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ad pepper media International N.V.

Quarterly Report May 18, 2010

9317_ir_2010-05-18-172300_78380d3e-0723-41ed-b4dc-4e5109bd42a7.pdf

Quarterly Report

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Unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial report as of 31 March 2010

Selected consolidated group figures

Q1 / 2010
kEUR
Q1 / 2009
kEUR
Change
Percent
Net sales 11,995 11,619 +3.2
Gross margin 5,291 5,223 +1.3
EBIT 17 -1,209 >100
Net income for the
period
419 -878 >100
Earnings per share in
EUR (basic)
0.02 -0.04 >100
31-03-10
kEUR
31-03-09
kEUR
Change
Percent
Liquid funds* 22,677 21,575 +5.1
Equity 22,339 54,048 -58.7
Total assets 32,400 63,233 -48.9
Employees 242 258 -6.2
  • ad pepper media breaks even in the first quarter on EBITDA, EBT and EBIT level.
  • Sales up against the same period of the previous year on a comparable basis by 6.9 percent – the key engines behind growth are the Webgains (+26.6 percent) and
  • ad agents (+31.7 percent) segments.
  • ad agents takes over SEM from neckermann.at.
  • Kodak Gallery launches co-operation with Webgains in the UK and exclusively in five European countries.

* including security holdings at fair value and deposits with a maturity of more than three months

INTERIM DIRECTORS' REPORT

Important events 6
Basic economic conditions 8
The share 12
Result of operations, financial position and net assets 14
Report on opportunities and risks 18
Forecast report 18

CONSOLIDATED INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Consolidated income statement 20
Consolidated statements of income and expense
recognized in equity 22
Consolidated balance sheet 24
Consolidated statement of cash flows 28
Consolidated changes in equity 32
Notes 36

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Company calendar 50
Contact/Publisher's notes 50

Important events

ad pepper media breaks even in the first quarter on EBITDA, EBT and EBIT level

In the first quarter of the year, ad pepper media was already able to improve all profitability ratios considerably and was back in the black on EBITDA, EBT and EBIT level. This positive development was largely due to the strong focus on performance-based advertising combined with a cost basis that has been reduced considerably compared to the previous year. On a comparable basis, sales were up by 6.9 percent. This growth was largely driven by the Webgains and ad agents segments which were up 26.6 percent and 31.7 percent, respectively, against the previous year.

ad agents takes over SEM from neckermann.at

After ad agents took over affiliate management of the multi-channel mail-order company in October 2009, co-operation has now been expanded on the basis of the convincing results to include search engine marketing. The optimum placement of neckermann.at in search engines, taking targets, daily products and offers into consideration, is designed to boost online shop sales. By winning neckermann.at, ad agents has been able to win one of the leading e-commerce companies on the Austrian market.

Kodak Gallery launches co-operation with Webgains in the UK and exclusively in five European countries

Neo@Ogilvy has selected Webgains in the UK as the preferred affiliate network for its customer Kodak Gallery. Exclusive co-operation will also be carried out in another five European countries. Kodak Gallery will terminate all existing affiliate programs with other affiliate networks in Europe and will co-operate in the UK with just one other network in addition to Webgains. The programs will be offered in the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, as well as in Spain and Italy. The programs will be centrally steered by Webgains in London and managed by account managers in the national offices of the respective markets.

Basic economic conditions

World/Europe/Germany

The global economy and hence Germany too are once again set for growth since the second quarter of 2009. However, the dynamism and stability of this growth is still weak.

Nevertheless the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised its forecast for global economic growth significantly. The organization is now expecting a plus of 3.9 percent for 2010. This is after its initial forecast of 3.1 percent IMF economists expect growth in Germany to increase to 1.5 percent compared to 0.3 percent.

For the euro zone, they expect to see growth of 1.0 percent compared to 0.3 percent. They have forecast growth of 2.7 percent for the United States. Their original estimate had been 1.5 percent.

Advertising market

In the first quarter of 2010, companies in Germany invested considerably more in advertising than in the previous year. This is the result of the latest advertising statistics from Nielsen Media Research. Of the media with the highest growth, the Internet came out on top; the volume of advertising here rose by 17.1 percent compared to the first quarter of 2009. A completely different picture was found for print and radio where advertising revenues remained on the same level or declined compared to the previous year.

According to the study, the boom of the Internet as a means of advertising has continued despite the consequences of the economic crisis. The experts found that the Internet advertising boom was still being supported by the recession because it is at times like this that precise ROI measurability and flexibility on the part of advertisers are demanded. But even if Internet advertising comes out of the global economic crisis stronger than before, the negative impacts of this crisis are still being felt on the online advertising market. It is, for instance, unlikely that we will see the high growth rates of recent years in 2010. According to Online-Vermarkterkreis OVK, the strongest pillars in online marketing are search engine marketing and affiliate marketing.

Structure of the ad pepper media group

The ad pepper media group is one of the leading independent marketing networks in online advertising.

ad pepper media International N.V. with its headquarters in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is the central management and holding company for the companies of the ad pepper media group. With 16 branches in eight European countries and the US, ad pepper media conducts campaigns for thousands of national and international advertising customers in more than 50 countries world-wide. We are active on the online advertising market with three business divisions: ad pepper media, Webgains and ad agents.

ad pepper media

ad pepper media offers a full range of products for successful display, performance and email marketing, as well as ad serving. The major products are iLead, Click Generation, mailpepper, iSense and Emediate.

iLead is the ideal partner for advertisers who want to implement successful measures in dialogue and direct marketing. The focus here is on obtaining addresses to win new customers through a success-based cost-per-lead price model.

Click Generation is ad pepper media's success-based traffic-generating marketing solution that supplies advertisers in an efficient and measurable manner with qualified Internet users according to the cost-per-click price model.

mailpepper enables advertisers to achieve large ranges quickly and effectively through email or even to send advertising messages to specific target groups without significant dispersion losses.

iSense equips advertisers and publishers with a revolutionary semantic advertising technology which they can use to place advertising on a relevance basis and targeted for each website. iSense is centered around the patented Sense Engine™ technology and is the result of ten years of research and development.

This technology was developed by Dr. David Crystal, one of the world's leading linguistics experts.

Emediate primarily provides ad serving technology solutions and services. Emediate is the market leader in Scandinavia and one of the few remaining players in the market with independent und powerful ad serving.

Webgains

Our Webgains affiliate network is one of the platforms in this market segment with the most dynamic development and is represented by offices in the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the US, Spain, Sweden and Denmark. Maximum range combined with successbased payment makes affiliate marketing very attractive for all participants. Using Webgains as the technology platform, advertisers (merchants) make advertising formats (banners, text links, etc.) available on the websites of website operators (affiliates). These formats can be used to advertise the merchants' products and services and, when successful, result in a purchase, subscription or similar transaction. This means that in a strict sense Webgains is an e-commerce platform and, in our opinion, one of the most efficient on the market.

Not only is the technical platform persistently upgraded, in line with customer demands, we also offer a service portfolio that is considered to be exemplary throughout the industry.

ad agents

ad agents specializes in search-engine marketing (SEM), search-engine optimization (SEO) and performance marketing. ad agents advises wellknown companies from mail order business, the travel industry and many other sectors. There is one thing which all these customers have in common: They already have a mature e-commerce strategy in which they offer their goods and/or services via their websites or web shops. ad agents helps its customers to make their web presence even more efficient as a selling instrument.

This is achieved by improving range in combination with the best possible increase in advertising effectiveness.

The ad agents strategies, which are based on quality and security, offer customers sustainability in terms of clicks and sales, along with detailed reporting.

ad pepper media holds a 60 percent share in ad agents.

The share

Share price

The ad pepper media share price has developed well since the beginning of the year. On 31 March, the share closed at EUR 1.38 and was hence around 17 percent higher than at the end of December 2009 (share price on 31 December 2009: EUR 1.18).

Over the past twelve months, the share price increased in fact by 58.6 percent. After the end of the period under review, the share price continued its dynamic development, reaching EUR 1.80 until the copy deadline for this report.

Share facts
Security Identification Number 940883
ISIN NL0000238145
Market segment Prime Standard
Designated Sponsor Equinet
Number of shares 23,000,000
Market capitalization
(as per 31 March 2010)
EUR 31.7m

Share price developments over the past twelve months (Xetra)

April May June July August September October November December January February March

Shareholder structure

On 8 March 2010, we were informed of a transaction of Amiral Gestion S.A. which had to be reported pursuant to the Dutch WFT. According to this information, its voting shares in ad pepper media fell below the threshold of 5 percent of voting shares and now total 4.90 percent (corresponding to 1,126,517 voting rights).

On 15 April 2010, we were notified that Amiral Gestion S.A. had reduced its voting shares in ad pepper media International N.V. to 0 percent (corresponding to 0 voting rights).

Due to the exercise of employee stock options, the number of own shares declined slightly in the first quarter of 2010 compared to 31 December 2009 to 2,073,792; this corresponds to a share of 9.02 percent of capital stock (31 December 2009: 2,267,792).

Date of report: 31 March 2010

Shareholder No. of shares Percent of
capital stock
EMA B.V. 9,486,402 41.25
Eigene Anteile 2,073,792 9.02
Amiral Gestion S.A. 1,126,517 4.90
U. Schmidt 1,005,524 4.37
Grabacap ApS 848,000 3.69
Euroserve Media GmbH 306,132 1.33
M. A. Carton 332,178 1.44
Viva Media Service GmbH 71,300 0.31
Sub-total 15,249,845 66.31
Freefloat 7,750,155 33.69

Result of operations, financial position and net assets

Result of operations

In the first three months, sales of ad pepper media increased to kEUR 11,995 (Q1 2009: kEUR 11,619) corresponding to an increase of 3.2 percent against the same period of the previous year. On a comparable basis, i.e. taking the activities of ad pepper media Italy srl. into account which have now been discontinued, growth in fact totaled 6.9 percent. The main driving force behind this positive development was the Webgains segment which was up 26.6 percent from kEUR 2,836 to kEUR 3,591.

The ad agents segment also faired very well, with sales up here by 31.7 percent to a total of kEUR 1,843 (Q1 2009: kEUR 1,399). Many new customers have been won, especially from the travel and insurance industry, and it can be assumed that ad agents will also provide a positive impetus in the coming quarters. The ad pepper media segment remained below expectations. Sales declined here by 11 percent or by kEUR 816, falling from kEUR 7,374 to kEUR 6,558. The greater part of this decline in sales in this segment, i.e. kEUR 648, was recorded in Denmark. On a comparable basis – i.e. taking the activities discontinued in Italy into consideration – the decline in sales for the ad pepper media segment was only 6.0 percent.

The gross margin (in percent) of the ad pepper group totaled 44.1 percent, thus remaining at the same high level as the previous year (Q1 2009: 44.9 percent). In absolute figures, this means a slight increase of kEUR 68 to kEUR 5,291 (Q1 2009: kEUR 5,223). On a comparable basis, the increase in the gross margin totaled kEUR 261 or 5.2 percent.

Operative costs fell significantly in the first three months of the current year against the same period of the previous year from kEUR 6,432 to kEUR 5,274. This reflects both lower personnel expenditure, especially in conjunction with the discontinuation of activities by ad pepper media Italy srl., and lower depreciation compared to the previous year on intangible assets resulting from the purchasing price allocations (PPA). Personnel costs declined accordingly by kEUR 453 to kEUR 4,339; deprecation and amortization expenses fell by kEUR 435 to kEUR 186 (in each case compared to the same period of the previous year).

Earnings before interest, taxes, deprecation and amortization (EBITDA) totaled kEUR 203 (Q1 2009: kEUR -588). EBIT was also slightly positive, totalling kEUR 17 after kEUR -1,209 in the same period of the previous year. Due to the excellent financial result of kEUR 403, EBT also rose significantly. While EBT in the first quarter of 2009 was still negative at kEUR -903, kEUR 420 was recorded in the period under review. Profit for the period was also positive and totaled kEUR 419 (Q1 2009: kEUR -878). This means that all major profitability figures are positive.

Financial position

Operative cash flow totaled kEUR -693 after kEUR -1,126 in the first three months of the previous year. Net cash flow from investment activities from January to March 2010 totaled kEUR 1,354 (Q1 2009: kEUR 287). In the first three months of 2010, cash flow from financing activities totaled kEUR 185 following kEUR -92 during the same period of the previous year.

Net assets

The balance sheet total changed only insignificantly compared to the end of 2009, falling slightly by kEUR 404 to kEUR 32,400 (31 December 2009: kEUR 32,804). At the same time, equity rose by kEUR 1,001 to kEUR 22,339. The equity ratio as per 31 March 2010 hence totaled an excellent 69 percent (31 December 2009: 65 percent).

As per the balance-sheet date, the ad pepper media group is financed from its own resources. As per the end of March 2010, liquid funds, including securities at fair value and time deposits with a maturity of more than three months, totaled kEUR 22,677 (31 December 2009: TEUR 22,602). There are no long-term liabilities to banks.

Employees

As per 31 March 2010, the ad pepper media group employed a staff of 242. At the end of the same period of 2009, the company employed a total workforce of 258. The employees of the ad pepper media group were assigned to the following segments:

31 March 2010
Number
31 March 2009
Number
ad pepper media 130 158
Webgains 60 56
ad agents 17 12
Administration 35 32

Report on opportunities and risks

Compared to the Consolidated Annual Accounts as per 31 December 2009, there have been no significant changes in the opportunity and risk situation of ad pepper media International N.V. We therefore refer to the presentation in the Management Report for fiscal 2009.

Forecast report

Macroeconomic conditions improved slightly at the beginning of 2010 with some regional differences.

The outlook for the development of the online advertising market is hence slightly positive – at least in the short term. The fact that the number of Internet users continues to increase is good for the online advertising market. Higher data rates increase the attractiveness of the Internet as a medium for advertisers even further. Furthermore, online advertising will continue to benefit from the strong trend towards measurability of advertising success, so that the online advertising market may become less dependent – at least partially – on economic cycles.

The first quarter proved that ad pepper media with its clear focus on performance marketing is in an excellent position and has done its homework to keep cost developments at bay. This was impressively demonstrated by the break even achieved in the first quarter which is traditionally not the strongest period of the year. Despite the remaining macroeconomic risks, we are still optimistic about the coming quarter. The goal is to break even on EBITDA level for the entire year 2010.

Consolidated Income Statement (IFRS)

Q1 / 2010
Q1 / 2009
kEUR
kEUR
Revenues
11,995
11,619
Cost of sales
-6,704
-6,396
Gross profit
5,291
5,223
Selling and marketing expenses
-3,731
-4,075
General and administrative expenses
-1,957
-2,583
Other operating income
520
575
Other operating expenses
-106
-349
Earnings before interest and taxes
17
-1,209
Financial income
462
319
Financial expenses
-59
-13
Earnings before taxes
420
-903
Income taxes
-1
25
Net income
419
-878
attributable to shareholders of the parent company
341
-885
attributable to minority interest
78
7
Basic earnings per share on net income for the year attributable
to shareholders of the parent company
0.02
-0.04
Diluted earnings per share on net income for the year attributable
to shareholders of the parent company

0.02
-0.04
Q1 / 2010
Q1 / 2009
Number of shares
Number of shares
Weighted average number of shares outstanding (basic)
21,414,991
21,927,234
Weighted average number of shares outstanding (diluted)

21,729,647
21,931,482

* Previous year adjusted for share-split of 1 to 2 on 27 May 2009

Consolidated statements of income and expense recognized in equity (IFRS)

Q1 / 2010 Q1 / 2009
kEUR kEUR
Net income 419 -878
Currency translation diffe
rences
-53 -115
Revaluation of available-for
sale financial assets
420 -588
Income tax recognized directly
in equity
0 0
Total income and expense reco
gnized directly in equity,
net of tax
367 -703
Total income and expense
recognized in equity
786 -1,581
attributable to minority interest 78 7
attributable to shareholders of
ad pepper media International
N.V.
708 -1,588

Disclosures on total income and expense recognized directly in equity

The total income and expense recognized directly in equity and the corresponding income taxes are as follows:

Q1 / 2010
kEUR
before
income
taxes
income
taxes
after
income
taxes
Currency translation differences
(incl. minority interest)
-53 0 -53
Revaluation of available-for-sale
financial assets
420 0 420
Total income and expense reco
gnized directly in equity
367 0 367
Q1 / 2009
kEUR
before
income
taxes
income
taxes
after
income
taxes
Currency translation differences
(incl. minority interest)
-115 0 -115
Revaluation of available-for-sale
financial assets
-588 0 -588
Total income and expense reco
gnized directly in equity
-703 0 -703

Consolidated balance sheet (IFRS)

Assets 31 March 2010 31 December 2009
kEUR kEUR
Non-current assets
Goodwill 24 24
Intangible assets 724 816
Property, plant and equipment 511 563
Securities at fair value through profit and loss 2,686 3,265
Securities available-for-sale 4,284 4,423
Other financial assets 715 727
Deferred tax assets 308 308
Total non-current assets 9,252 10,126
Current assets
Securities and deposits with maturity over three months 1,400 1,400
Trade receivables 5,862 6,390
Income tax receivables 704 607
Prepaid expenses and other current assets 567 463
Other financial assets 308 304
Cash and cash equivalents 14,307 13,514
Total current assets 23,148 22,678
Total assets 32,400 32,804

Consolidated balance sheet (IFRS)

Equity and liabilities 31 March 2010 31 December 2009
kEUR kEUR
Equity attributable to shareholders of the parent company
Issued capital* 1,150 1,150
Additional paid-in capital 67,144 67,102
Treasury shares -3,237 -3,410
Accumulated deficit -39,735 -40,076
Accumulated other comprehensive losses -3,166 -3,533
Total 22,156 21,233
Minority interest 183 105
Total equity 22,339 21,338
Non-current liabilities
Deferred tax liabilities 21 21
Total non-current liabilities 21 21
Current liabilities
Trade payables 5,457 6,619
Other current liabilities 740 749
Other financial liabilities 3,459 3,693
Income tax liabilities 384 384
Total current liabilities 10,040 11,445
Total liabilities 10,061 11,466
Total equity and liabilities 32,400 32,804

* The Issued Capital consists of shares with a nominal value of EUR 0.05 each. The authorized capital amounts 23,429,708 shares, of which 23,000,000 are issued and 20,926,708 shares were floating at 31 March 2010 (31 December 2009: 20,732,708).

Consolidated statement of cash flows (IFRS)

Q1 / 2010 Q1 / 2009
kEUR kEUR
Net income 419 -878
Adjustments to reconcile net income for the year
to net cash flow used in/provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortisation 186 621
Gain/loss on sale of fixed assets 4 0
Share-based compensation 42 58
Gain/loss on sale of securities -216 -19
Other financial income and financial expenses -187 -287
Income taxes 1 -25
Other non-cash expenses and income -127 23
Gross cash flow 122 -507
Change in trade receivables 655 1,950
Change in other assets -123 -536
Change in trade payables -1,162 -1,607
Change in other liabilities -243 -561
Income taxes received 0 0
Income taxes paid -98 -140
Interest received 156 275
Interest paid 0 0
Net cash flow from operating activities -693 -1,126

Consolidated statement of cash flows (IFRS)

Q1 / 2010 Q1 / 2009
kEUR kEUR
Additions to intangible assets and property, plant and equipment -49 -122
Proceeds from sale of intangible assets and property, plant and equipment 3 0
Proceeds from sale of shares in associates and other investments 0 1,200
Loans granted 0 -751
Proceeds from sale/maturity of securities and maturity of fixed-term deposits 2,387 5,119
Purchase of securities -987 -5,159
Net cash flow from investing activities 1,354 287
Sale of treasury shares 173 0
Purchase of treasury shares 0 -104
Repayment of loans granted 12 12
Net cash flow from financing activities 185 -92
Effect of exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents -53 0
Cash-effective decrease/increase in cash and cash equivalents 846 -931
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of financial year 13,514 5,833
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period 14,307 4,902

Consolidated changes in equity (IFRS)

Balance
at 01-01-09
Total in
come and
expense
reco
gnized in
equity
Share
based
payment
Purchase
of treasury
shares
Issuance
of shares
Balance
at 31-03-09
Issued capital
Number of shares 22,789,708 22,789,708
Issued capital (kEUR) 1,139 1,139
Additional paid-in capital
for employee stock option plans (kEUR) 2,080 58 2,138
from contributions of shareholders of ad pepper media International N.V. (kEUR) 64,667 64,667
Treasury shares
Number of shares 765,026 131,774 896,800
Treasury shares at cost (kEUR) -1,732 -104 -1,836
Accumulated deficit (kEUR) -5,769 -885 -6,654
Accumulated other comprehensive losses
Currency translation differences (kEUR) -1,477 -115 -1,592
Revaluation available-for-sales securities (kEUR) -3,353 -588 -3,941
Equity attributable to shareholders of ad pepper media International N.V. (kEUR) 55,555 -1,588 58 -104 0 53,921
Minority interest (kEUR) 120 7 127
Total equity (kEUR) 55,675 -1,581 58 -104 0 54,048

Consolidated changes in equity (IFRS)

Balance at
01-01-10
Total income
and expense
recog
nized in
equity
Share-based
payment
Purchase
of treasury
shares
Issuance
of shares
Balance at
31-03-10
Issued capital
Number of shares 23,000,000 23,000,000
Issued capital (kEUR) 1,150 1,150
Additional paid-in capital
for employee stock option plans (kEUR) 2,259 42 2,301
from contributions of shareholders of ad pepper media
International N.V. (kEUR)
64,843 64,843
Treasury shares
Number of shares 2,267,792 -194,000 2,073,792
Treasury shares at cost (kEUR) -3,410 173 -3,237
Accumulated deficit (kEUR) -40,076 341 -39,735
Accumulated other comprehensive losses
Currency translation differences (kEUR) -1,369 -53 -1,422
Revaluation available-for-sales securities (kEUR) -2,164 420 -1,744
Equity attributable to shareholders of ad pepper media
International N.V. (kEUR)
21,233 708 42 0 173 22,156
Minority interest (kEUR) 105 78 183
Total equity (kEUR) 21,338 786 42 0 173 22,339

Notes

1. Basis for the preparation of the quarter-end financial statements

The current condensed interim consolidated financial statements of ad pepper media International N.V. were prepared according to the provisions of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as applicable on the closing date, and are presented in euro. The comparative figures from the previous year were determined according to the same principles and adjusted where necessary. The quarter-end financial statements meet the requirements of IAS 34.

The condensed consolidated interim financial statements do not include all of the information required for the full annual financial statements and should therefore be read in conjunction with the consolidated annual report for the year ended 31 December 2009.

The consolidated interim financial statements include all subsidiaries. Compared to the consolidated financial statements as per 31 December 2009, no changes took place in the consolidated group: Emediate ApS and Pentamind A/S merged with effect as of 1 January 2010.

The consolidated interim financial statements as per 31 March 2010 were authorized for issue by the management board on 26 April 2010.

2. Accounting principles

The accounting principles applied to these quarter-end financial statements do not materially differ from the principles as applied for the Annual Report as per 31 December 2009.

The following standards and interpretations have been adopted since then within the scope of the comitology procedure:

Improvements to IFRSs 2007-2009

In the Official Journal of the European Union of 24 March 2010 (53rd year, L 77), Commission Regulation (EU) No. 243/2010 for the adoption of the annual "Improvements to IFRSs" published in April 2009 by the IASB was published and entered into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The "Improvements to IFRSs" aim to streamline and clarify the international accounting standards. The majority of amendments are clarifications or corrections of existing IFRSs or amendments consequential to changes previously made to IFRSs. Amendments to IFRS 8, IAS 17, IAS 36 and IAS 39 involve changes to the existing requirements or additional guidance on the implementation of those requirements. Companies are required to apply the "Improvements to IFRSs 2007-2009", at the latest, as from the commencement of their first financial year starting after 31 December 2009.

The improvement to IFRS 8 means that in this and in future statements, ad pepper media will not provide any details concerning segment assets because segments assets are not regularly reported to the company's chief operating decision makers.

Amendments to IFRS 2 "Share-based payment"

In the Official Journal of the European Union of 24 March 2010 (53rd year, L 77), Commission Regulation (EU) No. 244/2010 for the adoption of the amendments to IFRS 2 "Share-based payment" published on 18 June 2009 by the IASB was announced and entered into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. The amendment clarifies the balance-sheet method for sharebased payment where a supplier of goods or services is paid in cash and another company of the group is obliged to settle in cash (cash-settled share-based payments by a group company). The amendments to IFRS 2 must be applied, at the latest, as from the commencement of the first financial year starting after 31 December 2009.

This has no effect on the consolidated accounts of ad pepper media.

3. Notes to the Interim Financial Statements

Essentially we refer the explanations regarding results of operations, financial position and net assets in the Interim Directors' Report. The following one-off items affecting the income statement occurred in the period under review:

The financial result includes net exchange gains from the sale of securities totaling kEUR 216 (Q1 2009: kEUR 19).

4. Segment reporting according to IFRS 8

IFRS 8 supersedes IAS 14 "Segment reporting" and converges the standards of the IASB with the requirements of the Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) 131. IFRS 8 requires an entity to report financial and descriptive information about its so-called "reportable segments".

Reportable segments are either operating segments or aggregations of operating segments that meet specified criteria. Operating segments are components of an entity, about which separate financial information is available, that is evaluated regularly by the chief operating decision maker for the purpose of resource allocation and assessing performance. Generally, financial information is required to be reported on the same basis as is used internally to evaluate the operating segments (management approach). The information reported to the chief operating decision maker for the purpose of resource allocation and assessment of segment performance is focused on the category of services delivered. For this reason, the group reports segment information for the operating segments of "ad pepper media" (lead, mail, banner, ad serving), "Webgains" (affiliate marketing) and "ad agents" (SEM/SEO) and for the non-operating "Admin" (administration) segment. The accounting policies of the reportable segments corresponds to the group's accounting policies described in note [2]. The segment result represents the EBIT and EBITDA for each segment without differences to IFRS. The segment result thus calculated is reported to the chief operating decision maker for the purpose of resource allocation and assessing segment performance. The "dealing at arm's length" principle forms the basis of accounting for inter-segment transactions.

Q1 / 2010 ad pepper
media
kEUR
Webgains
kEUR
ad agents
kEUR
Admin
kEUR
Consoli
dation
kEUR
Group
kEUR
Total revenues 6,636 3,665 1,843 324 -473 11,995
thereof external 6,558 3,591 1,843 3 0 11,995
thereof intersegmental 78 74 0 321 -473 0
Expenses and other income -6,256 -3,663 -1,648 -731 320 -11,978
thereof amortization and depreciation -77 -5 -4 -100 0 -186
thereof other non-cash expenses -119 -25 0 -101 0 -245
EBIT 380 2 195 -407 -153 17
Financial income 4 0 1 478 -21 462
Financial expenses -21 -1 0 -58 21 -59
Income taxes -1
Net income for the period 419
Q1 / 2009 ad pepper
media
kEUR
Webgains
kEUR
ad agents
kEUR
Admin
kEUR
Consoli
dation
kEUR
Group
kEUR
Total revenues 7,511 2,983 1,410 471 -756 11,619
thereof external 7,374 2,836 1,399 10 0 11,619
thereof intersegmental 137 147 11 461 -756 0
Expenses and other income -7,807 -2,961 -1,393 -1,140 473 -12,828
thereof amortization and depreciation -264 -84 -7 -266 0 -621
thereof other non-cash expenses -108 -40 4 -62 0 -205
EBITDA -32 106 24 -403 -283 -588
EBIT -296 22 17 -669 -283 -1,209
Financial income 32 0 2 353 -68 319
Financial expenses -66 -3 0 -12 68 -13
Income taxes 25
Net income for the period -878

Geographical information

The group operates in four principal geographical areas – the Netherlands (country of domicile), Germany, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom. The group's revenue from the continued operations of the group from business with external customers and information about the segments' assets are detailed below according to geographical location whereby the long-term assets do not include financial instruments or deferred tax assets:

Revenue from external customers Non-current assets
Q1 / 2010 Q1 / 2009 31-03-10 31-03-09
kEUR kEUR kEUR kEUR
The
Netherlands
559 1,039 22 3,485
Germany 4,141 3,439 821 6,931
Scandinavia 1,530 2,053 294 7,688
United
Kingdom
2,941 2,477 27 4,862
Other 2,824 2,611 35 3,427
Total 11,995 11,619 1,259 26,393

Disclosure information according to IFRS 8.34 is not relevant as there is no dependency on major customers.

5. Own shares

Acquisition of own shares

By a shareholders' resolution of 19 May 2009, the board of directors was authorized to repurchase treasury stock of up to 50 percent of the issued capital within the next 18 months. The board of directors used this authorization and on 2 June 2009 resolved to acquire up to 10 percent of the issued capital amounting to 2,279,708 shares. The share buy-back scheme ended for the time being in November 2009.

As of 31 March 2010, ad pepper media International N.V. held 2,073,792 own shares (31 March 2009: 896,800) at a nominal value of 0.05 EUR each, corresponding to 9.02 percent (31 March 2009: 3.94 percent) of the share capital.

According to a shareholders' resolution, those shares can be used for stock option plans or acquisitions.

Sale of own shares

By doubling the number and halving the strike price, the existing stock option plans have been adjusted for the share spilt on 27 May 2009:

In the first quarter, no own shares (Q1 2009: 0) were sold at an exercise price of EUR 0.665, none (Q1 2009: 0) at a price of EUR 1.365 (Q1 2009: 0), 194,000 (Q1 2009: 0) at an exercise price of EUR 0.89 and none (Q1 2009: 0) at a price of EUR 2.225 under the employee stock option plans.

A total of 194,000 own shares were sold in the first quarter (Q1 2009: 0).

Number of shares outstanding

The number of shares issued and outstanding as of 31 March 2010 totals 20,926,208 (31 March 2009: 21,892,908). Each share has a nominal value of EUR 0.05.

6. Events since the balance sheet date

Up until the day of authorization for issuance, no events took place which would have exerted substantial influence on the net assets, financial position or result of operations as per 31 March 2010.

7. Seasonal influences on business operations

ad pepper media is engaged in the field of online advertising in the broadest sense. Due to the seasonal character of the advertising industry, with its traditional focus on expenditure in the 4th quarter, revenue and thus operating profit are generally higher in the second half of the year.

8. Stock options and shareholdings

As of 31 March 2010, a total of 2,491,000 stock options exist under stock option plans. The exchange ratio for each of the stock options is one share per option. The exercise prices are in the range of EUR 0.665 to EUR 6.75.

The following table lists the individual holdings and option rights of the Supervisory and Managing Board (directly and indirectly) as well as employees:

Shares as of
31-03-10
Options
as of 31-03-10
Management board
Ulrich Schmidt 1,005,524 446,000
Michael A. Carton 332,178 284,000
Jens Körner 0 160,000
Supervisory board
Michael Oschmann 0 0
Dr. Frank Schlaberg 0 0
Jan Andersen 0 0
Merrill Dean 0 0
Associated companies
EMA B.V. 9,486,402 0
Viva Media
Beteiligungsgesellschaft
71,300 0
Euroserve 306,132
Grabacap ApS 848,000 0
Employees 1,601,000

9. Number of employees

At the end of the first quarter of 2010, the ad pepper media group employed a workforce of 242 (31 March 2009: 258).

CONSOLIDATED INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

10. Report on major transactions with related companies and persons

Transactions with related companies and persons did not change significantly compared to 2009.

The following directors' dealings (within the meaning of § 15a of the German Securities Trading Act) were registered with ad pepper media International N.V. during the period under review:

  • Transaction date: 15 March 2010 Issuer: ad pepper media International N.V. Person subject to registration: Michael A. Carton (member of managing board) Transaction subject to registration: Sale of 41,961 shares at a price of EUR 1.46 per share, total volume: EUR 61,242.28, stock exchange: Xetra, Frankfurt
  • Transaction date: 16 March 2010 Issuer: ad pepper media International N.V. Person subject to registration: Michael A. Carton (member of managing board) Transaction subject to registration: Sale of 38,039 shares at a price of EUR 1.485 per share, total volume: EUR 56,495.22, stock exchange: Xetra, Frankfurt
  • Transaction date: 24 March 2010 Issuer: ad pepper media International N.V. Person subject to registration: Michael A. Carton (member of managing board) Transaction subject to registration: Purchase of 144,000 shares at a price of EUR 0.89 per share, total volume: EUR 128,160, stock exchange: OTC

Nuremberg, 26 April 2010

Ulrich Schmid Jens Körner Michael A. Carton

Company calendar

All financial and press data relevant for the capital market at a glance:

Quarterly report I/ 2010 12 May 2010
General meeting of shareholders
(Amsterdam, The Netherlands) 18 May 2010
Quarterly report II/ 2010 12 August 2010
Quarterly report III/ 2010 11 November 2010
Analysts' Conference (Frankfurt / Main) November 2010

Contact

Investor contact

Jens Körner (CFO)/ Thomas Gahlert ad pepper media International N.V. Frankenstraße 150C FrankenCampus 90461 Nuremberg, Germany

Phone: +49 (0) 911 929057-0 Fax: +49 (0) 911 929057-157 E-mail: [email protected] www.adpepper.com

Publisher's notes

Published by ad pepper media International N.V. Frankenstraße 150C FrankenCampus 90461 Nuremberg, Germany

Phone: +49 (0) 911 929057-0 Fax: +49 (0) 911 929057-157 E-mail: [email protected] www.adpepper.com

Joint stock company (N.V.) Headquarters: Amsterdam, The Netherlands Nuremberg office Prime Standard, Frankfurt Stock Exchange ISIN: NL0000238145 HRB Nuremberg 17591 VAT-ID No.: DE 210757424

Executive management Ulrich Schmidt, Chairman Jens Körner, Finance Michael A. Carton, Director of the Board

We will gladly send you our 2009 Annual Report as well as the interim financial reports for 2010 in German or English.

These reports are also published as PDF files at www.adpepper.com under:

Investor relations/News & publications/Reports & presentations.

ad pepper media International N.V. Hogehilweg 15 NL - 1101 CB Amsterdam

www.adpepper.com

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