DGAP-News: ecotel communication ag / Key word(s): Half Year Results 2016-08-11 / 08:00 The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Q2 consolidated revenue grows by EUR 5.4 million to EUR 29.2 million - Increase in Q2 B2B revenue (+ EUR 0.7 million) and gross profit (+ EUR 0.4 million) - Q2 EBITDA with special effects: EUR 1.6 million (previous year: EUR 1.8 million) - Net financial assets increased to EUR 3.0 million (previous year: EUR 0.8 million) Düsseldorf, 11 August 2016 In the second quarter 2016 ecotel was able to continue sustainable growth, especially in the profitable core segment of Business Customers (B2B). Consolidated revenue increased by EUR 5.4 million to EUR 29.2 million. In addition to increased revenue of EUR 5.0 million in the Wholesale Solutions segment, ecotel's high-margin Business Customers (B2B) segment also improved significantly by EUR 0.7 million to EUR 11.2 million. In the New Business segment, revenue decreased slightly by EUR 0.2 million to EUR 4.2 million. In the first half year 2016 the consolidated revenue increased altogether by EUR 9.5 million to EUR 59.2 million. Consolidated gross profit in the second quarter 2016 increased from EUR 6.8 million to EUR 7.1 million. This was achieved essentially by Business Solutions (B2B) with an increase of EUR 0.4 million or 8 % to EUR 5.4 million. Gross profit in the New Business segment remained constant at EUR 1.7 million (previous year: EUR 1.7 million) despite the lower revenue. Altogether, ecotel earned gross profit of EUR 14.2 million in the first half year 2016 (previous year: EUR 13.8 million). Of this amount, 76.8 % is attributed to the Business Customers segment. Consolidated EBITDA in the second quarter 2016 was marked by planned one-time effects for ensuring the target growth course in the Business Customers (B2B) segment and consequently decreased to EUR 1.6 million (previous year: EUR 1.8 million). This included one-time marketing and sales costs, recruitment costs and additional investments for optimisation of processes and systems. In the first half year 2016 ecotel achieved EBITDA of EUR 3.5 million (previous year: EUR 4.5 million) and therefore remains on course. Overall, ecotel earned consolidated profit totalling EUR 0.4 million (previous year: EUR 1.1 million), which resulted in earnings per share of EUR 0.13 (previous year: EUR 0.31). The one-time revenue of EUR 1.3 million from the previous year must be taken into account in the comparison with the previous year. Free cash flow in the second quarter 2016 totalled EUR 2.0 million (Q2 2015: EUR 1.2 million). In the first half year 2016 ecotel was therefore able to achieve a free cash flow of EUR 1.0 million, so that the net financial assets increased from EUR 2.6 million at the end of 2015 to EUR 3.0 million. Equity increased by EUR 0.7 million to EUR 22.4 million (previous year: EUR 21.7 million). Despite the higher balance sheet total of EUR 45.0 million (previous year: EUR 42.6 million), ecotel was able to maintain a stable equity ratio of 49.8 %. ecotel is very satisfied with the first half year 2016. Profitable and sustainable growth in the Business Customers segment shows that ecotel is still on the right path. Meanwhile ecotel has introduced a new NGN product portfolio for the impending change from ISDN to ALL IP technology. This makes ecotel one of the first companies in the industry to be able to provide B2B customers with IP-based voice services via all access types. The slightly declining EBITDA in the second quarter 2016 corresponds to expectations. 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 - 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016-08-11 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. Archive at 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, Tradegate Exchange End of News DGAP News Service