JDC Group AG

Earnings Release • Mar 29, 2012

News Details

Corporate | 29 March 2012 07:00

ARAGON AG: Results FY 2011

ARAGON AG / Key word(s): Final Results

29.03.2012 / 07:00

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• Aragon AG concludes 2011 with record sales and significant operating
  earnings growth

• Sales up 16 percent to Euro 127 million; EBITDA improves by 43 percent
  to Euro 5.3 million

• Sharp rise in product turnover to Euro 2.4 billion

• Focus on financial sales and financial advisory activities

• Outlook for 2012: Double-digit organic growth and substantial
  improvements in earnings strength expected

Aragon AG performed very well in the 2011 financial year despite the very
tough market climate. Sales and turnover soared to record levels, while
operating earnings improved significantly. Sales rose by 16 percent to Euro
127 million. The factors driving this growth included an increase in
product turnover volumes to Euro 2.4 billion, half a billion euros up on
the previous year. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortisation (EBITDA), which grew by 43 percent to Euro 5.3 million,
underline the clear progress the company has made on an operating level.

'2011 was a good year for Aragon', commented Dr. Sebastian Grabmaier, CEO
of Aragon AG. 'We maintained our growth course and achieved our strategic
goal of focusing on financial sales and financial advisory activities by
selling our shares in biw Bank. Having acquired CLARUS AG and FiNUM.Private
Finance AG, Berlin (formerly SRQ FinanzPartner AG), we have achieved the
critical mass necessary to reach our sales and earnings targets. Our
priority now is to generate organic growth, but we also intend to remain
the driving force for growth and consolidation in the financial sales
sector.'

Figures in detail:

Full-year sales in 2011 grew by 16 percent to Euro 127.0 million (2010:
Euro 109.2m). Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortisation (EBITDA) improved by 43 percent to Euro 5.3 million (2010:
Euro 3.7 million). With growth of 62 percent to Euro 3.0 million (2010:
Euro 1.9 million), earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) showed
slightly higher growth than EBITDA. Earnings before taxes (EBT) from
continuing operations amounted to Euro 1.8 million (2010: Euro 1.0
million).

Annual net income from continuing operations amounted to Euro 1.2 million
(2010: Euro 0.8 million). The profits on the investment held in biw Bank
für Investments und Wertpapiere AG (biw), which was consolidated until the
third quarter, have already been deducted from this figure. The previously
announced one-off items in connection with the sale of the biw stake have
impacted negatively on consolidated net income and have been reported under
discontinued operations. Due to this item, consolidated net income was
negative at minus Euro 5.2 million. At the same time, net of all expenses
relating to the transaction and related repayments, Aragon AG has
nevertheless received liquid funds of around Euro 10.0 million from the
transaction.

The sharp growth and restructuring of the Group are also reflected in the
other key figures of Aragon AG as of the 2011 balance sheet date. At around
Euro 2.4 billion, product turnover was significantly ahead of the two
billion euro mark for the first time. Assets under administration at Aragon
AG increased to around Euro 4.2 billion, which corresponds to year-on-year
growth despite the decline in capital markets in the course of the year.
The number of brokers working together with Aragon AG also increased during
the year from around 20,500 to more than 22,000 at the end of 2011. The
number of customers supported by Aragon companies already passed the
1,000,000 mark in summer 2011 (2010: around 920,000).

Aragon AG has a very solid balance sheet structure. Liquid funds grew
year-on-year by 50 percent from Euro 9.2 million to Euro 13.8 million. It
should be noted that the liquid funds generated by the sale of the
company's stake in biw were only received at Aragon AG after the balance
sheet date. Shareholders' equity at Aragon AG amounted to Euro 48.0 million
as of the balance sheet date (2010: Euro 52.8 million). Notwithstanding the
extension in its balance sheet due to the first-time consolidation of
CLARUS AG and FiNUM.Private Finance AG, Berlin, Aragon AG had a comfortable
equity ratio of 39.4 percent as of 31 December 2011 (2010: 52.3 percent).

Continuing operations at Aragon AG performed as follows:

With sales of Euro 72.8 million, the Broker Pools segment remained the
Aragon Group's strongest segment in terms of sales (2010: Euro 72.2
million). Due to the difficult capital market climate and resultant
reluctance to invest on the part of investment and closed funds, earnings
before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in this
segment amounted to Euro 1.6 million, as against Euro 2.5 million in 2010.
Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for the same period amounted to
Euro 0.4 million (2010: Euro 1.0 million). Annual net income for the 2011
financial year amounted to Euro 0.4 million, compared with Euro 0.7 million
in the 2010 financial year.

The Financial Consulting segment remained the fastest-growing segment at
Aragon AG in the 2011 financial year once again, improving its sales by
around 50 percent to around Euro 55.6 million (2010: Euro 36.9 million).
This segment thus already accounted for more than 44 percent of sales at
Aragon AG in the 2011 financial year as a whole. Earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) at the Financial Consulting
segment grew year-on-year by 76 percent from Euro 3.2 million in 2010 to
Euro 5.7 million. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose over the
same period to Euro 4.7 million (2010: Euro 2.9 million). Annual net income
for the 2011 financial year improved to Euro 3.4 million, up from Euro 2.2
million in the 2010 financial year.

These positive developments have been driven by the performance of our
compexx FINANZ AG, inpunkto AG, and FiNUM.Private Finance AG, Vienna,
(formerly Scopia AG and MLP Vermögensberatungs AG, Vienna) investments, all
of which managed to generate sales and earnings growth.

CLARUS AG, a company consolidated for the first time as of 1 July 2011,
contributed sales of around Euro 8.5 million and, thanks to the positive
course of restructuring, also made a positive contribution to earnings.
Together with FiNUM.Private Finance AG, Berlin, which was consolidated for
the first time as of 31 December 2011, FiNUM.FINANZHAUS GmbH, Cologne,
should, following its year of transition in 2011, become one of the key
earnings drivers at Aragon AG.

Within the implementation of our strategy and the resultant process of
focusing on investments in financial sales businesses, the investment held
in Fundmatrix AG, Frankfurt, was merged with a subsidiary of Jung, DMS &
Cie. AG within the Holding segment as of 01 January 2011. We also disposed
of our investment in biw Bank für Investments und Wertpapiere AG, Willich,
as of 5 January 2012. The inflow of liquidity from the sale of the biw
stake, amounting to Euro 17.9 million (gross), was only received after the
balance sheet date on 31 December 2011. These funds have partly been used
to repay third-party liabilities.

Outlook for 2012:

Aragon AG expects the macroeconomic climate to remain persistently
difficult in the current 2012 financial year, resulting in a challenging
market for financial services providers. Despite these underlying
conditions, Aragon AG plans to maintain the growth course it has taken
while consistently improving its profitability. Comments Wulf U. Schütz,
CFO of Aragon AG: 'Our investment portfolio now has a sufficiently lean
structure for us to focus all of our energies on organic growth and on
improving our earnings strength. Notwithstanding our comfortable liquidity
situation, no further acquisitions are currently planned.'

The Annual Report of Aragon AG can be downloaded with immediate effect from
the company's website at www.aragon.ag.

About Aragon AG

Aragon AG is a broadly diversified financial services group with two
operating segments, Broker Pools and Financial Consulting, and an operating
Holding division. Within its 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.

Contact:
Aragon Aktiengesellschaft

Ralf Funke
Investor Relations
Tel.: +49(0)611 890 575-0
Fax: +49(0)611 890 575-99
E-Mail: ir@aragon.ag

End of Corporate News

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162859 29.03.2012