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secunet Half-Year Report 2014: increased Revenues, improved EBIT in Q2, higher Order Book, annual Outlook unchanged

[Essen, 6 August 2014] secunet Security Networks AG (ISIN DE0007276503, WKN 727650), a leading German supplier of high-quality, reliable IT security and an IT security partner of the Federal Republic of Germany, published its Half-Year Report for 2014 today. Revenues rose 5% compared with the previous year for the period from January to June. Admittedly the EBIT after the first six months continues to be lower than in the previous year, but has improved in Q2 2014 both compared to Q1 2014 and also the previous year's Q2. Halfway through the year, the order book was up compared to the previous year: the company is therefore standing by its forecasts for revenues and EBIT.

Between January and June 2014, the secunet Group generated revenues of Euro 28.8 million – a 5% increase compared with the same period in the previous year (Euro 27.3 million). At Euro 15.0 million, the revenues for Q2 2014 exceed the revenues for the same quarter in the previous year (Euro 13.2 million) by Euro 1.8 million or 14%.

Increased revenues from the Group's Product Business, as well as associated revenues from licenses and support, contributed in particular to this growth in revenues. In the Public Sector, which supplies the SINA high-security product range and IT security for authorities and international organisations, revenues in the period from January to June 2014 rose sharply by 11% from Euro 20.1 million to Euro 22.3 million. At the same time, revenues in the Business Sector, which supplies IT security to private companies, fell from Euro 7.2 million in the first half of 2013 to Euro 6.5 million in the current reporting period. The Business Sector handled a major project in the first half of 2013 – as a result, the previous year's figure was particularly high.

secunet concluded the first half of 2014 with earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of Euro -1.3 million. Compared to the first half of 2013, at the end of which the EBIT stood at Euro -0.3 million, this represents a decrease of Euro 1.0 million. A decisive factor for this development is the 10% rise in the cost of sales from Euro 21.8 million in the first six months of 2013 to Euro 24.0 million in the current reporting period. This increase can be explained by the increase in material expenses in the form of the use of trade goods for the hardware business, as well as by an increase in personnel expenditure due to the expansion of the workforce in the production areas. Selling expenses rose from Euro 4.1 million to Euro 4.3 million, while administrative costs remained constant at Euro 1.7 million.

The EBIT generated in the first half of 2014 are essentially influenced by the negative EBIT in the first quarter of the year. Analysis on a quarterly basis shows that – as with revenues – the second quarter of 2014 brought about an improvement in the EBIT from Euro -128 thousand in Q2 2013 to Euro -9 thousand in Q2 2014. 

Due to the formation of deferred taxes, tax income of Euro 0.4 million was generated in the first half of 2014, compared to Euro 0.1 million in the same period the previous year. The period result after tax for the period from January to June 2014 therefore totalled Euro -0.9 million compared with Euro -0.3 million the previous year. Accordingly, earnings per share for the first six months of the year were Euro -0.14, having been Euro -0.04 in the same period the previous year.

As of 30 June 2014, the secunet Group's order book according to IFRS stood at Euro 35.1 million, compared to Euro 32.0 million in the previous year, an increase of 10%.

"To date secunet has always generated the majority of its annual business in the second half of the year – that will also be the case in 2014," states Dr Rainer Baumgart, Chairman of the Management Board of secunet Security Networks AG. "The turnaround in Q2 2014, the high order book level and the prospect of further orders once the federal government's interim budget management which was effective in the first half of the year has come to an end, allow us to have a positive outlook for the second half of the year and 2014 overall."

In light of the business figures recorded halfway through the year and the continued optimistic outlook for the second half of 2014, the company's Management Board is standing by its forecast for the year as a whole: It anticipates a significant increase in both revenues and also earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) compared to the 2013 financial year. The business results are expected to exceed those seen in the very successful year 2012.

The Half-Year Report 2014 for secunet Security Networks AG is available to download at www.secunet.com under Investor Relations > News and Publications > Financial Reports. 

Next date in the financial calendar: 5 November 2014 – publication of the 9-Month Report.