ARAGON AG / Miscellaneous 22.07.2008 Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ++ Aragon subsidiary biw Bank für Investments und Wertpapiere AG reports pleasing Q2 figures, despite the ongoing financial crisis ++ Expansion of market position: market share of trading volume still rising Aragon AGs subsidiary, biw Bank für Investments und Wertpapiere AG (biw), with its registered office in Willich, has reported pleasing figures for the second quarter of 2008, despite the ongoing capital market crisis. The number of trades executed totalling 820,108 represents an increase of 21.1% on the previous year (677,322). In view of the significantly lower level of general investment activity, the number of trades remained 19.3% below the figure for the first quarter (1,016,524). However, biw continued to expand its market position. In the second quarter of 2008, trades executed amounted to 43.1% of the trading volume achieved by the market leader. This corresponds to a rise of 58.3% on the previous year (27.2%) and of 8.6% on the first quarter of 2008 (39.6%). As of the end of the second quarter, assets under administration (AuA) of EUR 1.03bn were 26.1% up on AuA of EUR 0.82bn as of the end of the same period in the previous year. Given that the market is currently marked by a general buying resistance, at EUR 1.10bn, biw also recorded a slight downturn of 6.5% in assets under administration compared with the first quarter of 2008. Almost habitual, the positive growth trend in customer numbers continued. With 56,058 customers at the end of the second quarter, biw recorded an increase of 52.6% on the second quarter of 2007 when the company counted 36,729 customers and a rise of 3.6% compared with the first quarter of 2008 when the number of customers totalled 54,113. The Management Board of Aragon AG is delighted with biws performance, especially in light of the fact that 15% of the shares in the bank were sold to a financial investor at the end of the second quarter. Ralph Konrad, CFO of Aragon, commented: 'With this strong performance, we have demonstrated that the valuation of EUR 80m, on which the sale of the shareholding was based, was certainly justified. The current market environment highlights the superiority of our white label concept that has enabled us to achieve considerably broader diversification in our business compared with competitors.' ++ About Aragon AG Aragon is a broadly diversified financial services company, with the divisions: Retail Sales, Institutional Sales and Banking & Banking Services. Aragon is active on the marketplace with multiple independent subsidiaries. The companys aim is to integrate various distribution models under one roof, without disturbing the individual identity of each sales company. The result is a wide diversification across various asset classes and distribution types, which generates a high stability in corporate earnings. Further information about the company and its subsidiaries can be viewed on the website: www.aragon-ag.de. Contact: Aragon Aktiengesellschaft Achim Pfeffer Head of Investor Relations Tel.: +49(0)611 890 575-574 Fax: +49(0)611 890 575-99 E-Mail: achim.pfeffer@aragon-ag.de DGAP 22.07.2008 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
DGAP-News: Aragon subsidiary biw Bank für Investments und Wertpapiere AG reports pleasing Q2 figures
| Source: EQS Group AG