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euro adhoc: Westag & Getalit AG
Quarterly or Semiannual Financial Statements / Rise in cost of materials weighs on H1 2005 results; AGM endorses 2004 dividend payments of EUR 0.48 per ordinary share and EUR 0.54 per preference share

  Disclosure announcement transmitted by euro adhoc.
  The issuer is responsible for the content of this announcement.
09.08.2005
According to the figures released by the Federal Statistical Office,
incoming orders in the German building construction sector continued
to decline in 2005, shrinking by 10.0% between January to May.
Despite this challenging environment Westag & Getalit AG was able to
largely maintain its level of half-year sales which came in at EUR
82.6 million, compared to EUR 84.2 million in the same period of 2004
(-1.8%). Export sales rose by 15.4% to EUR 16.3 million. The export
share stood at 19.8% in the first half of the year, meaning that we
have effectively reached the 20% export share repeatedly pointed to
in our guidance. All three divisions contributed double-digit growth
rates to this result.
Earnings before income taxes in the first half of 2005 amounted  to
EUR 1,460 thousand, which was clearly lower than in the same period
of the previous year (EUR 3,246 thousand). This development was
chiefly caused by considerably higher raw materials prices. DVFA/SG
earnings per share were down to EUR 0.16 (2004: EUR 0.37).
Today’s Annual General Meeting in Rheda-Wiedenbrück endorsed the
payment of a dividend of EUR 0.48 per ordinary share (previous year:
EUR 0.28) and of EUR 0.54 per preference share (previous year: EUR
0.34) for the financial year 2004.
The situation in our industry remains characterised by oversupply and
a continuing lack of positive stimulation for consumers to give up
their spending restraint. All the indications are that demand in
Germany will remain weak. We therefore seek to lower our personnel
expense ratio even further by way of additional rationalisation
measures as well as through the agreement of more flexible working
hours. The third quarter of the year brought the first declines in
raw materials prices and we hope that this trend will continue.
Notwithstanding the pressure on our prices, we believe that current
developments support our expectation of appropriate earnings to be
reported also for the full financial year, even though it will not be
possible to match the very good profit level of the previous year.
end of announcement                               euro adhoc 09.08.2005 12:34:04

Further inquiry note:

Felix Huisgen
Tel.: +49 (0)5242 17 5350
E-Mail: huisgen@westag-getalit.de

Branche: Building materials
ISIN: DE0007775207
WKN: 777520
Index: Prime Standard, Prime All Share
Börsen: Berliner Wertpapierbörse / free trade
Baden-Württembergische Wertpapierbörse / free trade
Börse Düsseldorf / free trade
Bremer Wertpapierbörse (BWB) / free trade
Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse / official dealing

Original content of: Westag & Getalit AG, transmitted by news aktuell

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