wallstreet:online AG: Rapid growth and profitable fiscal 2020

wallstreet:online AG: Rapid growth and profitable fiscal 2020

• 2020 group revenues increase to EUR 28 million (pre-liminary, unaudited figures)
• 2020 operating EBITDA before Smartbroker customer acquisition costs and extra-ordinary items: EUR 11.9 million; EBITDA margin at around 41%
• Smartbroker gains more than 80,000 new customers; establishes itself amongst Germany's leading online brokers
• 2021 forecast: Group revenues increase to EUR 45 to 50 million

Berlin, 25 January 2021

wallstreet:online AG (ISIN DE000A2GS609) has continued its profitable growth in its core business in fiscal 2020 whilst at the same time successfully entering the online brokerage business through its Smartbroker brand. Based on preliminary and unaudited figures, the Group generated consolidated 2020 revenues of approximately EUR 28 million. 2020 represents the first year in wallstreet:online's history that the company is publishing consolidated financial statements in addition to single-entity accounts.

The pre-liminary consolidated operating EBITDA* amounts to EUR 4.3 million and is hence in line with the guidance last updated on 16 September 2020. The result was largely shaped by costs relating to new projects amounting to approx. EUR 7.6m, primarily made up of Smartbroker customer acquisition costs. Without these customer acquisition costs, wallstreet:online generated an operating EBITDA of around EUR 11.9 million, corresponding to an EBITDA margin of around 41%. wallstreet:online capital AG is consolidated at equity in fiscal 2020 and has contributed around EUR -0.1 million to consolidated pre-tax earnings. The operating EBITDA is stated before extra-ordinary items totalling a net gain of around EUR 2.7 million, generated primarily by the disposal of the Group's shareholding in Trade Republic Bank GmbH.

Stefan Zmojda, CEO of wallstreet:online AG, comments: "Our 2020 financial results evidence our robust and profitable growth during the past year. Thanks to expanding reach and advertising income, we have once more been able to increase the earnings power of the Group."

The Portal and Social Communities business benefitted from rising user numbers and advertising income. Whilst the overall reach amounted to 245 million page impressions in February 2020, it rose during the course of the year to reach 347 million page impressions by December (incl. wallstreet-online.de, finanznachrichten.de, ariva.de and boersennews.de).

Revenues of the Portal and Social Communities business increased by 25%. Stefan Zmojda, CEO of wallstreet:online AG: "Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing lockdown, we look back on a very successful fiscal 2020. Our Portal business benefits from the significant acceleration in digitalization. Low-interest rate policies and a growing need for private retirement savings and investments increase the interest in independent and peer information about financial products, thus driving traffic to our portals and communities and securing higher revenues. We assume that this trend will continue into 2021."

Smartbroker: Transaction Business the Key Long-Term Growth Driver

More than 80,000 customers opened Smartbroker securities accounts during Smartbroker's first year of operation, representing a sound foundation for the further growth of wallstreet:online AG. The transformation of the company into an online broker with an integrated financial community has hence been successfully initiated: "Customers have embraced Smartbroker, which has also excelled in independent price and product comparisons, winning several prestigious awards and accolades. We launched the right product at the right. The number of new customers has exceeded our own expectations and is an impressive confirmation of our new strategic orientation".

The company anticipates to continue its dynamic development into the current fiscal year. For 2021, wallstreet:online AG plans to increase its revenues by around 60 to 75 percent to EUR 45 to 50 million. About 40% of the total revenues are expected to be generated from the transaction business, and around 60% from advertising income. The consolidated operating EBITDA is estimated at EUR 4 to 6 million.

Smartbroker customer acquisition costs are expected to be around EUR 12.5 million in 2021. Without these costs, the consolidated operating EBITDA is expected to range between EUR 16.5 and 18.5 million. Whilst by the end of February 2021, Smartbroker will have added around 30,000 new customers, total Smartbroker customer growth for the entire year is budgeted at around 120,000 new customers. At the end of 2021 Smartbroker is hence expected to have grown to a total of 200,000 customers.

This forecast includes wallstreet:online capital AG on a fully consolidated basis, since wallstreet:online AG expects that the ongoing change of control proceedings in relation to the increase of its shareholding in wallstreet:online capital AG to approx. 73% (routinely prescribed by the German Banking Act) will be completed during 2021.

Stefan Zmojda adds: "The market environment offers us outstanding investment opportunities for the further expansion of our business. The focus is clearly on investments in Smartbroker. Although the strong customer growth necessitates higher initial expenditure and investment, it significantly increases our medium-term revenue and profit outlook. Smartbroker has gained accolades and awards in several price and product comparisons in 2020, demonstrating that our product is among the most attractive and favourably priced offers in today's German online brokerage market."

The audited single-entity and consolidated financial statements for fiscal 2020 in accordance with German GAAP (HGB - German Commercial Code) are expected to be published in June 2021 at www.wallstreet-online.ag.

* Operating EBITDA is calculated as follows: earnings before taxes, interest and depreciation before extraordinary items totalling a net gain of approx. EUR 2.7m, generated primarily by the disposal of wallstreet:online AG's shareholding in Trade Republic Bank GmbH.

About the wallstreet:online Group:

Headquartered in Berlin and with offices in Zurich, Leipzig, Munich, and Kiel, the wallstreet:online Group operates the portals wallstreet-online.de, boersenNews.de, FinanzNachrichten.de and ARIVA.de. With around 466 million page impressions (as of 1/2021), the Group is the by far largest publisher-independent financial portal operator in German-speaking Europe, and the number one financial community. Through wallstreet:online capital AG, the company has been operating for 20 years in the discount online financial intermediary business and therefore commands comprehensive expertise in the sale of investment products at minimum fees. Smartbroker is operated by wallstreet:online capital AG, which is subject to the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). FondsDISCOUNT.de, the largest bank-independent online discount investment broker in Germany, is the second major product of wallstreet:online capital AG.

Press contact:

Felix Rentzsch
Press Spokesperson of the wallstreet:online Group
Mobile: +49176 4165 0721
Email: f.rentzsch@wallstreet-online.de
URL: https://www.wallstreet-online.ag

Financial press and Investor Relations:

edicto GmbH
Ralf Droz / Svenja Liebig
Telephone: +49 69 905505 56
wallstreet-online@edicto.de