Club Med Reports Revenue for the First Quarter of Fiscal 2013

(1 November 2012 - 31 January 2013)

News provided by

Club Med

Mar 11, 2013, 12:45 ET

MIAMI, March 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

- Revenue per available bed up a reported 1.9% at a constant exchange rate to € 112

- Winter bookings in business volume nearly stable as of 2 March 2013

- Summer bookingsin business volume up as of 2 March 2013

Commenting on Club Med's performance in North America, President and Chief Executive Officer, Xavier Mufraggi said:

"The financial results in Q1 for 2013 illustrate that despite harsh economic difficulties of today, the legendary brand continues to be a leading force in the all-inclusive vacation industry. Club Med is a unique brand in that we have over 80 resorts worldwide providing guests with many options to choose from when selecting a vacation destination. Many more US and Canadian travelers are looking for different vacation options outside of the Caribbean and we are able to provide this to them with our expansive portfolio of global resorts. From our new resort Pragelato Vialattea in Italy, located on Europe's second largest ski domain, to Guilin, our second resort in China, where were we are pioneering the concept of the all-inclusive vacation. Additionally, Club Med creates key points of differentiation through unique product offerings for our key targets from Kids Under 4 Stay Free starting in Summer 2013 to the innovative Active Vacation Concept at Sandpiper Bay in Florida."

At the Annual General Meeting, Club Mediterranee Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Henri Giscard d'Estaing said:

"While the tourist markets gradually deteriorated in Europe, Club Mediterranee recorded in 2012 a new growth of its activity and a new increase of customer satisfaction rates. Thanks to its powerful positioning on the upscale market, Club Med was able to protect its profitability and thus confirms the resilience of its business model.

Over the winter, Club Mediterranee captured growth on its international main markets and continued to gain market shares in France in an environment which worsened. Moreover, it reinforced its visibility with the launching of a new worldwide brand campaign and the development of its distribution network."

1. Business performance of the quarter

Business Volume Villages (corresponding to total sales regardless of village operating structure) totaled € 355 million from € 361 million for the 1^st quarter 2012, a 1.6% decrease at constant exchange rate.
In Asia, revenues dipped 9.9% due to, on the one hand, the closing of Lindeman Island in Australia at the end of January 2012 with an impact of € 4 million on Business Volume Villages and, on the other hand, by the slip of the Chinese New Year over the month of February 2013 (compared to January in 2012) which impacts the Asian Zone temporarily for approximately € 7 million. Excluding Lindeman Island and Chinese New Year, Asia is up 8.6%.
The capacity was adjusted by -3.8% in order to face a deteriorated economic situation, including -4.9% in Europe-Africa. It takes into account the closing of Lindeman Island's village and the opening of the 4-Trident village of Pragelato Vialattea in Italy.
RevPab (Revenue per available bed) posts an increase at constant exchange rate of 1.9% at € 111.8 from € 109.8 in the 1^st quarter 2012 thanks to the improvement of the average price per hotel day at € 162.7 (+2.5%) and to the stability of the occupancy rate at 66%.
The weight of the customers for the most upmarket villages (4 and 5-Trident villages) continues to rise by 2.8 points. They represent in the 1^st quarter 2013 nearly 80% of the total number of customers.

2. First quarter highlights

Market share gains in France
In an Individual French market down by 6.2% (in business volume) on departures from November 2012 to January 2013 according to CETO^{^[1]} data, Club Mediterranee continues to beat the market by posting a retreat limited to 2%.
Launching of a new worldwide brand campaign in January 2013
This new campaign aims to promote Club Med brand's unique spirit, to reinforce its awareness, to recruit new customers and to increase consumer loyalty.
Distribution in France
- Signature of a distribution agreement with Nouvelles Frontieres allowing Club Med to be sold in 258 new outlets in France and to thus accelerate the recruitment of new customers on the upscale market.
- Reinforcement of the presence of the brand and the visibility of the new Club Med offer in France by the extension of the network of Club Med Voyages franchises and the opening of 35 Club Med corners within the framework of the announced target of doubling the number of outlets in France by 2015. This strategy of innovative distribution aims to make customers live a Club Med experience in the outlets.
Success of the opening of the new village Pragelato Vialattea
Club Mediterranee inaugurated on December 13^th, 2012 the bi-seasonal 4-Trident village of Pragelato Vialattea, in Italy, which offers a very new experiment of mountain holidays. This multicultural village welcomed, over the quarter, 27 different nationalities (of which ¼ of French customers) and posted an occupancy rate of almost 80%.

3. Shareholding

Following the doubling of the voting rights attached to some of its shares on
November 17^th, 2012, Fosun holds 6,044,723 voting rights (including 5,866,536 that can be exercised).
In addition, the standstill clause by which Fosun had undertaken not to increase its share in Club Med above 10% on a diluted basis expires on March 7th, 2013, day of the Annual Shareholder Meeting.
The Board of directors meeting held last December to approve the 2012 financial statements also indicated that it would like for shareholders to benefit from the Company's improvements. Thus, the authorization to purchase shares in order to be cancelled is submitted today during the Annual Shareholder Meeting to the approval of the shareholders. This option seemed preferable to paying a cash dividend for fiscal 2012, taking into account the worsening economic and tourist environment and accordingly the lack of visibility on 2013. The authorization, if it is approved, could let the Board of directors which will meet at the beginning of June decide, in light of the results of winter and the summer bookings, the conditions of its implementation.

Outlook

A nearly stable winter 2013 in spite of the continued deterioration of the French tourist market

As of 2 March, 2013, winter 2013 bookings, expressed in business volume at constant exchange rate, are down 0.8% compared to winter 2012 but are stable excluding the evolution of the transport activity. At the same time last year, bookings represented 90% of the winter season.

Europe-Africa is down 2.7% in business volume, to compare with a capacity adjusted by -6.6%. In France, the activity is decreasing by 4.6%, of which 2.1% on the individual segment, reflecting the continuation of the degradation of the tourist market and a contraction of Club Med Business activity which had reached records last year.

The growth of 5.6% in Americas zone and of 1.9% in Asia zone is carried by a more favorable economic context in these areas of the world, more particularly thanks to the dynamism of the fast developing countries, and particularly China at +28%.

On the 8 last weeks, the bookings are down 5.4% with a decrease over this period of the Europe-Africa bookings of 6.4% and more particularly of France due to the partial shift of Easter holidays in May. The fall noted on Americas and Asia zones is not very significant, mainly being explained by calendar effects.
Bookings for summer 2013 are up
The bookings have benefited of an assertive early booking policy in all of the geographical areas and of the positive impact of the slip of the Easter holidays over the summer. At the same date last year, bookings represented approximately one third of the summer season.