Freenet : reports very strong second quarter

freenet AG published its interim report as at June 30, 2016 today, and confirmed the guidance for the financial year 2016.

In the second quarter 2016, the company generated Group revenue with an increase by 7.3 per cent compared to the previous year amounting to 807.7 million euros (previous year: 752.5 million euros). Besides the stable mobile communication business, this is mainly due to the increasing valuable digital lifestyle revenue and the sales contribution from the newly created segment 'TV and Media'.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, the company was able to increase Group EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes on income, depreciation and amortisation) by 15.7 million euros to 104.8 million euros (previous year: 89.1 million euros).

'In the second quarter, we advanced the strategic guidance in the new business segment 'TV and Media'. We launched our new DVB-T2 HD product named 'freenet TV' and put everything into the development of the planned IPTV product 'waipu.tv', says Christoph Vilanek, CEO of freenet AG.' At the same time, we have pursued our core business Mobile Communications with the same intensity and successfully stabilised it', adds Joachim Preisig, CFO of freenet AG.

The customer ownership, which comprises the strategically important customer groups postpaid and no-frills, was increased by 313 thousand to 9.42 million (previous year: 9.11 million).

The free cash flow* increased significantly by 41.8 million euros to 115.9 million euros (previous year: 74.1 million euros). This development mainly results from the significant increase of the cash flow from operating activities by 52.9 million euros to 133.6 million euros (previous year: 80.7 million euros).

'The results of the first half, respectively the second quarter 2016 are within our expectations, which is why we confirm our guidance for the current financial year', says Joachim Preisig.

The complete interim report as at June 30, 2016 may be downloaded here: www.freenet-group.de/investor-relations.

* Free cash flow is defined as cash flow from operating activities minus investments in property, plant and equipment and intangible assets, plus proceeds from the disposal of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets.