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Höft & Wessel presents financials for the first quarter of fiscal 2006 and confirms outlook for 2006 as a whole


WEBWIRE

Hanover, 10 May 2006 --- Höft & Wessel AG of Hanover presented its results for the first quarter of fiscal 2006 today. According to the report, in the first quarter of 2006 the Höft & Wessel Group generated EUR 15.0 million in sales revenues (previous year: EUR 17.8 million). On account of non-recurring expenses attributable to the change in the Management Board and the reallocation of production facilities in the United Kingdom as well as project-related shifts in sales revenues, the Group’s earnings before taxes (EBT) were negative at the reference date, as expected, at a level of EUR –1.6 million (previous year: EUR 0.4 million).

In the first quarter, Höft & Wessel took part in various international fairs and presented new products. The primary focus of the trade fairs in the SMB business division was on RFID technology products and the new self-check-out system for the retail trade that is being trialled at two METRO CASH & CARRY MARKETS. In April, the UK subsidiary Metric presented the newly developed generation of car park ticket vending machines “AURA” and met with a great deal of interest in its new product on the market. As planned, in the first quarter of 2006 Höft & Wessel succeeded in commissioning the most innovative eTicketing system in Germany, in Schwäbisch Hall. With this project, Höft & Wessel has assumed a leading role in implementing this nationwide standard for eTicketing services.

The order intake of the Höft & Wessel Group was slightly higher year-on-year, amounting to a total of EUR 21.5 million for the first quarter of 2006 (previous year: EUR 20.8 million). The order portfolio as at 31 March 2006 amounted to EUR 45.9 million and was therefore also up slightly over the previous year (Q1 2005: EUR 44.8 million).

In the current fiscal year, Höft & Wessel AG is striving to internationalise its business operations to a greater degree. By intensifying its sales activities, Höft & Wessel AG intends to increasingly market tried-and-tested products successfully on an international scale. The company is planning to invest in opening up and developing foreign markets. For the current fiscal year, Höft & Wessel expects to boost its sales revenues to a level of about EUR 89 million. At the same time, pre-tax earnings will drop slightly to EUR 2.6 million after taking account of the capital to be spent on efforts to internationalise the company’s business operations. This corresponds to an EBT margin of 2.9 %.

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Höft & Wessel develops, manufactures and distributes hard- and software. For the three business segments - retail & logistics with mobile data acquisition, telematics and internet, ticketing & transport and parking - the company provides complete system solutions. Since its foundation Höft & Wessel has realised many projects specifically tailored to the customers needs.



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