CEWE COLOR intends to increase its earnings per share by up to 39% in 2011

Press Release

CEWE COLOR intends to increase its earnings per share by up to 39% in 2011

- Earnings per share in 2010: EUR 2.02 (+ 102%)

- Return on capital employed reaches 17.8% in 2010

- Free cash flow rises by 159% to EUR 25.6 million

- Dividend to rise to a record EUR 1.25 (2009: EUR 1.05)

- Investments in the growth market of commercial digital printing

Oldenburg, 30 March 2011. CEWE COLOR Holding AG (SDAX, ISIN: DE0005403901) expects turnover to grow by up to 3% to EUR 460 million in 2011 (target corridor: EUR 447 to EUR 460 million) and EBIT to be at EUR 28 to EUR 31 million (an increase of up to 10%). Despite initial funding for commercial digital printing, the annual net profit is to increase by up to 39%, to EUR 16 to 19 million, and earnings per share are to increase to EUR 2.36 to EUR 2.80 in 2011. It is primarily the CEWE PHOTO BOOK and digital added-value products that are to contribute to the increase in sales and earnings. In 2010 these items had already enhanced turnover per photo by more than 10% to 13.46 cents, and in the fourth quarter the increase was as much as over 18 %, to 16.40 cents. 'In 2011 we will also continue to invest in our CEWE PHOTO BOOK brand and establish a basis for achieving high growth rates in this attractive market in the coming years with our online print service viaprinto.de,' said Dr. Rolf Hollander, Chairman of the CEWE COLOR Holding AG Board of Management, at the company's Annual Report Press Conference in Frankfurt am Main.

Dividend to increase by 19%
Against the background of the positive development of business in the 2010 business year, the 159% increase in the free cash flow to EUR 25.6 million and a strong 17.8% rise in the return on capital employed (2009: 11.7%), the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board propose that the dividend be raised by 19% over that of the previous year. Provided that the Annual General Meeting to be held on 18 May 2011 agrees to the dividend proposal, CEWE COLOR will be paying out a dividend of EUR 1.25 per participating share (2010: EUR 1.05). On the basis of the share price of EUR 31,35 per share (on 23 March 2011, 1.28 p.m., Xetra, point in time of Supervisory Board resolution), shareholders will receive a dividend yield of 4,0 %.

2010: Sales and earnings targets exceeded
CEWE COLOR achieved or exceeded all its sales and earnings targets in 2010: Turnover rose by 9% to a record EUR 446.8 million (EUR 434.4 million after exchange-rate adjustments), clearly exceeding the figure for the previous year (EUR 409.8 million). In addition to the outstanding development of retail business (+18.5%), online photofinishing (+22%) was the biggest sales driver. More than anything else, the growth in the number of CEWE PHOTO BOOKS sold (+19% to 4.3 million books) and in sales of other added-value products (photo calendars +45%, photo greeting cards +57% and wall decorations +90%) contributed considerably to this development. The number of photos ordered online, at 1.293 billion photos, exceeded the number of photos ordered in stores, at 1.203 billion, for the first time ever. Digital photos accounted for more than 85% of all the photos produced (2009: 78.5 %). The EBIT margin improved from 4.6% to 6.3%, which means that EBIT, at EUR 28.2 million, is 50.9% higher than that of last year (2009: EUR 18.7 million). As already announced, CEWE COLOR more than doubled its after-tax earnings, from EUR 6.7 to EUR 13.7 million. Earnings per share rose from EUR 1.00 to EUR 2.02.

Trend towards a seasonal shift confirmed
The strong fourth quarter was impressive confirmation of the trend towards a shift in season in favour of the Christmas quarterly period: since CEWE COLOR products are increasingly being used for gifts, turnover generated in the fourth quarter rose to 34% (2009: 31%). The proportion of EBIT even amounted to more than 77%.

Creating a basis for commercial digital printing growth
In addition to growth generated with digital added-value products and the CEWE PHOTO BOOK, CEWE COLOR is now opening up another growth sector, commercial digital printing, with viaprinto.de. The easy-to-operate online printing service for high-quality, fast prints in small volumes is attractive for large corporations as well as for small and medium-sized enterprises and sole traders. 'Whereas an image brochure produced in a high volume used to be outdated after only a few days, with viaprinto we ensure that material is up-to-date since we are in a position to produce professional books and brochures quickly and according to needs, without any minimum number of copies,' says Dr. Hollander. In 2011 CEWE COLOR intends to use initial funding to create a basis 'for generating more growth with this attractive business sector'.

* Exchange-rate adjusted

Should you have any queries, please contact:
CEWE COLOR Holding AG, Axel Weber (Investor Relations), Thomas Grunau (Press)
Tel.: 0441 / 404 - 2288, Fax: 0441 / 404 - 421,
Email: IR@cewecolor.de
Internet: www.cewecolor.de , www.cewe-fotobuch.de , www.viaprinto.de

Financial schedule:
12.05.2011: Q1 interim report
18.05.2011: Annual General Meeting in the Park Hotel, Bremen
11.08.2011: Q2 mid-year report
29.08.2011: SCC Small Cap Conference; Frankfurt/Main
15.11.2011: Q3 interim report
21.11.2011: German Equity Forum, Frankfurt/Main

About CEWE COLOR: Photo service company CEWE COLOR, with 12 highly technical production operations and a staff of around 2,700 employees in 24 European countries, is both market and technological leader. The company supplied around 2.5 billion photos and more than 4.3 million CEWE PHOTO BOOKS to 45,000 retail partners in 2010. CEWE COLOR is a 'first mover' in the launch of new digital technologies, for example ordering digital photos in the Internet or with the help of order terminals (DigiFoto Makers) in retail stores. Growth of personalised photo products such as the CEWE PHOTO BOOK is exceptionally strong. A new business segment is currently being developed with the online printing service viaprinto.de. In 1961, CEWE COLOR was founded by Senator h.c. Heinz Neumüller. The company went public under the leadership of Hubert Rothärmel in 1993. CEWE COLOR Holding AG is listed on the SDAX.