings managed by Aragon AG ('assets under administration')
increased to around EUR 4.0 billion, up by around 5 percent on the first
quarter of 2010. Assets under management thus performed stably in the past
three months despite the difficult climate on the financial markets.

Aragon AG also remains positively positioned in terms of its key balance
sheet figures. As of 31 March 2011, its equity amounted to EUR 53.1
million, with an equity ratio of 53.7 percent (31 December 2010: EUR 52.8
million / 52.3 percent). Cash and cash equivalents amounted to EUR 7.4
million (31 December 2010: EUR 9.2 million).

Continuing business operations at Aragon AG performed as follows:

Revenues in the Broker Pools segment increased by 10.2 percent to EUR 18.5
million in the first three months of 2011 (Q1 2010: EUR 16.8 million).
Following this renewed growth, Broker Pools thus remains the strongest
segment at Aragon AG in terms of sales. Earnings before interest, taxes,
amortisation and depreciation (EBITDA) amounted to EUR 0.9 million in the
first quarter of 2011, as against EUR 0.3 million in the equivalent period
in 2010. At EUR 0.6 million, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were
significantly better in the first three months of 2011 than one year
earlier (Q1 2010: EUR -0.0 million). Even though BIT Beteiligungs- &
Investitions-Treuhand AG, our platform for the sale of closed funds,
continues to operate in this very challenging market segment, it
nevertheless managed to generate good product turnover compared with the
rest of the market, as well as making a positive contribution to earnings.
Jung, DMS & Cie. AG, our largest investment, has maintained its profitable
growth course, posting one of the best quarters in its history in terms of
Revenues and earnings.

The Financial Consulting segment upheld the pleasing development seen in
previous quarters, increasing its Revenues year-on-year to EUR 9.6 million
in the first three months of 2011 (Q1 2010: EUR 6.8 million). Financial
Consulting is thus still the fastest-growing segment at Aragon AG. This is
attributable to its pleasing operating performance, with Revenues and
earnings growth at compexx Finanz AG, as well as at Scopia AG (formerly:
MLP Vermögensberatungs AG, Vienna). FiNUM.FINANZHAUS GmbH, a company not
yet consolidated in the first quarter of the previous year, contributed
Revenuesof around EUR 1.9 million. Earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the Financial Consulting segment
amounted to EUR 0.2 million in the first three months of 2011 (Q1 2010: EUR
0.6 million). Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) amounted to EUR 0.0
million in the first quarter of 2011 (Q1 2010: EUR 0.5 million). Like
inpunkto GmbH, business at FiNUM.FINANZHAUS GmbH is clearly focused on the
second half of the year, as a result of which we can expect both companies
to generate additional growth momentum as the year progresses, a
development that will more than compensate for this segment's neutral
contribution to consolidated EBIT in the first quarter.

The Holding segment, which includes the investment in biw Bank für
Investments und Wertpapiere AG (biw) that has only been consolidated at
equity since the third quarter of 2008, posted a year-on-year improvement
in its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation.
EBITDA rose by EUR 0.3 million from EUR -0.4 million in the first three
months of 2010 to EUR -0.1 million in the period under report. This
pleasing trend was chiefly driven by the extremely positive performance at
biw, which contributed earnings of EUR 0.3 million. Compared with the end
of the fourth quarter of 2010, biw further increased the number of accounts
under its management by around 7.2 percent to around 148,150 in the first
quarter of 2011 (31 December 2010: 138,216). At around 1.5 million, the
number of security orders handled rose by 46% compared with the equivalent
quarter in the previous year.

Confirmation of guidance for the 2011 financial year

Even though business conditions for the financial services industry remain
challenging, Aragon AG is upholding its targets for the 2011 financial year
as a whole (total Revenues of between EUR 130 million and EUR 150 million
and net income of between EUR 4 million and EUR 6 million before one-off
transaction-related items).

'Aragon AG was once again the growth driver in our sector in the first
quarter. The pleasing performance of each individual group company and
numerous visible investment opportunities should ensure that our Group
continues to increase in size, relevance and profitability. Looking
forward, this should also enable us to consider larger-scale growth steps
as well', added Wulf Schütz, a member of the Management Board at Aragon AG.

The quarterly report can be downloaded with immediate effect from
www.aragon.ag.

The announcement of the results for the second quarter of 2011 is scheduled
for 31 August 2011.

About Aragon AG

Aragon AG is a broadly diversified financial services group comprising the
business units Broker Pools and Financial Consulting as well as the
business unit Holding, which apart from its share in the Institutional unit
Fundmatrix AG and the Aragon IT Service GmbH also comprises a minority
shares in the biw Bank für Investments und Wertpapiere AG. In the operative
business units, Aragon AG is actively engaged in the market with several
independent subsidiaries. The aim is to integrate a variety of sales models
under one roof without any of the sales teams losing their own identity.
The effect is a broad diversification across various asset classes and
sales types, with a consequently high stability in corporate earnings. For
further information on the company and its subsidiaries, please visit
www.aragon.ag.

End of Corporate News

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