Cologne, August 15, 2011. Sedo Holding AG is today announcing the Group financial figures for the first half of 2011. The company can look back on a stable first half of the year with a clear increase in sales with solid profit figures.

Group sales increased in the first half of 2011 by 11.1% from EUR 56.6 million. in the corresponding period in the previous year to EUR 62.9 million in the first six months of 2011. The growth driver was the Affiliate Marketing segment with a sales increase from EUR 34.7 million to EUR 42.7 million. Sales in the Domain Marketing segment declined from EUR 21.9 million to EUR 20.1 million.

Despite the declining sales in the higher-margin Domain Marketing segment and the investments aimed at stronger growth in the foreign operations of Affiliate Marketing, the EBITDA at EUR 4.2 million remained at the previous year’s level (EUR 4.3 million). The pre-tax profit (EBT) increased by 32.1% from EUR 2.8 million to EUR 3.7 million. The reasons for this were, in particular, higher depreciation and amortization in the previous year, largely resulting from a take-over in the Affiliate Marketing segment in 2006. The net income in the first half of 2011 was EUR 1.9 million compared with EUR 2.0 million in the corresponding period of the previous year, which however still included a result of a discontinued operation amounting to EUR 0.9 million. Earnings per share (EPS) remained stable at EUR 0.06.

In the operative business the network key financial indicators for both marketplaces in Affiliate Marketing and Domain Trading could be further improved. In Affiliate Marketing the number of partner programmes increased by 13.2% and the number of participating websites increased by 6.7%. For economic reasons, business was streamlined in the Domain Trading and Domain Parking segment in the second quarter of 2011. As a result, the number of tradeable domains on the platform was reduced to 14.7 million (previous year’s figure: 16.7 million). The number of domains available for marketing correspondingly declined to 5.4 million (previous year’s figure:  7.3 million). The number of registered members, in contrast, was increased by 18.2%.

In the second half of 2011, besides the development of the large customer business, further internationalization in the Affiliate Marketing segment is planned. Against this background and on the basis of the current market conditions, the Management Board expects a doubling of the EBT to EUR 6.6 million and unchanged on 10% sales growth compared to the previous year’s figures.

*EBITDA, i.e. The result of operating activities before depreciation and amortization  and writedowns on domains.