Emakina Group: Slight Sales Growth Despite Difficult Economic Situation

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March 19, 2010
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Emakina Group: Slight Sales Growth Despite Difficult Economic Situation

BRUSSELS, March 19, 2010--     Emakina Group (Alternext Brussels: ALEMK) today communicates
its consolidated results for the year 2009. Sales continued to grow by
1%.Group EBITDA improved significantly during the second semester 2009,
reaching 10.6% of sales compared to 3.6% for the first semester of 2009 and
9.7% for the second semester of 2008.

    During 2009, Emakina Group sales totaled 31 782 957 EUR
compared to 31 484 834 EUR during the previous year, representing an increase
of 1%, but at a level lower than expected, due to the economic downturn.
EBITDA amounted to 2 328 409 EUR in 2009 (or 7.3% of sales) compared to 2 686
862 EUR (or 8.5% of sales) in the prior year. As a reminder, EBITDA at June
30 2009 amounted to 530 137 EUR, which means and EBITDA of 1 798 272 EUR for
the second half of the year compared to 1 709 556 EUR for the second half of
2008. This improvement is the result of various measures announced in the
half yearly 2009 report.

    The recurring result for 2009 amounted to 225 717 EUR compared
to 854 636 EUR in 2008, mainly due to the evolution of EBIT and due to the
decrease of the financial result by 104 245 EUR.

    Net profit before tax fell from 900 554 EUR in 2008 to 31 632
EUR in 2009 due to the evolution of the recurring result combined with
non-recurring charges of 225 061 EUR.

    The deferred tax impact (related to the capitalization of tax
losses carried forward) fell from an income of 281 917 EUR to a charge of
-457 EUR in 2009 while tax charges fell from 792 196 EUR to 412 075 EUR
respectively.

    Net result (before amortization of goodwill) amounted to 608
117 EUR in 2009 compared to 1 281 275 EUR in 2008.

    For the second time in its history, the Board of Directors of
Emakina Group will propose to the Shareholders' Meeting on April 22, 2010, a
total gross dividend of 250 000 EUR, amounting to a gross (net) dividend per
share of 0.07150 EUR (0.06077 EUR).

    Several elements influenced the 2009 annual results:

    The economic crisis had an indirect effect on Emakina mainly
during the first semester of 2009, in particular due to customers in the
financial, automobile and air transport sectors.

    Moreover, the sales process became lengthier and required
increased commercial efforts. -

   
    - The legally required indexation of salaries on January 1,
      2009 weighed on margins in Belgium.

    - Despite the economic downturn, sales continued to increase
      for the 5th consecutive year, in particular due to the synergies
      developed between Emakina Group subsidiaries, to attract new
      international clients. Emakina Belgium and Emakina.NL thus worked
      jointly to create Yunomi, an online women's community developed for the
      Benelux area by Unilever. Similarly, Emakina Belgium and Emakina.EU, a
      new agency specialized in European and International Institutions,
      partnered in October 2009, to obtain an important framework contract
      with the European Commission (Directorate General for Health and
      Consumers) in the field of audiovisual services and media training.

    Emakina Group's management took the following measures to
support growth and reinforce margins:

   
    - Increased use of reporting tools developed from the existing
      integrated ERPs to optimize project management and track their
      profitability.

    - Emakina Group faces numerous opportunities that have arisen
      from the technological changes that were speeded up by the current
      economic situation. The media and advertising world was particularly
      shaken in 2009. In this context, Emakina Group wants to be a major
      actor, striving to help its clients to take advantage of these changes.

    - At 2009 end, Emakina concluded a commercial partnership with
      the German group Pixelpark AG, thus creating the means to respond on a
      pan-european scale to the needs of its existing and future
      international customers who require a large geographical presence in
      these markets.

    Prospects for 2010

    Emakina foresees a slightly more positive economic environment
in 2010. In this context, Emakina expects moderate sales growth, due to
several key elements: pluri-annual contracts mentioned above, increased
commercial efforts in 2009, commercial partnership with Pixelpark... Margins
should also evolve positively.

    External audit

    The auditor has confirmed that his review of the consolidated
financial statements has not revealed any significant matters requiring
adjustments to the accounting information included in this press release.

   
                            CONSOLIDATED FIGURES 2009

                                EMAKINA GROUP SA

    CONSOLIDATED RESULTS (EUR) *           31/12/2009  31/12/2008  31/12/2007

    TOTAL REVENUES                         31.782.957  31.484.834  17.371.543
    Net revenues                           31.053.797  30.919.864  16.467.728
    Variation of work in progress             475.485     283.653     757.543
    Other operating income                    253.676     281.317     146.272
    TOTAL OPERATING COSTS
    (before depreciation and
     amortization)                        -29.454.548 -28.797.972 -15.794.940
    Purchase of equipment and
    services related to sales             -15.053.129 -15.680.221  -8.228.222
    Payroll costs                         -14.331.711 -13.065.395  -7.533.083
    Other operating costs                     -69.708     -52.356     -33.635
    OPERATING PROFIT (before
    depreciation and amortization)
    = EBITDA                                2.328.409   2.686.862   1.576.603
    DEPRECIATION AND AMORTIZATION            -802.255    -636.033    -414.030
    Depreciation and amortization
    of (in)tangible assets                   -741.054    -629.935    -369.583
    Write-off on trade receivables            -32.641      -6.098     -44.447
    Litigation accruals                       -28.560           0           0
    OPERATING PROFIT (EBIT)                 1.526.154   2.050.829   1.162.573
    NET FINANCIAL RESULT                     -362.910    -305.193     -32.974
    Financial income                            3.878      22.449     139.644
    Financial charges                        -366.788    -327.642    -172.618
    CURRENT PRE-TAX PROFIT BEFORE
    AMORTIZATION ON GOODWILL                1.163.244   1.745.636   1.129.599
    Amortization on goodwill                 -937.527    -891.000    -470.556
    CURRENT PRE-TAX PROFIT                    225.717     854.636     659.043
    NET EXTRAORDINARY RESULT                 -194.085      45.918    -130.114
    PRE-TAX PROFIT                             31.632     900.554     528.929
    Deferred taxes                               -457     281.917     494.565
    Current income tax                       -412.075    -792.196    -381.564
    SHARE IN RESULTS OF EQUITY-METHOD
    ENTITIES (profit)                          51.490           0           0
    NET PROFIT BEFORE AMORTIZATION
    ON GOODWILL                               608.117   1.281.275   1.112.486
    NET PROFIT                               -329.410     390.275     641.930
    A. Share of third parties                 296.460     364.401     156.327
    B. Group share                           -625.870      25.874     485.603

    SHARE DATA                               31/12/2009 31/12/2008 31/12/2007
    NUMBER OF SHARES                          3.496.708  3.459.533  3.435.409
    NUMBER OF SHARES & SHARE OPTIONS          3.662.338  3.571.733  3.490.539
    CURRENT PRE-TAX PROFIT (in EUR)              0,0646     0,2470     0,1918
    CURRENT PRE-TAX PROFIT / SHARE
    & SHARE OPTION (in EUR)                      0,0616     0,2393     0,1888
    GROUP SHARE / SHARE (in EUR)                -0,1790     0,0075     0,1414
    GROUP SHARE / SHARE & SHARE
    OPTION (in EUR)                             -0,1709     0,0072     0,1391
    NET PROFIT / SHARE (in EUR)                 -0,0942     0,1128     0,1869
    NET PROFIT / SHARE & SHARE
    OPTION (in EUR)                              -0,090     0,1093     0,1839

    * Established according to Belgian GAAP

    The consolidated income statement for 2009 includes 12 months
of all group subsidiaries except for Emakina Media which is consolidated by
the equity method since July 1, 2009, following the decrease of Emakina
Group's investment in this entity.

   
                 ASSETS (EUR) *              31/12/2009 31/12/2008 31/12/2007

    NON CURRENT ASSETS                        6.942.276  7.423.437  7.864.347
    Formation expenses                          504.836    602.771    702.816
    Intangible assets                           512.061    448.365    572.445
    Goodwill                                  4.823.921  5.415.980  5.829.471
    Tangible assets                             899.269    886.031    674.721
    Financial assets                            202.189     70.290     84.894
    CURRENT ASSETS                           15.809.082 15.042.223 11.474.352
    Stocks and contracts in progress          2.164.032  1.688.548  1.404.894
    Deferred taxes                              897.846    931.842    650.000
    Amounts receivable with one year         10.859.372 10.774.837  7.821.791
    Investments                                 299.467    428.811    344.996
    Cash at bank and in hand                  1.353.283    934.829  1.073.627
    Deferred charges and accrued income         235.082    283.356    179.044
    TOTAL ASSETS                             22.751.358 22.465.660 19.338.699

               LIABILITIES (EUR) *           31/12/2009 31/12/2008 31/12/2007

    EQUITY                                    9.238.205  9.729.505  9.382.179
    Capital                                   8.395.670  8.306.412  8.248.515
    Share premium                               511.890          0          0
    Consolidated reserves                       330.645  1.423.093  1.133.664
    MINORITY INTERESTS                          406.833    493.893    347.079
    PROVISION FOR LIABILITIES AND CHARGES       146.694     30.134     73.264
    DEFERRED TAXES AND LATENT TAXATION         
    LIABILITIES                                 170.037    203.576    200.651
    CREDITORS                                12.789.590 12.008.552  9.335.526
    Amounts payable after one year              515.272    877.291    654.785
    Amounts payable within one year          12.128.185 10.819.072  8.290.158
    Current portion of amounts payable after 
    one year                                  1.227.194  1.252.670    765.008
    Financial debts                           1.016.521    297.724    666.321
    Trade debts                               2.893.421  3.890.918  3.045.187
    Advances received on contracts in         
    progress                                  2.650.485  2.138.677  1.350.035
    Amounts payable on taxes, remuneration   
    and social security                       2.832.624  3.147.276  2.184.931
    Other amounts payable                     1.507.940     91.807    278.676
    Accrued charges and deferred income         146.133    312.189    390.583
    TOTAL LIABILITIES                        22.751.358 22.465.660 19.338.699

    * Established according to Belgian GAAP

    In accordance with the new rules of Alternext Brussels, the
current annual press release has become optional. This press release will be
followed by the publication of the 2009 annual report of Emakina Group which
will include the full information required. This report will be available on
our site, http://www.emakina.com (section "investors") from April 7, 2010 in
accordance with the legal requirements in this matter.

    About Emakina Group:

    Emakina Group is a European network of interactive agencies
that helps its clients to integrate the Internet into their activities. The
agencies within Emakina Group are Emakina Belgium (Brussels), Emakina.EU
(Brussels), Emakina/Media (Brussels) B. On The Net (Brussels), Design is Dead
(Antwerp), The Reference (Gent), Emakina.NL (Rotterdam) and groupeReflect
(Paris and Limoges). Emakina Group has developed a service portfolio around
the following three poles: interactive marketing, information websites and
transactional applications and e-commerce. With a team of more than 286
people, Emakina is the foremost interactive agency in Belgium. Emakina is
listed on the Alternext market of Euronext Brussels stock exchange (mnemo:
ALEMK) since July 2006.


    http://www.emakina.com

Source: Emakina Group

More information: Denis Steisel, CEO Emakina Group, E-mail : dst@emakina.com, Tel. : +32-2-400-40-75; Frederic Desonnay, CFO Emakina Group, Tel. : +32-2-788-78-26, E-mail: fds@emakina.com; Laurent Jadot, PR Manager Emakina Group, E-mail : lja@emakina.com, Tel. : +32-2-400-40-21; Emakina Group S.A., Rue Middelbourg 64A, 1170 Brussels, Belgium, VAT 0464.812.221, ISIN BE 0003843605

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