CeWe Color consolidates market in Central Eastern Europe

CeWe Color Holding AG / Miscellaneous Ad hoc announcement according to § 15 WpHG transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CeWe Color consolidates market in Central Eastern Europe - Capacity adjustments and plant closures - Expenditure for restructuring: EUR 10 million net Oldenburg, 15. February 2007 – CeWe Color Holding AG (ISIN DE 0005403901, SDAX) is forging ahead with market consolidation in Central Eastern Europe and is at the same time adapting its capacities in Western and Central Europe. With these moves the company is proceeding rapidly with the transformation from European market leader and technological leader in developing photos from films to a leading digital photo processor. Takeovers in Poland and the Czech Republic CeWe Color is taking over the Polish industrial lab competitor, Foto Classic, Tarnobrzeg, who operates two photo labs, and Czech competitor Foto Star s.r.o., Teplice. CeWe Color is hence improving its market position in both countries and is gaining new customers. In the Czech Republic CeWe Color already has a market share of 50 % and in Poland the market share is 40 %. Czech rival Foto Star s.r.o. generated photofinishing sales amounting to EUR 7 million in 2006. The two Polish labs achieved turnover of EUR 3.5 million in 2006. CeWe Color already operates two plants in Poland (Graudenz and Kozle). The company will soon be closing down two of the then four labs in order to optimise capacity utilisation and enhance potential for synergies. Operation in Nuremberg to close The company will be adapting production capacities in Central Europe in 2007. The Board of Management has decided to undertake a socially-acceptable closure of the operation in Nuremberg, which has a staff of around 170 employees. With this move the company is responding, as announced, to a decline in demand for conventional photos, which cannot be fully offset by the strong growth in the digital line of business. CeWe Color is intending another, not yet specified restructuring measure in France. Earnings forecast after expenditure for restructuring (EBT): EUR 14.5 million CeWe Color expects overall restructuring expenditure to amount to around EUR 11 million gross for 2007; this will, however, still result in cost reductions of EUR 1 million in 2007. Net restructuring expenditure in accordance with the current state of information is hence EUR 10 million. Before the restructuring expenditure the company had already forecast earnings before tax of EUR 24.5 million on 29 January 2007. Sales targeted (2007: EUR 380 million) and the growth in earnings already includes the corporate acquisitions in Poland and the Czech Republic. To this effect the company pointed out that the costs for restructuring were still to be quantified. On including the restructuring costs, since these had now been specified, the CeWe Color Group expects earnings before tax (EBT) to amount to EUR 14.5 million. Expenditure for restructuring would in the short term have a negative effect on earnings, but the Board of Management estimates that it would improve Group earnings in the long term. Should you have any queries, please contact: CeWe Color Holding AG, Hella Hahm, Tel.: 0441 / 404 - 400 (Secretary – 234) or 0171 / 34 50 530, Fax: 0441 / 404-421, email: hella.hahm@cewecolor.de Internet: www.cewecolor.com DGAP 15.02.2007 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: English Issuer: CeWe Color Holding AG Meerweg 30-32 26133 Oldenburg Deutschland Phone: +49 (0)441 40 4-1 Fax: +49 (0)441 40 4-42 1 E-mail: info@cewecolor.de WWW: www.cewecolor.de ISIN: DE0005403901 WKN: 540390 Indices: SDAX Listed: Geregelter Markt in Berlin-Bremen, Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service ---------------------------------------------------------------------------