Avanquest Group: 2015-2016 First-Half Sales up by 48% like-for-like

Regulatory News:

The Avanquest Group (Paris:AVQ) (ISIN: FR0004026714) has published its consolidated sales figures for the first half of FY 2015-2016 (July 1 - December 31, 2015).

Over the first half of FY 2015-2016, the Group reported €71.6 million in sales versus €48.3 million over the 1^st half of 2014-2015, like-for-like (excluding ProcessFlows and Arvixe – businesses sold in 2015), i.e. a rise of 48% (33% at constant exchange rates). This strong growth, the reward of the Group's successful reorganization agenda, has been driven by the upswing of PlanetArt and the success achieved with software publishing and distribution products.

• PlanetArt, specializing in digital printing, posted €31.8 million, up by 74% over the 1^st half of 2014-2015. PlanetArt has enjoyed the full benefit of strong sales at the year's end with its Web-To-Print and Mobile-to-Print activities through the FreePrints mobile device application, which is continuing to grow very quickly in the United States and Europe. In doing so, PlanetArt has topped 3 million clients over this half-year;
• myDevices, a high-potential business in the management of connected devices, has continued to expand and reported €2 million in sales over this 1^st half-year despite the scheduled ending of sales of embedded software and a delay in the implementation of contracts for its connected device management platform;
• Avanquest Software, a division combining software publishing and distribution, also benefited from good sales at the year's end, in particular due to the commercial success of the Minecraft game distributed by Avanquest in the United Kingdom. Sales are now up to €37.8 million, a hike of 38% compared to the 1^st half of 2014-2015. The Group is continuing to explore each and every opportunity to create added value for its businesses.

Significant marketing investment allocated to digital printing business (PlanetArt) to develop the division's client base will weigh on the Group's operating income, which will remain negative over the first half of 2015-2016. However, the very strong growth in sales over this first half-year confirms the relevance of the Group's strategy and sound business trends.

"We are very proud of the work accomplished in recent months by our teams worldwide. Avanquest has not only successfully finalized a major reorganization agenda backed by major financial restructuring, it has also demonstrated a capacity to generate strong growth around new products, as illustrated by the excellence of this half-year," said Pierre Cesarini, Avanquest CEO. "Sales over this first half-year clearly confirm the relevance of the work carried out in recent years to reinvent the Avanquest Group."

Next financial communication date:

• First half results 2015-2016: March 31, 2016

About Avanquest:

A global Internet player, Avanquest is one of the few French companies in this sector to post sales of over €100 million, of which more than one half in the United States. Inspired by CEO Pierre Cesarini, Avanquest has worked on strategic reorientation focused on three areas of business - digital printing through the Group's new PlanetArt division, IoT management via the MyDevices division, and finally e-commerce business through the Avanquest Software division:

• PlanetArt: a world leader in mobile device printing, specifically via the FreePrints product, the least expensive and simplest way in the world to print photos from a smartphone.
• myDevices: a global platform for IoT management (Internet of Things) enabling major corporations from whatever business sector to quickly develop and roll out an IoT solution for their customers.
• Avanquest Software: the world's #1 distributor of third-party software. Each year, Avanquest Software sells over a million software products via websites and sales outlets worldwide.

CODES
Ticker: AVQ
ISIN: FR0004026714
www.avanquest-group.com

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