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Klöckner & Co SE

2006 - An outstanding year in the corporate history of Klöckner & Co AG

Duisburg (euro adhoc) -

. Very good development of earnings in 2006
. Positive share performance
. Further reduction of debt
. Further development of expansion strategy according to plan
. Positive outlook for 2007 financial year
  ots.CorporateNews transmitted by euro adhoc. The issuer is responsible for
  the content of this announcement.
balance/annual statement
Duisburg, March 29, 2007 - The multi-metal
distribution company Klöckner & Co AG looks back on an outstanding 
year 2006. Based on the operating profit, 2006 was the most 
successful year in Klöckner & Co's company history. At the same time,
however, 2006 was a year of a new embarkment: on exactly the same day
as the establishment of the company by Peter Klöckner 100 years 
previously Klöckner & Co went public on June 28, 2006 and thus marked
the beginning of a new chapter in the company's history. Successful 
introduction of the Klöckner & Co share on the Frankfurt Stock 
Exchange created for the Group a new, broad owner structure and 
simultaneously a very good basis for implementation of future 
strategic goals.
Most successful initial public offering in 2006 The price of the 
Klöckner & Co share has developed extremely positively since the IPO.
At the end of the year the share was quoted at E32.81. This meant, 
measured against the issue price of E16.00 per share, its value had 
more than doubled within six months and was thus the most successful 
initial public offering in Germany in 2006. In the meantime the price
has risen further: the closing price on March 26, 2007 was E41.14 
(Xetra).
After the Klöckner & Co share was included in the SDAX® share index 
of the Deutsche Börse Group back on September 18, 2006, non-scheduled
admission of the share to the MDAX® index took place on January 29, 
2007.
Change in Klöckner & Co's shareholder structure The increase in the 
portion of Klöckner & Co's freely marketable shares to 84.5% 
effective as of the end of January 2007 was performed in two stages. 
At the end of October 2006 the majority shareholder, Multi Metal 
Investment (MMI), an investment company of investor Lindsay Goldberg 
& Bessemer, sold 20% of its 65% holding in Klöckner & Co to national 
and international investors within the framework of a placement. At 
the end of January 2007 MMI then sold a further 30% of its Klöckner &
Co shares to international investors and now holds 15.5% of the total
Klöckner & Co shares. According to a notification as per § 21 
subsection 1 and § 22 subsection 1 WpHG, Franklin Mutual Advisors 
Inc., Short Hills, has held 10.81% of the voting rights since March 
1, 2007.
Excellent result / dividend payout Supported by the good business 
situation for metal distribution in 2006, the Klöckner & Co Group 
increased its sales volume in 2006 by 4.4% over the previous year to 
6.1 million tons (2005: 5.9 million tons). Group sales rose from E5.0
billion in 2005 to over E5.5 billion in 2006, resulting in sales 
growth for the Klöckner & Co Group of 11.4% as compared to the 
comparable figure for 2005. In addition to the increased sales volume
and improved margins, especially the measures within the framework of
the STAR performance program led to significant improvement in 
earnings development last year.
The EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and 
amortization) of the Klöckner & Co Group totaled around E395 million 
in 2006, more than double the economically comparable, adjusted value
of E197 million for the previous year. The European and North 
American operating segments each achieved an EBITDA considerably 
above the 2005 figure, i.e. about E366 million (Europe) and around 
E79 million (North America) respectively.
The Group's EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) amounted to 
E337 million in 2006 after an economically comparable operating 
result of E135 million in the previous year. The earnings before 
taxes improved substantially from around E81 million in 2005 to E273 
million. The consolidated results before minority interests in 2006 
were E235 million. The equity ratio as of December 31, 2006 amounted 
to 31.3%.
The net indebtedness was consistently reduced in the course of the 
2006 financial year and totaled E365 million at the end of 2006.
The Management Board and the Supervisory Board of Klöckner & Co will 
propose distribution of a dividend of E0.80 per share for the 2006 
financial year. This is equivalent to a payout ratio of 30% of the 
consolidated income after deduction of extraordinary or 
non-operational income. This means Klöckner & Co AG meets the payout 
target announced within the framework of the initial public offering.
Growth strategy of Klöckner & Co AG "We are pleased about the very 
good 2006 financial year. Besides the outstanding market development,
the STAR performance program in particular contributed to the good 
development of results. The core idea of "STAR" is to apply 
exceptionally successful business practices and models to other 
country operations and generate new ideas in cross-border working 
groups. Special focus is placed on optimizing purchasing, the 
distribution network and inventory management. This year, too, we 
will continue the successful program," stated the Chairman of the 
Management Board of Klöckner & Co AG, Dr. Thomas Ludwig.
Furthermore, Klöckner & Co successfully continued its expansion 
strategy by means of taking over small and medium-sized distribution 
enterprises. The first acquisition in 2006 was Targe, a French 
company. In July 2006 this was followed by acquisition of Aesga, a 
Spanish distribution group for special steel. In October the US 
country operation was significantly strengthened through takeover of 
the distribution company Action Steel in the Midwest of the USA with 
locations in Indianapolis, Indiana and Louisville, Illinois. In 
October the Klöckner & Co Group also acquired Gauss, a Swiss company 
in the Zurich area.
As announced, this growth strategy will be pursued further in 2007, 
too. The French company Tournier was already taken over at the 
beginning of 2007.
Outlook for 2007 In 2007, too, Klöckner & Co continues its successful
STAR performance program. In addition, the company has already 
started to intensify its acquisition activities. Takeover of around 
ten to twelve small and medium-sized distribution enterprises is 
planned in 2007. Besides external growth, Klöckner & Co also targets 
further organic growth in the existing core markets. In this context 
the Group is concentrating on extending its product lines and range 
of services and on expanding geographically in Eastern Europe.
The year 2007 has already started off on a very good note. Stable 
development of demand has continued, particularly in the important 
sectors for Klöckner & Co, i.e. the building industry, mechanical 
engineering and plant construction.
For 2007 Klöckner & Co assumes a predominantly stable demand and 
price development in the steel market. Multi-metal distribution will 
continue to profit from this development and against this background 
Klöckner & Co again expects a satisfactory result for the year 2007.
|Income Statement              |         |Jan.1-     |March16 -    |Pro       |
|                              |         |Dec.31,2006|Dec.31,2005* |Forma**   |
|                              |         |           |             |Jan.1-    |
|                              |         |           |             |Dec.31,200|
|                              |         |           |             |5         |
|                              |         |           |             |          |
|Sales                         |E Million|5,532      |3,969        |4,964     |
|Earnings before interest,     |E Million|395        |154          |197       |
|taxes, depreciation and       |         |           |             |          |
|amortization (EBITDA)         |         |           |             |          |
|Earnings before interest and  |E Million|337        |108          |135       |
|taxes (EBIT)                  |         |           |             |          |
|Earnings before taxes (EBT)   |E Million|273        |59           |81        |
|Earnings after taxes (EAT)    |E Million|235        |43           |52        |
|Earnings per share (undiluted)|E        |4,44       |-            |-         |
|                              |         |           |             |          |
|Key Figures                   |         |           |             |          |
|Sales volume                  |to'000   |6,127      |             |5,868     |
|Employees at end of period    |         |9,688      |             |9,901     |
|                              |         |           |             |          |
*) Excluding release of negative goodwill in the amount of E147 million,
restructuring expenses of E17 million, disinvestment expenses  of E2 million
and, in the EBT and EAT, excluding transaction costs in the amount of E36
million
**) Excluding release of negative goodwill in the amount of E139 million,
restructuring expenses of E17 million, results from disinvestment of E2 million
and, in the EBT and EAT, excluding transaction costs in the amount of E39
million
Explanation of pro formas:
The pro forma 2005 financial information aims to provide improved insight into
the consolidated results of operations and the financial situation of the
Group. It assumes that the change in shareholder and corporate structure
occurred on January 1, 2005, instead of March 16, 2005.
About Klöckner & Co:
Klöckner & Co is the largest producer-independent steel and metal distributor
in the European and North American markets combined. The core 
business of the Klöckner & Co-Group is the storage and distribution 
of steel and non-ferrous metals. About 200,000 active customers are 
supplied through approximately 240 distribution locations in 14 
countries in Europe and North America.
Klöckner & Co was founded more than100 years ago by Peter Klöckner. 
During the financial year 2006, the company achieved sales of 
approximately E5,5 billion with around 10,000 employees.
The shares of Klöckner & Co Aktiengesellschaft are admitted to  
trading  on  the official market segment  (Amtlicher  Markt)  of  the
Frankfurt  Stock  Exchange (Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse) with 
simultaneous  admission  to  the  sub-segment (Prime  Standard)  to  
the   official   market   with   further   post-admission 
obligations. ISIN: DE000KC01000; WKN: KC0100; Common Code: 025808576.
Contacts:
Peter Ringsleben, Claudia Uhlendorf - Corporate Communications
Klöckner & Co AG
Am Silberpalais 1
D - 47057 Duisburg
Peter Ringsleben
Phone: +49 203 307 2800
Fax: +49 203 307 5060
e-mail:  peter.ringsleben@kloeckner.de
Claudia Uhlendorf
Phone: +49 203 307 2289
Fax: +49 203 307 5103
e-mail:  claudia.uhlendorf@kloeckner.de
end of announcement                               euro adhoc 29.03.2007 07:47:33

Further inquiry note:

Nadine Hagemus
Telefon: +49(0)203-307-2288
E-Mail: nadine.hagemus@kloeckner.de

Branche: Metal Goods & Engineering
ISIN: DE000KC01000
WKN: KC0100
Index: CDAX, Classic All Share, Prime All Share, MDAX
Börsen: Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse / official dealing/prime standard
Börse Berlin-Bremen / free trade
Hamburger Wertpapierbörse / free trade
Baden-Württembergische Wertpapierbörse / free trade
Börse Düsseldorf / free trade
Bayerische Börse / free trade

Original content of: Klöckner & Co SE, transmitted by news aktuell

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