Ad-hoc | 31 March 2003 21:14

GESCO AG english

GESCO hives off its New Technologies division Ad-hoc-announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– GESCO hives off its New Technologies division Wuppertal, 31 March 2003 – Today, the Prime Standard-listed holding company GESCO AG drew a line under its commitment in the New Technologies segment and sold its subsidiary GESCO Technology AG including all its shareholdings to Mikro Systec AG, Munich. This means that there will be no risks resulting from this segment from now on. As part of its portfolio realignment, GESCO has also made changes to its Base Technologies segment, namely selling its minority stake of 24.9% in the plant construction and engineering company Steiner GmbH & Co. KG to the majority shareholder. The losses resulting from the portfolio realignment, the majority of which will not impact on liquidity, total approximately EUR 4,1 million. In the consolidated financial statements for financial year 2002/2003, which ends on 31 March 2003, a loss of around EUR 3,2 million will have to be reported for the first time in the company’s history. The operating earnings power of the Base Technologies segment has not been affected by the portfolio realignment and remains intact. All the operating companies that will remain within the GESCO Group have performed well and in some cases very well in financial year 2002/2003 despite difficult economic circumstances and, without exception, remained profitable. The forecasts for operating results in financial year 2002/2003 (EBITDA of EUR 16 million, EBIT of EUR 8.8 million) therefore remain unchanged. Despite this one-off effect, the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board will propose a dividend of EUR 0.50 per share at the Annual General Meeting on 30 July 2003, which reflects the Group’s sustained earnings power. At today’s share price, this corresponds to a return of well over 5%. At the beginning of financial year 2003/2004, the GESCO Group will report positive results, returning to form. Despite the widespread pessimism regarding the state of the economy, the management sees good opportunities for Group performance in the new financial year. The Executive Board will present the financial statements for 2002/2003 and the outlook for the new financial year 2003/2004 at the accounts press conference on 26 June 2003. GESCO AG, Investor Relations, Oliver Vollbrecht. Tel. 0049-202 2482018, E-Mail: info@gesco.de, Website: http://www.gesco.de. end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 31.03.2003 ——————————————————————————– WKN: 587590; ISIN: DE0005875900; Index: Listed: Amtlicher Markt in Düsseldorf und Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, Hamburg, München und Stuttgart 312114 Mär 03