22 October 2012
Half- year 2012/2013 sales : 429.6 €m
- + 189 % like for like growth
- First party business (Design & Publishing) up by 14%
- Another strong contribution of special offers in smartphone distribution
| IFRS - €mSales | 2012/13 Reported | 2011/12 Reported (1) | Change | 2011/12 Like for like (2) | Change |
| 1st Quarter | 205.7 | 11.8 | +1 650 % | 70.6 | + 191% |
| 2nd Quarter | 223.8 | 47.5 | + 371 % | 78.2 | + 186% |
| Half year sales | 429.6 | 59.2 | + 625 % | 148.8 | + 189% |
(1)The 2011/12 reported scope of consolidation includes figures of ModeLabs Group as from 01 September 2011.
(2) The 2011/12 like for like scope of consolidation includes figures of ModeLabs Group as from 01 April 2011.
The Bigben Interactive Group achieved sales of €UR 223.8 million for the second quarter ending 30th September 2012, against 47.5 €m on a reported basis and 78.2 €m like for like when compared with the same period of the previous FY 2011/12. In the wake of the first quarter of current financial year, the exceptional volumes of activity are linked to the strong growth of sales in Mobile phone Distribution which amount to 189.2 €m against 45.9€m in 2nd quarter of FY 2011/12.
The Distribution of mobile phones is a non-strategic business for the Group, relying on special offers of Smartphones which generate very strong fluctuations in sales volumes while offering poor visibility ahead.
Sales for first party businesses (Design & Publishing) are up by 9.1 % for 2nd quarter of FY 2012/2013 with:
- Audio products recording sales up by 45.0%.
- Accessories for Mobile phones growing further and expanding their international presence with quarterly sales up by 14.6 % ;
- Video gaming businesses globally down by 8.7 % in a market still in a transition period while gaming Accessories are faring better than average with a drop limited to 4.4%.
Breakdown of turnover by territories, including domestic sales and export sales from these territories
(like for like)
| Quarterly in €m | Germany | Benelux | France | Hong Kong | Total |
| 2nd quarter 2011-12 | 1.1 | 3.1 | 73.1 | 0.9 | 78.2 |
| 2nd quarter 2012-13 | 2.3 | 3.3 | 217.2 | 1.0 | 223.8 |
In France, sales for 2nd quarter of FY 2012/2013 amounted to 217.3 €m against 73.1 €m in 2nd quarter of FY 2011/12. This growth was pulled by:
- the resilience of Design & Publishing activities with a 9.1 % sales growth during the quarter due to increasing sales of phone Accessories and the strong performance of Audio products. Sales of video game Accessories were down in a difficult market environment and Publishing sales were not significant prior to the first contributions expected from new games to be released during autumn 2012 ;
- the exceptional achievements of mobile phone Distribution through high volume special offers.
Outside France, sales grew by 28.3 % in 2ndquarter of FY 2012/2013 due to first contributions of mobile accessory sales, a major axis for the Group development abroad further to the takeover of ModeLabs.
- The German subsidiary continued its strong momentum supported by the sales of video game accessories and of ModeLabs phone accessories, the listing of these with major retailers further developed in a market offering a particularly strong potential ;
- Benelux maintained sales at the same level as last year, with the growth of first party business (video gaming and phone accessories) offsetting the temporary lull in exclusive Distribution before the launch of a new software catalogue in the coming months .
- Irregular cycles of export sales are characteristic for the business of the Hong-Kong subsidiary and therefore sales posted in the past quarter are not deemed very significant.
| Half year in €m | Germany | Benelux | France | Hong Kong | Total |
| 1st half 2011-12 | 2.4 | 5.0 | 138.7 | 2.7 | 148.8 |
| 1st half 2012-13 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 417.5 | 1.8 | 429.6 |
Breakdown of turnover by businesses
| Businesses | 2012/13 New scope €m | Relative share | 2011/12 Like for like €m | Relative share | Change |
| Accessories (consoles+mobile phones) | 53.8 | 12.5% | 47.5 | 31.9% | +13.2% |
| Audio | 5.5 | 1,3% | 4.0 | 2.7% | +38.9% |
| Publishing (retail+digital) | 0.9 | 0.2.% | 1.4 | 0.9% | -34.9% |
| Design & Publishing | 60.2 | 14.0% | 52.9 | 35.5% | +13.9% |
| Exclusive Distribution (games) | 4.0 | 0.9% | 3.9 | 2.6% | +3.1% |
| Non excl.(games+mobile phones) | 365.4 | 85.1% | 92.0 | 61.9% | +296.9% |
| Distribution | 369.4 | 86.0% | 95.9 | 64.5% | +285.1% |
| Total | 429.6 | 100.0% | 148.8 | 100.0% | 188.7% |
First party business (Design & Publishing) grew by 14 % in first half of FY 2012/2013 in a difficult consumer environment. Due to the exceptional sales growth in Mobile phone Distribution, its relative share in Group consolidated sales amounted to 14 % sales in first half of FY 2012/2013 against 35% in the same period of previous FY 2011/2012.
Outlook
New scope for annual sales target focused on Group strategic businesses
It should be reminded that Bigben Interactive took over ModeLabs in August 2011 in order to create a first rate player for designing and distributing multimedia products (video gaming, audio, telecom..) products. The Distribution of mobile phones was then an additional but non-strategic business for ModeLabs. Since the last quarter of calendar year 2011, this segment evolved towards high volume trading with a very strong growth in sales which now represents 85% of Group consolidated sales in first half of FY 2012/2013.
In view of the strong volatility and the poor visibility ahead for the Distribution of mobile phones, a non-strategic business despite very high sale volumes over the last months, Bigben Interactive has decided to modify the scope of its annual sales target which as from now will exclude the Phone Distribution business. This new scope for the annual sales target will give a much better view of sales related to the Group core business i.e. designing and distributing multimedia products.
Therefore the BIGBEN INTERACTIVE Group now sets its annual sales target to a figure of 160 €m for the full 2012/2013 financial year i.e. a 14 % like for like growth when compared with 2011/2012 annual sales of 140 €m. The target for FY 2012/2013 operating result will be released to the financial community in the press release about our interim results to be circulated on November 19th.
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: 19 November 2012 (after close of business) About Bigben BIGBEN INTERACTIVE Eurolist of Euronext Paris, C market segment - Indexes : SBF 250, ITCAC ISIN : FR0000074072 ; Reuters : BIG.PA ; Bloomberg : BIG FP Contacts Investors relations : François Bozon, phone : + 33 (0) 3.20.90.72.53 E-mail : infofin@bigben.fr - website : http//www.bigben.fr |
