Corporate | 3 July 2001 09:30

HAWESKO Holding AG english

Corporate-News announcement sent by DGAP. The sender is solely responsible for the contents of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Antinori gives Hawesko much to be pleased about – Sales in the wholesale business segment far above expectations Hamburg, 3. July 2001. The wine trading group Hawesko Holding AG (HAWG.F, 604270) is extremely satisfied with its distribution partnership with the renowned Italian wine house Marchesi Antinori Srl. Just six months after beginning the actual distribution of Antinori wines, Hawesko’s subsidiary Weinland Ariane Abayan, which specializes in Italian wines in the Group’s wholesale segment, is posting extremely positive business development. Sales of the entire wholesale segment of the Group are nearly 30% – far above the expectations of Hawesko’s management board: they see the cooperation with Antinori, which was announced in May 2000 and began in January 2001, as a main factor in this sales development. Weinland Ariane Abayan joined the Hawesko Group in September 1999 within the framework of the acquisition of the Wein Wolf Group. “Antinori recognized the significance of the trend towards better-quality wines very early on and has consistently pursued this orientation”, said Anton A. Rössner, managing director of Weinland Ariane Abayan in Hamburg. “The fact that we share this view and act accordingly was a primary factor in creating this partnership. Now, after half a year of good experience in working together, we see the opportunity for further development even more optimistically.” Italian wines have a market share of 17% in Germany, making Italy one of the two most important countries of origin for imported wines in Germany. According to market research done by the Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung (GfK), sales of Italian wines experienced double-digit growth rates last year. As observations of the overall market indicate, the demand for high-quality Italian wines is presently very strong – with an upwards tendency. Alexander Margaritoff, CEO of Hawesko Holding AG, says of the partnership with Marchesi Antinori: “The Hawesko Group has been able to gain exclusive rights to one of the top brands in an important market segment. The outstanding start has demonstrated that the wishes of our customers and the quality of taste and pricing levels of the Antinori wines match perfectly.” Hawesko Holding AG is Germany’s leading seller of premium wines and champagnes. Through its three distribution channels – mail order/e-commerce (in particular Hanseatisches Wein- und Sekt-Kontor), specialist wine retail (Jacques’ Wein- Depot), and wholesale (Wein Wolf and CWD Champagner & Wein Distributionsgesellschaft) – the Group achieved sales of DM 454 million in fiscal year 2000. The Group employs 515 staff members. – – – – Publisher Hawesko Holding AG Postfach 20 15 52 20205 Hamburg Internet http://www.hawesko.com (company profile) http://www.winegate.de or http://www.hawesko.de (Online-Shop) Press/Media Vera Maria Bau, VMB Consulting Tel. (02244) 91 27 36 Fax (02244) 91 27 38 e-mail: vmb@nsag.de Investor Relations Thomas Hutchinson, Hawesko Holding AG Tel. (040) 30 39 21 00 Fax (040) 30 39 21 05 e-mail: ir@hawesko.com end of message, (c) DGAP 03.07.2001