Hawesko Increases Sales By 10% In 2007

Hamburg, Germany, Jan 31, 2008 - (ABN Newswire) - Corporate news announcement processed and transmitted by Hugin ASA. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- - Sales Euro 334 million, EBIT over Euro 18 million - Jump in profits expected for 2008



Hamburg, 31 January 2008. The wine trading group Hawesko Holding AG (HAW, HAWG.DE, DE0006042708) published its preliminary results for the fiscal year just completed (1 January to 31 December 2007) today. The Group increased its net sales, adjusted for VAT, from Euro 303 million to Euro 334 million, corresponding to a rise of 10.3%. Once again Hawesko achieved growth far above that of the overall wine market. According to research by the Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung (GfK), the latter figure was 1.2% including VAT. Thus Hawesko has once more significantly increased its market share. The Group result from operations (EBIT) reached the target level for 2007 of a good Euro 18 million (previous year: Euro 18.6 million). As planned, the financial result will be Euro 1.0 million to Euro 1.5 million lower than the previous year (Euro -1.3 million), as an extraordinary financial gain in 2006 has not recurred and a higher financial charge will result from the fair-value adjustment of minority interests in unincorporated subsidiaries which is required by International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). As already reported, tax expenditure for 2007 will include a non-recurring charge of Euro 3 million, thus the tax rate will be over 60% as expected (previous year: 37%). From today's standpoint, consolidated earnings after deductions for taxes and minority interests will be between Euro 5.0 million and Euro 5.5 million or between Euro 0.57 and Euro 0.63 per share (previous year: Euro 10.8 million and Euro 1.23 per share). On a comparable basis, i.e. adjusted for the non-recurring additional tax charge, the expected range for the consolidated earnings after deductions for taxes and minority interests is between Euro 8.0 million and Euro 8.5 million (Euro 0.91 to Euro 0.97 per share). Free cash flow is expected to exceed the previous estimate of Euro 10 million by Euro 1 million to Euro 2 million. Given the preliminary figures, the Hawesko management board sees the conditions set to propose a dividend payout in at least the same amount as the previous year (Euro 0.85 per share) to the supervisory board. The consolidated accounts of the Hawesko Group will be audited in March 2008 and presented to the supervisory board for review.

For the fourth quarter of the recently concluded fiscal year (1 October to 31 December 2007), the Group achieved sales of Euro 117 million, an increase of 8.1% over the corresponding quarter in the previous year (Euro 108 million). The Group's EBIT amounted to approximately Euro 13 million in the final quarter of 2007, compared to Euro 12.7 million in the same quarter of the previous year. The specialist wine-shop retail segment (Jacques' Wein-Depot) increased its quarterly sales by 4.6% against the previous year to Euro 36 million, or a good 3% rise on a like-for-like basis. At the end of fiscal year 2007, there were 269 shops (end of the previous year: 260). The mail order segment achieved sales of Euro 33 million in the fourth quarter, an increase of 7.0% over the same quarter in the previous year (Euro 31 million). The wholesale segment increased its sales in the fourth quarter by 11.8% to Euro 48 million, primarily due to the expansion of the business at the French subsidiary Château Classic - Le Monde des Grands Bordeaux, which specialises in Bordeaux wines, as well the expansion of sales of Italian wines in Germany.

Alexander Margaritoff, chief executive officer of Hawesko, stated: "In 2007, the Hawesko Group posted its highest growth since 2001. Now, in January 2008, we expect this positive development to continue and anticipate an additional boost to sales in the first quarter from the delivery of the well-received 2005 Bordeaux vintage. Despite the current economic uncertainty, we expect further growth in our business with premium wines in 2008. We anticipate a sales rise in the moderate, single-digit percentage range and - not least due to the elimination of non-recurring charges - believe that a solid, double-digit percentage increase in the operating result (EBIT) is likely."

Hawesko Holding AG is a leading supplier of premium wines and champagnes. In fiscal year 2007 the Group achieved sales of Euro 334 million through its three sales channels - specialist wine-shop retail (Jacques' Wein-Depot), wholesale (Wein Wolf and CWD Champagner und Wein Distributionsgesellschaft) and mail order (in particular Hanseatisches Wein- und Sekt-Kontor), and employed 609 people.

# # # Publisher: Hawesko Holding AG Postfach 20 15 52 20205 Hamburg, Germany

Internet: http://www.hawesko.com (Company information) http://www.hawesko.de (Online shop) http://www.jacques-wein-depot.de (Information about Jacques' Wein-Depot)

Press/Media: Vera Maria Bau, VMB Consulting Phone: +49 (0)228 44 96 406 Fax +49 (0)228 44 96 9406 E-mail: vmb@veramariabau-pr.de Investor Relations: Thomas Hutchinson, Hawesko Holding AG Phone: +49 (0)40 30 39 21 00 Fax +49 (0)40 30 39 21 05 E-mail: ir@hawesko.com

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HAWESKO Holding AG Postfach 201552 Hamburg

WKN: 604270; ISIN: DE0006042708; Index: CDAX, Prime All Share, SDAX, CLASSIC All Share, GEX; Listed: Amtlicher Markt in Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, Prime Standard in Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, Freiverkehr in Börse Berlin, Freiverkehr in Bayerische Börse München,

Freiverkehr in Börse Düsseldorf, Freiverkehr in Börse Stuttgart,

Amtlicher Markt in Hanseatische Wertpapierbörse zu Hamburg, Freiverkehr in Niedersächsische Börse zu Hannover;

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HAWESKO Holding AG

http://www.hawesko.com

ISIN: DE0006042708

Stock Identifier: XFRA.HAW