HANOVER, Germany, January 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
- Revenues Total $ 317 Million - up 24% Year-on-Year
- EBIT Between $ 17.8 and $ 18.5 Million - Previous Year $ 15.1 Million
- More Than 600,000 new eCommerce Customers - Foreign Expansion Gaining Ground: Formation of Delticom North America Inc.
Delticom AG (German Securities Code (WKN) 514680, ISIN DE0005146807, stock exchange ticker DEX), Europe's leading Internet tire retailer, has substantially increased its revenues based on preliminary consolidated IFRS figures. Revenues have surged by around 24% year-on-year to $ 317 million (previous year: $ 256 million), at the upper end of the company's forecast ($ 310 - $ 318 million). At the same time, EBIT of between $ 17.8 million and $ 18.5 million is anticipated for fiscal year 2007 (previous year: $ 15.1 million).
eCommerce revenues totaled $ 287 million, up 25% compared to 2006 ($ 229 million). Revenues in the Wholesale division were up year-on-year from $ 27 million to $ 30 million.
Delticom's strong growth in 2007 was again due to the ongoing positive growth in business at its online shops such as http://www.reifendirekt.de. Delticom now has a total of 86 online shops in 30 countries. More than 600,000 new customers were acquired in 2007, raising the total number of customers to more than 1.8 million. There was also constant growth in the number of partner workshops: Right now customers can have their tires fitted in more than 20,000 workshops worldwide - with more than 5,000 in Germany alone.
In total, business with winter tires in Germany was not as strong as in previous years: In mid-December, the BRV (Bundesverband Reifenhandel - German Tire Retail Association) announced that a substantially lower number of tires were sold in Germany in 2007 compared to 2006. This was due to reasons including the mild weather last winter and the fact that sales in 2006 were inflated by new statutory regulations. As a tire retailer, Delticom was not able to fully break away from these developments, however it was able to increase its revenues last fiscal year in contrast to the trend in Germany.
International sales markets also became more important for Delticom in 2007. A key milestone in the company's internationalization strategy is the recently completed formation of Delticom North America Inc. in Portland, Oregon, USA. The Delticom Group is thus further expanding its presence in the North American online tire market, creating the foundations for long-term sustainable growth into the US market. "Forming our own subsidiary in North America puts us right where our American customers are," commented Philip von Grolman, the Managing Board member responsible for the company's North American business.
Rainer Binder, a member of Delticom AG's Managing Board and Co-CEO commented on the preliminary revenues: "Fiscal year 2007 was excellent for Delticom. Although developments in the German market were not particularly pleasing, we were still able to reach our targets for 2007 as a high-growth, internationally oriented company. And what's most important: as the cost leader we were again able to combine growth with high margins."
Delticom will publish its full 2007 financial statements on March 26, 2008 on its Web site (www.delti.com) in the Investor Relations section.
Company profile:
Delticom is one of the world's leading Internet tire retailers, with branches in the USA and Europe. The company offers its private and business customers a wide range of products in its 86 online shops in 30 countries, including car tires, motorcycle tires, truck tires, bus tires, the respective rims, complete wheels (pre-mounted tires on rims), select replacement car parts and accessories, engine oils and batteries. Delticom's customers receive information on product characteristics and alternatives; they benefit from a comprehensive range of goods with more than 100 tire brands and mo re than 25,000 tire types. The products are supplied, depending on the customer's instructions, either directly to the customer, to a service partner, i.e., a workshop with which Delticom cooperates and which allow tires to be delivered directly to their address to be mounted on the customer's vehicle, or to a different delivery address. In addition, Delticom's Wholesale division also sells tires to wholesalers in Germany and abroad.
On the Internet at: http://www.delti.com
Online tire store in the USA: http://www.tires-easy.com
Contact:
IR Agency
cometis AG
Henryk Deter
Unter den Eichen
65195 Wiesbaden
Tel.: +49(0)611-205855-13
Fax: +49(0)611-205855-66
e-mail: deter@cometis.de