Corporate | 6 November 2006 09:09

A.S. Création Tapeten AG: A.S. Création reports sales and earnings growth for the current fiscal year

Corporate news transmitted by DGAP – a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— A.S. Création reports sales and earnings growth for the current fiscal year A.S. Création Tapeten AG, Europe’s leading wallpaper manufacturer, today published its interim report for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2006. A summary of the report is provided below: Innovative product range policy leads to rising sales abroad The positive sales performance of the first six months continued in the third quarter of the fiscal year. While sales rose by 4.7% in the first half of 2006, the third quarter saw sales up by 4.5%. Consolidated sales for the first nine-months amounted to € 114.8 million, up 4.7% on the previous year’s € 109.7 million. According to the Managing Board, this development reflects the innovative product range policy of A.S. Création. Again, more than 1,500 new articles will be introduced in the market this year. The increase in sales is attributable to the expansion of the company’s international activities, whereas domestic sales fell short of the previous year’s level. As a result, foreign markets account for a further increased share of total sales. While 57.4% of the Group’s gross sales in the first nine months of 2005 were generated in foreign markets, this share has advanced to 63.0% in the year to date. Earnings weighed down by increased commodity and energy prices The general increase in commodity and energy prices and freight rates also left its marks on the income statement of A.S. Création. Despite the rise in sales, the operating result for the first nine months of 2006, at € 9.9 million, only just matched the level of the previous year (2005: € 10.0 million). This shows that neither the company’s product policy, which aims to raise the percentage of high-quality products in the wallpaper range, nor the advances in staff productivity were able to fully offset these burdens. Positive effects were produced by the improved financial situation. The financial result improved due to the reduced liabilities, which, together with the Group’s lower tax rate, led to a 6.9% increase in net profit for the first nine months to € 5.7 million (2005: € 5.3 million). Overall, the profit margin after taxes improved moderately from 4.8% in 2005 to 4.9% in the current fiscal year. Financial position remains robust and healthy Compared to the previous year, A.S. Création’s financial position has improved noticeably. Cash flow, which is an indicator of the company’s internal financing strength, rose by € 0.4 million from € 11.5 million in the previous year to € 11.9 million in the first nine months of 2006. Whereas cash flow increased, capital expenditure funding requirements declined. This allowed net financial liabilities (interest-bearing liabilities less cash and cash equivalents) to be reduced substantially in the current fiscal year: At € 9.7 million, net financial liabilities as of September 30, 2006 were down € 3.7 million on the beginning of the fiscal year (December 31, 2005: € 13.4 million). The equity ratio increased further and reached 59.3% as of September 30, 2006 (December 31, 2005: 58.4%). Against the background of the strong cash flow and the good balance sheet ratios, the financial structure of A.S. Création remains robust and healthy. Full-year projections confirmed Despite the uncertainties relating to the fourth quarter of 2006, the Managing Board sticks to its projections for the full year 2006, which provide for sales of roughly € 150 million and a net profit of between € 8.0 million and € 8.5 million. According to current estimates, net profit will tend to be at the lower end of the projected bandwidth, though. The Group’s key figures for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2006 at a glance: 01.01. 01.01. 30.09. 30.09. 2006 2005 Change ————————————————– ——- ——- —— Sales EUR ‘000 114,819 109,704 4.7% Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) EUR ‘000 9,931 9,996 -0.7% Earnings before income taxes EUR ‘000 9,087 8,898 2.1% Net profit EUR ‘000 5,654 5,290 6.9% Earnings per share EUR/share 2.03 1.90 6.8% Cash-flow EUR ‘000 11,942 11,458 4.2% Capital expenditures EUR ‘000 4,303 7,728 -44.3% Depreciation EUR ‘000 6,174 6,290 -1.8% Number of employees (average) 631 636 -0.8% Gummersbach, November 6, 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 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 06.11.2006 ————————————————————————— 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 —————————————————————————