DGAP-News: GERRY WEBER widens its lead over the rest of the industry by reporting new record figures for the first nine months of 2007/2008

Gerry Weber International AG / Quarter Results/Quarter Results

25.09.2008 

Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Renewed double-digit sales growth and clearly disproportionate increase in
profitability despite a continuing weak market
Excellent order book suggests record sales also in the coming financial
year
Faster collection intervals to accelerate growth further

Despite the ongoing crisis in the German retail trade, GERRY WEBER
International AG further widened its lead over its competitors by posting
new record sales and earnings for the first nine months of 2007/2008. With
Group sales and EBIT up 12.8 percent and 26.4 percent, respectively, the
GERRY WEBER Group once again demonstrated its strong business trend in a
continuing weak environment and set itself apart from the industry. 'The
crisis highlights the wisdom of our past restructuring programmes which are
now bearing fruit. We have optimised our procurement and production
structures, introduced an efficient logistics system and created a flexible
distribution system. We can now respond swiftly to changes in all areas and
act on all opportunities presenting themselves in the marketplace', said
CEO Gerhard Weber explaining his company’s unbroken pace of growth. He
added: 'The key to our success lies in the fact that we increasingly assume
responsibilities at the point of sale.' Incoming orders for the first and
second spring/summer collection 2009 also grew at a brisk pace and were up
by 14.0 percent following another expansion of international market shares
particularly in eastern Europe as well as in the Middle and Far East. The
GERRY WEBER Group’s export share has meanwhile risen to some 50 percent and
the excellent order book underpins the Group’s forecast which envisages
another record sales figure for the year 2008/2009.

The GERRY WEBER Group has long been instrumental in its retail partner’s
success and remains committed to its successful cooperation with retailers.
'Our close partnership with retailers remains our single most important
success factor. To continue our expansion even in challenging times, we
have to make sure that our retail partners can earn solid profits on our
products. For several years we have offered our customers higher mark-ups
than our competitors and we also score the highest sell-through ratios in
the ladieswear retail sector. As retail sales slump, retailers tend to
focus on products which give them profits', said Gerhard Weber. Moreover,
EDI data links to 1,800 retailers as well as to all HOUSES OF GERRY WEBER
constantly keep the fashion and lifestyle company abreast of the latest
trends at the point of sale. The insights gained from the data not only
inform the company's own retail business but are also made available to its
retail partners. 'We do not force our fashion onto our consumers but design
our products from the point of sale up. At our stores we immediately see
what goes down best with customers and can design our collections
accordingly', the company’s CEO explained.

The GERRY WEBER Group has modified its collection intervals in order to
continue to grow despite the recession in the German retail trade. For the
2009 summer season, the company will for the first time present four
collections with twelve themes instead of three collections comprising 14
themes. New trends can now be implemented faster and it is possible to
design even more fashionable collections which are even more attractive to
consumers. At the same time, the streamlined collection will clearly help
cut the company's costs, allowing the GERRY WEBER Group to offer retailers
higher mark-ups on unchanged retail prices. 'Our accelerated collection
changes permit to respond to consumer wishes even faster and shift our
growth engine into even higher gear', Gerhard Weber concluded.

The GERRY WEBER Group’s rapid growth was once again reflected in the
Group’s nine month sales which advanced from the prior year’s EUR 344.0
million to EUR 388.1 million in the current year. The 12.8 percent
increment was mainly supported by the excellent trend both in the GERRY
WEBER core brand and in the company’s own retail activities. At EUR 335.9
million, brand sales were up 13.2 percent on the previous year’s EUR 296.8
million. Growing at a rate of 15.1 percent, GERRY WEBER led the expansion
of the three brands, improving its revenues from EUR 217.6 million to EUR
250.5 million, which was due not least to the performance of the GERRY
WEBER EDITION and G.W. sublabels. The core brand accounted for 74.6 percent
of sales, thereby consolidating its eminent importance for the company.

The younger TAIFUN label contributed EUR 66.0 million. The 10.2 percent
sales increase compared to the previous year (EUR 59.9 million) reflects
the label’s growing acceptance at the retail level. The Group's second
largest brand contributed 19.6 percent to total brand revenues. The brand
for plus sizes, SAMOON, also showed a year-on-year improvement from EUR
19.3 million to EUR 19.4 million, accounting for 5.8 percent of total
revenues.

The largest sales increase, namely 26.2 percent, was achieved by the retail
segment, which aggregates the revenues of the 91 company-managed HOUSES OF
GERRY WEBER in Germany and abroad. The GERRY WEBER Group’s fastest growing
segment saw sales revenues climb from EUR 64.2 million to EUR 81.0 million
during the period. This increase is primarily attributable to the fact that
many new HOUSES OF GERRY WEBER were opened. However, the GERRY WEBER
Group’s same-store sales improved as well. While German textile retailers
incurred sales losses by some six percent since the beginning of the
financial year, the company-managed HOUSES OF GERRY WEBER grew their sales
by an average of 3.5 percent on a like-for-like basis, which means that the
GERRY WEBER Group's organic retail growth was also far above the industry
average.

The company’s retail activities are supplemented by the GERRY WEBER eShop,
where GERRY WEBER, TAIFUN and SAMOON articles can be ordered from a single
source. This online outlet has given the GERRY WEBER Group access to new
customer groups and is operating profitably after only two years of doing
business. During the first nine months of 2007/2008, sales across all three
brands advanced by 87.5 percent, with SAMOON showing a particularly
gratifying trend.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were
up 25.4 percent on the previous year (EUR 34.3 million) to EUR 43.0 million
in the current fiscal year. The operating result (EBIT) climbed 26.4
percent from EUR 27.1 million to EUR 34.2 million. The result from ordinary
activities (EBT) rose by 26.4 percent from EUR 23.8 million to EUR 30.1
million. The respective margins increased accordingly. At EUR 20.7 million,
net profit was up 55.1 percent on the previous year (EUR 13.3 million).
DVFA earnings per share climbed from EUR 0.57 to EUR 0.90.

In contrast to the general downsizing trend in the industry, the continuing
fast pace of expansion once again enabled the GERRY WEBER Group to create
numerous new jobs. As of 31 July 2008, the company employed 2,265 people,
314 more than a year ago, with the newly opened HOUSES OF GERRY WEBER
accounting for most of the new hirings.

The GERRY WEBER Group believes that the excellent trend in the first nine
months of 2007/2008 confirms its sales and earnings projections for the
full year. Targeting Group sales between EUR 570 million and EUR 580
million as well as an 11.0 percent EBIT margin, the company intends to
continue its long-standing track record of double-digit growth rates. The
GERRY WEBER Group projects double-digit sales and earnings growth also for
the financial year 2008/2009. Sales are expected to double to EUR 1 billion
over the next four years, with the EBIT margin rising to 15 percent at the
same time.

The company will clearly expand its retail activities. Another 20 HOUSES OF
GERRY WEBER are scheduled to be opened by 31 October 2008. Twelve of these
company-managed stores will be opened in Germany, eight abroad. About
another 100 multibrand stores will be opened in 2009, of which 40 will be
operated by the GERRY WEBER Group itself. Some 100 new openings of
company-managed or franchised retail outlets are planned for each of the
following three years. The expansion of the monobrand stores for TAIFUN,
SAMOON and GERRY WEBER EDITION will be pushed ahead concurrently. The GERRY
WEBER Group's medium-term goal is to sell approximately 40 percent of its
products through company-operated or franchised stores. The company’s web
shop is to contribute ten percent to the total retail revenues going
forward.
DGAP 25.09.2008 
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Language:     English
Issuer:       Gerry Weber International AG
              Neulehenstraße 8
              33790 Halle/Westfalen
              Deutschland
Phone:        +49 (0)5201 185-0
Fax:          +49 (0)5201 5857
E-mail:       h.kley@gerryweber.de
Internet:     www.gerryweber-ag.de
ISIN:         DE0003304101
WKN:          330410
Indices:      SDAX
Listed:       Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard), Düsseldorf;
              Freiverkehr in Berlin, Stuttgart
End of News                                     DGAP News-Service
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