• Consolidated net sales grow by 22.3 percent to total 877.5 million euros
• Operating earnings (EBITA) burdened by impact of one-off factors
• 24 Praktiker stores being converted to Easy-to-Shop
• Max Bahr consolidated as from February 1
• International business with strong growth
• Sales and earnings forecast for 2007 confirmed

Kirkel – 26 April 2007. Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG has completed a successful first quarter of 2007. “We are fully in line with our budget at Praktiker while the new group subsidiary Max Bahr is developing better than expected and is currently giving us much to be pleased about”, was how Wolfgang Werner, CEO at Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG, commented on the group’s I / 2007 quarterly report. This was further supported by the group’s international operations which enjoyed dynamic growth with sharp increases in both sales and earnings.

The Quarterly Report 1/2007 is available here.

Statement of CEO Wolfgang Werner regarding the first quarter report 2007 is available here.

more

Kirkel – December 13, 2007. The Supervisory Board of Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG decided in its meeting today to expand the Management Board and at the same time reallocate some of the responsibilities. A separate Human Resources department will be created, to be managed by Karl-Heinz Stroh (52).

more

Kirkel – November 8, 2007. Praktiker Group, one of the leading DIY center operators in Europe, is about to make its market entry into the Ukraine. On 29 November 2007, the company’s first large home improvement and DIY store with a selling space of around 8,400 square meters will open its gates in Donezk. This will be the 85th international store and the Ukraine is the 8th and so far largest European country into which Praktiker expands. In 2008, further outlets are scheduled to open in this country, including in Kiev and Lvov.

more

• Sales up 27.1 %, EBITA prior to Federal Cartel Office requirements up 24.4 %
• Germany: Praktiker asserted its position in a declining market
• International: continued dynamic growth
• Sales and earnings forecast for 2007 unchanged

Kirkel – 24 October 2007. Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG successfully closed the Third Quarter of 2007. Sales and earnings increased as a result of the further integration of Max Bahr and a continuously booming international business.

more

• Second Quarter sales increased by 26.9 %, EBITA up 10.7 %
• Germany: Integration of Max Bahr bearing fruit
• International: Like-for-like growth again in double-digit range
• Positive course of business anticipated for second half of 2007

Kirkel, Germany - July 25, 2007. Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG successfully closed the second quarter 2007 and thus also the first half of the current fiscal year. Owing to the successful integration of Max Bahr and the continued dynamic growth of international operations it was possible to distinctly increase sales and earnings. Based on these fundamentals, the management is raising its guidance for operating earnings (EBITA) in the current fiscal year.

more

Kirkel - July 16, 2007. Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG is introducing a new group-wide checkout system featuring one of the most innovative hardware and software systems available in the market. For the customers, shopping at Praktiker will be even more convenient in future while work for the checkout staff will easier and more efficient with the new system. The project will be realized in cooperation with Wincor Nixdorf. The order volume is in the lower double-digit million range.

more

Kirkel - July 13, 2007. Following the market entry into the Ukraine planned for this autumn the Praktiker Group has identified a new target country for the year 2008: Albania. In the medium term, at least three home improvement and DIY stores are to be built, the first one in the capital Tirana in summer 2008.

more

Saarbrücken - June 11, 2007. Like in the previous year, shareholders of Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG will receive a dividend in the amount of 0.45 euros per share for the financial year 2006. The ordinary Annual General Meeting of the company that went public on November 22, 2005 today approved the corresponding proposal submitted by the Management Board and Executive Board. Based on the closing price for 2006, this gives a dividend yield of 1.7 percent.

more

• Easy-to-Shop and Max Bahr strengthen market position in Germany
• International expansion accelerated, new target countries examined
• Sales and earnings forecast for 2007 confirmed

Saarbrücken - June 11, 2007. The Chairman and CEO of Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG, Wolfgang Werner, expects a further consolidation of the German DIY sector following the integration of Max Bahr into the Praktiker Group and the takeover of the Marktkauf DIY stores by REWE. This trend is to be welcomed, said Werner at the company's Annual General Meeting in Saarbrücken on June 11, "because it will also increase the chances that existing over-capacities are reduced and margins improve due to efficiency gains". Consequently, an accelerated consolidation would be beneficial for all stakeholders.

more

Significant oversubscription – Ten banks participating

Kirkel, Germany – 7 May 2007. The new syndicated credit line of Praktiker Group has been subscribed today. At the end of March Praktiker had mandated an international consortium of banks headed by ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Dresdner Kleinwort and WestLB AG to arrange a new syndicated line of credit to substitute the existing one. According to information provided by the consortium, there was a significant oversubscription. Overall, the consortium encompasses ten banks.

more

Postponement due to formal error in the invitation to annual general meeting

Kirkel, Germany – 30 April 2007. Due to a formal error, Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG feels impelled to postpone its 2007 ordinary annual general meeting at short notice. The annual general meeting has now been rescheduled to June 11, 2007, from May 30, 2007, as originally planned. The venue remains unchanged in Saarbrücken. The invitation for the new date will follow shortly.

more

• Net sales up 4.2 percent to € 3.16 billion
• EBITA raised 5.0 percent to € 111.1 million
• EBITA before non-recurrent items € 118.6 million
• Germany: Market position extended, distinctly above the industry average
• International: Double-digit growth of sales and earnings
• Proposed dividend of € 0.45 per share

Frankfurt, April 3, 2007 – Praktiker Group concluded a successful fiscal year 2006: Sales and earnings were up again from the very good-prior year values*. Net sales rose 4.2 percent to € 3.16 billion (2005: € 3.03 billion). Like-for-like, international sales grew 6.2 percent (2005: 3.9 percent) and domestic sales 2.5 percent (2005: 0.7 percent). At the same time, EBITA rose five percent from € 105.8 to € 111.1 million. In view of these results the Management Board and the Supervisory Board decided to propose a dividend of € 0.45 per share to the Annual General Meeting on May 30, 2007.

more

Kirkel – 2 April 2007. Walter Weber (55) at his own request resigned from his position on the Management Board of Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG nearly six months ahead of the expiry of his contract. Weber had asked the Supervisory Board to release him from his obligations as a Management Board member from 31 March 2007 so he can take up a new position in another company. The Supervisory Board complied with his request.

more

Kirkel – 23 March 2007. Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG has mandated an international bank consortium to arrange a new syndicated line of credit to substitute the existing one. The corresponding agreement was signed with ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Dresdner Kleinwort and WestLB AG on March 22, 2007.

more

Hamburg – 26 February 2007. Max Bahr will back out of the purchasing cooperation with Hellweg. To this effect, the company agreement for Diyco Einkaufsgesellschaft mbH founded in late 2005 is terminated with due notice as of 29 February 2008.

more

Kirkel – 6 February 2007. Praktiker’s new Easy-to-Shop store concept has stood the test. Following a six-month test phase in six pilot stores the first interim balance shows: Easy-to-Shop attracts more customers, increases sales and leads to higher earnings. Therefore, its general rollout is now planned to start six months ahead of the original schedule. The first 12 stores will be adapted to the Easy-to-Shop system in early March. A total of 67 locations are to be converted in the course of 2007. By the end of the decade, more than 200 Praktiker outlets will be operated in this successful format.

more

Hamburg/Kirkel - February 1, 2007. Effective today, Max Bahr has become part of the Praktiker Group. After obtaining clearance for the takeover from the Federal Cartel Office on January 10, 2007, the corresponding transfer agreements have now been signed on Wednesday, January 31. At the same time, a new management took over at Max Bahr: Andreas Mauz (39) and Lutz Rucktäschel (41), two experienced managers from Praktiker are now leading the long-established Hamburg-based company. In addition to his function as chairman of the Management Board, Mauz will be responsible for category management, marketing, finance, IT and logistics, while Rucktäschel will mainly focus on sales. Peter Sumfleth, former Managing Director of Max Bahr, retired from the company as planned.

more

Kirkel – 11 January 2007. Germany's Federal Cartel Office cleared the takeover of the operational business of Max Bahr by Praktiker. But at the same time it stipulated that in each of the four regional markets Schwerin, Cottbus, Lueneburg and Rostock a location shall be sold.

more

• Group sales up by 4.2 per cent in 2006
• Growth in fourth quarter of 2006 continued Earnings forecast confirmed
• Ergebnisprognose bekräftigt

Kirkel – 11 January 2007. Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG has successfully concluded its 2006 business year. According to the still provisional figures available to date, group sales increased by 4.2 per cent in the past financial year to reach € 3.16 billion. Despite the closure of seven DIY stores sales in Germany increased by 0.8 per cent to € 2.28 billion, representing a like-for-like increase of 2.5 per cent. Sales in Germany have thus developed much stronger in 2006 than in 2005 when the like-for-like increase was 0.7 per cent only. With strong like-for-likes, Praktiker has also clearly expanded its position in the German market. Abroad, sales increased by 14.4 per cent to reach € 0.88 billion in accordance with the group's long-term growth strategy. Like-for-like, this corresponds to an increase of 6.2 per cent. The share of international sales in total group sales increased from 25.4 per cent in 2005 to 27.8 per cent in 2006.

At the end of 2006 Praktiker was operating a total of 341 DIY stores (previous year: 340), of which 268 were in Germany (previous year: 275) and 73 abroad (previous year: 65).

more