Marburg, 24 May 2007 – According to provisional figures the 3U Group posted sales revenues of € 27.16 million in the first quarter of the 2007 financial year. The decline in revenues of € 5 million in a year-on-year comparison (€ 32.15 million) was essentially due to the operative reorientation at the beginning of August 2006 in the fixed-line telephony segment at 3U TELECOM AG as well as the already communicated termination of a key account in the carrier sales segment at the subsidiary LambdaNet. The EBITDA amounted to € 2.08 million, whereby this sum is lower than the figure for the comparable period of the previous year (€ 2.78 million), yet higher than that for the fourth quarter of 2006 (€ 1.70 million). The loss for the period decreased over the fourth quarter of 2006 (€ 2.67 million) by some 18 % to € 2.19 million, following on from € 1.93 million in the first quarter of 2006.
In the first quarter of 2007 the fixed-line telephony segment posted revenues of € 19.46 million. As expected, due to the focus since the beginning of August 2006 on the call-by-call and wholesale business the figure from the previous year (fourth quarter 2006: € 21.51 million and first quarter 2006: € 23.04 million) was not attained. The EBITDA in the first three months of the current financial year was € 0.19 million (first quarter 2006: € 0.38 million) and was again positive, following on from a slightly negative result in the fourth quarter of 2006 (-€ 0.06 million), which had essentially been caused by special effects.
In the broadband/IP segment the sales revenues, EBITDA and earnings were also within the framework of general expectations. Sales in the first quarter of the current financial year were € 7.70 million, following on from € 8.79 million in the forth quarter of 2006 and € 9.11 million in the first quarter of 2006. The downturn in sales revenues results above all from the previously communicated termination of a key account in the carrier sales segment. While the EBITDA was lower than the result for the corresponding period in the previous year (€ 2.40 million), it rose over the fourth quarter of 2006 (€ 1.76 million) by some 7 % to € 1.89 million. The loss for the period was higher than that for the first quarter of the previous year (- € 1.58 million). At € -2.15 million it was more or less at the level seen in the previous quarter (- € 2.05 million).
As of 31 March 2007 the equity capital ratio in the 3U Group rose to 38.81 % and was thus much higher than the figure for the comparative quarter in 2006 (35.95 %). The liquid funds as of 31 March 2007 amounted to € 36.50 million; despite the annual advance payments for the interconnection lines to Deutsche Telekom AG in the fixed-line telephony segment and the scheduled loan repayments at LambdaNet it was possible to maintain this figure at practically the same level seen in the previous year (31 March 2006: € 36.91 million).
The consolidated result in the first quarter of the new financial year merely reflects business results from the long-standing telecommunications sector. The management is currently taking all the necessary steps so as to implement the spin-off of the telecommunications services as well as the launch of the management and shareholding business – adopted at the extraordinary general meeting in January of this year – as soon as legal prerequisites have been fulfilled.
The complete quarterly report will be published on 31 May 2007.
Contact person:
3U TELECOM AG
Kirsten Götsche
Tel.: 06421 999-1200
Fax: 06421 999-1998
ir@3u.net