Change in top management at PWO

Oberkirch, May 20, 2014 â€" Yesterday, Progress-Werk Oberkirch AG held a festive ceremony for the retirement of Karl M. Schmidhuber, the Company's long-standing Chief Executive Officer. Close to 220 invited guests took part in this festive event at the Reithalle in Offenburg.

Karl M. Schmidhuber will retire from the Management Board of PWO AG at the close of the Annual General Meeting to be held on May 21, 2014. He has been a member of the Board since 1993 and the Company's Chief Executive Officer since 2004. In this time he was not only able to provide continuity to the Management Board but also was one of the longest-serving members of the Management Board in the Company's 95-year history.

During his time in office, PWO built the outstanding market position it enjoys today. The Group stands for technologically high-end metal components and subsystems, some of which are manufactured by the millions in series production. Vigorous internationalization and early positioning in lightweight construction have been the chief contributors to the acceleration in growth seen in the past several years during which the Company repeatedly achieved record revenues and earnings.

The Supervisory Board extends its thanks to Karl M. Schmidhuber for his tremendous entrepreneurial achievements: "Under his leadership, PWO's business model underwent important developments which built today's successful product range. At the same time, he positioned the Group globally. We wish him and his family all the best for the future", expressed Dieter Maier, Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

As already announced, Dr.-Ing. Volker Simon has been appointed as the successor. He will assume responsibility for the areas of Market and Technology and accept the role of Speaker of the Management Board as of July 1, 2014. The Supervisory Board is confident that Dr. Simon and his Management Board colleagues, Dr. Winfried Blümel (Production and Materials) and Bernd Bartmann (Administration and Finance) will continue with the Company's positive performance and enhance it even further.

Progress-Werk Oberkirch AG

The Management Board

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