Press Release: Hawesko: French subsidiary posts higher losses than expected

Hawesko Holding AG / Hawesko: French subsidiary posts higher losses than expected . Ad hoc announcement according to -- 15 WpHG. Processed and transmitted by Thomson Reuters ONE. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Hamburg, 24 October 2013. The wine trading group Hawesko Holding AG (HAW GR, HAWG.DE, DE0006042708) announced today that, based on preliminary calculations, its Bordeaux-based subsidiary Château Classic - Le Monde des Grands Bordeaux, which specialises in premium Bordeaux wines, realised a higher than expected loss during the period from 1 July to 30 September 2013. A major cause is the longer-term price decline in this particular market, which resumed again in the past several weeks.

The global market for premium Bordeaux wines profited from a boom in 2010 and 2011, driven largely by a massive increase in demand in the Far East, particularly in the Hong Kong market. Since 2012 the demand has practically come to a standstill. The Hawesko management board believes that these problems will be sustained for a longer period. The board is therefore reviewing various options with regard to the future positioning of the Group in the wholesale trading of Bordeaux wines of the ultra-premium class: its decision will be made shortly. As a consequence, further charges on earnings in the current fiscal year cannot be excluded. However, these charges would be one-off in nature and will not in total exceed a figure in the mid-single-digit million range (in euros).

The potential charges as well as the aforementioned loss in the third quarter have an effect on the full-year forecast for 2013. The management board currently assumes that consolidated sales in 2013 will be 4-5% higher than in the previous year (EUR 449 million) and the result from operations (EBIT) will be between EUR 22-24 million (previous year: EUR 26.1 million).

As CEO Alexander Margaritoff stated, "Wines of the ultra-premium class are and will remain an important part of our product range. However, with regard to these activities, we want to strengthen the focus of our business model on continuous growth - exactly how we will do this is currently under review. As we have always done in the past, we will act resolutely and remain flexible: where our operations have potential to grow, we will develop and expand them. Where it becomes apparent that this is not the case, we will scale them back."

# # #

Publisher:

Hawesko Holding AG

20247 Hamburg

Investor Relations:

Thomas Hutchinson, Hawesko Holding AG

Phone: +49 (0)40 30 39 21 00

Fax +49 (0)40 30 39 21 05

E-mail: ir@hawesko-holding.com

This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson Reuters clients.

The owner of this announcement warrants that:

(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and

(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the

information contained therein.

Source: HAWESKO Holding AG via Thomson Reuters ONE

HUG#1738049

--- End of Message ---

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,

Freiverkehr in Börse Berlin,

Freiverkehr in Börse Düsseldorf,

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;

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

   October 24, 2013 11:14 ET (15:14 GMT)- - 11 14 AM EDT 10-24-13