VIADEO Press release
8 September 2016
2016 first-half results
Key half-year period for Viadeo's strategic redeployment
- ViaNext development plan launched on 19 May 2016
- Ongoing drive to streamline the cost structure
- Cash position at 31 August 2016: €1.9 million
- Active search for investor partners
PARIS (France) - Viadeo (FR0010325241, VIAD, Euronext Paris), the French professional social network, is releasing its consolidated results for the first half of 2016, as approved by the Board of Directors on 6 September 2016.
In line with its roadmap, Viadeo took a further key step forward with its strategic redeployment during the first half of the year, reflected in:
- The promising level of corporate orders booked since ViaNext's commercial deployment was launched in June,
- The reduction in cash consumption.
"With our teams, during this half-year period, we focused primarily on developing and rolling out new offers that are at the heart of ViaNext, our strategic development plan, while continuing to optimize our resources. Our product and pricing initiatives have received a particularly positive response from our corporate clients and our members. At the end of July, orders for our Business Services activity exceeded both our targets and our levels from one year ago. This first success confirms the relevance of Viadeo's strategic redeployment on the corporate market in France. In terms of innovation, we have an extensive pipeline of potential startups for incubation and our application programming interface (API) platform is now ready to welcome their developments. As announced, we are moving forward with our drive to identify solutions to further strengthen Viadeo's balance sheet and we hope that it will be completed within the next few months", explains Renier Lemmens, Viadeo's CEO.
Highlights
Following the measures to realign its operations in France, decided on and rolled out at the end of 2015, Viadeo has, as planned, made concrete progress with its strategic redeployment, appointing Renier Lemmens as CEO on 15 January 2016 and Françoise Gri as Chairman of the Board of Directors on 5 April 2016. Under their leadership, the management team has drawn up ViaNext, the three-year development plan to consolidate the company's position as a key partner for recruitment in France. Launched on 19 May 2016, ViaNext is capitalizing on Viadeo's core assets: its base of nearly 11 million members and thousands of corporate clients in France, its unrivalled client proximity and its very strong capacity for innovation. Over the short term, it aims to further strengthen both corporate sales and member engagement.
To prepare for this plan to be ramped up, Viadeo has continued to optimize its resources:
- Streamlining its cost structure;
- Closing its subsidiaries in Russia and Morocco;
- Setting up an equity financing line (125,000 of the program's 1,000,000 warrants exercised at 31 August 2016).
Condensed consolidated accounts
| (€'000) | First half of 2016 | First half of 2015 | |
| Corporate revenues | 5,218 | 6,735 | |
| 3,630 | 4,289 | |
| 1,588 | 2,446 | |
| Online membership | 3,586 | 5,996 | |
| Revenues | 8,804 | 12,732 | |
| Income from ordinary activities | 8,814 | 12,799 | |
| Personnel expenses | - 6,550 | - 6,762 | |
| Marketing expenses | - 1,235 | - 4,425 | |
| Other expenses | - 3,280 | - 3,289 | |
| EBITDA | - 2,251 | - 1,677 | |
| Current operating loss | - 3,644 | - 4,260 | |
| EBIT | - 4,106 | - 4,260 | |
| Financial income / expense | - 97 | 1,186 | |
| Pre-tax loss | - 4,203 | - 3,165 | |
| Loss from continuing operations for the period | - 4,291 | - 3,093 | |
| Loss from discontinued operations for the period | - 31 | - 3,766 | |
| Net loss | - 4,322 | - 6,859 | |
| 30 June 2016 | 31 December 2015 | |
| Cash | 3,547 | 9,254 |
| 30 June 2016 | 31 December 2015 | |
| Headcount | 157 | 196 |
N.B.
- The accounts for the first half of 2016 have been subject to a limited review by the statutory auditors.
- The accounts for the first half of 2015 have been restated in accordance with IFRS 5 "Discontinued Operations" following the Chinese subsidiary's closure on 31 December 2015.
Results
For the first half of 2016, Viadeo recorded €8.8 million of revenues. In line with the business model's transition to business services, Recruitment / Training services and Marketing / Advertising services generated 59% of revenues over the first half of 2016, up from 53% for the first half of 2015.
The reorganization of the teams in France has made it possible to reduce the Viadeo headcount to 157 staff at 30 June 2016 (versus 196 at 31 December 2015 and 202 at 30 June 2015). Excluding the capitalization of development costs, this is reflected in a €1.1 million drop in personnel expenses compared with the first half of 2015. Despite the context with the marketing and commercial launch of ViaNext, external expenses have been reduced significantly and other external expenses are effectively under control, with EBITDA representing -€2.3 million at 30 June 2016.
Viadeo's net result, with -€4.3 million at the end of the first half of 2016, versus -€6.9 million one year earlier, has benefited from the Chinese subsidiary's closure on 31 December 2015.
Balance sheet
At 30 June 2016, the company had €4.3 million in shareholders' equity, with a total balance sheet of €21.6 million. Over the half-year period, Viadeo consumed €5.7 million of cash, reducing its consumption to €2.2 million in the second quarter. The company's cash position therefore came to €3.5 million at 30 June 2016 (€1.9 million at 31 August 2016), factoring in deferred payments. By 30 September, it expects cash and cash equivalents to represent over €2 million.
Outlook
In view of the company's cash position, its leadership team is actively looking for investor partners to support ViaNext as it ramps up. In this context, it has decided to no longer use its equity financing line.
Following the outstanding response to the new range of services from corporate clients and members, Viadeo's leadership team is able to reconfirm the medium-term objectives announced when the ViaNext plan was launched on 19 May.
Next financial date:
2016 third-quarter revenues on 10 November 2016
About Viadeo
Created in 2005, Viadeo is France's leading professional social network, with close to 11 million members. Viadeo offers businesses, whatever their sector or location, bespoke support thanks to its teams present nationwide, as well as its range of solutions tailored to their specific needs. Lastly, Viadeo offers all French talents the transparency they deserve, connecting them to all the opportunities available through their network. To learn more, visit corporate.viadeo.com.
Press contacts
Calyptus
Marie-Anne Garigue / Grégory Bosson
Tel: +33 (0)1 53 65 68 63 / +33 (0)1 53 65 37 90
viadeo@calyptus.net
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Viadeo via Globenewswire
