EANS-Adhoc: freenet AG / freenet Group presents preliminary results for 2011, outlook and dividend proposal

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ad-hoc disclosure pursuant to section 15 of the WpHG transmitted by euro
adhoc with the aim of a Europe-wide distribution. The issuer is solely
responsible for the content of this announcement.
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29.02.2012

Büdelsdorf, 29 February 2012 - According to the preliminary figures,
the company achieved recurring Group EBITDA (earnings before
interest, taxes and depreciation/amortisation) - adjusted for one-off
items - of 360.3 million euros and free cash flow of 241.0 million
euros. freenet AG has thereby exceeded its guidance, which had been
raised again in November 2011, of 355 million euros for recurring
Group EBITDA and of >230 million euros for free cash flow.

Based on preliminary figures, freenet AG generated Group revenue of
3.22 billion euros in the financial year 2011, after 3.34 billion
euros in 2010. The Group result has increased to 144.0 million euros,
compared with 112.5 million euros in 2010.

The Executive Board has decided to propose to the Supervisory Board a
dividend payment for the financial year 2011 in the amount of 1.00
euro per share from retained earnings. This represents a payout ratio
of 53.1 percent of free cash flow.

freenet AG generated Group EBITDA of 337.4 million euros in
2011(2010: 334.9 million euros). This includes restructuring-related
one-off items in the amount of 22.9 million euros for the Group,
compared with 31.6 million euros in 2010. Recurring Group EBITDA -
adjusted for one-off items - came to 360.3 million euros in the
financial year 2011, vs. 366.5 million euros in the previous year.

Net debt was reduced by another 93.7 million euros since year-end
2010, to 529.4 million euros.

With a contract customer base of 5.75 million at the end of the
financial year 2011, customer attrition in 2011 amounted to 366,000
as a result of our continued qualitative alignment, which represents
a considerable improvement over the guidance originally communicated
in February 2011 of fewer than 500,000. Over the course of the year,
the no-frills customer base increased by 410,000 to 2.37 million
customers. In all, the number of mobile communication customers was
15.19 million at the end of 2011, compared with 15.65 million at
year-end 2010.

The focus on valuable postpaid contract customer relationships led to
a stabilisation of the postpaid ARPU (monthly average revenue per
user) at 23.8 euros.

Outlook In 2012 and 2013, freenet AG aims to stabilise Group revenue
at the level seen in the financial year 2011. The company expects
Group EBITDA of 340 million euros and free cash flow of 240 million
euros for both years.

In accordance with the financial policy adopted in 2011, the
Executive Board plans to continue distributing 40-60 percent of
future free cash flow as dividends.

From today´s perspective, the company assumes a stable development of
its customer base in 2012, and expects slight growth in 2013. Stable
postpaid ARPU has been taken into account for both years.

Now that the "freenet AG" and "debitel Group" integration project has
been successfully completed, restructuring-related one-off expenses
will have only a very limited impact on results from 2012 on, and
will therefore no longer be shown separately. As a result, recurring
Group EBITDA is identical to the reported Group EBITDA.

Free cash flow is defined as cash flow from operating activities,
minus investments in property, plant and equipment and intangible
assets, plus proceeds from the disposal of property, plant and
equipment and intangible assets.

Disclaimer: This announcement contains forward-looking statements
based on current assumptions and forecasts made by the management of
freenet AG. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
could cause the actual development, in particular the results,
financial condition and performance of our company, to differ
materially from the forward-looking statements given above. The
company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking
statements or to adjust them to future events or developments. All
figures are based on preliminary calculations before final
consolidation and completion of the audit. There may therefore be
discrepancies to the final financial figures to be presented on 23
March 2012.

Further inquiry note:
freenet AG
Investor Relations
Tel.: +49 (0)40 51306-778
E-Mail: ir@freenet.ag

end of announcement euro adhoc
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issuer: freenet AG
Hollerstraße 126
D-24782 Büdelsdorf
phone: +49 (0)4331 691000
mail: ir@freenet.ag
WWW: http://www.freenet-group.de
sector: Telecommunications
ISIN: DE000A0Z2ZZ5
indexes: Midcap Market Index, TecDAX, CDAX, HDAX, Prime All Share,
Technology All Share
stockmarkets: free trade: Hannover, Berlin, München, Hamburg, Düsseldorf,
Stuttgart, regulated dealing/prime standard: Frankfurt
language: English