DUEBENDORF-ZURICH, Switzerland – 31 March 2009 – Myriad Group AG (formerly Esmertec AG, SIX symbol: ESMN) today announced improved results for fiscal year 2008, with an increase in revenues of 7.5%. For the first time in its history, the company achieved positive EBITA for a full year period and also reached positive EBIT during the second half of 2008. Net result was also substantially improved from USD -24.2 million in 2007 to USD -5.5 million in 2008. The improvements underline Myriad’s efforts to control costs and debt exposure, preparing the company for future profitability. With the acquisition of Sagem Mobiles’ platform business in 2008 and Purple Labs SA at the beginning of 2009, Myriad has taken major steps forward and has today one of the most powerful market positions for software development and services in the mobile phone industry.
Details of fiscal year 2008 results
Revenues
Total revenues for the reporting period ended December 31, 2008, amounted to USD 40.0 million, an increase of 7.5% compared to USD 37.2 million in fiscal year 2007. License revenue grew by 5.5% to USD 22.4 million and Service revenue by 10.1% to USD 17.7 million during 2008.
The Mobile & Multimedia Devices segment, including the Customized Solutions activities, generated stable revenues of USD 23.4 million compared to USD 23.2 m in 2007. The volume of Myriad Jbed software that was shipped in 2008 stood at a solid 107 million units. Cumulatively, Myriad has now shipped 313 million Jbed units, making this product one of the most deployed in the mobile phone market.
The Mobile Operator segment increased revenues by 17.7% to USD 16.6 million compared to USD 14.1 million in 2007. Myriad deployed five additional mobile operators in Europe, Africa and Latin America and extended its global reach to a total of 29 customers. The mobile phone subscriber base having access to the company’s USSD offering increased by over 32.3% to 168 million subscribers compared to 127 million in 2007.
Gross Profit
Gross Profit increased by 5.0% to USD 23.3 million compared to USD 22.2 million in 2007, which corresponds to a gross margin of 58.3% for 2008 (2007: 59.7%). The slight decrease in gross margin is mainly due to an increase in the cost of services, to accelerate the deployment of mobile operator services platforms in new regions, such as Latin America.
Operating and other expenses
Operating expenses, excluding amortization and impairment expenses, decreased sharply to USD 20.0 million in 2008 compared with USD 27.2 million in 2007. This was mainly the result of ongoing cost and efficiency measures as well as a positive effect from unused provisions for bad debt allowances.
Financial result, net, improved to USD -2.1 million from USD -11.1 million in 2007, mainly due to reduced interest expense in conjunction with a lower outstanding amount of a convertible bond and decreased net expenses on foreign exchange transactions.
EBITA, EBIT, Net Result
EBITA for 2008 reached USD 3.3 million compared to a loss in the prior year of USD -5.0 million. 2008 marks the first year in the company’s history that it achieved a positive EBITA for an entire fiscal year period. Supported by a positive EBIT contribution during the second half of 2008, EBIT for fiscal year 2008 was USD -2.5 million, compared to USD -11.1 million in 2007. Net result was also substantially improved at USD -5.5 million compared to USD -24.2 million in 2007. Loss per share amounts to USD -0.27 in 2008 compared to USD -1.42 in 2007.
Cash flow
Myriad achieved positive cash flow from operations of USD 0.9 million in 2008 compared to USD 1.1 million in 2007.
Balance sheet
As of December 31, 2008, the balance sheet of Myriad was strengthened with equity of USD 69.9 million and an equity ratio of 68.4% (2007: 53.7%). At year end 2008, the software platform business from Sagem Mobiles was integrated. Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were at USD 3.7 million and the net debt position was USD 5.6 million.
Strong organization going forward
The acquisition of Sagem Mobiles’ software platform activities at year end 2008, and the more recent acquisition of Purple Labs SA together create tremendous potential for accelerated growth in 2009. Myriad is now an industry leader in Android platforms and in four of the most important mobile software categories – Java, browsers, messaging and USSD-based data services. Its worldwide customer base includes all major phone manufacturers and 30 mobile network operators, and the more than 800 Myriad engineers are highly valued for their expertise in bringing new phones and mobile services to market, quickly and affordably.
Press Conference Tuesday March 31st 2009, 10:00 am CET.
Myriad Headquarters Lagerstrasse 14, CH 8600 Dübendorf Switzerland.
Investor Calendar
Annual General Meeting (AGM) May 19, 2009
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