EANS-Adhoc: Westag & Getalit AG / Earnings down moderately on 11% decline in sales in 2009; Proposed dividend: EUR 0.94 per ordinary share and EUR 1.00 EUR per preference share

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ad-hoc disclosure pursuant to section 15 of the WpHG transmitted by euro
adhoc with the aim of a Europe-wide distribution. The issuer is solely
responsible for the content of this announcement.
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18.03.2010

Sales revenues of Westag & Getalit AG declined by 11.0% to EUR 201.4 million in
what was an extremely difficult environment in 2009 (previous year: EUR 226.2
million). Export sales dropped particularly sharply by 29.1% to EUR 39.2 million
(previous year: EUR 55.4 million). The export share stood at 19.5% in 2009
(previous year: 24.5%). Against this background, it is gratifying to see that
earnings before income tax declined only moderately to EUR 14.9 million
(previous year: EUR 15.3 million). While the drop in sales weighed on the bottom
line, a number of strict cost-cutting measures had a positive impact on
earnings. Accordingly, net profit declined only moderately to EUR 10.5 million
(previous year: EUR 10.8 million). Net profit per share amounted to EUR 1.84 in
the fiscal year (previous year: EUR 1.89).

The Management Board and the Supervisory Board will propose a dividend of EUR
0.94 per ordinary share (previous year: EUR 0.44) and of EUR 1.00 per preference
share (previous year: EUR 0.50) to the Annual General Meeting scheduled to take
place in Rheda-Wiedenbrück on August 24, 2010. By proposing this greatly
increased dividend, we want to express the restored confidence in the financial
systems.

At the same time, the Management Board today announced, with the approval of the
Supervisory Board, that the repurchase of preference shares in the company,
which was announced on January 12, 2010 and was originally scheduled to end on
March 17, 2010, will be continued until August 6, 2010. Between January 13, 2010
and March 17, 2010, the company repurchased 103.990 preference shares.

The outlook for construction activity in Germany remains weak. While the
government´s stimulus packages should provide some support, the continued
uncertainty among consumers and companies suggests that the environment for the
construction industry will remain recessionary. The situation is even more
difficult in European markets outside Germany, which were hit much harder by the
crisis in 2009 and where there are no signs of a potential recovery. It is
unlikely that we will be able to isolate ourselves from these problems. With
sales declining by 8% in the first two months, we therefore had a moderate start
to the fiscal year, which was not least attributable to the extremely cold
winter, though. We do not expect sales to drop much further in 2010, as we have
both interesting new products and promising new customers. On the cost side, the
prices of raw materials, in particular, are likely to pick up again. While we
will continue to take strict counter-measures, we expect earnings to fall short
of the prior year level from today´s point of view. We nevertheless believe that
earnings will be in an appropriate relation with sales. Should an upswing
materialise unexpectedly in 2010, we will benefit to an above-average extent
thanks to our excellent potential.

Further inquiry note:
Felix Huisgen
Tel.: +49 (0)5242 17 5350
E-Mail: [email protected]
end of announcement euro adhoc
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issuer:   Westag & Getalit AG
          Hellweg  15
          D-33378 Rheda-Wiedenbrück
phone:    +49 (0)5242 17 0
FAX:      +49 (0)5242 17 75000
mail:     [email protected]
WWW:      http://www.westag-getalit.de
sector:   Building materials
ISIN:     DE0007775207, DE0007775231
indexes:  Prime All Share

stockmarkets: regulated dealing/prime standard: Frankfurt, free trade: Berlin,
Stuttgart, regulated dealing: Düsseldorf
language: English

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