Press Release | 2009-06-23

Board of Management confirms positive outlook at Annual Stockholder´s Meeting

• Shareholders recognize a highly successful financial year 2008
• Sales growth of 7% forecasted for 2009
• Intershop to transition from technology supplier to a specialist for all e-commerce processes

Jena, June 22, 2009 – The Board of Management of Intershop Communications AG presented its strategic plans for future growth in the coming years at the Annual Stockholder’s Meeting held in Apolda on Friday, June 19, 2009. According to the plans, Intershop will evolve from a sole technology provider into a service provider covering the entire e-commerce process chain. This objective will be achieved using an organic growth model with additional acquisitions in areas of the process chain not yet covered by Intershop. Marking an important step in this transition, the company established itself successfully in the full-service-business during the financial year 2008 and has shown results in the customer win of the renowned fashion brand, Mexx, in 2009.

With about 125 shareholders in attendance, the meeting recognized the work of the Board of Management in the 2008 financial year, in which Intershop reported a profit for the first time.

About 40 % of the share capital was represented at the meeting. Shareholders approved the majority of proposals for the ten motions on the agenda. Three motions directed at forming two amounts of authorized capital as well as buying back own shares failed to reach the required three-quarter majority. Approving the actions of the Supervisory Board was postponed as a result of a counter-motion being submitted by a shareholder. This counter-motion demanded a special review of a licensing agreement concluded with a former member of the Board of Management in 2004, the legitimacy of which was challenged by shareholders after new insights were gained in the 2008 financial year. The counter-motion was adopted at the Annual Shareholder’s Meeting.

Sales expected to increase in 2009 despite economic crisis

With regard to business development in the current year, the Board of Management was confident that the company will reach the target of increasing sales by at least 7%. Peter Mark Droste, Member of the Board of Management since April 2009, commented: “The e-commerce market has remained relatively stable despite economic trends. In this particularly difficult market environment, more and more companies are shifting their sales activities to the internet. As an e-commerce leader, Intershop is ideally positioned to help companies grow and remain profitable in this sector.”
Member of the Management Board Henry Göttler added: “The objective is to develop customers with higher sales potential into Platinum Accounts. We achieved this just recently with the pharmaceutical and chemical group Merck. Further potential large-scale customers are in the pipeline.”
Towards the end of the Annual General Meeting, Chairman of the Supervisory Board Michael Sauer announced that the body had voted Joachim Sperbel to the post of Chairman. The structure of the Supervisory Board remains unchanged.