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Intermediate report of the management transmitted by euro adhoc. The issuer is responsible for the content of this announcement.
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11.05.2007
Interim report on the first quarter of 2007
KSB Group remains on course for growth
The positive trend in demand for pumps, valves and related systems has continued in the current year. In the first three months of 2007 the most im-portant stimulus for the KSB business came from industry and the energy, mining and waste water sectors.
KSB Group 01-03/2007 01-03/2006 Change Order intake EUR million 556.5 467.5 + 19.0 % Sales revenue EUR million 412.0 362.1 + 13.8 % Employees (31 March) 13,579 12,843 + 5.7 %
Order intake and sales revenue development
Order intake in the Group grew by 19.0 percent during the first quarter of 2007 compared with the same period last year. KSB Group companies again posted double-digit growth in all four Regions - Europe, Middle East / Africa, Asia / Pacific and the Americas. With a 45 percent growth, the order growth achieved by KSB companies in Asia is especially outstanding. In terms of volume, however, the strongest increase was reported by KSB companies in Europe; the parent company KSB AG improved its order intake over the same quarter last year by 17.0 percent.
Over the same period, the Group increased its sales revenue by 13.8 per-cent, the greatest volume growth again being reported in the European com-panies. KSB AG increased its sales revenue by 14.2 percent.
A point that has to be taken into account is the first-time consolidation of four small KSB companies in the Group on 1 January 2007, namely in Belgium, Brazil, Dubai and Thailand. Without these first-time consolidations, the in-crease in the order intake would have been 17.2 percent and sales revenue growth 11.7 percent. Change in number of employees
The integration of these four KSB companies in the Group has also had an impact on the number of employees in the Group. On 31 March, this number had increased by 736 to 13,579 compared with the same time in the previous year. Of these employees, 359 belonged to the newly consolidated compa-nies. In addition, KSB companies in Brazil, the USA and South Africa have increased their staff levels to cope with the rising volume of orders. This applies equally to KSB AG, which appointed all its apprentices and trainees to permanent positions and has recruited further new people in the current year.
New KSB company in South Africa
To develop the business in South Africa, KSB increased its financial com-mitment in the country in February of this year and acquired its former joint venture partner´s fifty percent share in KSB Pumps (S.A.) (Pty.) Ltd., Ger-miston. KSB has now transferred the operative business of KSB Pumps (S.A.) (Pty.) Ltd. to a newly established subsidiary of that company, Ger-miston-based KSB Pumps and Valves (Pty) Ltd. KSB holds 74.9 percent of the subsidiary´s share capital. The remaining 25.1 percent have been acquired by a South-African financial investor.
Earnings and financial position
Earnings showed a further positive trend. Both in the Group and in KSB AG, the results in the first quarter clearly exceeded the previous year´s level. The financial position has also further improved compared with the year-end figure for 2006.
Frankenthal, 11 May 2007
end of announcement euro adhoc 11.05.2007 10:40:42
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ots Originaltext: KSB AG Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de
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Branche: Machine Manufacturing ISIN: DE0006292006 WKN: 629200 Index: CDAX Börsen: Börse Berlin-Bremen / free trade Hamburger Wertpapierbörse / free trade Baden-Württembergische Wertpapierbörse / free trade Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse / official dealing/general standard Börse Düsseldorf / official dealing
