Corporate | 16 March 2006 10:15

A.S. Création Tapeten AG: Continued growth in fiscal 2005

Corporate-news transmitted by DGAP – a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— A.S. Création Tapeten AG, Gummersbach/Germany (ISIN DE0005079909) Continued growth in fiscal 2005 A.S. Création Tapeten AG, Europe’s leading wall paper manufacturer, again increased its sales and earnings in 2005. This was announced by the Managing Board at today’s annual accounts press conference. At € 145.3 million, Group sales were up 10.0% on the previous year’s € 132.1 million. Consolidated net profit increased by 17.2% from € 6.6 million in 2004 to € 7.7 million. As no acquisitions were made in 2005, the increase in sales is exclusively the result of internal growth. This growth was driven by the Wallpaper Division, which boosted its sales by 11.4%. Being an efficient and innovative supplier, A.S. Création used the consolidation process in the wallpaper industry to win new customers both in Germany and abroad. By contrast, the Furnishing Fabrics Division had to absorb a 4.0% decrease in sales in 2005. Compared to the German home textiles industry, which reported declines in sales of between 5.1% and 10.9% in comparable product groups, this decrease was moderate, though. On the back of the increased sales, A.S. Création was able to improve its earnings position. Earnings before taxes climbed 18% from € 11 million in 2004 to € 13.0 million in 2005. Given that earnings increased at a higher rate than sales, A.S. Création’s pre-tax profit margin amounted to 8.9%, improving on the previous year’s 8.3%. A further increase in earnings was precluded by the surge in raw materials and energy prices. On the upside, both the Wallpaper Division and the Furnishing Fabrics Division made a positive profit contribution in fiscal 2005. This means that the Furnishing Fabrics Division has finally completed the turnaround. Between them, the two Divisions generated a consolidated net profit of € 7.7 million (2004: € 6.6 million). This represents earnings per share of € 2.78 (2004: € 2.37). Continuing its dividend policy, which is characterised by a high payout ratio, the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board of A.S. Création AG will propose to the General Meeting of Shareholders that a dividend of € 1.25 (2004: € 1.05) per share be paid out to the shareholders. This would be the highest dividend in the history of A.S. Création and be equivalent to a payout ratio of 45.0% (2004: 44.3%). At € 8.9 million (2004: € 6.2 million), the capex volume of the year 2005 reflects the consistent implementation of the company’s growth strategy. The Wallpaper Division invested both in the expansion of its production capacity and in new production technologies. The latter include the acquisition of an additional screen printing machine and a so-called ‘wet-on-wet printing machine’ for a total of € 4.0 million. For A.S. Créaton, the wet-on-wet process is a new printing technology, which has so far been used primarily for fabric printing but can also be used to produce wallpapers with high-quality textures. Investments in new wallpaper collections remained largely unchanged, so that A.S. Création was again able to offer its customers some 1,850 new articles in 2005. According to the Managing Board, the unique range of wallpapers remains one of the company’s main strengths. A.S. Création plans to expand its leading position in the European wallpaper market in 2006. The innovative product range and the above investments mean that the course for continued expansion has been set. The Furnishing Fabrics Division is set to increase its sales, especially abroad, so as to improve its profit situation. Overall, the Group projects sales of approx. € 150 million and a net profit between € 8.0 and 8.5 million for fiscal 2006. The Group’s key figures for 2005 at a glance: 2005 2004 Change Sales € ‘000 145,320 132,114 10.0% Earnings before interest € ‘000 14,842 12,674 17.1% and taxes (EBIT) Earnings before income taxes € ‘000 12,978 10,996 18.0% Net profit € ‘000 7,744 6,610 17.2% Earnings per share €/share 2.78 2.37 17.3% Dividend €/share 1.25 1.05 19.0% Cash-flow € ‘000 16,033 13,882 15.5% Capital expenditures € ‘000 8,919 6,248 42.7% Depreciation € ‘000 8,168 7,714 5.9% Number of employees (average) 635 633 0.3% Gummersbach, March 16, 2006 A.S. Création Tapeten AG The Managing Board Inquiries: Maik Krämer, Director of Finance, phone + 49 – (0)22 61/542-387, fax + 49 – (0)22 61/542-304, e-mail m.kraemer@as-creation.de The full annual report is available at: www.as-creation.de or from: A.S. Création Tapeten AG, Frau Börngen, Südstr. 47, D – 51645 Gummersbach, phone + 49 – (0)22 61/542-350 (c)DGAP 16.03.2006 ————————————————————————— language: English emitter: A.S. Création Tapeten AG Südstraße 47 51645 Gummersbach Deutschland phone: +49 (0)22 615 42-0 fax: +49 (0)22 6154 2-3 04 email: investor@as-creation.de WWW: investor@as-creation.de ISIN: DE0005079909 WKN: 507990 indexes: stockmarkets: Amtlicher Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, Stuttgart, München, Hamburg, Düsseldorf End of News DGAP News-Service —————————————————————————