ANNUAL REPORT 2008 | 2009 - SinnerSchrader AG

Joint Status Report of SinnerSchrader AG295Development and Situationof SinnerSchrader AGSinnerSchrader AG is the managing holding companyof the SinnerSchrader Group. Its business activitiesmainly comprise developing and implementing theGroup strategy, expanding the business portfoliothrough acquisitions, among other things, guidingand controlling the operating Group companies andfinancing them, administering and controlling Groupliquidity, managing the German tax integration,providing and administering the infrastructures jointlyused by the Group companies, in particular the officespace, centrally providing administrative services,and performing central Group tasks, such as investorrelations work.There is a profit and loss transfer agreement betweenSinnerSchrader AG and the German subsidiariesSinnerSchrader Deutschland GmbH and spot-mediaAG. This means that the profits and losses from theoperating business of these two companies are alsoreflected in the individual results of the AG for therelevant year of the report, in each case as incomefrom transfers of profits or as expenditure fromtransfers of losses. With respect to the provision ofinfrastructure and the central provision of administrativeservices, SinnerSchrader AG is in a directbusiness relationship to different extents with itssubsidiaries; it charges for the services rendered andearns its own revenues from this.In the 2008/2009 financial year, the revenues were€ 3.1 million and thus matched the value of theprevious year. The expansion of the business portfoliohas not yet had a major impact on the total servicesinvoiced by the AG.However, the AG incurred higher operating costs inthe 2008/2009 financial year than in the previous yearbecause of the preparations for the expansion ofbusiness. The number of full-time employees inthe AG on average over the year was 5 full-timeemployees higher than in the previous year, meaningthat the personnel costs of € 1.7 million were a good€ 0.2 million higher. The other operating expensesand the expenditure for purchased services rose by€ 0.1 million each to € 1.9 million and € 0.2 million,respectively. In view of the low investments forreplacements and expansions in the central infrastructure,depreciations fell slightly. Furthermore, anagreement with the landlord of the office space inHamburg rented by SinnerSchrader AG made apositive contribution of € 0.1 million to the profitdevelopment in the 2008/2009 financial year; as aresult of this, the accrued expenses formed for cuts inrent could be dissolved.Income from the profit and loss transfer agreementwas well above that of the previous year because aprofit and loss transfer was conducted for spot-mediaAG for the first time in the year of the report. In total,the AG received an amount of € 2.9 million from profitand loss transfers, in comparison to € 2.6 million inthe previous year. Taking into account that the depreciationof a minority participation in the amount of€ 0.25 million in the previous year was not counteredby a similar burden in the 2008/2009 financial year,the contribution to profits from the subsidiaries andparticipations rose by around € 0.6 million, whichmore than balanced out the higher operating expensesdue to the expansion of business.In the 2008/2009 financial year, much lower incomewas earned than in the previous year from investingthe liquid funds that the AG administers and investscentrally for the SinnerSchrader Group. The incomewas € 0.2 million and was earned from other interestand similar income and as other operating incomewhere it was realised from the sale of securities. In2007/2008, this amount was just under € 0.4 million.In addition to lower average available funds, themarked fall in interest in short-term investmentsresulted in a fall in income opportunities. In view ofthe financial crisis, investment was also aimed at