Plaut Aktiengesellschaft / Preliminary Results 27.02.2008 Release of a Corporate-announcement, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vienna, February 27, 2008 Plaut Aktiengesellschaft, which is listed on the General Standard segment of Frankfurt Stock Exchange (PUT2; ISIN: AT0000A02Z18; securities identification number: A0LCDP) is hereby announcing its provisional consolidated results for fiscal 2007. 4th quarter of 2007 surpasses positive development of the previous months The results for the 4th quarter of 2007 continued the positive trend of the previous months. Sales were increased by 5% over the successful 3rd quarter to 6.3 million Euro, while the EBIT margin was more than doubled from 5.4% to 12.0%. 2007: sharp increase in sales and EBIT year-on-year The Plaut Management & IT Consulting group and its 147 employees generated sales of 24.1 million Euro in 2007 as a whole, an increase of around 23% over the previous year (19.6 million Euro) almost double the growth figure for the European consulting market. On the basis of this increase in sales and the cost-cutting measures, EBIT was improved more than significantly by 4.7 million Euro to 1.55 million Euro (previous year: 3.2 million Euro). In terms of sales, this gives an EBIT margin of 6.4% (previous year: 16.1%). The cash flow from operating activities also improved significantly to 0.5 million Euro in 2007 compared with the previous years figure of 6.8 million Euro. Overall, Plaut posted consolidated income (after taxes) in fiscal 2007 of around 0.5 million Euro. That gives undiluted/diluted earnings per share of + 0.02 Euro for 2007. Strategic and operational objectives fully achieved in 2007 Plauts business performance is a reflection of the rigid implementation and anticipated results of the strategic and operational measures implemented in 2007. Mag. Johann Grafl, Speaker of the Management Board of Plaut Aktiengesellschaft, notes that 'our foremost premise of profitable growth is already showing clear results'. This includes the synergies from the merger between Plaut and the acctus consulting group (Austria, Czech Republic and Romania) at the beginning of 2007. This enabled better leveraging of consulting resources and a far greater customer potential as regards cross-selling. A key factor in the good annual results in 2007 was also the organizational realignment and focus on the DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and the CEE (Romania and the Czech Republic) regions. A further key element for the growth in sales was optimization of our sales activities. This was not only due to organizational expansion of our support for existing and new customers. In addition, our strict focus on the beverage, technical wholesale and construction material sectors, as well as the efficient and acknowledged industry solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises in chemicals/pharmaceuticals, medical engineering, high tech and wholesale ensured fine order books and good utilization of our consulting capacities. 2008: turning opportunities into successes Even though economic activity in 2008 will be somewhat more muted, Plauts lineup means that it can now respond to the differences in demand for consulting in the DACH region and CEE countries. This is the concurring view of Mag. Johann Grafl and Bernd Schweiger from Plauts Management Board: '2007 was a year of positioning and consolidation for us; in 2008, we will stick rigorously to this path, but also use it to expand systematically.' The company has already done that at the start 2008, with the operational launch of the business activities of its national subsidiary acctus Consulting Polska. Poland is one of the strongest growing countries in Eastern European. There are also plans to establish companies in other countries in subsequent years, depending on economic developments. As regards its industry and consulting focus, Plaut intends to build on those segments that proved successful in 2007. The company is therefore convinced that it will be able to grow sales in 2008 at least on a par with the forecast growth for the consulting industry in Europe of 1013%. The effects on earnings from this will help further improve and stabilize its financial and balance sheet ratios. About Plaut AG The Plaut Consultancy was founded by Hans-Georg Plaut in 1946 in Hanover. On the basis of his methods for marginal costing and contribution margin accounting, as well as of controlling and substantiated cost management, the consulting group Plaut has been setting standards for modern corporate management for now 60 years. Today Plaut is focussed on the management consulting for business planning and controlling and offers its customers a comprehensive portfolio of Business Consulting and SAP Consulting and IT-Services. Plaut is an internationally operating company in the so called DACH-region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) as well as in the CEE countries Poland, Romania and the Czechoslovakia Republic by the in 2007 acquired acctus consulting companies. On the strength of more than 1,000 successfully completed SAP projects Plaut is recognised for over 20 years as one of the most experienced SAP partners. Plaut Aktiengesellschaft, Vienna, has been listed in the General Standard segment of the german Frankfurt Stock Exchange (PUT2; SCN A0LCDP; ISIN AT0000A02Z18). > www.plaut.de Press and IR contact: PM-0802 [4.288 CiS] Plaut Aktiengesellschaft Manager Communications, IR & Marketing Heinz-Peter Schneider Engelsberggasse 4A-1030 Wien Phone: +49 (89) 96 280 -126 Fax: +49 (89) 96 280 - 339 heinz.schneider@plaut.de www.plaut.de DGAP 27.02.2008 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: English Issuer: Plaut Aktiengesellschaft Engelsberggasse 4 A-1030 Wien Österreich Phone: +43 1 2300012 Fax: +43 1 2289569 E-mail: ir@plaut.com Internet: www.plaut.com ISIN: AT0000A02Z18 WKN: A0LCDP Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (General Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
DGAP-News: Plaut Aktiengesellschaft:Provisional results for 2007 - Successfully concluded with 23% growth
| Source: EQS Group AG