Hamburg, 27 March 2009. The wine trading group Hawesko Holding AG (HAW GR, HAWG.DE, DE0006042708) will declare a dividend for fiscal year 2008 of € 1.20 per share, thus exceeding the previous year's dividend of € 1.00. At its meeting yesterday, the supervisory board of the company approved the corresponding dividend proposal of the management board on which the annual general meeting will vote on 15 June 2009. The proposed increase in the dividend corresponds to a rise of 20 %: A total of € 10.6 million will be paid out to the shareholders (previous year: € 8.7 million).

 

Beyond this, the supervisory board reviewed, discussed and ratified the annual and consolidated financial statements for fiscal 2008; the annual financial statements were thus approved. As previously announced, Group sales in 2008 (1 January to 31 December) were up by 1.5 % to € 338.8 million (previous year: € 333.7 million). In the final group accounts the operating result (EBIT) is even higher than originally reported based on preliminary figures, rising to € 25.5 million (previous year:  € 18.3 million). Consolidated earnings after deductions for taxes and minority interests amount to € 14.6 million (previous year: € 6.7 million). This corresponds to earnings per share of € 1.67 (previous year: € 0.76). The Group balance sheet total amounts to € 170.1 million (previous year: € 176.6 million). Free cash flow (cash flow from ongoing business activities minus investments and interest paid out) registers an increase in 2008 to € 17.5 million (previous year: € 13.6 million).

 

The results of fiscal year 2008 as well as the course of business in the first three months of the current 2009 fiscal year will be presented in detail at the annual balance sheet press conference of Hawesko Holding AG on 29 April 2009.

 

Hawesko Holding AG is a leading supplier of premium wines and champagnes. In fiscal year 2008 the Group achieved sales of € 339 million through its three sales channels - specialist wine retail (Jacques' Wein-Depot), wholesale (Wein Wolf and CWD Champagner und Wein Distributionsgesellschaft) and mail order (in particular Hanseatisches Wein- und Sekt-Kontor), and employed 610 people.

 

Published by:

Hawesko Holding AG

20247 Hamburg, Germany

 

Internet:

http://www.hawesko.com (Company information)

http://www.hawesko.de (Online shop in German)

http://www.jacques.de (Locations of and information about Jacques' Wein-Depot in German)

 

Press/Media:

Vera Maria Bau, VMB Public Relations

Tel. +49 228/ 44 96 406

Fax +49 228/ 44 96 9406

E-mail: vmb (at) veramariabau-pr.de

 

Investor Relations:

Thomas Hutchinson, Hawesko Holding AG

Tel. +49 40 / 30 39 21 00

Fax  +49 40 / 30 39 21 05

E-mail: ir (at) hawesko.com