STARAMBA SE (XETRA: 99SC), which is listed in the General Standard, today published its annual financial statements for 2017. STARAMBA SE (SSE) grew strongly from EUR 2.1 million in the previous year to EUR 12.1 million in 2017, representing an increase of around 500% and thus exceeding the original revenue forecast of EUR 10 million. However, STARAMBA remained below the forecast of EUR 15.9 million, which had been raised during the year. As a result of special effects, a largely non-cash net loss for the year of EUR 43.8 million was reported instead of the planned EUR 7.0 million. The net loss for the year is mainly attributable to the impairment of goodwill arising from the merger in 2016.

In the past fiscal year, SSE positioned itself on the market as an innovative VR expert and confirmed its image as a technology-based provider of digital sports and entertainment merchandising products. In addition to refocusing its business activities on virtual reality, STARAMBA was also able to take advantage of further opportunities in the digital sector by acquiring the assets of Staramba USA in mid-2017. With the acquisition of stars such as Paris Hilton and Hulk Hogan as license partners, who are to be found in the virtual world of the future project STARAMBA.spaces, a new basis for the VR area was already created in 2017. The quality of the 3D-INSTAGRAPH® scanners was improved by updates, which resulted in the launch of the new “Fusion” scanner at the end of June 2017. In addition, the scan network was redefined through the establishment of the “avatar.cloud” product line. Both self-operated scanners and scanners from partners can now connect to the network and take advantage of the numerous services offered there. Due to its growth, STARAMBA has more than doubled its headcount from 31 to more than 70 employees and expanded its office space accordingly.

BDO AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft (Berlin), the auditors elected by the Annual General Meeting on 25 July 2017 to audit the financial statements for the 2017 financial year and commissioned by the Board of Directors, concluded the audit due to audit obstacles in the course of preparing the annual financial statements and the management report and issued a negative opinion on 25 May 2018. The financial statement documents, the audit report and the reasons that led to the auditor’s negative opinion were discussed in detail at the meeting of the Board of Directors on 25 May 2018. Measures were immediately initiated and implemented to ensure the preparation and publication of the 2017 annual financial statements. Among others, renowned auditors and lawyers were appointed to assist STARAMBA in clarifying outstanding legal and content issues.

STARAMBA has also comprehensively restructured its accounting capacities and processes. Against this backdrop, the finance department was already much better positioned in April 2018. In addition, the company plans to reorganise its board of directors accordingly and to have proven experts in finance and auditing elected to the highest body.
The amended annual financial statements and the amended management report as of December 31, 2017 were finally prepared as of November 29, 2018 and audited as part of a supplementary audit pursuant to § 316 (3) of the German Commercial Code (HGB). The audit by BDO AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, Berlin, then led to a further negative opinion. The Board of Directors then approved without dissenting vote the 2017 annual financial statements as prepared.
Management and the Board of Directors assess the delay in the 2017 annual financial statements and the rejection note as a one-time case that STARAMBA, as a young company, had to master.

For further explanations, please refer to the comments in the 2017 annual financial statements.

Sales target for 2018
In the current fiscal year 2018 it became clear that the demand for photorealistic 3D files of people, especially celebrities, has strongly increased. More and more companies are also moving into the virtual reality format, rewarding the STARAMBA.spaces offering, which has been upgraded with strong brands. On the other hand, the necessary development work on the part of STARAMBA also requires a great deal of time and personnel. STARAMBA must continue to grow in 2018 in order to achieve its goals. On the cost side, a noticeable increase in personnel costs is therefore expected for the 2018 and 2019 financial years. In order to finance these costs, STARAMBA SE carried out an initial token sale in 2018, which will bring the company a total of more than EUR 18 million in revenue. In addition, the management expects revenues from the 3D and Virtual Reality business of up to EUR 4 million.
The complete annual financial statements of STARAMBA SE are available at https://nexr-technologies.com/about/investors/publications.