Financial News

The Shareholders’ Meeting approves the Financial Statements for the year ending 31 December 2009. Consolidated turnover of 340.2 million Euros. Confirmed a dividend of 0.35 Euros per share, as in 2008.

29 April 2010

The Shareholders’ Meeting of Reply S.p.A. – a company listed on the STAR segment of the Milan stock exchange [REY.MI] – has today in Turin approved the financial statements for the 2009 financial year, confirming a dividend of 0.35 Euros per share.

Dividends will be paid from 3 June 2010, with the ex-dividend date set at 31 May 2010.

The 2009 Financial Statements

Reply Group closed the 2009 financial year with a consolidated turnover of 340.2 million Euros, an increase on the 330.2 million Euros recorded in 2008.

EBITDA was 42.9 million Euros (against 46.0 million Euros in 2008) while EBIT was 35.9 million Euros (against 41.2 million Euros in 2008). Earnings after tax were 16.6 million Euros (against 18.9 million Euros in 2008).

The Group’s net financial position as at 31 December 2009 was negative, at 10.5 million Euros (against a positive value of 5.6 million Euros in 20 September 2009); a substantial improvement over the year-end figure for 2008, which was 18.6 million Euros in deficit.

The Shareholders’ Meeting also approved the following motions:

Approval of the stock repurchase plan

The stock repurchase plan authorised at the Shareholders’ Meeting of 29 April 2009 has been brought to an early conclusion as at today’s date. This plan had an initial duration of 18 months and addressed a maximum of 690,786 ordinary shares. At the conclusion of the plan, Reply now holds a total of 164,527 of its own shares, the equivalent of 1.78% of all shares.

The Shareholders’ Meeting also authorised a new stock repurchase plan: the primary objective of this new plan is the purchase of shares as part of a shareholders’ incentive package, the purchase of stakes in and/or entering into agreements with strategic partners, and investment operations on the stock market.

This plan has duration of 18 months starting on the date of approval, and addresses a maximum of 757,758 ordinary shares (the equivalent of 8.22% of the company’s registered stock) with a nominal value of 0.52 Euros each and a cumulative value of 394,034.16 Euros (maximum financial commitment 30,000,000 Euros). The purchase price may not be higher than the official price of trades recorded on the MTA Market the day prior to purchase, increased by 15%.

Appointment of auditors

Following the expiry of the previous mandate, the Shareholders’ Meeting approved the motion to appoint Reconta Ernst & Young S.p.A. as auditors of its financial statements, consolidated financial statements and summary quarterly financial statements for each of the financial years in the nine-year period from 2010 to 2018 inclusive, in compliance with applicable regulations.

"In 2009 – said Mario Rizzante, Chairman of Reply, at the end of the Shareholders’ Meeting – Reply proved itself to be a financially solid industrial company with a strong commitment to innovation which, in difficult market conditions, has confirmed its ability to create value and to increase its market share with a differentiated offering in new technologies".

"IIn an economic environment that has driven companies to make significant cuts in investment, – continued Mario Rizzante –, our company has continued to grow. We have invested in new market segments such as Cloud Computing and Machine to Machine, while continuing to develop and consolidate our offering in strategic areas such as CRM, Business Intelligence, digital communication and value-added services for the media sector".

"2010 - concluded Mario Rizzante - looks like it will be another demanding year. In the industrial sector especially, the first few months of the year have been a time of great uncertainty, with the labour market still deeply depressed; however, the first signs of a new phase of structural growth have also begun to appear".

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