VITA 34 revenues and profits for 2007 better than expected
VITA 34 International AG / Final Results/Preliminary Results Release of an Ad hoc announcement according to § 15 WpHG, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- VITA 34 revenues and profits for 2007 better than expected • Revenue up 33% to € 15.4 million • Storages up 43% to 10,458 • EBIT of € -0.8 million significantly better than expected • 2008 additional double-digit growth • Break-even at approx. € 28 million in revenues unchanged for 2009 Leipzig, February 4, 2008 – VITA 34 International AG (ISIN DE000A0BL849), the parent company of the leading umbilical cord blood bank in the German-speaking countries, VITA 34, looks back on the most successful year in the company’s history and has significantly succeeded its own prognoses and market expectations in fiscal year 2007. This is based on the unqualified opinion of the auditors Ernst & Young. The number of annual storages of umbilical cord blood increased by 43 percent from 7,318 in 2006 to 10,458. Revenues, which lag behind storages by approx. 6 weeks, increased by 33 percent in 2007 as compared to the prior year, from € 11.6 million to € 15.4 million. Profits were definitively influenced by the planned increase in sales expenditures. EBIT in 2007 was € -0.8 million and was, therefore, better than analyst expectations. In the prior year it had been € 0.5 million. The post-tax result in the group was € -1.2 as compared with € -2.9 million in 2006. The company’s cash as of December 31, 2007 rose to € 11.0 million as compared with € 4.3 million a year before. The VITA 34 numbers, which were above expectations, can be attributed to rapid growth in the German-speaking countries on the one hand, and on the other to the successful cooperation with Spanish partner Secuvita. The number of storages from Spain significantly exceeded expectations. Secuvita offers Spanish customers the storage of umbilical cord blood at VITA 34 in Germany based on a cooperation agreement. VITA 34 expects a continuation of dynamic growth in 2008, and expects an increase in storages and revenues clearly in the double-digit range for the year as a whole. Here, the upwards trend will not be strictly linear, instead the new marketing strategy will provide increasingly positive impetus beginning in the middle of 2008. This is when the new employees in Marketing and Sales will begin to contribute productively to revenues following an educational and training phase. The advance costs for expanding Marketing and Sales will still create a planned EBIT of roughly € -2.5 million in 2008. In 2009 revenues should reach a volume of € 28 million, and there should be a return to profits in 2009 after the ramp-up phase of the new marketing and sales strategy. The complete Annual Report for 2007 will be ready for download at www.vita34.de as of February 15, 2008. About VITA 34 AG: VITA 34 is the leading umbilical cord blood bank in the German-speaking countries and was founded by physicians in Leipzig in 1997. To date more than 46,000 parents have decided to have their children’s umbilical cord blood placed in long-term storage with VITA 34. 04.02.2008 Financial News transmitted by DGAP ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: English Issuer: VITA 34 International AG Deutscher Platz 5a 04103 Leipzig Deutschland Phone: +49(0341)48792-40 Fax: +49(0341)48792-39 E-mail: info@vita34.de Internet: www.vita34.de ISIN: DE000A0BL849 WKN: A0BL84 Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service ---------------------------------------------------------------------------