029 Group SE

Earnings Release • Sep 23, 1998

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Ad-hoc | 23 September 1998 14:54

Ad hoc-Service: Austria Haustechnik AG half year98

—————————————————————— Ad hoc-Service: Austria Haustechnik AG half year98 Ad hoc-Mitteilung übermittelt durch die DGAP. Für den Inhalt der Mitteilung ist allein der Emittent verantwortlich. —————————————————————————— Strong growth of earning and sales in the first half year 1998. After already having achieved substantial increases in turnover and profits in the first quarter of 1998 in comparison to the same period in 1997, Austria Haustechnik AG (AHT) maintained this trend in the second quarter as well. Sales rose by 45.9 % in the first six months in comparison to the same period last year, namely from ATS 437 million to just under ATS 638 million. The main reasons for this positive development were an overproportional increase in sales volume for free standing deep freeze isles in supermarkets (77 %) on the one hand and a significant increase in sales volume for ice cream cabinets (31 %) on the other. The industrial supplies sector also showed encouraging developments. The development of profits was even more encouraging than the increase in turnover in the same period. The operating result was boosted by 102 % from ATS 28 million to ATS 56.7 million in comparison with the same period last year.The results of general business activity grew by 133 % from ATS 22.3 million to ATS 52 million.Gross cash flow (EBITDA) rose from ATS 46 million to ATS 79 million in the period of comparison, i.e. by 70 %. Profits in accordance with ÖVFA improved by 110 % from ATS 18.4 million to ATS 38.7 million. In the ice cream sector, AHT was able to expand its leading position worldwide as a producer of ice cream cabinets still further; this is also reflected in the supply contract over several years concluded with the Unilever group. AHT’s innovative refrigeration and deep freezing systems for the retail food shops, and in particular the free standing deep freeze isles, which showed volume growth of 77 %, were the most important factors contributing to an improvement in company figures. A further reason behind the good developments was that the 43 % increase in the company’s production was achieved with a 29 % increase in employees, rising from 422 to 545 in the period of comparison. This also shows that the optimization of the business process which has been going on actively since April of this year has had an eminently important contribution to make to the increase in operating results. For 1998 as a whole, AHT expects the growth in turnover to continue and profits to improve at a significantly higher level than the growth in turnover. Developments in this period cannot, however, be extrapolated for the year-end results due to seasonal business trends. Key figures *) 1-6/1998 1-6/1997 Change in % figures in thousend ATS Sales 637,920 437,089 45.9 Output 602,682 420,416 43.4 Operating result (EBIT) 56,772 28,011 102.7 Results from ordinary activities 52,112 22,309 133.6 Net-profit 30,632 13,566 125.8 Profits in accordance with ÖVFA 38,698 18,404 110.3 EBITDA(gross cash flow) 78,759 46,224 70.4 Number of employees as of 30.06. 545 422 29.0 * Developments in this period cannot be extrapolated for the year-end results due to seasonal business trends. AHT shares The price of AHT shares has developed very positively since they were launched on 12 June 1998, rising to their highest price so far of ATS 510 on 24 July 1998. The general lull on the Viennese capital market over the last few weeks has had effect on AHT shares. Altogether, AHT shares have clearly fared better since their launch than the ATX. Rottenmann, September 1998 Ende der Mitteilung