PWO releases preliminary figures for the 2008 financial year

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- Q4 2008: Group revenue down by 18 percent, series revenue at the
Oberkirch site drops 34 percent year-on-year
- Group net profit still positive in 2008

Oberkirch, February 24, 2009 - The fourth quarter of 2008 saw the
international automotive industry experience an unprecedented slump.
This led to a huge decline in standby orders at PWO and negatively
impacted Group earnings and revenue. In the 2008 financial year, the
Group generated revenue of EUR 260.4 million (p/y 259.6) and a total
output of EUR 264.0 million (p/y 262.6). EBIT totalled EUR 7.7
million and was considerably lower than both the previous year's
figure of EUR 16.7 million and the figure for the first nine months
of 2008 amounting to EUR 11.0 million. In the nine month report 2008,
we forecasted that EBIT would break even at best in the fourth
quarter, however revenue for November and December declined more than
anticipated. One-off exceptional costs of EUR 0.5 million, resulting
from the disposal of the interest in our Chinese joint venture, also
negatively impacted results as communicated before. In future, we
will be represented in China with our own production facility.

Positive earnings for 2008 were generated at the Oberkirch site in
Germany and still at the Kitchener site in Canada despite the weak
North American market. Both locations were able to implement
effective cost cutting measures. Earnings generated at the Czech site
had a considerably negative impact on Group EBIT. The launch and ramp
up of new series productions with complex structural components in
the cause of the installation of a new forming press caused
additional costs. Moreover, once production processes were largely
stabilised standby orders declined. The Czech koruna also depreciated
significantly as a result of the financial crisis. This led to
significant translation losses in the fourth quarter. The Mexican
site also remained in the red due to restructuring costs.

We continued the construction of our site in China. As anticipated,
the start-up loss amounted to about EUR 1 million for the 2008
financial year. As announced on December 18, the disposal of the 50
percent interest in our Chinese joint venture should be completed by
the end of February 2009. This resulted, as previously reported, in a
one-off, non-cash loss of EUR 0.5 million, which was recorded in the
2008 financial results. Net financial result for the Group amounted
to EUR 5.1 million (p/y 3.8). Net profit totalled EUR 1.4 million
(p/y 7.8).

The current uncertainty about how automotive production will develop
in the coming months makes it difficult to generate revenue and
earnings forecasts for the 2009 financial year. Newly launched and
ramped up series productions will have a positive impact on revenue
development for PWO in 2009. It is currently unclear, however, how
standby orders for the current series will develop over the course of
the year. Our primary goals for 2009 are stabilising Group earnings
and managing investments with the aim of avoiding additional need for
financing.

Progress-Werk Oberkirch AG
The Management Board

Contact: Bernd Bartmann, Member of the Board
Phone: +49 7802 / 84-347
Fax: +49 7802 / 84-789
e-mail: bernd.bartmann@progress-werk.de

PWO Group profile: a global future in the automotive supplies
industry
PWO is one of the world's leading suppliers of high-precision metal
components for the automotive industry, specialising in vehicle
safety and comfort. Its unmatched expertise in the fields of
metal-forming and joining technology has been acquired over nearly
ninety years since the company's foundation in 1919. Today, PWO's
German production site in Oberkirch employs around 1,100 staff. With
other sites in the Czech Republic, China, Mexico and Canada, the
Group has now achieved a global presence with a total workforce of
around 1,900.

PWO acts as a partner to the automotive industry in the development
and production of innovative products. The Group manufactures
millions of components on a just-in-time and zero-defect basis. In
close collaboration with customers, PWO is expanding its
international production sites in order to supply local markets. PWO
has already achieved significant success on its way of global
expan-sion. The company has orders on hand which will lead to strong
growth of revenue and EBIT once the industry will return to
normalised sales figures.

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Progress-Werk Oberkirch AG
Industriestrasse 8 Oberkirch
Germany

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