Corporate | 7 August 2006 09:05

A.S. Création Tapeten AG continues its expansion and reports sales and earnings growth of 4.7% and 15.6%, respectively, for the first half of 2006

Corporate news transmitted by DGAP – a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— Press Release A.S. Création Tapeten AG, Gummersbach/Germany (ISIN DE0005079909) A.S. Création continues its expansion and reports sales and earnings growth of 4.7% and 15.6%, respectively, for the first half of 2006 A.S. Création Tapeten AG, Germany’s largest wallpaper manufacturer, today published its interim report for the six-month period ended June 30, 2006. A summary of the report is provided below: Strong sales growth in foreign markets While sales increased by 3.6% already in the first three months of 2006, the second quarter was even more successful with sales growing by 5.9%. This means that A.S. Création generated consolidated sales of € 77.4 million in the first half of 2006, up 4.7% on the previous year’s € 73.9 million. This sales growth is exclusively attributable to the Wallpaper Division. Sales in the Furnishing Fabrics Division reached the previous year’s level. The growth in sales in the Wallpaper Division was based on the expansion of business abroad, while domestic sales were clearly down on the previous year. The decline in domestic sales is mainly attributable to a special effect in 2005, when two new major customers were supplied for the first time, leading to incremental domestic sales in 2005. Apart from this special effect, the increase in the percentage of international sales is also attributable to the general market development. While demand for wallpapers stagnated in Germany in the first half of 2006, several Eastern European markets saw demand increase. This is one reason why exports account for a growing percentage of the Group’s total sales. While 54.7% of the Group’s gross sales were generated abroad in the first half of 2005, this percentage has increased to 60.5% in the current fiscal year. Profit margin rises despite increased raw material and energy prices The general increase in raw material and energy prices also left its mark on the income statement of A.S. Création. The gross profit margin amounted to 49.2% in H1 2006, down 0.9 percentage points on the previous year’s 50.1%. This decline shows that the company’s product policy of increasing the percentage of high-quality products in the wallpaper range has not been fully effective in offsetting the increase in procurement costs. These adverse impacts on the earnings position were partly offset by improved staff productivity. Sales per employee rose by 6.0% from € 0.116 million in the first half of 2005 to € 0.123 million in the current fiscal year. This and the reduced depreciation as well as the improved relation between other operating expenses and sales, which is the result of cost savings and improved overhead absorption, led to a better earnings position than in the previous year. For the first half of 2006, A.S. Création reported a net profit of € 4.0 million, up 15.6% on the previous year’s € 3.4 million. The return on sales rose from 4.7% in the first half of 2005 to 5.1% in the current fiscal year. Financial structure remains robust despite record dividend In May 2006, A.S. Création paid out a dividend of € 1.25 per share for a total payout volume of € 3.5 million. This is the highest dividend paid since the 1998 IPO. Both the record dividend and current capital expenditures in the fiscal year in an amount of € 2.9 million were funded from cash flow, which rose by 8.3% from € 7.5 million to € 8.2 million in H1 2006. Against the background of the strong cash flow and the high equity ratio, which stood at 59.3% as at June 30, 2006, the financial structure of A.S. Création essentially remains very robust and healthy. Outlook remains optimistic Against the background of the successful first half of 2006, the Managing Board has confirmed its projections for the full year 2006, according to which Group sales and net profit will amount to approx. € 150 million and between € 8.0 and 8.5 million, respectively. The Group’s key figures for the first half of 2006 at a glance: 01.01. 01.01. -30.06. -30.06. 2006 2005 Change ————————————————– ——- ——- —— Sales EUR ‘000 77,364 73,870 4.7% Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) EUR ‘000 6,962 6,381 9.1% Earnings before income taxes EUR ‘000 6,387 5,730 11.5% Net profit EUR ‘000 3,982 3,445 15.6% Earnings per share EUR/share 1.43 1.24 15.3% Cash-flow EUR ‘000 8,153 7,528 8.3% Capital expenditures EUR ‘000 2,884 6,109 -52.8% Depreciation EUR ‘000 4,046 4,264 -5.1% Number of employees (average) 627 637 -1.6% Gummersbach, August 7, 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)2261/542-304, e-mail m.kraemer@as-creation.de The full interim report is available at: www.as-creation.de or from: A.S. Création Tapeten AG, Mrs. Börngen, Südstr. 47, D – 51645 Gummersbach, phone +49-(0)22 61/542-350, e-mail investor@as-creation.de (c)DGAP 07.08.2006 ————————————————————————— Language: English Issuer: 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 E-mail: investor@as-creation.de WWW: investor@as-creation.de ISIN: DE0005079909 WKN: 507990 Indices: Listed: Amtlicher Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, Stuttgart, München, Hamburg, Düsseldorf End of News DGAP News-Service —————————————————————————