Corporate | 24 May 2006 13:35

ARQUES publishes interim report for the first quarter of 2006 / First quarter points to a new record year in 2006 – earnings per share up 626.3%

Corporate-news transmitted by DGAP – a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— ARQUES publishes interim report for the first quarter of 2006 First quarter points to a new record year in 2006 – earnings per share up 626.3% Starnberg, May 24, 2006 – In the first quarter of fiscal 2006, equity-investment company ARQUES Industries AG (ISIN DE0005156004) boosted its revenues over the equivalent period last year by EUR 67.4 million to EUR 140.1 (previous year: EUR 72.7 million). This represents an increase of 92.7%. Earnings before interest, taxes, amortization and depreciation (EBITDA) rose by 338.5% to EUR 22.8 million (previous year: EUR 5.2 million). Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased by 460.6% to EUR 18.5 million compared with the first quarter of 2005 (previous year: 3.3 million). Consolidated net income climbed by EUR 17.8 million to EUR 20.1 million (previous year: EUR 2.3 million). Earnings per share of EUR 8.28 (previous year: EUR 1.14) were generated for the first quarter of the current year (+ 626.3%). Consolidated shareholders’ equity totaled EUR 156.8 million at March 31, 2006 (December 31, 2005: EUR 142.7 million), keeping the equity ratio in the ARQUES Group roughly constant, at 38.7% after 39.7% at December 31, 2005. The revenues and profits of the newly acquired companies Wanfried-Druck Kalden GmbH, Kalden, Rohner AG, Pratteln, Switzerland, and Hottinger Maschinenbau GmbH, Mannheim, have been incorporated for the first time in the first quarter of 2006. The three companies have been included in the consolidated financial statements with effect from March 1, 2006. The two companies acquired at the end of March – Druckerei J.P. Bachem GmbH & Co. KG and Georg Fischer Schwab GmbH & Co. KG – are not reflected in the report. The acquisition of Fritz Berger GmbH & Co. KG, a mail-order specialist for camping, caravanning and leisure goods, did not take place until the second quarter of 2006. Although the first quarter of a given year is generally the slowest in terms of acquisitions, ARQUES succeeded in acquiring no less than five companies during this period, with total revenues in excess of EUR 120 million. Revenues from new acquisitions of merely EUR 50 million had been budgeted for the first quarter. This meant that ARQUES exceeded its own target by 140%. The new subsidiaries simultaneously helped ARQUES raise its annualized consolidated revenues to around EUR 720 million. ‘ARQUES can look back a very successful quarter, with plenty of hard work. We have succeeded in acquiring five companies, which is far more than originally planned,’ commented Dr. Dr. Peter Löw, the Chairman of ARQUES’s Executive Board. ‘At the same time, we’ve made tremendous progress with the restructuring of our subsidiaries,’ he emphasized. Looking ahead to the rest of the year, the Chairman of ARQUES’s Executive Board expects to see further progresses with the restructuring of the acquired companies and numerous new acquisitions. ‘We have absolutely no intention of sitting back on the results for the first quarter. Instead, we will use the achievements to motivate ourselves to perform even better in our operations,’ he added. About ARQUES ARQUES Industries AG, Starnberg, (www.arques.de) is a turnaround specialist who focuses on the acquisition and the active restructuring of companies in transitional situations, in order to develop these, with its own team and own resources, to competitive enterprises with a positive yield. ARQUES revitalises its subsidiaries’ potential for creating value for the benefit of all its stakeholders, taking on the relevant social responsibility. ARQUES has made a duty of identifying underestimated companies with reduced survivability but with high appreciation potential, at the same time mastering complex company structures and transitional situations. The shares of ARQUES Industries AG are traded in the regulated market (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol ‘AQU’ (ISIN: DE0005156004) and are listed in the SDAX since September 19, 2005. Contact: ARQUES Industries AG Investor Relations & Corporate Communication Anke Lüdemann, CEFA/CIIA Tel.: +49 (0) 8151/ 651 0 Email: luedemann@arques.de (c)DGAP 24.05.2006 ————————————————————————— Language: English Issuer: ARQUES Industries AG Münchner Str. 15a 82319 Starnberg Deutschland Phone: +49 (0)8151 651-0 Fax: +49 (0)8151 651- 500 email: info@arques.de WWW: www.arques.de ISIN: DE0005156004 WKN: 515600 indices: SDAX Listed: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, München, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service —————————————————————————