DGAP-News: ecotel communication ag / Key word(s): Quarterly / Interim Statement 2016-05-13 / 08:00 The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Q1 consolidated revenue grows by EUR 3.9 million to EUR 29.9 million - B2B revenue and gross profit increases by 8 % - Q1 EBITDA: EUR 1.9 million (previous year: EUR 2.7 million) - Equity ratio increases to 51.4 % (previous year: 49.0 %) - EPS in Q1: EUR 0.10 / share Düsseldorf, 13 May 2016 In the first quarter 2016 ecotel was able to continue the profitable growth of the past years. Consolidated revenue increased by EUR 3.9 million to EUR 29.9 million in the first quarter 2016. In addition to increased revenue of EUR 3.3 million in the Wholesale Solutions segment, ecotel's high-margin Business Customers (B2B) segment also improved significantly in comparison with the previous year by EUR 0.8 million or 8 % to EUR 11.4 million. Revenue in the New Business segment decreased by EUR 0.2 million to EUR 4.3 million. While revenue in new media solutions with the nacamar brand declined by EUR 0.3 million, Private Customer Solutions (B2C) included in this segment with the easybell brand was able to increase revenue slightly by EUR 0.1 million. Consolidated gross profit increased to EUR 7.1 million (previous year: EUR 6.9 million). This was achieved in part by Business Solutions (B2B) with an increase of EUR 0.4 million or 8 % to EUR 5.5 million. After successful implementation of key contracts acquired last year, these are now visible in the earnings of the Business Customers segment. Gross profit in the New Business segment decreased by EUR 0.2 million to EUR 1.5 million in the first quarter 2016. Although consolidated EBITDA decreased to EUR 1.9 million (previous year: EUR 2.7 million), it must be taken into account that ecotel received one-time revenue in the first quarter of the previous year from a legal dispute that ended in a settlement totalling EUR 1.3 million before expenses. Overall, ecotel earned consolidated profit totalling EUR 0.3 million (previous year: EUR 0.8 million), which resulted in earnings per share of EUR 0.10 (previous year: EUR 0.22). The aforementioned one-time revenue is also relevant here in comparison with the previous year. Free cash flow in the first three months of 2016 totalled EUR -0.9 million (Q1 2015: EUR 1.6 million). The substantial difference of EUR 2.5 million is not due to operational reasons, but instead is the result of delayed incoming payments of receivables, which were not received until the beginning of April due to the Easter weekend. In addition, a bonus payment of an upstream supplier was still outstanding at the end of the quarter. Both of these effects burdened the free cash flow by a total of EUR 2.0 million. Consequently, the net financial assets decreased by EUR 1.0 million to EUR 1.6 million in comparison with end of year 2015. This development should be reversed by the end of the first half of financial year 2016. With equity of EUR 22.6 million (previous year: EUR 21.6 million) and a balance sheet total of EUR 43.9 million, ecotel was able to increase the equity ratio from 49.0 % at the end of first quarter 2015 to 51.4 % as of 31 March 2016 (31 December 2015: 43.8 %). ecotel is very satisfied with the developments at the beginning of financial year 2016. Profitable and sustainable growth in the Business Customers segment shows that ecotel is still on the right path. The downward development of the free cash flow and the net financial assets is reporting date related and does not reflect the operational situation. The company confirms the forecast published in the 2015 consolidated annual report and continues to expect revenue of EUR 95 - 105 million and EBITDA in the corridor of EUR 7.0 - EUR 8.5 million for the current financial year 2016. About ecotel communication ag: The ecotel Group (hereinafter »ecotel«) is a telecommunications company operating throughout Germany since 1998 that specialises in meeting the information and telecommunication (IT/telecom) requirements of customers. The parent company is ecotel communication ag. The shares are traded in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. ecotel markets products and services in the following business segments: »Business Solutions (B2B)«, »Wholesale Solutions«, »Private Customer Solutions (B2C)« and »new media solutions«. ecotel's core segment is represented by »Business Solutions (B2B)«. Here ecotel offers 18,000 small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as large-scale customers throughout Germany, an integrated product portfolio of voice and data services (IT/telecom solutions) from a single source. In »Wholesale Solutions« ecotel integrates the services offered to other telecommunications companies. In addition, ecotel is active in cross-network trading of telephone minutes (Wholesale) for national and international carriers; for this purpose, ecotel maintains network interconnections with approximately 100 international carriers. The »Private Customer Solutions (B2C)« of ecotel include the services of the easybell Group. The Berlin-based subsidiary markets high-quality yet low-priced Internet and telephone services. For this purpose easybell provides rate-adaptable ADSL2+ and VDSL services nationwide. easybell is also one of the market leaders in the provision of classic call-by-call and Internet-by-call access. With its »new media solutions« nacamar GmbH offers streaming services for media enterprises on the basis of its own Content Delivery Network (CDN), which is hosted in the ecotel computer centre. The company also markets customised solutions for content management systems, online representation and technical developments (apps) for access by end devices (smartphones, tablet PC and smart TVs). The corporate group, with its main office in Düsseldorf, currently has about 240 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. PR office: Business and Financial Media Annette Drescher (Assistant to the Managing Director) Tel.: 0211-55 007-740 Fax: 0211-55 007 5 740 E-mail: presse@ecotel.de Business media Bernadette Loosen-Flanz (PR) Tel.: 0211-55 007-316 Fax: 0211-55 007 5 316 E-mail: presse@ecotel.de For more information, please visit us on the web at www.ecotel.de --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016-05-13 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The DGAP 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: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Munich, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News Service