DGAP-News: HolidayCheck Group AG publishes nine-month results for 2019

HolidayCheck Group AG publishes nine-month results for 2019

Munich, Germany, 8 November 2019

For HolidayCheck Group AG, the third quarter of the year was a period of mixed results. After a strong start into the last-minute holiday season at the beginning of the quarter, demand for package holidays slowed down at the end of the period under review. And the bankruptcy of the Thomas Cook Group's German subsidiaries put further strain on the market in the third quarter of 2019.
Despite this challenging environment, HolidayCheck Group AG's third-quarter revenue rose by 5.6 percent compared with the same period in 2018. By contrast, third-quarter earnings took a EUR 3 million hit, partly in the form of unplanned write-downs on receivables, as a result of the Thomas Cook bankruptcies.

According to the market research institute GfK, the German package holiday market was unable to generate further growth in the period under review after a strong performance in 2018. Against this background, based on the company's own assessment, the HolidayCheck Group achieved an increase in its share of the total market.

HolidayCheck Group AG's revenue for the first nine months rose by EUR 4.1 million (or 3.8 percent) from EUR 108.4 million in 2018 to EUR 112.5 million as at 30 September 2019.
At EUR 37.6 million, third-quarter revenue was up by 5.6 percent (or EUR 2.0 million) year on year (third quarter 2018: EUR 35.6 million).

EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) for the nine-month period under review fell by 46.3 percent (or EUR 4.4 million) from EUR 9.5 million in 2018 to EUR 5.1 million in the current financial year, mainly due to the above-mentioned write-downs on receivables.
At minus EUR 0.2 million, 2019 third-quarter EBITDA was EUR 2.4 million lower in comparison with the third-quarter of 2018 (EUR 2.2 million).

Operating EBITDA (operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) for the first three quarters of the year stood at EUR 5.6 million, down 45.1 percent (or EUR 4.6 million) from EUR 10.2 million over the same period in 2018.
At minus EUR 0.2 million, third-quarter operating EBITDA was EUR 2.6 million lower in comparison with the third-quarter of 2018 (EUR 2.4 million).

EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) for the first nine months of the year decreased from EUR 4.6 million in 2018 to minus EUR 2.4 million in 2019 (down EUR 7.0 million).
At minus EUR 2.7 million, the third-quarter figure was EUR 3.2 million lower compared to 2018 (EUR 0.5 million).

EBT (earnings before tax) for the first three quarters fell by EUR 7.2 million from EUR 4.5 million in 2018 to minus EUR 2.7 million in the current financial year. Third-quarter EBT fell by EUR 3.3 million from EUR 0.5 million in 2018 to minus EUR 2.8 million in 2019.

Consolidated net profit/loss for the first three quarters fell by EUR 6.4 million from EUR 3.1 million in 2018 to minus EUR 3.3 million in 2019.
The corresponding third-quarter figure was minus EUR 2.8 million, down EUR 3.0 million compared with EUR 0.2 million in 2018.

Basic and diluted earnings per share for the first nine months of the year were down by EUR 0.11, from EUR 0.05 in 2018 to minus EUR 0.06 in the current financial year.
The corresponding figure for the third quarter was minus EUR 0.05 - down EUR 0.05 from EUR 0.00.

Outlook
The HolidayCheck Group's vision is to become the most holidaymaker-friendly company in the world. Our goal is to continuously expand our portfolio of holiday services. To this end, we plan to expand our offering by speeding up the further development of our existing products and services in the core package holiday, 'hotel only' and cruise segments. We are also investing in the development of new products and services in related areas. Our main focus here is on setting up our own tour operator business.

The subsidiaries also intend to make further investments in marketing in the form of direct sales promotions and other measures designed to give a sustained boost to the profile of our various brands.

Looking ahead at financial 2019 as a whole, the Management Board anticipates a year-on-year increase of between 1.0 and 4.0 percent in consolidated sales revenue after adjusting for acquisitions, disposals and new company formations. Operating EBITDA is expected to reach between EUR 2.0 million and EUR 6.0 million, including a boost of around EUR 2.5 million from the first-time application of the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 16. At the beginning of financial 2019, the Management Board initially forecast an increase of between 7.0 and 9.0 percent in consolidated sales revenue, with operating EBITDA between EUR 8.5 million and EUR 13.5 million.

Note
The German version of the interim statement for the first nine months of 2019 will be published during the course of the day on the company's website at www.holidaycheckgroup.com under the heading 'Investor Relations'. The English version will be published shortly thereafter, also at www.holidaycheckgroup.com.

About HolidayCheck Group AG:
HolidayCheck Group AG (ISIN DE005495329), Munich, Germany, is one of Europe's leading digital travel firms for holidaymakers. With a total workforce of around 450, HolidayCheck Group AG comprises HolidayCheck AG (which operates hotel review and travel booking portals by the same name), Driveboo AG (which operates the car rental portal MietwagenCheck) and WebAssets B.V. (which operates the Zoover hotel review portals and the MeteoVista/WeerOnline weather portals). HolidayCheck Group's vision is to become the world's most holidaymaker-friendly company in the world.

Media and Investor Relations contact:
HolidayCheck Group AG
Armin Blohmann
Neumarkter Strasse 61
81673 München
Germany

phone: +49 (0)89 357 680 901
fax: +49 (0)89 357 680 999
email: [email protected]

www.holidaycheckgroup.com
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