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| USU enjoys positive start to fiscal 2009 |
Möglingen, 19.05.2009
With Group sales of EUR 8,325 thousand (Q1 2008: EUR 7,349 thousand), USU Software AG and its subsidiaries (hereafter: "USU Group" or "USU") generated organic growth of EUR 976 thousand or 13.3% in the first quarter of 2009. A key part of this growth was accounted for by license business, which increased its sales as against the same quarter of the previous year by 55.7% to EUR 854 thousand (Q1 2008: EUR 548 thousand). Thanks to the positive order situation and new license agreements in the previous year, maintenance business also reported growth of 8.6% to EUR 1,721 thousand (Q1 2008: EUR 1,586 thousand). Consulting business also picked up in the reporting period with an increase of 11.9% to EUR 5,521 thousand (Q1 2008: EUR 4,933 thousand). Other income amounted to EUR 229 thousand in the first quarter of 2009 (Q1 2008: EUR 282 thousand) and essentially related to merchandise.
At EUR 8,144 thousand (Q1 2008: EUR 7,141 thousand), the Group's costs were up 14.1% on the figure for the previous year. In addition to the targeted investments in the ongoing development of the Group portfolio, international partner business was also expanded in the reporting quarter. As of January 1, 2009, the Management Board of the Group's subsidiary USU AG was joined by the internationally experienced Sven Wilms, now responsible for global sales. At the same time, the Company formed a team of partner managers. These activities have already led to significantly broader market access in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria. Furthermore, partner structures were also reorganized in the US and Saudi Arabia. Sales partners will be added in other European countries over the course of the second quarter. Initial product training has already taken place to enable the first sales success stories before the end of the current fiscal year.
In total, USU generated a consolidated net profit for the first three months of the current fiscal year of EUR 109 thousand (Q1 2008: EUR 44 thousand). Irrespective of the step-up in activities to increase the internationalization of the USU Group and to expand the partner network and the targeted investments in the ongoing development of the Group's products, USU therefore improved its consolidated result in a sustained difficult market environment. With an average of 10,021,054 shares (Q1 2008: 10,281,054), earnings per share amounted to EUR 0.01 (Q1 2008: EUR 0.00). While the USU Group's earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation (EBITDA) were steady year-on-year in the first quarter of 2009 at EUR 279 thousand (Q1 2008: EUR 280 thousand), earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) improved from EUR -14 thousand in the previous year to EUR 8 thousand in the reporting quarter.
The liquidity of the USU Group was increased further in the first quarter of 2009. As of March 31, 2009, USU had cash and cash equivalents of EUR 10,984 thousand after EUR 9,541 thousand as of December 31, 2008. As a result of the earnings generated by the USU Group, equity rose slightly as against December 31, 2008 to EUR 46,025 thousand (December 31, 2008: EUR 45,920 thousand). With total assets of EUR 54,909 thousand (December 31, 2008: EUR 54,153 thousand), the equity ratio as of March 31, 2009 was 83.8% (December 31, 2008: 84.8%). There were no liabilities to banks as of the end of the first quarter of 2009 and hence USU's financing position remains extremely solid.
Following the successful start to the current fiscal year and assuming that economic developments will stabilize over time, the Management Board is anticipating that sales growth will also be above the average level for the relevant market segments for the year as a whole. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) should also be up significantly on the previous year. Among other things, one positive indicator of this forecast is the Group-wide level of orders on hand at USU, which climbed to EUR 14,362 thousand as of March 31, 2009, an increase of 7.2% on the previous year's level (Q1 2008: EUR 13,394 thousand). License business will also be a key factor in the Company's ongoing success. In addition to consistently strong domestic business, international partner business will also increasingly benefit operations and is expected to post its first profits on orders by the end of the current fiscal year. By 2010, the international share of consolidated sales, which will primarily consist of partner sales from license and maintenance business, will be raised to over 15%. The Company is therefore investing specifically in increasing its internationalism and the further development of Group products to generate a strong sales and earnings performance in the medium to long term, thereby establishing a foundation on which to continue the shareholder-friendly dividend policy of recent years.
Further details on the recent business developments and the strategy and planning of USU Software AG will be presented in more detail by the Management Board at the Company's forthcoming Annual General Meeting on June 25, 2009 at Forum am Schlosspark, Stuttgarter Strasse 33-35, in Ludwigsburg. Among other things, the Management Board and the Supervisory Board of USU Software AG shall, as previously announced, propose to the Annual General Meeting to pay the shareholders of the Company, as in the previous year, a dividend of EUR 0.15 per entitled share, thus allowing them to participate in the positive business developments at USU Software AG and its subsidiaries.
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