RATIONAL AG — Earnings Release 2005

Mar 22, 2006

News Details

Corporate | 22 March 2006 10:00

Rational AG: Record results in 2005

Ad hoc announcement transmitted by DGAP – a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— Record results in 2005 – Sales up 11% – EBIT up 25% – EBIT-Margin at 27% – 3.00 Euro Dividend proposed – SelfCooking Center® as the new global standard – VarioCooking Center® with high customer acceptance Landsberg, March 22, 2006. Die RATIONAL AG, world market leader in the sector of cooking technology for professional kitchens, could close business year 2005 with new records. Sales revenue totalled € 246.4 million in 2005, effectively posting 11 percent sales growth or the equivalent of € 25 million. EBIT of € 66.9 million was up 25 percent on the previous year’s figure of € 53.3 million. EBIT-margin rose from 24.0 percent in 2004 to a new record level of 27.2 percent in 2005. International subsidiaries grew 22 % International subsidiaries have contributed strongly to the positive development by posting growth of 22 percent. The successful strategy to penetrate high potential markets by own, fully specialised and effective organisations, was once again confirmed. In 2005 new subsidiaries were established in Austria, Poland, France and Switzerland. The SelfCooking Center® – the new global standard By the invention of the world´s first SelfCooking Center® in 2004 RATIONAL has achieved a technological quantum leap. With over 20.000 SelfCooking Centers® sold in 2005 this technology has already firmly established itself as the new global standard with high customer acceptance within one year after the launch. Complementary product opens new world market In parallel to the SelfCooking Center® the French subsidiary FRIMA developed an entirely new complementary product: the VarioCooking Center®, which was successfully launched in selected European test markets during May 2005. While the SelfCooking Center® cooks any product using hot, fast-flowing air, the new VarioCooking Center® covers the remaining products which are cooked in fluid or by using direct contact heat. With the invention of the VarioCooking Center® an additional world market of round about 2.5 million kitchens was created. By using both appliances in combination all traditional cooking equipment in a professional kitchen can be replaced now. Dividend of € 34 million proposed The high cash flow from operating activities permits a payout of an attractive dividend to RATIONAL shareholders and at the same time ensures the internal financing of strategic growth targets. For 2005 the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board suggest a dividend of € 34.1 million or € 3.00 per share to the shareholders. Positive expectations for 2006 In 2006 RATIONAL focuses on investing in the further selected extension of the global sales and marketing network. Together with the innovative and superior products, the Executive Board is confident to clearly enforce the sales growth by 15 percent to € 283 million. At the same time this leads to an over proportional increase in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of 17 percent to € 78 million. ————————————————————————— Informationen und Erläuterungen des Emittenten zu dieser Ad-Hoc-Mitteilung: Information for editors: RATIONAL is the world market and technology leader for the thermal preparation of food in professional kitchens. The company, founded in 1973, employs more than 800 people, over 500 of them are in Germany. RATIONAL was floated on the German stock market in 2000 and is currently represented in the SDAX. Since the IPO in 2000, the price of RATIONAL shares has practically quintupled, making them one of the leading German shares and one of the jewels in the SDAX crown. The company’s principal objective is to offer customers maximum benefit at all times. Internally RATIONAL is committed to the principle of sustainability, expressed in its policies on environmental protection, leadership and social responsibility. Numerous international awards bear witness year on year to the high level of RATIONAL’s work. YE 2005 YE 2004 Sales (millions of euros) 246.4 221.8 EBIT (millions of euros) 66.9 53.3 EBT (millions of euros) 67.2 53.9 EPS (undiluted) (euros) 3.73 2.98 (c)DGAP 22.03.2006 ————————————————————————— language: English emitter: Rational AG Iglinger Straße 62 86899 Landsberg a. Lech Deutschland phone: +49 (0)8191 327-283 fax: +49 (0)8191 327-533 email: h.wiedemann@rational-online.de WWW: www.rational-online.de ISIN: DE0007010803 WKN: 701080 indexes: SDAX stockmarkets: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, Düsseldorf, München, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service —————————————————————————