LAIQON AG — Earnings Release 2006

May 29, 2006

News Details

Corporate | 29 May 2006 08:32

Lloyd Fonds reporting dynamic growth in the first quarter of 2006

Corporate-news transmitted by DGAP – a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— – Triple-digit growth rates achieved in the first quarter of 2006: o Sales up 176% to EUR 31.5 million o EBIT up 189% to EUR 6.9 million – Proposed dividend of EUR 1.10 equivalent to a dividend yield of around 6% – Full-year forecasts for 2006 raised slightly Hamburg, May 29, 2006. In the first quarter of 2006, Lloyd Fonds AG continued without interruption the excellent performance which it had achieved in 2005. Thus, key financials were up by triple-digit rates. Sales rose by 176% year on year to EUR 31.5 million, while EBIT grew even more quickly again by 189% to EUR 6.9 million. Post-tax profit surged from EUR 1.7 million to EUR 5.0 million in tandem with an increase in earnings per share from EUR 0.18 to EUR 0.40. Dr. Torsten Teichert, CEO of Lloyd Fonds AG, is very satisfied with the Company’s performance in the first quarter: “Lloyd Fonds got off to a superb start to 2006. Against the backdrop of mounting pessimism in the market for closed-end funds, the growth rates which we achieved in sales, earnings and equity placed of well over 100% clearly testify to Lloyd Fonds AG’s quality and potency. Accordingly, we are optimistic for the year as a whole although it will clearly not be possible to maintain the enormous growth rates achieved in the first three months.” Substantial increase in placement activities Despite a general slowdown in the market for closed-end funds in the first three months of 2006, Lloyd Fonds was able to increase the volume of equity placed from EUR 64 million to EUR 153 million. Special mention should be made in this connection of the ship fund placed exclusively via Deutsche Bank with a volume of USD 137 million in the first quarter. A further sum of EUR 23 million was placed in the shipping segment via the “Flottenfonds VIII” fund. Equity placed in the traded UK endowment policy segment already exceeded EUR 15 million in the first three months. Partnerships extended To achieve greater asset class diversification, Lloyd Fonds extended its partnerships with relevant industry experts at the beginning of the year. Thus, for example, a partnership was forged with energyONE, an internationally renowned UK initiator of investments in regenerative energies. In collaboration with this partner, Lloyd Fonds will be arranging investments with an annual volume of up to EUR 100 million over the next few years, with further ones already in the pipeline. Lloyd Fonds and a Spanish solar energy project developer have signed a declaration of intent for the construction of a solar-energy plant. As well as this, Lloyd Fonds is currently engaged in negotiations for an office real estate portfolio in Cologne. Attractive dividend of EUR 1.10 Lloyd Fonds AG’s annual general meeting will be taking place in Hamburg on June 29, 2006, at which the Management Board will be asking the shareholders to approve a dividend of EUR 1.10 per share. On the basis of the current stock price of EUR 18.30 (May 26, 2006), this translates into a dividend yield of around 6%. Unabated strong optimism for 2006 as a whole Notwithstanding a possible decline in the overall market for closed-end funds, Lloyd Fonds AG remains upbeat for 2006 as a whole. Equity placed is expected to come to EUR 370 – 390 million. On the basis of these projections, full-year sales will reach around EUR 90 million for 2006, translating into year-on-year growth of more than 25%. Consolidated profit should equal EUR 19 – 20 million, thus marking further growth over the already excellent performance achieved in the previous year. In the last few months, new ships have been ordered and bought after an absence of such activity for around twelve months. A new ship fund investing in an 8,200 TEU container vessel acquired in April 2006 is currently in the pipeline, with the equity to be placed equaling about EUR 30 million. In addition, four container ships each with 4,300 TEU have been ordered for delivery in 2009. The “Britische Kapital Leben IV” fund with equity of around EUR 20 million up to a maximum of EUR 30 million has already received BaFin clearance, while a further traded endowment policy fund “Britische Kapital Leben V“ worth around EUR 30 million is currently in the planning phase. In addition to this, the Company expects to initiate further real estate, regenerative energy and private equity funds between now and the end of 2006. Key financials for Lloyd Fonds AG (Group) (in EUR million) Performance indicators: First quarter 2006 2005 Change Sales 31.5 11.4 +176.3% EBIT 6.9 2.4 +188.7% EBIT margin 21.9% 21.0% +0.9 pp Profit for the quarter 5.0 1.7 +191.2% Earnings per share (in EUR) 0.40 0.18 +193.7% Equity placed 153.6 64.0 +139.1% Balance sheet: Total assets 116.1 42.3 Equity 80.3 18.0 Equity ratio 69.1% 39.7% Employees: Average headcount 88 58 Press inquiries: Lloyd Fonds AG Neuer Wall 72 20354 Hamburg ir@lloydfonds.de For questions on the Company: Dr. Götz Schlegtendal Telephone: 040-325678-148 (c)DGAP 29.05.2006 ————————————————————————— Language: English Issuer: Lloyd Fonds Aktiengesellschaft Neuer Wall 72 20354 Hamburg Deutschland Phone: +49 (0)40 32 56 78-0 Fax: +49 (0)40 32 56 78-99 email: info@lloydfonds.de WWW: www.lloydfonds.de ISIN: DE0006174873 WKN: 617487 indices: Listed: Amtlicher Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service —————————————————————————