EANS-Adhoc: Progress-Werk Oberkirch AG / PWO reports strong second quarter of 2010 and raises annual forecast

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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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6-month report

02.08.2010

- Continued high level of customer call-off orders - Revenue and EBIT
further improved in Q2 2010 - 2010 full-year forecast raised: more
than EUR 250 million of revenue and around EUR 15 million of EBIT
anticipated

Oberkirch, August 2, 2010 - Progress-Werk Oberkirch AG has continued
to benefit from strong demand recovery, particularly for the
international automotive market's premium models in the second
quarter. Consequently, the Group has again achieved a good
de-velopment during this period. Revenue and EBIT have improved
further compared with the first quarter. Customer call orders
notified for the second half of 2010 point to a con-tinued positive
development.

We are consequently now assuming that we will significantly exceed
our previous forecast of 15 percent revenue growth for the full 2010
year and are now expecting consolidated revenue growth of more than
20 percent compared to 2009, to more than EUR 250 million, and EBIT
of around EUR 15 million. Following EBIT of EUR -4.9 million in the
2009 financial year, this means that the announced turnaround will
have been realised more rapidly than expected, thereby significantly
exceeding the previous budget.

PWO will release its full interim financial report on the second
quarter and first half of 2010 tomorrow. We are already re-attaining
precrisis levels with Group revenue in the second quarter of 2010 of
EUR 63.4 million (p/y: EUR 49.1), total output of EUR 65.3 million
(p/y: EUR 51.2) and EBIT of EUR 4.5 million (p/y: EUR -2.2). The net
result for the period amounted to EUR 2.0 million (p/y: EUR -3.2),
and earnings per share stood at EUR 0.82 (p/y: EUR -1.27). In the
first half-year, revenue of EUR 124.8 million (p/y: EUR 90.5), total
output of EUR 130.1 million (p/y: EUR 94.2), EBIT of EUR 8.7 million
(p/y: EUR -7.2), and a net result for the period of EUR 3.6 million
(p/y: EUR -7.7) were achieved. Earnings per share amounted to EUR
1.45 (p/y: EUR -3.09).

This positive trend is the result of the Group's higher capacity
utilisation in combination with the last two years' cost-reduction
measures, which continue to take effect during the upturn. Currency
gains were also reported in the first half of 2010, following
currency hedging charges in 2009.

All PWO sites contributed to growth in revenue and earnings. Revenue
growth and profitability remains good at our largest site at
Oberkirch. As announced, the Czech site is meanwhile on path to a
clearly positive EBIT in 2010. We have now passed the peak of
start-up losses in the NAFTA region, and production is ramping-up in
China.

With our established PWO-production-system, we are in a position to
actively manage the increase in current assets, particularly in the
current upturn phase, thereby limiting liquidity requirements. As a
consequence, the equity ratio of 30.1 percent at the end of the first
half of 2010 remained at the level of 30.0 percent at the end of
2009. Net debt, which was EUR 76.2 million at the end of the first
quarter, rose slightly in line with nor-mal business fluctuations,
and amounted to EUR 79.0 million as of June 30, 2010.

In the first half of 2010, cash flow from operating activities of EUR
12.0 million significantly exceeded investment cash outflows of EUR
6.4 million, and interest paid of EUR 2.4 million. Free cash flow
correspondingly amounted to EUR 3.2 million.

Progress-Werk Oberkirch AG
The Management Board

PWO company profile PWO is one of the world's leading suppliers of
advanced metal components for automobile safety and comfort. The
company has developed unique knowledge in the forming and joining of
metals over the course of its over 90-year history since it was
founded in 1919. The German location at Oberkirch today employs
around 1,100 staff members. The Group is globally represented with
fur-ther sites in China, Canada, Mexico and the Czech Republic, and
employs around 2,000 staff around the world.

PW0 is a partner to the global automotive industry for the
development and production of innova-tive products in the areas of
"Mechanical components for electrical and electronic applications",
"Safety components for airbags, seats and steering" and "Components
and systems for vehicle bodies and chassis".

Series orders currently on hand will result in significant growth at
all sites over the next two years, irrespective of full market
recovery.

end of announcement euro adhoc
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ots Originaltext: Progress-Werk Oberkirch AG
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:

Bernd Bartmann (CFO)

Phone: +49 7802 / 84-347

Fax: +49 7802 / 84-789

e-Mail: bernd.bartmann@progress-werk.de

Branche: Automotive Equipment
ISIN: DE0006968001
WKN: 696800
Börsen: Frankfurt / regulated dealing/prime standard
Berlin / free trade
Hamburg / free trade
Stuttgart / free trade
Düsseldorf / free trade
München / free trade