Jena, 19 February 2020 - Intershop Communications AG (ISIN: DE000A254211), a leading independent provider of innovative solutions for omnichannel commerce, increased its consolidated revenues by 1% to EUR 31.6 million in the financial year 2019 (previous year: EUR 31.2 million). Significant progress was made in the strategic transition from the license business to the cloud business. As the increase in revenues was not yet sufficient to compensate for the costs and revenue shifts from the cloud transformation, a negative operating result (EBIT) in the amount of EUR -6.5 million was posted (previous year: EUR -5.9 million). This includes EUR 0.8 million from restructuring expenses. Based on an adjustment of the cost structure carried out in the fourth quarter and the completion of the cloud transformation, the course for profitable growth in the current year has been set.

In the reporting period, cloud and subscription revenues increased from quarter to quarter totaling 18% to EUR 6.4 million (previous year: EUR 5.4 million). Incoming orders in the cloud segment increased by 82% to EUR 13.1 million (previous year: EUR 7.2 million). License revenues rose by 8% to EUR 2.6 million (previous year: EUR 2.4 million). At EUR 8.1 million, maintenance revenues were on a par with the previous year. Service revenues fell by 4% year-on-year to EUR 14.5 million (previous year: EUR 15.2 million).

Dr. Jochen Wiechen, CEO of Intershop Communications AG: "The transformation from a license company to a cloud company is a major undertaking. We have started it two years ago in order to make Intershop fit for the future. While we were not able to achieve our ambitious targets for 2019, the progress made clearly shows a positive trend. This gives us confidence. We believe that the transformation of our business model has now been virtually completed. The restructuring initiated last autumn will help us return to profitable growth based on recurring revenues in the current year."

Due to the overall growth momentum being still too low, the gross margin fell by 3 percentage points to 35% in the financial year 2019. Operating expenses declined by 2% to EUR 17.5 million. Marketing and sales expenses also fell by 9% to EUR 8.8 million. R&D expenses declined by 2% to EUR 4.6 million. Administrative expenses dropped by 4% to EUR 3.4 million. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) amounted to EUR -6.5 million (previous year: EUR -5.9 million). Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) stood at EUR -2.3 million (2019 without IFRS 16: EUR -4.0 million; 2018: EUR -3.7 million). The net loss for the period after taxes amounted to EUR -6.8 million (previous year: EUR -6.7 million).

The Intershop Group posted total assets of EUR 27.6 million as of 31 December 2019 (+22%). Equity rose by 15% to EUR 15.7 million, meaning that the equity ratio remained at a high level of 57% at the end of the year (31 December 2019 without IFRS 16: 61%; 31 December 2018: 60%). Cash and cash equivalents increased to EUR 7.7 million (previous year: EUR 7.2 million). Cash flow from operations improved to EUR -1.8 million in the reporting period, compared to EUR -4.1 million in the previous year. At the end of 2019, Intershop employed a total of 314 people worldwide.

Markus Klahn, COO of Intershop Communications AG: "In addition to the adjustment of the cost structure, we implemented various measures to ensure operational excellence in the marketing and sales departments at the end of 2019. Our aim is to generate leads more efficiently, to consistently focus on the B2B segment and to integrate our sales partners more closely. From a technological point of view, we have long held a leading position with our B2B solution. With the transformation to a cloud provider, we want to realize this also from an entrepreneurial perspective."

Intershop expects total consolidated revenues to increase slightly in the financial year 2020. With gross profit and the gross margin expected to improve slightly, EBIT are assumed to be slightly positive.

The full consolidated financial statements will be published in mid-March 2020. All financials in this press release are provisional, pending completion of the statutory audit.

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