EANS-Adhoc: Goldbach Media AG / annual results 2009

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annual results 2009

04.03.2010

Ad hoc press release

Group result for 2009:
Growth continues at Goldbach Media

Sustained profitable growth in the offline and online divisions - CHF
306.5 million in net income - 15.7% percent increased in sales - CHF
22.1 million in EBTA - CHF 4.8 million in profit for the year -
increased profit in ongoing business - proposed dividend of CHF 0.63
- positive start in the new business year - anticipated growth in
sales and EBIT for 2010.

Küsnacht, March 4, 2010. Goldbach Media, the leader in advertising
marketing in private electronic, interactive and mobile media in
Switzerland, again achieved profitable growth in 2009 in its online
and offline divisions, with its international companies in ten
countries, despite a challenging market environment. With a 15.7%
increase in net income of CHF 306.5 million, the Group generated
EBITDA of CHF 22.1 million (-3.6%) and CHF 18.6 million (-8.3%) in
EBIT. At CHF 4.8 million (-54%), the profit for the year was halved
primarily due to write-downs involving the print business for sale in
Romania. A dividend of CHF 0.63 per share will be proposed at the
General Assembly. Goldbach Media anticipates a continuation of its
profitable growth and significant increase in EBIT in 2010, should
the economic situation remain stable.

In January, Goldbach Media Group published its provisional sales and
division figures for the 2009 business year. Group turnover consisted
of 63% generated in the offline division and 37% in the online
division (prior year 70% offline, 30% online). The share of income
generated in the international companies (Germany, Austria, Croatia,
Slovenia, Serbia, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania and Russia)
increased by 71.2% to CHF 62 million, and currently contributes to
20% of Group turnover (prior year 14%).

Despite the economically challenging business environment, the equity
capital ratio remained stable at 40.2% (prior year 40.8%). Cash and
cash equivalents increased to CHF 44.4 million (prior year CHF 34.5
million). The foreign currency market was volatile, leading to an
average drop of 4.9% in the value of the euro in relation to the
Swiss franc, while the Polish Zloty even dropped by 23%.

Taking into account the separation of the Romanian print business,
the profit from ongoing business increased by 2.2% to CHF 18.4
million (prior year CHF 18 million). In accordance with the Group's
customary dividend policy, to be proposed to the shareholders of
Goldbach Media will be a 10.5% higher dividend of CHF 0.63 per share
(prior year CHF 0.57).

Remarkable growth and improvement of the market position in the
online division The online division, which includes performance
marketing and advertising logistics for digital and interactive
media, including online advertising on Internet TV, grew by 42.7% in
2009, with sales of CHF 114.5 million (prior year CHF 80.2 million).
Organic growth in the online division amounted to 17%; or 22.2% when
exchange rate adjusted. Combined in the online division are
Goldbach's conceptual, creative and technological offers for digital
and mobile media, along with search machine marketing and marketing
services for Internet advertising. The online division is comprised
of the Swiss-based companies, AdLink Media and OnEmotion, as well as
orange8 interactive in Switzerland and Germany, and also Wilmaa
Internet television and the marketing companies, Goldbach Media
Adriatic, and the subsidiary, ARBOmedia, acquired in 2008, which is
specialized in marketing in Eastern Europe. They contributed CHF 3.7
million to EBIT in 2009 (prior year 6.0 million). The 38% decrease in
EBIT, despite the positive and profitable course of business, is a
result of the high investments needed to expand business activities
and to gain market share. Furthermore, in the third quarter of 2009,
EBIT was affected by a serious crisis-related market downturn which
occurred throughout the online sector, particularly in Poland, the
most important market for ARBOmedia, which comprises around
three-fourths of its revenues. The rapid return to significant sales
growth throughout the entire online division in the fourth quarter of
2009 was not enough to entirely offset the EBIT losses of the third
quarter; nevertheless they evoke hope for the current 2010 business
year.

The marketing of Internet TV on the whole grew very positively for
the online division in 2009. Goldbach Media acquired a 50% stake in
Wilmaa Internet TV in January. The television and computer are
merging into one. Internet TV, which is the broadcasting of
television signals over the Web, has begun its victory march in
Switzerland. As an interactive medium, Internet TV opens further
marketing potential for Goldbach Media; the know-how now being
gathered in Switzerland will be relatively easy to transfer outside
the country when the opportunity to do so arises.

Goldbach Media seeks to actively design structural change in the
online advertising business A structural change is underway in the
online advertising business, in which the market is dividing into
site-specific and network-wide advertising offers. This will have a
medium-term impact on the value creation chain and margins in online
marketing. Goldbach Media today is taking a leading role in the
regions where it is active, in site-specific marketing and in the
design of performance marketing. Through the long-term strategic
partnership agreement signed in 2009 with the European-American
Adconion Group, Goldbach Media is also able to make network-wide
offers. The cooperation with Adconion provides Goldbach Media with
the exclusive use of an ad-serving technology specialized in
performance marketing, in Switzerland, Austria, the Adriatic region
and throughout Eastern Europe. This gives Goldbach Media access to a
network of around 400 million Internet users. The cooperation enables
Goldbach Media to actively design the ongoing structural change in
the regions in which it is active and throughout Eastern Europe,
thereby strengthening its position as the leading marketer of online
marketing and online advertising.

The offline division is profiting from the booming advertising trend
towards electronic media In the offline division, which is the
marketing of advertising time on private radio and television, with
Teletext and Adscreen, which are primarily focused on Switzerland,
turnover increased by 3.9% (prior year 1%) in 2009, with CHF 193.1
million (prior year 185.9 million). The economically challenged
environment of 2009 further accelerated the trend towards advertising
in electronic media. Among the winners in advertising media in
Switzerland in addition to online media, are also TV and radio.
Through its focus on the marketing of private electronic media,
Goldbach Media and its IP Multimedia subsidiary have
over-proportionately profited from the megatrend. With its TV
portfolio of 15 Swiss TV stations and eight Swiss advertising
windows, Goldbach Media is the audience market leader in
German-speaking Switzerland and in 2nd place in French-speaking
Switzerland. The offline division comprises 63% of Goldbach Media's
net income (prior year 70%). In what was a generally recessive
advertising environment, the offline division further expanded its
market share. The offline division contributed CHF 18.7 million to
the EBIT in 2009 (prior year 18.9 million).

Outlook: Growth in turnover and EBIT anticipated After the economic
crisis mood fully engulfed the advertising industry in the third
quarter of 2009, particularly in the online division, but also to
some degree in the offline division, the fourth quarter witnessed a
rally on an unprecedented scale. The first two months of the 2010
business year seem to confirm that the downward trend in the
advertising markets has reversed. Goldbach Media is off to a positive
start in 2010. This particularly applies to the online business in
Eastern Europe, in which, nevertheless, difficult to forecast
currency exchange influences may still come to bear. The expansion of
the network-wide online advertising offer in the current business
year may also have a positive impact on profits in 2011. Due to the
current and ongoing market volatilities, previously unknown on this
scale, a reliable forecast for the current business year is simply
not possible. On the other hand, should the economic and market
situation remain relatively stable in 2010, Goldbach Media expects
further profitable growth and a significant increase in EBIT.

"Goldbach Media specialized early on in the marketing of electronic
and interactive media," stated Klaus Kappeler, CEO of Goldbach Media.
"As a focused advertising logistics expert with great market
acceptance and a leading market position in the online advertising
markets of Eastern Europe and the South Adriatic region, Goldbach
Media has good opportunities to profit from the high growth
potential. The negative and positive influences in Eastern Europe are
both leading to dramatic market upheaval. This is also evidenced by
the rapidly growing advertising sales for our new client, Facebook,
in this region."

end of announcement euro adhoc
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ots Originaltext: Goldbach Media AG
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:

Paul Riesen, Germaine Müller

Tel. +41 44 914 91 00

Mobile: +41 79 688 24 74

germaine.mueller@goldbachmedia.com

paul.riesen@goldbachmedia.com

Branche: Media
ISIN: CH0004870942
WKN: 487094
Index: SPI, SPIEX
Börsen: SIX Swiss Exchange / official dealing