DGAP-News: mybet Holding SE publishes report on first

DGAP-News: mybet Holding SE / Key word(s): Quarter Results mybet Holding SE publishes report on first quarter of 2014 15.05.2014 / 08:25 --------------------------------------------------------------------- mybet Holding SE publishes report on first quarter of 2014 - Revenue down 8 percent - Betting shop business recovers - Improved cost basis leads to improved EBIT of EUR 327 thousand - Full-year forecast confirmed Kiel, May 15, 2014 - mybet Holding SE (Deutsche Börse, Prime Standard, ISIN DE000A0JRU67) today publishes its report on the first quarter of the 2014 financial year. Consolidated revenue in the first three months fell by 7.8 percent, from EUR 19.5 million in the previous year to EUR 17.9 million. However the slight growth of 1.2 percent in the Sports Betting segment to EUR 10.7 million and the sustained business strength of the mybet subsidiary pferdewetten.de AG (+35.8 percent to EUR 1.5 million) were not enough to compensate fully for the downturn in casino business and the discontinuation of the Lotteries segment. Nevertheless, thanks to an improved cost basis earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) went up from EUR 112 thousand in the previous year to EUR 327 thousand in the first quarter of 2014. The first quarter brought a positive development in business in the sports betting shops, which had suffered from various system failures in the prior-year quarter. System stability improvements and the start of roll-out of customer cards lifted betting stakes in the shops by 6.6 percent. Due to a lower margin, the hold (betting stakes less payouts of winnings) rose by only 1.6 percent to EUR 5.8 million. In online operations, betting stakes declined by 2.5 percent because of a substantially scaled-back marketing budget and a shift in its focus towards efficiency. The hold was a par with the prior-year quarter at EUR 4.4 million. Revenue for the Casino & Poker segment fell by 16.5 percent to EUR 5.5 million. The prior-year quarter still included revenue from French business which had to be halted in mid-2013 due to a legal dispute. Following the disposal of German-language business in 2012 and the deconsolidation of the Spanish subsidiaries, the Lotteries segment was discontinued with effect from the end of 2013. In the previous year the Lotteries segment contributed revenue of EUR 898 thousand and EBIT of EUR -92 thousand to the consolidated result. Business for the Italian subsidiary mybet Italia did not develop as hoped in the first quarter of 2014. The Management Board of mybet Holding SE has therefore resolved to write off assets totalling EUR 715 thousand retroactively from December 31, 2013. Negotiations on the sale of the company are currently in progress. In the first quarter of 2014, Italian business diminished consolidated EBIT by EUR -209 thousand (previous year EUR -276 thousand). In connection with the licensing process for the awarding of the 20 Germany-wide sports betting licences, the mybet subsidiary PEI Ltd. submitted the supplementary documents as requested in good time on March 14, 2014. The Hesse Ministry of the Interior subsequently invited PEI Ltd. to take part in the next phase of negotiations, when the social and safety concept is to be presented in person. It remains unclear when the licences will finally be awarded on a legally binding basis. The liquidity position of the mybet Group has improved again in the first quarter of 2014 compared with December 31, 2013. At the end of the quarter the company had cash and cash equivalents amounting to EUR 9.5 million, of which EUR 2.5 million is attributable to pferdewetten.de AG. At the end of March, mybet Holding SE and the acquirers of the JAXX Group sold in 2012 reached agreement on the early payment of the balance of the purchase price, less a discount of four percent. mybet Holding SE thus accrued a total of EUR 2.8 million in liquidity. The cash situation of mybet may improve further by quite a substantial amount if the compensation claim against Westdeutsche Lotterie GmbH & Co. OHG (Westlotto) becomes legally binding, as is expected. At the start of April the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf had ordered Westlotto to pay EUR 11.5 million in damages, plus interest, to a mybet subsidiary. No right of appeal was granted. Westlotto notified the company through its lawyers on May 9, 2014 that it has filed a complaint with the Federal Supreme Court about the non-admission of an appeal. If the complaint is rejected, a cash inflow of about EUR 15.1 to 15.5 million is to be expected at the end of 2014 / start of 2015. Outlook For sports betting providers, the weakest phase of the year starts in the second quarter, when the Bundesliga season comes to an end. Betting stakes and margins typically fall in the second quarter right across the industry, then business picks up again at the start of the new season towards the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter is seasonally the strongest phase in the yearly cycle of betting providers. mybet Holding SE, too, has reflected this seasonal pattern in its corporate planning and expects a negative result for the second quarter of 2014. The outlook provided in the 2013 Annual Report, envisaging EBIT at break-even and slightly higher revenue of EUR 70 to 75 million for 2014 as a whole, remains valid and is unaffected by this development. Key figures for Q1 2014 <pre> Q1 2014 Q1 2013 Change EUR '000 EUR '000 % Revenue 17,926 19,474 -8.0 Sports Betting 10,663 10,536 +1.2 Casino & Poker 5,522 6,611 -16.5 Lotteries 0 898 n.a. Horse Betting 1,446 1,065 +35.8 Other 270 364 -270 EBITDA 885 805 +9.9 EBIT 327 112 +192.0 Net profit/loss for the period 234 389 -39.9 Earnings per share (EUR) 0.00 0.01 n.a. 31/03/2014 31/12/2014 Cash and cash equivalents 9,548 7,965 Shareholders' equity 18,535 18,306 Equity ratio 49.5% 47.4% </pre> The Report on the First Quarter will be made available for downloading on Thursday, May 15, 2014 on the websites www.deutsche-boerse.com and www.mybet-se.com. Contact: mybet Holding SE Investor Relations & Corporate Communications Stefan Zenker Tel. +49 (40) 85 37 88 47 Fax +49 (40) 85 37 88 30 Mail stefan.zenker@mybet.com End of Corporate News --------------------------------------------------------------------- 15.05.2014 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. DGAP's Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de --------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: English Company: mybet Holding SE Jägersberg 23 24103 Kiel Germany Phone: +49 40 85 37 88-0 Fax: +49 40 85 37 88-30 E-mail: ir@mybet.com Internet: www.mybet-se.com ISIN: DE000A0JRU67 WKN: A0JRU6 Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service --------------------------------------------------------------------- 268640 15.05.2014