Business News
United Labels on target with first-half performance
Tuesday 13. August 2013 - Group sales at 13.9 million.
Operating result up year on year to -0.1 million
United Labels subsidiary in Spain with marked improvement in earnings
Group sales generated by United Labels AG (ISIN: DE 0005489561, WKN: 548956) in the first half of 2013 amounted to 13.9 million (prev. year: 25.0 million). At -0,1 million, consolidated EBIT was at the level targeted by the company and significantly higher than the previous year’s figure of -8.4 million, despite the downturn in revenue. The decline in revenue is attributable to the company’s focus on more profitable areas of business and the concomitant adjustment of its organisational structures and processes.
Earnings within the Special Retail segment improved from -0.1 million in the first half of 2012 to 0.2 million in 2013. The Special Retail segment includes earnings from the e-commerce activities of recent start-up Elfen Service GmbH as well as profit from the company’s airport shops. United Labels also posted positive earnings in its Key Account segment. While this segment had recorded a loss of 5.7 million in the previous year due to exceptional charges, it recorded earnings of 0.4 million in the period under review. This was mainly the result of a conscious decision to focus on products associated with higher profit margins. Defying the crisis in Southern Europe, the subsidiary operated by United Labels AG in Spain generated sales revenue of 6.4 million in the first half of the financial year.
Within this context, the company is determined to expand its B2C business by pursuing e-commerce activities and pressing ahead with the platform operated by Elfen Service GmbH. Other areas of potential growth include the company’s airport shops, which have already moved beyond the break-even point. In the core fields of business currently operated by the company – the sale of merchandise relating to cartoons/comics within the Special Retail and Key Account segments – future growth will be managed in accordance with the company’s policy on profitability and earnings.