JDC Group AG

Earnings Release • Nov 30, 2007

News Details

Corporate | 30 November 2007 08:00

Aragon AG: Impressive results for the first nine months 2007 – Revenues doubled to 82.0 million EUR

ARAGON AG / Quarter Results

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++ Impressive results for the first nine months 2007
++ Revenues doubled (+107%) to 82.0 million EUR
++ EBIT as of 30/09/2007 at 5.4 million EUR
++ Optimistic outlook for the annual results 2007 and the forthcoming year
2008

The results of Aragon AG for the first three quarters 2007 exhibits the
consistency of continual growth over the last years. Just as the first
half-yearly revenues of 2007 have more than doubled from those in the first
half-year of 2006 from 24.8 to 49.8 million EUR, revenues in the third
quarter 2007 in comparison with the same period in 2006 also rose from
14.67 to 32.1 million EUR. This is an impressive increase of 119%,
resulting in total revenues of almost 82 million EUR for the first nine
months of 2007. In comparing the first three quarters of 2006, in which
revenues of 39.5 million EUR were generated, there was a notable growth in
2007 of 107%.

Due to the scalable business model of the Aragon Group, the rise in costs
of approx. 98% in comparison with the third quarter of 2006 and 99%
compared with the first three quarters of 2006 could be kept well below the
growth of gross margin, resulting in a drastically improved EBITDA in the
first three quarters from 0.25 million EUR in 2006 to 6.2 million EUR in
2007.

Even more notable was the growth in EBIT – whereas EBIT for the first three
quarters in 2006 was negative, minus 0.3 million EUR, the Aragon Group was
able to achieve a distinctive plus in the first three quarters of 2007 with
an EBIT of 5.4 million EUR.

Since the introduction of the new business segment Banking & Banking
Services in the 4th quarter of 2006, for the first time, with revenues of
27.1 million EUR, a seven-figure EBIT of 1.3 million EUR could be
contributed to the Aragon group’s pre-tax profit. Due to its impressive
success, biw Bank für Investments und Wertpapiere AG was able to increase
its revenues by over 165% (7.5 million EUR) up to 12.0 million EUR, in
comparison with the 4th quarter 2006 – their first quarter of consolidation
into the Aragon Group. In addition, biw, with up to 300,000 trades per
month, is processing one third of the trade volume of the market leader.

The business segment Retail Sales is furthermore the main revenue and
earnings source. With a growth in revenues of more than 42% from 38.9 to
55.3 million EUR, EBITDA could be increased eightfold from 0.7 to 5.4
million EUR. However, the development of the subsidiary inpunkto finanz
GmbH was not very positive. The expected break-even has not yet been
achieved, which led the Management Board of Aragon into deciding to appoint
a new Managing Director with sound expertise in this area. However, the
positive development of the Aragon subsidiaries Jung, DMS & Cie. AG and BIT
Treuhand AG, as well as the consolidation effect from the acquisition of
the GAMAX Broker Pool AG – with an additional gain of 2.2 million EUR, has
more than helped in making up for the unplanned losses made by inpunkto.

Likewise, the development of the business segment Institutional Sales has
also been positive. The revenues have risen from kEUR 651, in the
comparison period of previous year, to over 1.0 million EUR – a 56.2%
increase. Therewith, this relatively young business segment has achieved an
EBITDA-margin of 37.5%.

The Management Board was also pleased with the recent announcement that
Credit Suisse took an 8% stake in the shares of Aragon AG. With the
involvement of Credit Suisse an operative cooperation agreement was
contracted, which will have a positive effect on the company results for
this year as well as the forthcoming years.

For the entire year 2007, the Management Board is expecting a good
end-of–year-business and therewith again positive figures for the
4th quarter in line with the positive development of the company to date.

For the forthcoming year 2008, the Management Board is extremely confident
about the continuing growth rate. With changes in regulations introduced by
the VVR (European Insurance Mediation Directive) and the FRUG (Financial
Market Directive - MiFID - Implementation Act), as well as the planned
introduction of Capital Gains Tax in 2009, the conditions that will allow
for a stronger turnover in 2008 have been set. Furthermore, the
'Buy-and-Build' strategy of Aragon is well positioned for the challenges
ahead. For 2008, the Management Board expects the growth of the Aragon
Group to be accelerated through further acquisitions.

The quarterly report for the third business quarter 2007 is available on
our company website: www.aragon-ag.com.

Contact:
Aragon Aktiengesellschaft
Achim Pfeffer
Leiter Investor Relations
Tel.: +49(0)611 890 575-574
Fax: +49(0)611 890 575-99
E-Mail: achim.pfeffer@aragon-ag.de

Contact:
Aragon Aktiengesellschaft

Achim Pfeffer
Leiter Investor Relations

Tel.: +49(0)611 890 575-574
Fax: +49(0)611 890 575-99
E-Mail: achim.pfeffer@aragon-ag.de

30.11.2007 Financial News transmitted by DGAP