Klöckner & Co - Excellent half year results

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Klöckner & Co - Excellent half year results

• Marked improvement in results in first half year
• Positive share price development since IPO
• Reduction in liabilities
• Further expansion through acquisitions
• Positive outlook for whole year

Duisburg, August 29, 2006 - Quoted on the official Frankfurt
securities market (Prime Standard) since June 28, 2006, the steel and
multi metal distribution corporation Klöckner & Co has continued its
successful course of development from the 2005 financial year into
the first six months of 2006. The corporation has been able to
improve all its major figures over those for the comparative period
in the previous year; in its activities on the multi metal materials
markets in Europe and North America, the Klöckner & Co Group has been
able to benefit from the performance enhancement programs initiated
in all corporate sectors last year and from excellent market
developments in most steel and metal products.

On June 28 2006, in spite of the difficult market situation, Klöckner
& Co was successfully launched on the stock market. There has been a
positive development in the share price, which is now well over the
issue price of 16 Euro.

By raising turnover in tons by 8.7%, Klöckner & Co were able to
increase corporate sales by approx. 7.2% in the first half of 2006,
reaching EUR2.7 billion. This increase in turnover and improved
profit margins also brought about a sharp rise in gross proceeds for
the Group. In the words of the Chairman of the Board of Management,
Dr. Thomas Ludwig: "We are extremely satisfied with the excellent
development in our business during the first half of the year. The
performance enhancement programs we initiated in all corporate
sectors last year and the continued implementation of our expansion
strategy have clearly improved our competitive position. We will
continue to consistently pursue this strategy in future."

Supported by the successfully initiated Star Performance Program, EBITDA
(Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) recorded for
the Group came to EUR 182.9 million and was thus clearly up by some EUR83.3
million on the comparative figure for the previous year before release of
negative goodwill. The operating segments Europe and North America each returned
clearly improved EBITDA figures over those for the previous year of EUR169.0
million (Europe) and EUR38.9 million (North America) respectively.
Group EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) during the first six months of
2006 came to EUR53.8 million, which is an EUR87 million increase over the
comparative figure for the first half of 2005 before release of negative
goodwill. It was also possible to significantly increase Income Before Taxes by
EUR96.5 million, reaching the EUR125.7 million mark.
On the basis of these good results and the revenue from the stock market launch,
the equity capital was raised from EUR323 million to EUR668 million. This
produced a significantly increased equity ratio of 25%. On the cutoff date
December 31, 2005 it was 14%.
Net liabilities continued to fall consistently during the first half of 2006,
reaching EUR482.2 million by the end of June which was considerably lower than
the comparative figure of EUR719.4 million returned for the previous year.

Besides acquisition of the distributor corporation Targe in France,
various attractive plans for acquisitions of strategic importance in
Europe and North America were intensified during the first six months
of 2006, which will lead to further purchases in the second half of
the year. Thus, for example, two corporations for special steel were
already acquired in Spain in July 2006. In addition, a contract has
been signed to acquire the holding of a competitor with its head
office in the Midwest, USA. The sales volume of this distributor
corporation totaled EUR55 million in 2005.

Outlook

Further consistent implementation of the Star Performance Program and
of the expansion strategy, coupled with the current trend and the
forecasts given by consumer branches in those regions that are
relevant for Klöckner & Co, give grounds to expect a continued
positive course of business development for the second half of the
year 2006. Against this background, the Group expects to return
consolidated results for the whole of 2006 that are substantially
higher than comparative figures for the previous year.

About Klöckner & Co:

Klöckner & Co is the largest producer-independent steel and metal
distributor in the European and North American markets combined. The
core business of the Klöckner & Co group is the storage and
distribution of steel and non-ferrous metals. About 200,000 active
customers are supplied through approximately 240 distribution
locations in 14 countries in Europe and North America. Klöckner & Co
was founded 100 years ago by Peter Klöckner. During the financial
year 2005, the company achieved sales of approximately EUR5 billion
with around 10,000 employees. The shares of Klöckner & Co
Aktiengesellschaft are admitted to trading on the official market
segment (Amtlicher Markt) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
(Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse) with simultaneous admission to the
sub-segment (Prime Standard) to the official market with further
post-admission obligations. ISIN: DE000KC01000; WKN: KC0100; Common
Code: 025808576.

Contacts:
Peter Ringsleben, Claudia Uhlendorf - Corporate Communications

Klöckner & Co AG
Am Silberpalais 1
D - 47057 Duisburg

Peter Ringsleben
Phone: +49 203 307 2800
Fax: +49 203 307 5060
e-mail: peter.ringsleben@kloeckner.de

Claudia Uhlendorf
Phone: +49 203 307 2289
Fax: +49 203 307 5103
e-mail: claudia.uhlendorf@kloeckner.de

end of announcement euro adhoc 29.08.2006 08:27:27
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ots Originaltext: Klöckner & Co AG
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:
Claudia Uhlendorf
Public Relations
Telefon: +49(0)203-307-2289
E-Mail: claudia.uhlendorf@kloeckner.de

Branche: Metal Goods & Engineering
ISIN: DE000KC01000
WKN: KC0100
Index: CDAX, Classic All Share, Prime All Share
Börsen: Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse / official dealing/prime standard
Börse Berlin-Bremen / free trade
Hamburger Wertpapierbörse / free trade
Baden-Württembergische Wertpapierbörse / free trade
Börse Düsseldorf / free trade
Bayerische Börse / free trade