Contact

After a strong 2006, HOCHTIEF has ambitious new targets. Consolidated net profit is already set to top EUR 100 million in 2007 - a figure selected in early 2006 as the Group’s medium-term goal. New orders, the order backlog and Group sales are to remain at high levels.

Contributing to this trend is the Group’s strategic direction with its focus on an integrated portfolio of products and services. HOCHTIEF spans the entire properties, facilities and infrastructure projects value chain with four tightly knit capability modules: development, construction, services, and concessions and operation. “In 2006, we pressed ahead with our Group-wide networking and convinced clients with our integrated Group service offerings,” says Dr. Herbert Lütkestratkötter, Chairman of HOCHTIEF’s Executive Board. “This is reflected in high-margin projects in which several HOCHTIEF companies are involved with a diverse array of services.” HOCHTIEF, the world’s third largest construction services provider, is particularly well positioned in growth markets in the services and concessions business, for example, in airport management and public-private partnerships.

HOCHTIEF showed strong forward momentum in fiscal 2006 and continued to grow. Consolidated net profit climbed 31.6 percent to EUR 89.1 million (2005: EUR 67.7 million). New orders (at EUR 20.56 billion), the order backlog (EUR 25.13 billion) and work done (EUR 16.72 billion) likewise set new records. Profit before taxes (EUR 338.1 million) was also up on the prior year. This growth is reflected in the performance of HOCHTIEF shares. HOCHTIEF’s year-end stock price of EUR 55.20 represented a 45.9 percent year-on-year gain in value. The company’s stock outperformed both the DAX and the MDAX indices (up 22 and 29 percent respectively).

As is customary, the company plans to accord investors their due share in its success and is submitting a dividend of EUR 1.10 per no-par-value share for approval at today’s General Shareholders’ Meeting. This means the dividend will have increased by an average of 17 percent a year for the last five years.

The Group plans to continue its strategy of reaping synergies from cooperation between HOCHTIEF companies. It also intends to forge ahead with the expansion of its global concessions and services activities and in opening up new business segments.

HOCHTIEF has already chalked up new successes in fiscal 2007. With effect from July 1, 2007, the Group will take over the property management unit of Allianz Immobilien GmbH, placing it in charge of over 600 Allianz properties with a total rentable space of some three million square meters. This will make HOCHTIEF Property Management GmbH one of Germany’s leading providers of high-end property management solutions, with a total of six million square meters of rentable space under management. The acquisition strengthens the Group’s services business.

Group outlook for 2007:

On current forecasts, the losses in the German construction business that are projected to result in up to a EUR 120 million pretax loss in the Europe division will be compensated by in some cases substantial earnings increases in the Group’s other divisions. HOCHTIEF therefore confirms its forecast for fiscal 2007:

Note for the media: The HOCHTIEF General Shareholders’ Meeting can be viewed in a live webcast from 10:30 a.m. (CET) at www.hochtief.de in German and www.hochtief.com in English. The text of the Executive Board Chairman’s speech is likewise available from the HOCHTIEF website.