Hamburg, 31 March 2003. In its meeting today, the supervisory board of the wine trading group Hawesko Holding AG (HAW DE, HAWG.DE, DE0006042708) decided to follow the recommendation of the management board and propose a dividend of EUR 1.00 per share for the 2002 fiscal year at the annual shareholders' meeting on 5 June 5 2003. This would give the Hawesko stock a current dividend yield of over 7%. A total of about EUR 4.4 million is to be distributed to shareholders. For the fiscal year 2001, a total of EUR 5.1 million (EUR 1.15 per share) in dividends was paid out.

 

Moreover, during its meeting the supervisory board approved the consolidated financial statements, confirming the fiscal year 2002 preliminary figures for the Group published on 28 January: Group sales increased by 1% to EUR 267 million despite the slump in German consumer spending; the operating result (EBIT) for the group was EUR 14 million (previous year: EUR 17 million) and the profit after taxes and minority interests was approximately EUR 5 million (previous year: EUR 7 million). The free cash flow (net inflow of payments from current operations less capital investment and interest paid out) was just under EUR 9 million (previous year: EUR 15 million, of which a good EUR 4 million resulted from one-off items) and covers the proposed dividend very comfortably.

 

In the current fiscal year 2003 revenue is expected to increase 5% to EUR 280 million, and a proportionally higher increase in EBIT is anticipated. The increase in group profitability is targeted particularly in the mail order/e-commerce segment: here measures were undertaken in the previous year which will facilitate an even greater effectiveness of marketing spend and improved efficiency in order processing. Optimization of the tied-up working capital should increase the rate of return on capital employed.

 

A full discussion of the results for fiscal year 2002 as well as the outlook for the current fiscal year 2003 will be made at the presentation of accounts and annual press conference of Hawesko Holding AG on 29 April.

 

Hawesko Holding AG is Germany's leading seller of premium wines and champagnes. Its sales channels are mail order/e-commerce (in particular Hanseatisches Wein- und Sekt-Kontor), specialty wine shops (Jacques' Wein-Depot) and wholesale (Wein Wolf and CWD Champagner & Wein Distributionsgesellschaft). The group employs an average of 558 staff during the year. Shares of Hawesko Holding AG are listed on the Hanseatic Stock Exchange in Hamburg and the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

 

# # #

Published by: Hawesko Holding AG
Postfach 20 15 52    
20205 Hamburg, Germany

 

Internet: 
http://www.hawesko.com            
(Company information - German and English)
http://www.hawesko.de             
(Online shop - German)
http://www.jacques-wein-depot.de  
(Location finder for Jacques' Wein-Depot - German)

 

Press Relations/Media:    
Vera Maria Bau
VMB Consulting   
Phone: +49 (0)2244 91 27 36    
Fax:   +49 (0)2244 91 27 38    
E-mail: vmb@nsag.de    

Investor Relations:
Thomas Hutchinson
Hawesko Holding AG 
Phone: +49 (0)40 30 39 21 00
Fax:   +49 (0)40 30 39 21 05
E-mail: ir@hawesko.com