ecotel communication ag / Key word(s): Interim Report/Interim Report
15.05.2013 / 08:10

---------------------------------------------------------------------
- Revenue of EUR 21.5 million below previous year's level due to regulatory decisions
- Growth in core segment Business Solutions
- EBITDA margin stable despite high project expenses - Forecast for 2013 confirmed after positive start
Düsseldorf, 15 May 2013 

ecotel has started the business year 2013 according to plan and can benefit from continued growth in the Business Solutions segment. After stabilisation of B2B revenue in 2012 ecotel was able for the first time to again report increased revenue of EUR 10.5 million in comparison with the same quarter of the previous year (EUR 10.4 million). Also, gross profit increased from EUR 4.8 million to EUR 5.2 million.
The foreseeable decrease in revenue of EUR 23.7 million at the group level to EUR 21.5 million is solely the result of the decline in revenue from the Wholesale Solutions segment to EUR 7.8 million (previous year: EUR 10.2 million). The decisions of the German Federal Network Agency to further reduce the termination fees for mobile (about 45%) and fixed line communication (about 20%) have caused loss of revenue in Wholesale Solutions, despite growing traffic volumes. However, these measures have only minor effects on the consolidated gross profit.
EBITDA, EBIT and consolidated profit for the first quarter 2013 decreased slightly in comparison with the previous year's figures. EBITDA totalled EUR 1.7 million (previous year: EUR 1.8 million), EBIT EUR totalled 0.9 million (previous year: EUR 1.0 million) and consolidated profit after third-party shares totalled EUR 0.5 million, the same as last year. This corresponds to earnings per share of EUR 0.13 (previous year: EUR 0.14). The net debt increased as planned from EUR -0.3 million to EUR 1.5 million as of 31 December 2012 due to preliminary financing of large-scale projects. The equity ratio remained unchanged at 45 % in the reporting period.

In November 2012 ecotel had received a new major contract for connecting the agencies of Allianz Deutschland AG. As a result of this, ecotel will connect up to 10,000 agency locations with the company headquarters in the coming years, providing them with classical data services and, optionally, also with voice services. ecotel therefore provides the entire infrastructure service for the Allianz agency network in Germany.
ecotel CSO Achim Theis explains: With our current product portfolio, our multi-supplier strategy and our customer-oriented services we are well equipped to successfully meet the growing demands of our customers, also in the area of data services. While many firms are currently occupied with the introduction of cloud services, we have specialised in providing the necessary 'race tracks' for this development, as well professional management of the infrastructure.

The company confirms the forecast published in the 2012 Annual Report and expects EBITDA of EUR 6.0 - 7.0 million for the current business year 2013, with revenue of EUR 80 - 90 million.

The quarterly report is available for download at the company's website www.ecotel.de.


About ecotel communication ag:

Listed in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, ecotel communication ag is a telecommunications company with activities in three business sectors throughout Germany.

In the core segment of 'Business Solutions' ecotel provides about 19,000 business customers with an integrated product portfolio consisting of voice, data and mobile communications solutions. This includes nationwide available and convergent bundled products, broadband data access on the basis of DSL and Ethernet technologies, scalable networking of corporate locations (VPNs) as well as housing and hosting services.
In the second segment, 'Wholesale Solutions', the ecotel group markets preliminary service products to other telecommunications companies. At the same time, the company achieves high traffic volumes in this segment, enhancing added value for the core segment of Business Solutions. In addition to the international wholesale voice activities of ecotel, mvneco GmbH is also included in this segment.

The 'New Business' segment covers new, fast-growing business segments and niches of independently operating subsidiaries. In addition to easybell GmbH, which is aligned to private customer business, nacamar GmbH, which now focuses exclusively on new media activities, is part of this independent business unit.

The corporate group, with its main office in Düsseldorf, currently has about 210 employees, including subsidiaries and holdings.
Note:
This publication is not an offer for the sale nor an invitation for the purchase or subscription of securities. This publication is not a securities brochure. This publication and the information contained therein are not intended for direct or indirect dissemination to or within the United States of America, Canada, Australia or Japan.

End of Corporate News

---------------------------------------------------------------------
15.05.2013 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
DGAP's Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Language: English Company: ecotel communication ag Prinzenallee 11 40549 Düsseldorf Germany Phone: +49 (0)211 55 00 70 Fax: +49 (0)211 55 00 7 222 E-mail: info@ecotel.de Internet: http://www.ecotel.de ISIN: DE0005854343 WKN: 585434 Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, München, Stuttgart  
 
End of News    DGAP News-Service  
--------------------------------------------------------------------- 211169 15.05.2013