ADB Group delivers a mid-period business update

GENEVA — Advanced Digital Broadcast Holdings S.A. (SIX: ADBN) gave today an update on the development of its business.

Demand for Group’s products and services continues to be strong, especially in Italy and Eastern Europe. IPTV business is growing significantly as the telecom operators recover from their last year slow-down. At the same time, cable and satellite business is developing slower.

The share of retail products in the sales mix was high as anticipated, due to the demand in Italy. Consequently, the Group’s revenue proportion coming out of high-definition solutions was lower than in 2009, while still forming a clear majority of the Group product sales. Products equipped with PVR function generated slightly less than a half of the product revenue. Demand for hybrid products continued to be strong, and sales of those products formed a clear majority of the Group revenue.

The Group’s new high definition user interface, Carbo, is redefining the industry performance level; it is fast in response, intuitive and easy to use. Carbo is also easy for the operators to deploy, as it fits practically every open standard set-top box on the market. Unlike many other competitive products, Carbo saves the operator significant costs as it needs virtually no integration. As such, it is unique in the market.

In the area of new business development, the Group recorded the following achievements:

• Launch of a new retail product, i-CAN™ Easy HD, for the UK market
• Contract with CableTel in Bulgaria, delivering high-end software and hardware solutions
• Contract with Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago for IPTV solutions
• Demonstration of Carbo 3D user interface in various trade shows and to selected customers
• Established presence in India
• First prize in the IPTV World Forum for the Best Interactive TV Service/Application.

During the first quarter, the Group also successfully closed its share repurchasing program launched in September 2009. The Group owns today a total of 1’190’580 of its registered shares. Out of this, 619’054, or 10% of its issued and outstanding share capital, are to be cancelled.

The Group has noted the industry-wide electronic component shortage, and has taken the appropriate actions to mitigate the situation. As the seasonality reverts back to its normal pattern, the Group expects that a clear majority of the yearly revenue will be recognized on the second half. With the current good backlog and corrective measures taken, the Group maintains its guidance for the full year.

Andrew Rybicki, Chairman and CEO, commented: “The year 2010 has been very interesting and somewhat demanding for us thus far, as worldwide economic recovery affects us both positively and negatively. While shortages of certain components are challenging, the seasonality pattern is returning back to normal, shifting the shipments towards the second half. Meanwhile, we have already made significant moves in establishing ourselves in new markets, where we have clearly demonstrated our technology and service capabilities. This has been also helped by our focus on the software products, which is visibly putting the company on a new track. Overall, this year will meet our expectations as expressed through the guidance earlier in February.”

ADB Group management will hold a telephone conference today to comment on release, at 16.00 CET. To connect to the conference call, participants should dial the following number: +41 (0)44 580 64 03. During the presentation, please press “01” on your telephone keypad if you wish to ask a question.