HolidayCheck : Interim Report for the first half of 2021

INTERIM REPORT

OF HOLIDAYCHECK GROUP AG FOR THE FIRST HALF OF 2021

K E Y F I G U R E S

KEY FIGURES

REVENUE AND EARNINGS

Revenue

Cost of goods sold

Gross margin

Marketing expenses

Personnel expenses

Net impairment losses on financial assets

Other expenses

EBITDA

Operating EBITDA

EBIT

Financial result

EBT

Consolidated net profit/loss from continuing operations

Consolidated net profit/loss

Earnings per share

ASSETS AND CAPITAL STRUCTURE

Total assets

Non-current assets

Current assets

thereof cash and cash equivalents

Equity

Debt

KEY CAPITAL MARKET DATA

Equity ratio

Debt ratio

		1 January to
		30 June 2021
in EUR million	8.9
in EUR million		-1.3
in EUR million		7.6
in EUR million		-0.6
in EUR million		-10.7
in EUR million		-0.2
in EUR million		-5.2
in EUR million		-7.8
in EUR million		-8.2
in EUR million	-10.9
in EUR million		-0.2
in EUR million		-11.1
in EUR million	-10.1
in EUR million		-10.1
in EUR	-0.13
		30 June 2021
in EUR million		160.6
in EUR million	94.2
in EUR million		66.4
in EUR million		62.1
in EUR million		117.7
in EUR million		42.9

30 June 2021

in percent		73.3
in percent			26.7

1 January to

30 June 2020

-1.8

-1.6

-3.4

-8.1

-16.1

2.3

-9.0

-32.3

-31.6

-36.2

-0.1

-36.3

-36.0

-66.8

-1.16

31 December 2020

134.0

95.1

38.9

33.7

80.4

53.6

31 December 2020

60.0

40.0

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K E Y F I G U R E S

RATIO OF EQUITY AND DEBT AS AT 30 JUNE 2021

Debt 26.7%

Equity 73.3%

SHAREHOLDER STRUCTURE AS AT 30 JUNE 2021 (ROUNDED FIGURES)

Treasury Shares 0.6%

Free float 33.4%

Burda Digital SE 65.8%*

Management Board and

Supervisory Board

0.2%

* as at 20 January 2021; no guarantee of completeness

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P M A NA G EM EN T R E P OR T

GROUP MANAGEMENT REPORT

OF HOLIDAYCHECK GROUP AG, MUNICH, GERMANY, FOR THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF 2021

G R O U

1. GROUP STRUCTURE AND BUSINESS MODEL

The tables and disclosures in the Group management report may contain rounding differences. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, figures shown for the previous year have been adjusted in accordance with IFRS 5 and IAS 1 / IAS 8.

1.1 Organisational structure

HolidayCheck Group AG, a joint-stock company under German law (Aktiengesellschaft, AG), is the parent company of the HolidayCheck Group, a travel group for holidaymakers with operations in Central Europe.

In the first six months of 2021 the Group's average total workforce was 244 full-time equivalents (FTEs without Management Board members) based at four locations in Germany, Poland and Switzerland.

1.2 Description of business operations

The HolidayCheck Group is made up of several operating companies that mainly generate revenue from transaction-based online business models in the field of travel and by organising holidays. The core sales markets are Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

HolidayCheck AG is based in Bottighofen, Switzerland, and operates a range of hotel rating and holiday booking portals that generate revenue in the form of commission from the brokerage of package tour, cruise, hotel and rental car bookings and from website links that take visitors to other booking portals.

HC Touristik GmbH was formed in Munich, Germany, as a tour operator. Its revenue comes from organising hotel and package holidays through HolidayCheck's booking platforms.

The other main components of the HolidayCheck Group are the non-operating company HolidayCheck Group AG (based in Munich, Germany) and the internal service providers HolidayCheck Polska Sp. zo. o. and HolidayCheck Solutions GmbH, which only generate internal revenue.

1.3 1.3 Research and development activities

The subsidiaries Driveboo, HolidayCheck, HolidayCheck Polska, HolidayCheck Solutions and HC Touristik conduct their own decentralised development activities. If the development costs attributable to these employees can be capitalised, they are shown in the balance sheet as internally generated software. The employees' remaining work is recognised as personnel expenses. Whenever subsidiaries make use of externally supplied development services, that work is also capitalised (again where permitted under accounting rules), while the remaining development costs are recognised under other expenses.

Capitalised development costs for the first half of 2021 and the first half of 2020 are shown in the table below.

Own work capitalised

Own work capitalised

EUR 555 thousand

in the first six months of 2021

Own work capitalised

EUR 864 thousand

in the first six months of 2020

2. ECONOMIC REPORT

2.1 Macro-economic and industry situation

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Driveboo AG, based in the Swiss town of Bottighofen, operates the rental car comparison portals MietwagenCheck as well as various international car rental portals. It generates revenue in the form of commission for car hire bookings.

2.1.1 Macro-economic situation

In a report issued on 10 June 2021, Deutsche Bank's Global Market Research unit projects the following picture of economic growth in the HolidayCheck Group's core sales markets over the financial year 2021:

After adjusting for inflation, gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to increase by

4.6 percent in the eurozone and by 4.0 percent in Germany.

2.1.2 Industry situation

According to an assessment by the Management Board, the revenues generated from package holidays and hotels over the first half of 2021 in the core markets targeted by the Group's transaction- based travel portals were roughly on par with the figures for the same period in the prior year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting global travel warnings. As in the previous year, there was a certain recovery in demand for hotels and package holidays as a result of the gradual easing of travel warnings for Europe. Overall, however, demand remained well below the pre-crisis level of the first half of 2019.

2.2 Business development and performance

Demand for holidays remained extremely subdued over the first six months of 2021 in light of the global spread of Covid-19 and the continued imposition of stringent travel restrictions by many countries in response to the pandemic. There were no real signs of recovering demand until May 2021, when we began to see the positive impact of ongoing vaccination campaigns, falling levels of new infections (both in our source markets and key travel destinations) and the partial lifting of travel restrictions. Demand for bookings shot up from mid-May onwards and in June even exceeded the pre-pandemic level of 2019. We were inundated with bookings for more or less immediate departures and for holidays later in the summer.

Revenue is recognised only if it is highly probable that the holiday will not be cancelled with a consequent loss of revenue or the commission refund. In light of the continued great uncertainty because of this exceptional pandemic situation and the high level of dependence on unforeseeable political decisions affecting the travel sector, it is not possible to provide a reliable estimate of cancellation rates for previously booked holidays with departure dates after 30 June 2021. Accordingly, no revenue was recognised for holidays in this category. This approach was taken in preparing the year-end financial statements for 2020. By contrast, the interim financial statements as at 30 June 2020 included an estimated figure for contingent consideration. At the time, it was felt that Covid-19 would not have a long-term impact and that a reliable estimate was therefore possible (albeit with a modified cancellation rate). As at

30 June 2021, the order book included commission entitlements of around EUR 18.6 million (unvalued,

excluding cancellations). For the reasons given above, these have not been shown as revenue. Reimbursement liabilities have been created in respect of any commissions that have already been received.

2.2.1 Business development

Successful capital increase with subscription rights

On 20 January 2021, with the consent of the Supervisory Board, the Management Board of HolidayCheck Group AG passed a resolution to increase the company's share capital out of authorised capital against cash contributions, with shareholder subscription rights.

The new shares were publicly offered on the basis of a prospectus approved on 21 January 2021 by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).

All the shares offered were placed.

99.44 percent of subscription rights were exercised. This includes the subscription of the company's majority shareholder, Burda Digital SE, which exercised its subscription rights in full.

Thus 28,747,815 new shares were subscribed at an offer price of EUR 1.65 each.

In total, 29,156,814 new shares were placed, equal to 50 percent of the company's previous share capital, generating gross issue proceeds of EUR 48,109 thousand. The resulting cash inflow was EUR 47,609 thousand. The costs of the corporate action were EUR 1,425 thousand. The net proceeds of the issue were

EUR 46,683 thousand. As a result of the transaction, the total number of shares rose from 58,313,628 to 87,470,442.

The capital increase was entered in the commercial register on 10 February 2021. The new shares were admitted to trading on

10 February 2021, and on 11 February 2021 they were included in the company's listing in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, FWB) The Prime Standard is a segment of the Regulated Market with additional follow-up duties. The new shares carry full dividend rights from 1 January 2020.

Repayment and modification of credit facilities

Following the successful capital increase in February 2021, the company repaid, in full and within the stipulated term, all amounts drawn down under existing credit facilities, together with the associated interest, in total

EUR 9,895 thousand. At the same time, both credit facilities were reduced from EUR 10,000 thousand to EUR 5,000 thousand.

G R O U P M A NA G EM EN T R E P OR T

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