Earnings Release • Aug 31, 2011
Earnings Release
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Corporate | 31 August 2011 07:00
ARAGON AG: Aragon defies market trend and maintains growth in 1st half of 2011
ARAGON AG / Key word(s): Half Year Results/Quarter Results
31.08.2011 / 07:00
– Aragon defies market trend and maintains growth in 1 st half of 2011
– First-half sales rise 12 percent to EUR 54.0 million
– Positive half-year earnings despite volatile market climate
– 35 percent increase in product turnover to almost EUR 1 billion
– Further external growth and focus of activities planned
Despite operating in an extremely challenging market climate, Aragon AG, one of the leading financial services companies in Germany and Austria, can point to strong growth in the first half of 2011.
Sales for the first half of 2011 grew year-on-year by 12.2 percent to EUR 54.0 million (H1 2010: EUR 48.1 million), exceeding the EUR 50 million mark for the first time in Aragon’s history. On a quarterly basis, sales for the second-quarter of 2011 rose to EUR 26.2 million (Q2 2010: EUR 24.4 million), thus also representing the highest volume of second-quarter sales in the company’s history.
Earnings at Aragon AG, which were influenced by one-off transaction-related expenses of around EUR 0.3 million, developed as follows. At EUR 1,163k, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) from continuing operations matched the previous year’s figure in the first six months of the current year (H1 2010: EUR 1,162k). Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) from continuing operations amounted to EUR 91k (H1 2010: EUR 332k). Earnings before taxes (EBT) amounted to EUR -323k (H1 2010: EUR -160k). Net income after minority interests dropped year-on-year from EUR 340k to EUR 128k in the first half of 2011, thus falling short of the previous year’s figure.
‘Despite great volatility on the financial markets, continuing uncertainty and our customers’ resultant reluctance to invest, Aragon can nevertheless report a successful first half to the year, one in which it met all of its growth targets’, commented Wulf U. Schütz, CFO of Aragon AG.
Other key figures at Aragon AG also developed positively in the first six months of the year. At around EUR 983 million, product turnover reached a historic period high in the first half of 2011, and was 35 percent up on the equivalent figure for the previous year. The trend seen in the first quarter of 2011, with all of the product classes marketed by Aragon AG showing double-digit growth, thus continued in the second quarter as well. At around EUR 4.0 billion, the investment fund holdings managed by Aragon AG (‘assets under administration’) remained stable compared with 30 June 2010.
Aragon AG also remains positively positioned in terms of its key balance sheet figures. As of 30 June 2011, its equity amounted to EUR 52.5 million, with an equity ratio of 52.7 percent (30 June 2010: EUR 52.9 million and 56.7 percent). Having repaid long-term liabilities of EUR 1.0 million, the company had cash and cash equivalents of EUR 6.1 million as of 30 June 2011 (30 June 2010: EUR 5.6 million).
Continuing business operations at Aragon AG performed as follows:
With sales of EUR 36.3 million, the Broker Pools segment posted growth of 5.5% in the first half of 2011 (H1 2010: EUR 34.4 million). Following this renewed growth, Broker Pools thus remains the strongest segment at Aragon AG in terms of sales. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) amounted to EUR 1.4 million in the first half of 2011, as against EUR 1.2 million in the equivalent period in 2010. At EUR 0.8 million, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) improved in the first half of 2011 compared with the same period in 2010 (H1 2010: EUR 0.5 million).
Sales in the Financial Consulting segment increased sharply to EUR 18.2 million in the first half of 2011, up 32.8% on one year earlier (H1 2010: EUR 13.7 million). This segment therefore remains the key growth driver at Aragon AG. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the Financial Consulting segment amounted to EUR 0.1 million in the first half of 2011 (H1 2010: EUR 1.1 million). Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for the same period amounted to EUR -0.4 million (H1 2010: EUR 1.0 million). Alongside the substantial build-up in sales structures, these negative earnings figures were due above all to the traditionally strong seasonal focus on the second half of the year, as well as to one-off transaction-related expenses of around EUR 0.3 million.
The Holding segment reported a year-on-year improvement in its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) from EUR -1.1 million to EUR -0.3 million in the first six months of 2011.
Outlook for the second half of 2011
‘Our positive performance in the first half of the 2011 financial year gives us reason to be positive about the next six months. Depending on capital market stability, we expect to reach the full-year targets we set at the beginning of 2011. Together with potential further acquisitions, Aragon’s strong position and the measures we have taken to streamline our investment portfolio should facilitate further profitable growth in the second half of the year’, added Dr. Sebastian Grabmaier, CEO at Aragon AG.
Key figures for the second quarter and the first half of 2011 at a glance
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The quarterly report can be downloaded with immediate effect from www.aragon.ag .
The announcement of the results for the third quarter of 2011 is scheduled for 30 November 2011.
About Aragon AG
Aragon AG is a broadly diversified financial services group with two operating segments, Broker Pools and Financial Consulting, and a Holding division. Alongside its investment in Aragon IT Service GmbH, the Holding division also owns a minority stake in biw Bank für Investments und Wertpapiere AG. In its operating segments, Aragon AG operates in the market with several independently acting subsidiaries. The aim is to integrate various sales models under one roof without infringing on the identity of each individual sales operation. This leads to broad diversification across numerous asset classes and distribution channels and, as a result, ensures high earnings stability. Further information about the company and its subsidiaries can be found at www.aragon.ag.
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