EANS-Adhoc: Sale of PRIMERA Group triggers book loss in excess of half of the capital stock of ESCADA AG Preliminary 6 months figures 2008/2009 in line with expectations

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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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Notification of disposal and book loss/ preliminary figures

22.05.2009

Munich, May 22, 2009 - ESCADA AG is about to complete the sales
process started in December 2008 for the PRIMERA segment. At its
meeting today the Supervisory Board approved the conclusion of
agreements regarding the sale of the Münster-based PRIMERA Group.
PRIMERA GmbH & Co. KG is a 100% percent subsidiary of ESCADA AG and
comprises the labels apriori, BiBA, cavita and Laurèl. The
corresponding contracts are set to be signed in the next few days.
The details will be announced after conclusion of contracts.

The expected sales price necessitates another write-down of ESCADA
AG's interest held in PRIMERA GmbH & Co. KG. As a consequence of this
write-down the balance sheet loss already recognized in the Annual
Financial Statement of ESCADA AG for fiscal year 2007/2008 now
exceeds over half of the company's capital stock. This loss is in
turn the result of the capital reduction resolved by the annual
Shareholders' Meeting on April 28, 2009 not having been entered yet
in the Commercial Register and thus is not effective at present.

Notwithstanding the already initiated restructuring program, the
principles of which had been published in the Ad Hoc Disclosure of
April 23, 2009, the Board of Management of ESCADA AG will convene a
Shareholders' Meeting without delay and in accordance with Sect. 92
para. 1 of the German Stock Corporation Act in order to announce this
loss to the meeting. The exact date for said Shareholders Meeting
will be communicated in due course.

As expected the continued negative market environment meant that
ESCADA AG's business performance over the first six months of the
current fiscal year remained below the level of the previous year.
Preliminary figures show half year sales of ESCADA Group and the
discontinued PRIMERA operations together at 248.2 million euros, or
16.1% below the figure recorded for the same period the year before
(April 30, 2008: 295.8 million euros), and thus in the lower range of
expectations. During the first six months of fiscal 2008/2009 ESCADA
Group sales recorded a disproportionate decline by 23.9% year-on-year
to 151.0 million euros due to the organisational separation of ESCADA
and PRIMERA. Adjusted by this one-time effect, the sales for the
ESCADA brand in the first six months of fiscal 2008/2009 totaled
146.5 million euros, or 18.1% under the comparable period of the
previous year (April 30, 2008: 178.8 million euros). The Group
reports a preliminary half-year loss after taxes of 17.8 million
euros (first six months 2007/2008: -6.0 million euros). After
consideration of the discontinued operation PRIMERA and the valuation
adjustment, the preliminary loss after taxes totals -91.7 million
euros, after -8.0 million euros in the previous year period.

The Management Board's forecast for the full fiscal year still
estimates sales for the ESCADA brand to decline by a lower
double-digit percentage range. The negative effects this will have on
earnings will be offset to some extent by cost savings. The Interim
Annual Financial Statement for the first six months of fiscal
2008/2009 is due to be published in June.

end of announcement euro adhoc
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ots Originaltext: Escada AG
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:

Investor Relations

Yara Kes

Tel.: +49 (0) 89 9944 1336

E-mail: yara.kes@de.escada.com

Press:

Frank Elsner Kommunikation für Unternehmen GmbH

Frank Elsner

Phone: +49 - 54 04 - 91 92 0

Email: info@elsner-kommunikation.de

Branche: Clothing
ISIN: DE0005692107
WKN: 569210
Index: SDAX, CDAX, Classic All Share, Prime All Share
Börsen: Berlin / Open Market
Hamburg / Open Market
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München / regulated dealing