ad pepper media International N.V. breaks even

Back to overview

tangible gains in turnover, also in summer quarter
product and market strategy pays off

Nuremberg, Hoofddorp, The Netherlands, 22 October, 2002
ad pepper media International N.V. today published its figures for the third quarter of 2002. Following the emergence of an upwards trend in turnover and profits for the first six months of 2002, the company succeeded for the first time in achieving positive group results in the third quarter of 2002 (0.02 m EUR). Results for the equivalent period in the previous year were still –1.69 m EUR. In the overall nine-month period, ad pepper media improved its group results by 85% to –1.26 m EUR, compared with the previous year’s figure of –8.58 m EUR.

This positive business trend results from cost-saving and improved gross margins, as well as clear increases in turnover. Group turnover for the third quarter of 2002 was 3.45 m EUR, compared with 2.39 m EUR in the equivalent quarter of last year. That represents a growth of 44%, showing continuous turnover growth for ad pepper media over the last three quarters. This is all the more remarkable because the summer quarter was generally marked by a downward trend in turnover. At the same time, it was possible to cut operating costs in the third quarter of 2002 to 1.85 m EUR. In the equivalent period last year, this figure was still 2.97 m EUR, showing cost savings of 38%.

Financial resources as of 30 September, 2002 were 28.84 m EUR, with no change in ad pepper media’s comfortable level of liquidity.

ad pepper media sees these encouraging results as confirmation of its course to date, as it is thus the first internationally active online marketer with a profit to prove the effectiveness of its business model.

The company’s positioning as an international provider of digital marketing solutions, its launch of new direct marketing products and expansion of technological services have all been proven right. Improved products and services made it more and more possible to shrug off the negative trends in the sector and establish long-term, successful customer relations. At the same time, the company’s wide-spread, pan-European presence with successful national companies also made possible the efficient and successful handling of international advertising campaigns on a unified basis.

For example, the company won the budget for the fourth quarter of 2002 from a famous manufacturer of telecommunication equipment for a campaign to run simultaneously in 25 countries.

“We are relieved to get this confirmation of our hard work to date, above all at a time when the grain is being separated from the chaff. This positive result will spur us on all the more. We are only at the beginning of a long process for which significant growth yield is not only possible but necessary. ad pepper media is admirably set up for the reviving advertising market and will continue to do everything in its power to master each day’s new challenges with well-thought-out strategies and accepted products” said Ulrich Schmidt, CEO of ad pepper media, summing up the situation of the online marketing company.