Westag & Getalit AG generated sales revenues of € 111.6 million in the first six months of the year. First-half revenues were thus down by a moderate 0.7% on the previous year's € 112.4 million. In view of the continued difficult economic situation in some of the company's relevant export markets, the moderate 1.3% increase in export sales to € 23.3 million is good news. As a result, the export ratio rose to 20.8% (previous year: 20.4%).

The Doors/Frames Division generated sales revenues of € 58.5 million in the first half of the year, which is only marginally below the previous year's good figure of € 58.6 million.

At € 50.1 million, sales revenues in the Surfaces/Elements Division were down by a moderate 0.5% on the previous year's € 50.3 million.

External revenues generated by the co-generation plant were € 0.4 million lower than in the previous year due to unplanned repair work in the first half of the year and the resulting downtimes.

Despite the moderate decline in sales revenues, earnings before taxes increased thanks to the improved cost structure. At € 5.1 million, first-half earnings were up by 5.7% on the previous year's € 4.8 million. Accordingly, net profit for the period also showed a positive trend and climbed from € 3.4 million in the previous year to € 3.6 million. Net profit for the period per share amounted to € 0.63 for the ordinary shares and to € 0.69 for the preference shares.

The company plans to invest over € 13 million in the current fiscal year, with the main focus on selective capacity expansions in the context of the modernisation strategy, which will be pushed ahead further this year. The Doors/Frames Division will not only extend its production halls but also plans to invest in a new frames production line. This multi-year investment project involves advance payments for plants which will be installed only in 2016. In the context of the expansion of the Surface/Elements Division, the company plans to invest in a new processing plant for cut-to-size worktops at the Wadersloh plant. The company is thus responding to current market requirements.

After the first six months of 2015, the macroeconomic background suggests that the market environment will generally be positive but should continue to be seen in a differentiated manner. The good situation in the domestic housing construction sector and the slowly recovering public and commercial construction sector give cause for optimism. The investment projects realised in the past and the intensive efforts made in the context of a marketing offensive remain the basis on which the company expects to generate growing revenues in Germany and abroad if permitted by the prevailing market situation.

The result for 2015 will continue to be positively influenced by the organisational, cost-cutting and sales-enhancing measures taken in the past. Management therefore expects both sales revenues and earnings

to increase moderately. It remains to be seen, however, if the stable trend in the domestic economy seen in the first half of the year will continue and if the difficult international environment of the past years will deteriorate further.

The above release and further information on Westag & Getalit are available on the Internet at www.westag-getalit.de.


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