Wolford AG — Earnings Release 2005

Feb 9, 2005

News Details

Ad-hoc | 9 February 2005 08:30

Wolford AG: WOLFORD GROUP ACHIEVES SLIGHT SALES GROWTH IN THIRD QUARTER

Ad hoc announcement Ad hoc announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ WOLFORD GROUP ACHIEVES SLIGHT SALES GROWTH IN THIRD QUARTER – Cumulative sales in first nine months at year-earlier level – Currency-adjusted sales up 0.7 percent in first three quarters Bregenz, Austria, February 9, 2005 Sales of the Wolford Group in the third quarter (Nov. 2004 – Jan. 2005) grew by 2.5 percent compared to the year-earlier period. Cumulative sales in the first three quarters of the 2004/05 fiscal year (May 2004 – Jan. 2005) effectively matched the prior-year level (down just 0.1 percent from EUR 90.55 million to EUR 90.48 million). The chief reasons for this trend were the significant cumulative sales growth of 9 percent this fiscal year to date in Austria and stabilizing sales in Germany, the Group’s most important market. Double-digit growth in the first nine months of the fiscal year was attained in CEE (25 percent), Scandinavia (15 percent), Italy (14 percent), U.K. (12 percent, or 9 percent in local currency) and the Netherlands (11 percent). Sales in the U.S. were up 2 percent in the third quarter on a local-currency basis. Cumulative sales in the U.S. in dollars exactly matched the prior-year level, but on a euro basis were down 7 percent from the previous year due to the weak dollar. In Germany in the past quarter, sales grew for the first time since 2001, by 6 percent. This reduced the year-over-year cumulative decline in the first three quarters of this fiscal year to 5 percent. The sales trend remained negative in Switzerland (cumulative sales down 14 percent) and the Far East. The number of Wolford boutiques rose from 226 at the beginning of the fiscal year to 230 at the end of January 2005. Whether the positive sales trend continues in the final quarter of the year will depend very much on the coming follow-up order volume and is difficult to forecast at present. For the full 2004/05 fiscal year the management aims for a slight increase in sales. The sales figures reported here represent preliminary data. The final sales data as well as the full financial results for the first three quarters of 2004/05 will be published on March 15, 2005. Contacts:Holger Dahmen, Chief Executive Officer Peter Simma, Chief Financial Officer investor@wolford.com Wolford AG, Wolfordstraße 1, A-6901 Bregenz, Austria +43 (0) 5574/690 0 http://www.wolford.com Wolford AG Wolfordstraße 1 6901 Bregenz Austria ISIN: AT0000834007 WKN: 083400 Listed: Amtlicher Handel in Wien; Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, München und Stuttgart End of ad hoc announcement (c)DGAP 09.02.2005 090830 Feb 05