Stable dividend for a successful 2008

TAKKT well equipped for the crisis

At today’s Annual General Meeting in Ludwigsburg, the shareholders of TAKKT AG ratified the proposal by the Management and the Supervisory Boards to distribute an ordinary dividend of 32 cents and, once again, a special dividend of 48 cents per share. The shareholders are therefore participating again to a large degree from the good profits of the company. In the financial year 2008, the TAKKT Group achieved organic turnover growth of 0.7 percent to EUR 932.1 million and increased its EBITDA margin to the record level of 14.6 percent.

Due to TAKKT’s strong cash flow and high equity ratio the Annual General Meeting agreed to the proposal of the Management and Supervisory Boards to pay out a stable total dividend of 80 cents per share. With total dividends of EUR 52.5 million, the payout ratio for the financial year 2008 is approximately 70 percent of the equity share of profit in 2008.  “Even after the share buy-back and the acquisition of Central Products LLC in the USA in the first four months of 2009 we still have enough financial flexibility for internal and external growth,” said CEO Georg Gayer.

With a high percentage of the share capital represented at the Annual General Meeting, the shareholders once again agreed to discharging the Management and the Supervisory Boards. Following a motion by the majority shareholder Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, Duisburg, Dr Dr Peter Bettermann, Managing Partner and Speaker of the Management Board of Freudenberg & Co KG, Weinheim, was appointed to the Supervisory Board as successor to the retiring member, Alexander von Witzleben. The Annual General Meeting overwhelmingly endorsed the management’s proposals in relation to all other items on the agenda.

Profitability increased again
The TAKKT Group generated turnover of EUR 932.1 (2007: 986.2) million in the financial year 2008. This year-on-year decline of 5.5 percent can be entirely attributed to the disposal of Conney Safety Products LLC in 2007 and to the weakness of the US dollar in the year under review. The Group turnover posted slight organic growth of 0.7 percent. Profitability increased again, despite the difficult economic environment in the second half of 2008 and the anticipated start-up losses from the new foundations. The Group’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) came in at EUR 136.0 (142.3) million. The EBITDA margin improved to 14.6 (14.4) percent, and was therefore close to the upper end of the Group’s long-term target corridor of between twelve and 15 percent. Profit before tax amounted to EUR 113.9 (116.1) million, and the pre-tax margin rose to 12.2 (11.8) percent. The cash flow margin rose to the record level of 10.7 (10.3) percent.

Management Board succession stands for strategic continuity
At his last Annual General Meeting, CEO Georg Gayer – who will retire on 31 May 2009 – thanked the members of the Supervisory Board, his Management Board colleagues, the TAKKT Group employees and the shareholders for the good working relationships and for the trust placed in him over the past ten years. Looking ahead, Gayer assured the shareholders that “the managerial change at TAKKT AG will not have any impact on the Group’s strict performance and value-orientation.” The incoming CEO, Dr Felix A. Zimmermann stands for continuity due to his many years of experience in the TAKKT Group, having acted as CFO between 1999 and 2004 and having been appointed Deputy Chairman responsible for the K + K America division since 1 May 2008.

Well equipped for the crisis
Gayer considers the group to be well positioned, even in view of the current recession: “So far, TAKKT has always come out of an economic trough strengthened, and that will be the case this time round too.” The Management Board of TAKKT AG is reckoning with an organic decline in consolidated turnover (adjusted for the acquisition as well as exchange rate fluctuations) of between 15 and 25 percent in 2009 as a whole. A good level of profitability is nevertheless anticipated, thanks to the company’s business model with a low level of fixed costs. “Even if turnover declines by up to 20 percent in the year as a whole, we will nevertheless still have a double-digit EBITDA margin,” Gayer said.

Expansion despite current economic climate
Gayer stated that one of the strategic objectives of the TAKKT Group is to become the world’s number one B2B mail order company for business equipment, going on to say that the recent acquisition of Central Restaurant Products – the leading US mail order group for restaurant equipment – was another step in this direction. In addition to acquisitions, an important long-term growth driver for TAKKT is the foundation of new companies. Considering the extraordinarily good response to the launch of Hubert in Germany, it is now planned to expand the Hubert activities into France before the end of the year. In addition TAKKT is pressing ahead with its plans to expand further in Eastern Europe and to intensify its e-business activities.

Short profile of TAKKT AG
TAKKT is the leading B2B mail order company for office, business and warehouse equipment in Europe and North America. The Group is represented with its brands in more than 25 countries. The product range of the TAKKT subsidiaries comprises over 160,000 items from the areas business and warehouse equipment, classical and design-oriented office furniture and accessories, as well as sales promotion items for retailers, the food service industry and the hotel market.

The TAKKT Group employs some 2,000 staff, has 3 million customers worldwide and distributes more than 60 million catalogues and mailings per year.

TAKKT AG is listed on the SDAX and was admitted to Deutsche Boerse’s Prime Standard on 1 January 2003.

Ludwigsburg/Stuttgart, 6 Mai 2009

Contact:
Georg Gayer, CEO
Phone +49 711 34658-201

Dr Florian Funck, CFO
Phone +49 711 34658-207

E-mail: investor@takkt.de