Wuppertal, 28 June 2005 – Prime Standard-listed holding company GESCO AG can look back at an extremely successful financial year 2004/2005 (1 April 2004 – 31 March 2005). At today’s account press conference in Düsseldorf, the Executive Board reported on the best results in the company’s history and outlined the prospects for further growth in the new 2005/2006 financial year.
The GESCO Group increased its sales during the reporting year by 12.3% to EUR 192.3 million (previous year EUR 171.2 million). Growth in Group net income was even stronger, rising from EUR 4.2 million to EUR 6.2 million. In addition to good operating results, two non-recurring effects totalling EUR 0.8 million also contributed to the figures. Earnings per share climbed accordingly from EUR 1.73 to EUR 2.50. The GESCO Group significantly exceeded its sales and earnings targets. The number of employees also increased from 1,192 to 1,215.
In view of the successful development, the Executive Board and Supervisory Board will recommend a proposal to the Annual General Meeting on 1 September 2005 to increase the dividend by 28.6% to EUR 0.90 per share (EUR 0.70). The price of GESCO shares rose 41.4% during the reporting year and again outperformed the benchmark index the SDAX which was up by 21.8%.
For financial year 2005/2006 (1 April 2005 – 31 March 2006) the company is anticipating further growth in sales to around EUR 205 million and an increase in Group net income to approx. EUR 6.6 million and earnings per share of EUR 2.64.
GESCO Executive Board member Dr. Hans-Gert Mayrose: “The new financial year has started well. We expect the second half of the year to be somewhat quieter, but on the whole we anticipate achieving further increases in sales and income compared with the previous year.