Plenum AG

Earnings Release • May 25, 2005

News Details

Ad-hoc | 25 May 2005 08:29

plenum AG: Refocusing and expanding the consulting business

Ad hoc announcement §15 WpHG Q1 Results plenum AG: Refocusing and expanding the consulting business Ad hoc announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— plenum AG: Refocusing and expanding the consulting business – sales revenue drops to EUR 8.4 million – deficit of EUR 0.7 million – cash reserves increase from EUR 6.6 million to EUR 8.2 million Wiesbaden, May 25, 2005 Against the background of the ongoing price pressure on programming work and the related barriers to further expansion of large project business, plenum made a decision at the end of 2004 to focus more strongly on consulting- intensive themes in the future. The successful positioning of high-quality consulting themes and the return to higher order volumes are important success factors for further expanding the consulting business, as is the consistent adjustment of the cost structure for strengthening the earning power. The steps that are necessary for this have already been initiated. The organisational, personnel, and content-related interlocking of the Systems and Consulting segments is currently being implemented and will be completed in the 4th quarter of 2005. In the process, plenum is consciously accepting a drop in turnover due to the withdrawal from the implementation business. Thanks to making costs more flexible to a great extent, the loss of TEUR -796 in the first quarter turned out to be moderate in spite of a strong decrease in turnover. Essentially, the drop to approximately Euro 8.4 million was the result of weaker business development in the Systems Division after completion of the large project at the end of 2004. Consequently, turnover was approximately 22% below the value of the same quarter of the previous year. Compared to the 4th quarter of 2004, this corresponded to a decline of approximately 13%, or alternatively Euro 1.2 million. Value creation (the percentage of our own business in the turnover) dropped by approximately Euro 0.5 million compared to the 4th quarter of 2004. On the whole, the ratio of value creation to turnover increased slightly. In the first quarter, booked business was approximately Euro 6.3 million below the value of the sales revenue. This was shown in particular by the weak development in the System Division in particular, while in the Management Consulting Division, booked business had already been noticeably expanded in the first three months of 2005. Refocusing the business and expanding consulting activities have the highest priority in financial year 2005. The consistent implementation of the necessary measures and the adjustment of the cost structure of the Company will be completed in 12 months. In spite of the adverse balance that exists, there is still more than enough equity capital for this, but it will continue to be burdened. Due to the solid base of liquid assets, amounting to Euro 8.2 million, financing is assured. plenum AG Hagenauer Str. 53 65203 Wiesbaden Deutschland ISIN: DE0006901002 WKN: 690100 Listed: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard) und Stuttgart; Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover und München End of ad hoc announcement (c)DGAP 25.05.2005 Issuer’s information/explanatory remarks concerning this ad hoc announcement: You can find the complete 1st Quarterly Report 2005 at http://www.plenum.de . Additional information Hubert Sand Manager of Corporate Communication plenum AG Tel.: + 49 (0) 611 – 98 82 – 0 Fax: + 49 (0) 611 – 98 82 – 1 50 email: aktie@plenum.de Information and Explanations for this ad hoc Report by the Issuers This report contains future-orientated statements that are based on current expectations, estimates, predictions, and forecasts as well as on the assessments and assumptions of the management of plenum AG. Such statements include statements about plans, strategies, and outlooks. Words such as “expect”, “most likely”, “preliminary” and similar expressions identify such future-orientated statements. These statements are not guarantees of future results and contain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are in part very difficult to foresee. Therefore, the actual consequences and results could deviate considerably from what has been stated in the future-orientated statements. End of message (c)DGAP 250829 Mai 05