Successful first quarter for GILDEMEISTER

• Increase of order intake to € 605.1 million (+36%; previous year: € 445.9 million)
• Sales revenues reach € 451.8 million (+20%, previous year: € 377.4 million)
• EBT significantly increased: € 15.0 million (previous year: € 0.5 million)
• Profitability considerably improved: € 10.3 million (previous year: € 0.3 million)
• Higher dividend for financial year 2012 planned

Bielefeld. The global economy is currently quite stable. Worldwide consumption of machine tools should rise from now on by 8.8% according to the latest forecasts of the VDW (German Machine Tool Builders Association) and Oxford Economics as of April 2012 – this means that the high consumption of last year would be maintained.

GILDEMEISTER has started the new business year in line with plans. Order intake, sales revenues and earnings were higher than the previous year’s figures for the first quarter. This was due, amongst others, to the successful annual kick-off events.

Order intake rose to € 605.1 million (+36%; previous year: € 445.9 million). Sales revenues reached € 451.8 million (+20%; previous year: € 377.4 million). Profitability developed as planned: EBITDA amounted to € 28.6 million (previous year: € 17.9 million), EBIT reached € 18.8 million (previous year: € 10.4 million) and EBT reached € 15.0 million (previous year: € 0.5 million). As of 31 March 2012, the group reports earnings after taxes of € 10.3 million (previous year: € 0.3 million).

In the first quarter, sales revenues reached € 451.8 million and were thus € 74.4 million (+20%) above the comparable previous year’s level (€ 377.4 million). In the “Machine Tools” core segment sales revenues rose by € 51.2 million (+25%) to € 259.6 million. Sales revenues in the “Industrial Services” segment totalled € 192.1 million (previous year: € 168.9 million). Domestic sales revenues increased by 48% to € 183.3 million; the group’s international sales revenues rose by 6% to € 268.5 million. The export share amounted to 59% (previous year: 67%).

In the first quarter, order intake rose by 36% to € 605.1 million (previous year: € 445.9 million). In our core “Machine Tools” business, orders increased by 22% to € 359.9 million (previous year: € 295.4 million). In “Industrial Services” we were able to increase order intake by 63% to € 245.1 million (previous year: € 150.4 million). Domestic orders rose overall by 19% to € 223.6 million (previous year: € 187.2 million). International orders grew by 47% to € 381.5 million (previous year: € 258.7 million). The international share of orders amounted to 63% (previous year: 58%). In the first quarter order intake grew positively in line with expectations. The annual kick-off events at the start of the year contributed significantly to this. The traditional in-house exhibition in Pfronten ended in February with a record result of 530 machines sold to a value of € 163.4 million. In March we sold 181 machines at the METAV in Dusseldorf to a value of € 41.5 million.

On 31 March 2012 the order backlog within the group amounted to € 964.5 million (+41% on the previous year’s date).

The GILDEMEISTER group’s profitability grew as planned in the first quarter. EBITDAamounted to € 28.6 million (previous year: € 17.9 million), EBIT reached € 18.8 million (previous year: € 10.4 million) and EBT reached € 15.0 million (previous year: € 0.5 million). As of 31 March 2012, the group reports earnings after taxes of € 10.3 million (previous year: € 0.3 million).

As of 31 March 2012, GILDEMEISTER had 6.259 employees, of whom 177 were trainees (31 Dec. 2011: 6.032). In comparison with year-end 2011, the number of employees rose by 227. Some 3,607 employees (58%) worked for the domestic companies and 2,652 employees (42%) for our international companies. Employee expenses amounted to € 108.8 million (previous year’s period: € 92.9 million). The personnel ratio amounted to 22.3% (previous year’s period: 22.5%).

The GILDEMEISTER share recorded a positive trend in the first three months. Starting from a price of € 10.23 at the start of the year (2 Jan. 2012), the share closed the first quarter at € 14.69 (30 Mar. 2012) – an increase of 44%. At the current time the share is being quoted at € 14.95 (7 May 2012).

Forecast:

Overall, the worldwide market for machine tools should develop positively in 2012. The VDW (German Machine Tool Builders‘ Association) and the British economic research institute, Oxford Economics, are expecting growth in worldwide consumption of 8.8% to € 67.9 billion in their latest forecasts (as of April 2012).

GILDEMEISTER plans for the positive growth trend to continue over the course of 2012. The on-going good performance in the Asian markets, as well as in Eastern Europe and America, could compensate for a possible slowdown in the Southern European markets. In the current financial year we will extend our cooperation with Mori Seiki to all European markets and subsequently to China, the largest sales market. Our customers benefit from our strengthening the European business through the joint sales and service central office in Switzerland. We align the renewable energies business customer-orientated and towards new target markets.

GILDEMEISTER confirms its forecasts for 2012: in the current financial year we are expecting order intake for the first time of more than € 2 billion. Based on current business performance and a sound order backlog, we plan to achieve sales of more than € 1.9 billion. For the whole year we intend to achieve EBT of more than € 100 million and net income of more than € 65 million. The 2012 planning assumes that the market trend will continue in line with recent forecasts and that the current general economic conditions and the euro's performance will remain stable. Due to the positive outlook for business and earnings for financial year 2012, we anticipate distributing a higher dividend per share than in the previous year.

GILDEMEISTER Aktiengesellschaft 
The Executive Board