• Essanelle Hair Group releases figures for H1 2009

• Sales revenues up 0.2% on previous year

• Earnings situation has stabilised

Düsseldorf, 20 August 2009 – Thanks to a good performance in the second quarter of 2009, Essanelle Hair Group AG was able to increase its first-half sales over the previous year. The company generated sales revenues of EUR 63.7 million, which represents an increase of 0.2% over the previous year. The company thus clearly outperformed the market, which was characterised by declining sales in both the retail sector and the hairdressing industry.

“While it is certainly positive that we were able to grow despite various salon closures and the extremely weak economic environment, our figures show that the macroeconomic situation has deteriorated and that this has impacted our results,” said Achim Mansen, CEO of Essanelle Hair Group AG.

The performance of the different salon concepts differed. essanelle Ihr Friseur generated sales revenues of EUR 32.3 million in the first six months of the financial year, compared to EUR 35.0 million in the previous year. In this context, it should be noted that the number of salons was reduced from 343 to 323. Sales revenues of HairExpress rose by 20% from EUR 12.8 million to EUR 15.3 million. The number of salons increased from 159 to 193. The 32 (previous year: 31) salons of the young and trendy TOP TEN brand generated sales revenues of EUR 2.7 million, down from EUR 2.8 million. At EUR 10.1 million, sales revenues of the Super Cut brand were exactly on a par with the first half of 2008. The number of salons climbed from 89 to 92 at the half-year stage. The Beauty Hair Shops boosted their sales revenues in the first six months of 2009 to EUR 3.2 million (previous year: EUR 2.8 million). The Group currently operates 29 Beauty Hair Shops, compared to 27 in the first half of the previous year.

Earnings figures for the second quarter on a par with the previous year

The earnings situation of the Essanelle Hair Group stabilised clearly in the second quarter. At EUR 2.9 million, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were on a par with the previous year. The same applies to earnings before taxes, which also reached the previous year’s level at EUR 1.5 million. Due to the weak first quarter of 2009, earnings for the first six months were below the previous year’s level. EBITDA for the first half of 2009 totalled EUR 4.6 million, compared to EUR 5.3 million in the previous year. Earnings before taxes amounted to EUR 1.7 million, down from EUR 2.5 million in the first six months of 2008.

“We clearly stabilised both sales and earnings in the second quarter,” said Achim Mansen. “We are therefore a bit more optimistic for the second half of the year, although we know that the macroeconomic trend and our business performance are very difficult to predict. At this stage, we maintain our objective to increase sales revenues and generate earnings before taxes at the prior year level.”

For further details of the second quarter 2009, please refer to the Q2 report on the company’s website at www.essanelle-hair-group.com. The Interim Report 2/2009 will be published on August 31, 2009.

Kontakt:
Haubrok Investor Relations
Michael Müller
+49-21 56-49 65 195
M.Mueller@haubrok.de