LHS reports double-digit growth turnover and earnings in fiscal 2008

DJ LHS reports double-digit growth turnover and earnings in fiscal 2008

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LHS, a leading provider of telecom billing and customer care systems across the 
wireless, wireline, and IP telecom markets worldwide, today announced the 
results for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year 2008 for the period ended 
December 31, 2008. The audited results were prepared in accordance with 
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). They include the following 
key figures for fiscal 2008: 
 
* In the fourth quarter 2008 the company was able to achieve a record turnover 
of EUR 32.3 million, which was for the first time in excess of EUR 30 million. 
This represents a growth of 19 percent compared to the same quarter of the 
previous year. 
 
* LHS' turnover increased to EUR 111.8 million in fiscal 2008, which is 14 
percent growth year-on-year. In the year 2007, the company achieved a turnover 
of EUR 98.2 million. 
 
* The adjusted EBITDA increased in fiscal 2008 by approximately 20 percent from 
EUR 20.4 million to EUR 24.5 million. 
 
* The adjusted earnings per share in the year under review were EUR 0.91 
(undiluted) and EUR 0.91 (diluted). 
 
* In the period under review, the cash flow of LHS reached EUR 9.7 million. 
 
Continued increase in customer and employee numbers 
LHS was able to once again expand its revenue and market position. Overall, the 
company signed contracts with ten new customers. At the end of 2008, LHS had a 
total of 132 installations around the world, which served approximately 250 
million mobile services customers. The results of fiscal 2008 are clear evidence 
that LHS followed the correct international strategy by focusing on the growth 
regions of Europe, Asia/Pacific, Middle East/Africa and Latin America. In these 
markets, especially in the so-called emerging markets, the company was able to 
once again substantially expand its sales potential. In addition, LHS created 98 
new jobs in 2008, which is an increase of approximately 15 percent. 
 
A key factor for this success was LHS' network of infrastructure providers, 
technology partners and system integrators. To further increase its customer 
services, LHS launched a new engagement model for the implementation of its 
solutions. In cooperation with four selected strategic system integration 
partners, LHS wants to offer its customers optimized project duration and costs 
for the installation of increasingly complex billing and customer care systems. 
This aim is achieved with the help of four partners who themselves are very 
experienced in the telecommunications market and have proven their expertise in 
numerous BSCS billing projects - Alcatel-Lucent, Atos Origin, Capgemini and 
Ericsson. 
 
"Corporate development in the year 2008 was fully in line with our 
expectations," said Wolfgang Kroh, CEO of LHS Aktiengesellschaft. "This is 
primarily due to the outstanding motivation of LHS staff across all departments, 
as well as the trust and support of our partners and customers. We will continue 
towards our goal of developing all markets that are relevant to our products and 
becoming the global market leader for convergent billing and customer care 
systems." 
 
Objectives for 2009 
In the year 2009, LHS plans to further strengthen its technological position in 
the convergent solutions market through the continuous development of its BSCS 
iX product and via strategic partnerships with network providers.  In the coming 
years, it will continue to focus on the constant expansion of the customer base 
and the continuous improvement of its earning power. In the future, the close 
partnership with Ericsson, its main share holder, gives LHS the chance to 
strengthen and further develop its market position as the leading provider of 
convergent customer care and billing systems in the long term. Despite the 
current turbulences in the financial markets, LHS' plans for fiscal 2009 include 
another increase in total turnover with stable or improved earnings. 
 
Ericsson - a powerful partner 
At the reporting date of December 31, 2008, the majority share holder Ericsson 
owned approximately 87.5 percent of LHS shares. The very constructive 
cooperation with Ericsson strengthens the international sales activities of LHS 
- also and in particular in regions where LHS is not active yet. Furthermore, 
LHS customers can benefit from single-source complete convergence solutions. 
 
 
Annual Report 2008 
The 2008 annual report will be available for download from the Internet as of 
early March. 
 
4,595 characters at an average of 55 characters per line 
 
About LHS 
LHS is a leading independent software vendor (ISV) of billing and customer care 
systems in the telecom industry. The company's award-winning solutions are used 
by the world's leading network and virtual operators, to generate and manage 
consistent revenue streams. LHS Business Support Systems offer full convergence 
on various levels, supporting the complete range of business models both across 
the mix of fixed and mobile services, as well as prepaid and postpaid services. 
 
 
LHS builds innovative systems that enable our customers to introduce new 
services fast, helping drive revenues up, while keeping operational costs to a 
minimum. 
 
LHS´ headquarters are located in Frankfurt, Germany, with main offices in 
Brazil, France, Malaysia, and the UAE. LHS Aktiengesellschaft as the Group´s 
Holding company is a public company listed on the Frankfurter Stock Exchange 
(LHS400). 
 
For more information, please visit www.lhsgroup.com 
 
 
end of announcement                               euro adhoc 
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 04, 2009 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)