wallstreet:online AG: Details on raised forecast, the strong development in the segment finance portals and the Smartbroker

wallstreet:online AG: Details on raised forecast, the strong development in the segment finance portals and the Smartbroker

• Target EBITDA in the highly profitable segment of financial portals of EUR 10 million (previously EUR 8 million)
• Value driver Smartbroker grows faster than expected: approx. 83,000 customers by the end of the year (previously 60,000)

Berlin, 18 September 2020 - On September 16, 2020 wallstreet:online AG (ISIN DE000A2GS609) raised significantly its forecast for the current fiscal year. This is due to the strong operational development in the segment of financial portals and the significantly faster than expected establishment of the Smartbroker among Germany's online brokers.

"We currently do not see any negative impact of the global economic crisis caused by the Corona pandemic on our Group. On the contrary", says Stefan Zmojda, CEO of wallstreet:online AG. "With low interest rates, expansive monetary policy measures by central banks and major economic stimulus packages, the topics investments and stocks are gaining relevance. The wallstreet:online group benefits from this not only as the largest publisher-independent financial online plattforms in the German-speaking world, but also in its successful entry into the online brokerage market. The Smartbroker with its scalable business model is increasingly becoming the value driver for the entire group."

In its segment of financial online platforms, the w:o Group benefits from increasing user numbers and advertising revenues. Since the beginning of the year, the reach of the platforms has increased from 200 million page impressions per month to around 300 million and has stabilized at this high level. As a result, wallstreet:online expects an operating result (EBITDA*) of EUR 10 million (previously EUR 8 million) in this segment.

The Smartbroker's customer growth is also clearly above plan. The online broker, which was launched at the beginning of 2020, is expected to have over 83,000 customers by the end of the year. In May, the plan was still for 60,000. The company intends to continue to make consistent use of the dynamic environment. Therefore, the investment budget was increased by EUR 1.2 million. This should pay off significantly in the medium term. Thus, the Smartbroker should become the sales and earnings driver of the wallstreet:online group as early as 2022.

At Group level, the increase in the May forecast is as follows: Group sales across all business units are expected to increase to between EUR 24.5 million and EUR 29.9 million (previously EUR 22 million to EUR 26 million) in the current year. The operating result (EBITDA) should be between 4.1 and 5.0 million EUR (previously 3.0 million EUR to 3.6 million EUR). Taking into account the extraordinary income from the sale of the stake in Trade Republic Bank GmbH (EUR 3 million) and the write-down on an ICO project (TEUR 300), the overall result is even expected to be between EUR 6.8 million and EUR 7.7 million. The difference between the strong increase in the operating result in the segment of financial portals and the lower consolidated result is mainly due to the once again increased investments in the strong growth of Smartbroker. The sales and earnings of wallstreet:online capital AG, in which wallstreet:online AG holds a stake of around 43 %, are not included.

* The key figure EBITDA is calculated as follows: Earnings before taxes, interest, depreciation and amortization.

About the wallstreet:online group
The wallstreet:online group has around 160 employees in Berlin, Kiel, Leipzig, Munich and Zurich and operates the financial plattforms wallstreet-online.de, boersenNews.de, FinanzNachrichten.de and ARIVA.de. With around 290 million page impressions (as of 07/2020), the group is by far the largest publisher-independent financial portal operator in the German-speaking world and the No. 1 financial community. Via wallstreet:online capital AG, the company has been active in the online brokerage business for 20 years and therefore has comprehensive expertise in the sale of investment products with maximum discounts. Among the best-known products is FondsDISCOUNT.de, the largest bank-independent online discount investment broker in Germany. Smartbroker is also operated by wallstreet:online capital AG, which in turn is subject to the uniform state financial supervision (BaFin).

Press contact:
Michael Bulgrin
wallstreet:online AG
Tel: +49 (0 30) 20 456 382
presse@wallstreet-online.de