Hamburg, 24 June 2010. The wine trading group Hawesko Holding AG (HAW GR, HAWG.DE, DE0006042708) has sold its 3.4 % holding, corresponding to 2,083,047 shares, in Majestic Wine plc on 23 June 2010 over the London Stock Exchange. This resulted in cash proceeds equivalent to approximately € 7.4 million. Cash outpayments made for the financial investment in Majestic Wine plc during a period from the end of 2008 to the beginning of 2009 had totalled € 4.1 million. The gain of € 3.3 million will be recognised in the financial result line of the income statement within the half-year financial report for 2010. Parting from this financial stake does not mean a renunciation of the strategic orientation of Hawesko Holding AG fundamentally to expand outside of Germany.
The Hawesko management board now assumes in its forecast for fiscal year 2010 that the financial result line will show a net positive figure in the range of € 1-3 million instead of a net negative figure of approximately € 1 million. The current forecast for sales and operating result remains unaffected: the management board continues to assume a moderate sales increase against the previous year (Group sales 2009: € 339 million) and an operating profit (EBIT) of a similar magnitude to the previous year (ie, € 22-23 million). The estimate for free cash flow is now being raised to an expected scale of € 22 million (previous forecast: approximately € 15 million).