- Business prospered throughout the first quarter
- Incoming orders and sales figures reach record levels in the second quarter
- Full year guidance confirmed

Wuppertal, 11 August 2011 – At GESCO Group, business prospered throughout the first quarter (1 April to 30 June 2011) of financial year 2011/2012 (1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012). Incoming orders and sales figures came close to pre-crisis top levels and key earnings figures rose far above average. In the second quarter, incoming orders and sales increased once again.

In the first quarter of 2011/2012, incoming orders soared to € 115.9 million. Compared to € 87.8 million in the first quarter of the previous year, this corresponds to a 32.0 % rise. Group sales also grew considerably by 29.9 % to € 99.7 million (previous year: € 76.8 million). As in the full financial year 2010/2011, earnings key figures in the first quarter of 2011/2012 profited from economies of scale and significantly outperformed sales. In addition, other operating expenditure in the first quarter of the previous year included a one-off effect of around € 600 thousand. Total earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) amounted to € 12.3 million (previous year: € 7.3 million), corresponding to a rise of 67.0 %. While depreciation and amortisation went up only marginally, EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) more than doubled year-on-year to € 9.4 million (previous year: € 4.6 million). Group net income after minority interest shot up by 122.1 % to € 5.4 million (previous year: € 2.4 million). This corresponds to earnings per share of € 1.80 pursuant to IFRS (previous year: € 0.81).

Business continued to develop prosperously in the second quarter of financial year 2011/2012, which encompasses the operating months April to June 2011 of the subsidiaries. Incoming orders reached a record € 117.6 million, corresponding to a rise of 28.7 % compared to € 91.4 million in the previous year. With 39.7 %, sales grew even more steeply and reached € 111.5 million (€ 79.8 million). These are the highest values ever achieved by GESCO Group in one single quarter.

GESCO Executive Board member Dr. Hans-Gert Mayrose comments: “The figures confirm that the economic position of GESCO Group is intact. This is in stark contrast to the current serious turbulences in the international financial markets. The consequences of these turbulences on the real economy cannot be foreseen right now. At present, GESCO Group does not show any definite signs of an economic slump. Considering all information available to us, we decided to confirm our guidance published during the accounts press conference on 7 June 2011. It expects Group sales of € 390 million and Group net income after minority interest of € 19 million, corresponding to earnings per share pursuant to IFRS of € 6.29.”

Full Interim Report 1 April to 30 June 2011
Video webcast with commentary by Dr. Mayrose on the Interim Report