Marburg, 21 May 2008 – In the first quarter of 2008 3U HOLDING AG continued the positive course of business. Thus in the first quarter of 2008 the consolidated profit for the period rose – despite a scheduled slight decrease in sales revenues – by € 4.00 million to € 1.81 million in a year-on-year comparison. A significant contribution to this result was made by the shareholdings in the fixed-line network telephony segment, with an upturn of € 1.44 million (Q1 previous year: € -0.06 million). In line with the authoritative accounting provisions of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the sales revenues of LambdaNet Communications Deutschland AG and of the 3U subsidiaries in Austria and the USA – as so-called “held for sale” companies – were not included in the consolidated reporting entity, merely their aggregated balance-sheet values and the results for the period. In accordance with these provisions, the depreciation at the “held for sale” companies was neutralized at group level.
The consolidated revenues as of 31 March 2008 thus again solely came from the fixed-line network telephony segment. At € 18.18 million this was only marginally lower than the figure for the first quarter of 2007 (€ 18.34 million).
The development of results at 3U HOLDING AG shows that the decision to restructure the existing shareholdings and orient these towards earnings was the correct one. The positive business development in recent years was also continued in the first quarter of 2008, as the earnings ratios clearly illustrate: The earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) from continued operations rose over the same quarter for the previous year by € 1.29 million, from € 0.16 million to € 1.45 million. The earnings before taxes (EBT) rose from € -0.05 million in the first three months of 2007 to € 1.53 million in the same period of 2008.
The earnings per share in the reporting period were € 0.04 (Q1 previous year: € -0.05). The equity capital ratio also improved considerably, rising from 38.81 % in the first quarter of 2007 to a figure of 43.93 % at present.
The liquid and near-liquid funds at the 3U Group have declined compared to 31 December 2007, from € 38.54 million to € 35.48 million, primarily due to further amortization payments of € 1.61 million by LambdaNet, investment of € 1.01 million in the fixed assets, as well as advance payments of € 1.55 million for network rental and interconnect connections.
The Board of Management is presently looking into the first shareholdings with the focus on innovative technologies and corporate restructurings. 3U HOLDING AG still intends to sell the subsidiary LambdaNet.
Contact
3U HOLDING AG
Neue Kasseler Str. 62F D-35039 Marburg
phone: +49 6421 999-1200
fax: +49 6421 999-1998
e-mail: ir@3u.net