SINNERSCHRADER : STARTS THE 2017/2018 FINANCIAL YEAR ACCORDING TO PLAN / REVENUE GROWS BY 8.3 PER CENT IN THE FIRST FINANCIAL QUARTER / ANNUAL FORECAST CONFIRMED / MATTHIAS SCHRADER VOTED AGENCY MAN OF THE YEAR 2017

The SinnerSchrader Group started the 2017/2018 financial year according to the plans. In the first quarter of the financial year (1 September to 30 November 2017), SinnerSchrader earned sales revenue of 14.4 million euros and thus surpassed the value of the first quarter of the previous year by 8.3 per cent. All three segments contributed to the growth in revenue, with the Interactive Media segment, in which SinnerSchrader operates is content marketing business, almost doubling its revenue.

At 0.3 million euros, the operating result (EBITA) was within the scope of the plans, but was well below the previous year's result of 1.3 million euros. However, the quarter of the report was further encumbered with costs for the implementation of the merger between Accenture and SinnerSchrader in the amount of just under 0.7 million euros. Of the total expenditure, 0.4 million euros was used to retain and further develop SinnerSchrader staff and the expenditure for consultancy services associated with drawing up a draft Control and Profit Transfer Agreement between SinnerSchrader AG and Accenture Digital Holdings GmbH and for preparing the extraordinary Annual General Meeting held on 6 December 2017 amounted to just under 0.3 million euros.

At just under 1.0 million euros, the adjusted EBITA was slightly lower in the quarter of the report than in the first quarter of the previous year. This is particularly due to the fact that SinnerSchrader expanded its personnel capacity in the first three months with regard to the forthcoming growth steps, especially in the Interactive Marketing segment, more than was necessary for the quarter. In the first quarter of 2017/2018 there was an average of 503 full-time employees at SinnerSchrader, around 10 per cent more than in the first quarter of 2016/2017.

The net income for the quarter of the report was just under 0.7 million euros, without taking the transaction costs into account, and 0.2 million euros including these costs. The corresponding results per share were 0.06 euros and 0.02 euros, respectively.

With these figures, SinnerSchrader is well within the plan for the 2017/2018 financial year as a whole. The forecast published in November 2017 - sales revenue of 63.8 million euros, EBITA of 5.2 million euros (adjusted by transaction costs: 7.2 million euros) and net income of 3.5 million euros (adjusted: 4.9 million euros) - are therefore confirmed.

The working capital effects from the year-end planning of Group clients, familiar from previous years, on the reporting date value as of 30 November were especially marked in the period of the report. Considerable funds were therefore also tied in the working capital on the reporting date, resulting in a short-term negative net liquidity of 0.3 million euros on 30 November 2017. By the end of the calendar year, however, this negative effect had largely been balanced out and the liquidity reserve had returned to a level of just over 4 million euros.

At the end of the first quarter of 2017/2018, the shareholders' equity ratio was 64.3 per cent, and thus a good 1 percentage point higher than on 31 August 2017. As of the reporting date of 30 November 2017, there were 553 employees at SinnerSchrader, 24 more than on 31 August 2017 and 38 more than one year earlier.

The full report of the SinnerSchrader Group for the first financial quarter of 2017/2018 can be found at http://www.sinnerschrader.ag/de/reports as of 6 p.m. CET.

Matthias Schrader, one of the two founders of SinnerSchrader and at the head of the Company since it was founded, was recently voted Agency Man of the Year 2017 in the HORIZONT Awards. On the suggestion of a top-class panel of judges, the trade publication for marketing, advertising and media gave Matthias Schrader the award for his long-standing, far-sighted work and the associated success of his company and for his exemplary function in the sector. The award will be presented in Frankfurt this evening.

Über SinnerSchrader
SinnerSchrader gehört zu den führenden Digitalagenturen Europas mit dem Fokus auf Design und Entwicklung von digitalen Produkten und Services. Mehr als 500 Mitarbeiter arbeiten an der digitalen Transformation für Unternehmen wie Allianz, Audi, comdirect bank, ERGO, Telefónica, TUI, Unitymedia und VW. SinnerSchrader wurde 1996 gegründet, ist seit 1999 börsennotiert und hat Büros in Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, München und Prag. Seit April 2017 ist SinnerSchrader Teil von Accenture Interactive.
http://sinnerschrader.com