(Ad-hoc) Dürr Group is strategically reorienting

02/23/2005 - Dürr AG - WKN 556520 / ISIN DE0005565204

• Combination of core business areas
• Services division is being sold
• Goodwill writedown of about EUR 26 million

Effective March 1, 2005, the Dürr Group will be organized in two main divisions instead of the previous five business units. Paint Systems and Final Assembly Systems, which both operate in plant engineering, will be combined into the new Paint and Assembly Systems division. Ecoclean and Measuring Systems (Schenck), which are geared to mechanical engineering, will form the new Measuring and Process Systems division. The Services division (Premier Group) is to be sold to Voith AG. The negotiations are very far along. Regulatory approval is being sought. The primary objective of the sale is to reduce debt. For the Development Test Systems division of Schenck, Dürr is examining strategic options that range from a minority holding to a sale. In that connection, a goodwill writedown of about EUR 26 million is being taken on DTS. By streamlining its portfolio and strategically reorienting its activities, Dürr intends to focus more on its core business and expects annual cost savings of about EUR 10 million from 2006 onward. Calculated on a comparable basis, preliminary earnings before taxes for 2004 amount to EUR 11.3 million (previous year: EUR minus 5.7 million) and are hence at the upper end of the guidance released in November. In the new corporate structure, the earnings before taxes of continuing operations amount to EUR 16.2 million (previous year: EUR 4.0 million). The earnings before taxes of discontinued operations come to EUR minus 31.2 million (previous year: EUR minus 9.7 million) mainly due to the writedown.

Note: All data is preliminary and accounted according to IFRS. They have not been approved by the Supervisory Board nor examined by the auditor yet.

Dürr AG
The executive board

End of disclosure