AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS — (Marketwire) — 07/28/11 — LBi International N.V. (NYSE Euronext symbol: LBI), Europe-s largest marketing and technology agency, today reports its 2011 first half-year (6-months) results for the period ended 30 June 2011.
H1 2011 net sales up by 11% reflecting continued recovery of demand and good commercial progress in major markets;
H1 2011 EBITDA at EUR 17.1 million includes an exceptional gain of EUR 1.9 million on balance, due to reduction in contingent liabilities and research costs for Dashboard project;
H1 2011 Adjusted EBITDA up 13.4% to EUR 15.2 million year-over-year, reflecting good underlying operational progress;
Net income at EUR 9.9 million in H1 2011 vs. a negative EUR 5.3 million in H1 2010;
Cash flow from operations at EUR 11.8 – after movement in working capital at EUR -2.9 million compared to EUR -3.0 million last year, reflecting traditional seasonal impact;
Strong new business wins including significant global mandates for Sony Ericsson, Coca-Cola and Barclays;
Merger integration proceeds according to plan, with revenue synergies contributing to net sales uplift.
“We are broadly happy with our continued growth and operational progress in the first half of 2011. Sales grew by 11% and our underlying margin came in at 16.1% versus 15.7% in the comparable 2010 period. We have seen the merits of the merger with BMM which contributed to our sales uplift as we are now fully integrated and equipped to help large multinational accounts improve their business development and marketing activities as their business continues to shift from off line to online.
Global procurement trends and the advance of social media continue to reinforce the relevance and competitiveness of our proposition. We are particularly encouraged by the recent acceleration in large multi-market pitch opportunities which combine all client digital, direct and data needs in a single mandate. Recent significant successes with Coca-Cola, Diageo, Barclays and Sony Ericsson demonstrate our ability to compete with global market leaders in our space and will deliver significant growth momentum.
Another helpful growth driver is the increasing importance of “earned” media across social channels. More clients are looking to roll out “always-on” content programmes that allow brands to engage with consumers across all digital and social touch-points. We see a strong appetite across our client base for branded content strategies and social CRM activity that can engage consumers inside their personal networks. Capitalizing on this trend, we have started to roll out a differentiated specialist search offering where search, PR, social and content skills are uniquely combined to drive performance. As a result, we anticipate some margin pressure in the second half of 2011 due to additional headcount increase, but we strongly believe this new service extension will further strengthen the uniqueness of our capabilities set and will create significant sales upside in the mid to longer term. Based on the above developments, we continue to expect further sales growth with EBITDA to increase in line for the full year 2011.”
LBi International N.V. (NYSE Euronext Amsterdam: LBI) is the leading European marketing and technology agency with a global reach.
Headquartered in Amsterdam (the Netherlands), LBi has a staff of 1,800 and operations in 15 countries. As a marketing and technology agency, LBi offers services to brands (clients) to help them engage with their customers through digital channels across a wide spectrum of their points of engagement, from initial awareness of the brand, through direct interaction with the services or products offered by the brand, to on-going relationships with the brand.
The Company offers a suite of services that are designed to help companies attract, engage and manage customers, more effectively. This full service offering combines analytical, direct marketing and digital competences, which means that LBi is able to develop big creative ideas in the digital space, build and manage complex transactional websites, run complex CRM programmes and even handle the media buying, planning and electronic public relations for blue chip companies.
LBi H1 2011 report:
Luke Taylor
CEO
LBi International N.V.
+44 20 7063 6465
Huub Wezenberg
CFO
LBi International N.V.
+31 20 460 4500
LBi International N.V.
Joop Geesinkweg 209 1096 AV Amsterdam
Box 94829
1090 GV Amsterdam, Netherlands
Company registration no. 30277334
Phone: + 31 20 460 45 00
Fax: + 31 20 460 45 09
Web:
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