As indicated in the annual report for 2004 published today, the BRAIN FORCE SOFTWARE group achieved turnover of EUR 64.42 million (previous year: EUR 60.01 million) and an EBIT of EUR 2.39 million (previous year: TEUR 182). The group therefore succeeded in raising its earnings on operating activities by EUR 2.21 million compared to the previous year (equivalent to 1,215 percent) and increasing turnover by EUR 4.41 million (equivalent to 7.2 percent). During the same period, the EBITDA amounted to EUR 4.13 million (previous year: EUR 3.01 million), 37.5 percent (EUR 1.12 million) above the previous year's figure.
The final value for group turnover in 2004 was therefore EUR 0.25 million higher than the provisionally published figure of EUR 64.17 million. The preliminary values for the EBIT, EBITDA and earnings per share were unchanged.
The earnings per share stood at EUR 0.21 (previous year: EUR -0.52). Of this, EUR 0.05 derived from revenue generated by the sale of shares in TOPCALL International AG. When adjusted to take account of this effect, the earnings per share stood at EUR 0.16, the level planned for 2004. The Supervisory Board and Executive Board intend to propose payment of a dividend of EUR 0.06 per share at the shareholders' meeting.
During the past fiscal year, the Professional Services business area increased its turnover by 7.4 percent, from EUR 48.91 million in fiscal year 2003 to EUR 52.53 million in 2004. The segment EBIT for 2004 stood at EUR 2.47 million, 76.1 percent above the previous year's value of EUR 1.40 million. The EBIT margin for the segment therefore increased from 2.9 percent in 2003 to 4.7 percent in 2004.
With turnover of EUR 4.81 million (previous year: EUR 4.56 million), the segment EBIT for the Communication Networks business area was up by EUR 1.17 million from the negative level of TEUR -594 in 2003 to a positive TEUR 577 in 2004. Although the rise in turnover of 5.5 percent fell short of the target value, the EBIT margin earned exceeded the planned value by 12.0 percent.
The Financial Solutions business area recorded turnover of EUR 7.08 million in 2004, 6.7 percent above the previous year's value of EUR 6.64 million. The segment EBIT increased by 28.2 percent, from TEUR 627 in 2003 to TEUR 803 in 2004. The EBIT margin expanded from 9.4 percent in 2003 to 11.3 percent in 2004. Owing to the fact that this segment has only belonged to the Brain Force Software group since 1st May 2003, comparisons with the previous year are only possible to a limited degree.
Comparing the margins for the business areas reveals that although the combined turnover shares for the Communication Networks and Financial Solutions product segments amount to just 18.5 percent of total turnover, they account for 35.8 percent of earnings.
Group costs, which are not included in the results for the three business areas, rose to EUR 1.46 million in 2004 (previous year: EUR 1.25 million). This rise was the result of increased investment in cross-segment marketing and sales activities as well as greater expenditure in the area of Investor Relations.
As of key date 31.12.2004, means of payment and short-term assessed financial assets of EUR 18.49 million (previous year: EUR 4.35 million) were available to the BRAIN FORCE SOFTWARE group.
The annual report for 2004 will be published on the company home page (www.brainforce.com) under 'Investors'; the press conference to present the financial results will be held on 6th April.
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