Ad hoc: Hawesko: Temporary earnings weakness in 3rd quarter

HAWESKO Holding AG / Keyword(s): Quarterly report / Ad hoc: Hawesko: Temporary earnings weakness in 3rd quarter . Ad hoc announcement according to § 15 WpHG. Processed and transmitted by Nasdaq OMX Corporate Solutions. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

· Consultancy costs higher than expected - no further effect from the 4th quarter on

· Full-year forecast still above previous year

Hamburg, 23 October 2014. The wine merchant and trading group Hawesko Holding AG (HAW GR, HAWG.DE, DE0006042708) announces today on the basis of preliminary numbers for the third quarter that it expects EBIT to be € 2.5 million for the period July to September 2014, meaning that it will fall short of the market expectation of an amount more than € 3 million. The main reason for this development are consultancy costs which turn out to be higher than expected: the Hawesko Management Board had estimated these in the half-year financial report to amount to a total of € 1.5 million, but at 30 September 2014 they totalled € 1.8 million. These expenses are now concluded. According to preliminary calculations, earnings development of the subsidiaries will not suffice to compensate the profit-reducing effects in the third-quarter, especially as the expected increase in profitability in the mail order segment after improving its infrastructure is developing more slowly than anticipated. A detailed analysis as well as the complete interim accounts will be published on 6 November 2014 in the upcoming quarterly financial report to 30 September 2014.

From the standpoint of the Hawesko Management Board there is only a slight change in full-year 2014 targets due to the earnings weakness in this quarter: The Board continues to expect a sales increase of 1 % to 2 % against the previous year (€ 465 million). Regarding the EBIT margin, the Board now assumes that the figure will fall within a range between 5.1 % and 5.3 % (previous year: 4.8 %). According to the Board's current estimate, group EBIT is expected on the order of € 24-25 million (previous year: € 22.6 million), whereby a normal course of business is assumed for the important pre-Christmas trading period in the fourth quarter.

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Published by:

Hawesko Holding AG

20247 Hamburg

Investor Relations:

Thomas Hutchinson, Hawesko Holding AG

Telephone (+49 40) 30 39 21 00

Fax (+49 40) 30 39 21 05

E-mail: ir@hawesko-holding.com

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HAWESKO Holding AG
Plan 5 Hamburg Germany

WKN: 604270;ISIN: DE0006042708;Index:GEX,CLASSIC All Share,SDAX,Prime All Share,CDAX;
Listed: Freiverkehr in Börse Stuttgart,
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Freiverkehr in Bayerische Börse München,
Freiverkehr in Niedersächsische Börse zu Hannover,
Prime Standard in Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse,
Regulierter Markt in Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse,
Regulierter Markt in Hanseatische Wertpapierbörse zu Hamburg;