ADB Group Reports Solid Financial Results for 2009

Thursday, February 11th, 2010
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GENEVA — Advanced Digital Broadcast Holdings S.A. (SIX: ADBN) reported today ADB Group’s unaudited consolidated financial results for the full year 2009.

Revenue for the full year 2009 reached US$ 381.0 million, increasing 5.6% compared to 2008, in line with expectations as communicated in the latest business update in October 2009. The gross profit amounted to US$ 139.0 million or 36.5% of the revenue, also in line with the Group’s expectations for the year and following the anticipated sales mix development.

Business overview

High-definition TV (HDTV) products accounted for 79% of product sales revenue, compared to 72% in 2008. Personal Video Recorders (both high and standard definition) represented 58% of the product sales, compared to 39% in 2008. The sales of hybrid products represented 75% of the product sales, and thus confirmed the Group leadership in this area. As a total, the high-end products constituted 85% of the Group overall product sales. The Group notes that these developments confirm the trend towards high-end consumer digital TV equipment.

The year was strong for cable business, which constituted 39% of the Group revenue, the same level as last year. The main driver was the expansion of the existing customer businesses, which in particular benefited from the prevailing consumer trend to focus more on in-house entertainment. Terrestrial business represented 12% of Group revenue, compared 18% in 2008. This business was helped from the increased demand from the Italian market towards the latter part of the year. The satellite business increased to 29% of the revenue, growing from 13% in 2008. IPTV contributed 19% of the Group revenue, compared to 27% in 2008, reflecting overall difficult year in the IPTV environment.

During the year 2009, the Group won the following new customers: TFN (Taiwan), Altibox (Norway), GGA Maur (Switzerland, three Spanish retailers (including Ikusi) and one Eastern European operator. Notably, amongst these, two represented entry to new markets; Taiwan cable, and Spanish retail. The Group was also among the first to introduce a new retail product in Italy for satellite broadcast, which recorded great customer success. Today the Group also announced that Telekom Austria has started deploying advanced connected home features with ADB’s set-top boxes and network software. These include DivX video support and home networking features. The service is the first of its kind in Europe.

During the full year of 2009, Europe represented 84%,, Middle East and Africa 9%, Americas 6% and Asia Pacific 1% of the total Group revenue. Both Western and Eastern European customers grew strongly, Eastern Europe representing 28% of the Group’s total revenue compared to 20% in 2008.

The Group’s efforts in developing advanced software-based features are meeting good market demand. In October, one of the Group’s customers started deploying its latest generation HD User Interface, called Carbo. On top of providing fast response time, Carbo also embeds advanced features such as YouTube™ access capability, for an enhanced multimedia experience. In November, due to its software prowess, the Group was able to demonstrated full interoperability of its set-back box with the two most deployed systems in the US cable industry. The Group’s set-top box software products are now delivered to more and more customers: to date, no less than six customers or markets benefit from a complete set of such products, from middleware to user interface, including home networking.

In 2009, the Group has smoothly expanded and diversified its supplier base of both manufacturing and component suppliers. It has also ramped up two hardware design ODMs, allowing it to increase its design capabilities while maintaining its fixed cost base. This also provides the Group with more cost-efficient design capabilities. All this was achieved in parallel with increased efforts on quality, which the Group sees as a strong differentiator in the industry.

Looking forward, the Group sees a continued shift towards software-based value-adding services on the set-top platforms, driven by both user experience improvements and multimedia convergence. The Group sees this trend as a confirmation of its vision, and providing multiple opportunities going forward.

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