EQS-News: United Internet AG / Key word(s): Quarterly Results
United Internet is off to a good start in 2023
05/10/2023 / 07:30 CET/CEST
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United Internet is off to a good start in 2023
Customer contracts: + 240,000 to 27.70 million contractsRevenue: + 6.6% to EUR 1.538 billionEBITDA: – 3.4% to EUR 319.0 millionGuidance for 2023 confirmed
Montabaur, May 10, 2023. United Internet AG got off to a good start in the 2023 financial year. In the first quarter of 2023, the company continued to invest in new customer contracts and the expansion of existing customer relationships and thus in sustainable growth. The total number of fee-based customer contracts rose by 240,000 to 27.70 million contracts. 90,000 new contracts were added in the Consumer Access segment and 110,000 in the Business Applications segment. A further 40,000 contracts were won in the Consumer Applications segment. Due to seasonal effects, ad-supported free accounts decreased by 570,000 to 39.74 million compared to December 31, 2022.
In the first quarter of 2023, sales increased by 6.6% from EUR 1,443.7 million in the previous year to EUR 1,538.3 million.
As in the first quarter of 2022, earnings in the first quarter of 2023 were impacted by special items in the form of non-cash valuation effects from derivatives and costs for the IPO of IONOS Group SE. The valuation effects from derivatives amounted to EUR +0.8 million in the same period of the previous year and to EUR -4.5 million in the first quarter of 2023. In the same period last year, IPO costs of EUR -0.9 million were incurred, while in the first quarter of 2023 IPO costs of EUR -0.9 million were incurred. In the quarter of 2023, total net income of +0.5 million reported in EUR. At Group level, the IPO costs in the first quarter of 2023 were offset by income from the contractually agreed proportionate assumption of the IPO costs by IONOS co-owner Warburg Pincus.
Without taking these special influences into account, earnings developed as follows in the first quarter of 2023: As expected, EBITDA fell by 3.4% from EUR 330.1 million in the previous year to EUR 319.0 million. This includes sharply increased expenses for the expansion of the mobile network of 1&1 (EUR -10.9 million higher than Q1 2022) as well as early marketing expenses for IONOS (EUR -9.9 million higher than Q1 2022) due to the changed campaign planning of IONOS . In addition, EBIT was burdened by an increase in depreciation of EUR 13 million on investments in the expansion of 1&1 Versatel’s fiber optic network and the expansion of 1&1’s mobile communications network. As a result, EBIT fell by 10.2% from EUR 210.3 million to EUR 188.9 million. This increase in depreciation – mainly due to the commissioning of the 1&1 mobile network – is to be compensated for by planned cost savings for advance services from Q4 2023.
Earnings per share (EPS) fell from EUR 0.55 to EUR 0.43. This is mainly due to increased depreciation on investments (EPS effect: EUR -0.06) and a financial result influenced by rising interest rates (EPS effect: EUR -0.05).
Outlook 2023
After the end of the first quarter, United Internet can confirm its forecast for 2023 and continues to anticipate an increase in consolidated sales for the full year to around EUR 6.2 billion (previous year: EUR 5.915 billion). The EBITDA should be at the level of the previous year (previous year: 1.272 billion euros). This number includes approx. EUR -120 million (previous year: EUR -52 million) for the expansion of the 1&1 mobile network. In particular due to the network expansion and the expansion of the fiber optic network to connect the 5G antennas and to cover further expansion areas, an increase in investments (excluding possible M&A transactions) to around EUR 800 million (previous year: EUR 681 million) is expected.
An overview of all key figures and the interim report for Q1 2023 can be found online at www.united-internet.de.
About United Internet
With over 27 million fee-based customer contracts and around 40 million advertising-financed free accounts, United Internet AG is a leading European internet specialist. The heart of United Internet is a high-performance “Internet Factory” with 10,500 employees, including around 3,700 in product management, in development and in data centers. In addition to the high sales strength of its established brands (such as 1&1, GMX, WEB.DE, IONOS, STRATO and 1&1 Versatel), United Internet stands for outstanding operational excellence with over 67 million customer accounts worldwide.
contact person
United Internet AG
Lisa Pleiss
Telephone +49 2602 96-1616
[email protected]
note
In the interests of clear and transparent reporting, the annual financial statements and interim reports of United Internet AG and their ad hoc reports in accordance with Art. 17 MAR contain additional financial performance indicators such as EBITDA and the EBITDA margin required by International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). , EBIT, EBIT margin and free cash flow. Information on the use, definition and calculation of these key performance indicators can be found on page 59 of United Internet AG’s 2022 Annual Report.
05/10/2023 CET/CEST Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by EQS News – a service of EQS Group AG.
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