LEGUIDE : Results for first half of 2014 - Turnover for first half: €21.2m

Tension persisted in the first half

In a persistently difficult economic context characterised by the continued rollout of Google Shopping, turnover stands at €21.2m, a €3.2m decline.

The breakdown for activity was as follows: after a first quarter in steep decline (-€2.2m), the second quarter saw improvement with a decline of €0.9m. This performance is related to solid activity in France (LeGuide.com: +€0.3m). Ciao's activity is still suffering (-€2.0m), but measures taken have wiped out the decline and stabilised the audience, beginning in the second quarter.

Operating profit: €2.3m

The decline in activity automatically dragged down results in the first half. With operating profit of €2.3m, the group's operating margin came out to 11%, an increase compared to the second half of 2013 (operating profit in second half of 2013: €0.9m, 4% of operating margin).

Net Income before Tax is €2.5m and Net Income - Group share is €1.2m.

A solid financial structure

With €47.5m of shareholders' equity, €29.1m of net cash position at 30 June 2014 and no financial debt, the LeGuide group enjoys a solid financial position.

The second half will likely benefit from measures implemented over the last year

In operational terms, the LeGuide group continued its aggressive policy of differentiation through innovation:

• The launch of the beta version of social shopping site blacklist.me™ beta.was well-received by the blogging community;
• A well-performing special offer identification system led to a sharp increase in traffic during the sales period;
• The launch of "webmarchand mobile" in France on 27 March and in Europe on 18 June bolstered the strong growth of the mobile audience;

The group also continued its strategy to diversify its sources of traffic through new partnerships and has been selected by Yahoo ! to provide shopping search results for France, Germany, Spain and Italy.

Olivier Sichel, Chairman & CEO of LeGuide group said: "The measures that have been taken should allow the group to return to growth at the end of the year. With the return of growth, we will be able to focus our efforts once again on profitability with the optimisation of our resources and the gradual turnaround of Ciao."

Besides, the inquiry procedure of the European Commission against the abuse of dominant position of Google has started a new phase with the sending of the letters of the complainants by the Commission services specifying the corrective actions proposed to date by Google in order to reestablish a fair competitive environment. However, the calendar and impact of definite engagements, if they were to be accepted by the Commission are uncertain at this stage.

Next publication: Turnover for Q3 2014 on 16 October 2014 after market close.

About LeGuide group, the European shopping guides leader

The LeGuide group, provider of shopping guides, price comparison sites, shopping search engines and internet review platforms, is number one in Europe with 15.6 million unique visitors*. The group has a 180-strong workforce and operates in 14 European countries, delivering its multi-site strategy out of several subsidiaries including LeGuide.com, Ciao, dooyoo.com, mercamania.com and choozen.com. The group, which lists 193 million offers from 82,500 merchants, turned over €45.6 M in 2013. The LeGuide.com group has been awarded 'Innovative enterprise' status by the French innovation agency OSEO and is listed on NYSE Euronext Paris's Alternext (tag ALGUI, ISIN code FR0010146092).

* Source: Comscore, May 2014

LeGuide Group Olivia Fuchs