DGAP-Adhoc: A.S. Création Tapeten AG: Earnings forecast for FY 2020 upgraded

In the interim report for the period ended June 30, 2020, the Managing Board had not yet adjusted the projections communicated for the fiscal year 2020. This was due to the fact that both a positive and a negative scenario for the trend in demand for wallpapers and furnishing fabrics in the second half of 2020 was imaginable at this point in time and it was not possible to reliably assess which scenario would materialise.

According to the figures now available for the third quarter of 2020, the positive scenario has come true, with A.S. Création increasing its consolidated revenues by 13.3% from € 32.7 million to € 37.1 million in the third quarter of 2020. This means that the 9.3% decline in revenues recorded in the first half of 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic was offset almost entirely. At € 105.6 million, A.S. Création's consolidated nine-month revenues were only 2.5% below the prior-year level of € 108.3 million. Against the background of the positive revenue trend in the third quarter, the Managing Board now projects consolidated sales revenues of between € 135 million and € 140 million for the full year 2020.

For the first nine months of 2020, A.S. Création posted an operating profit (EBIT) of € 1.4 million (previous year: € 4.2 million). Adjusted for currency effects resulting from the volatility of the Russian and Belarusian rouble, EBIT rose by € 3.1 million from € 2.9 million in the first nine months of 2019 to € 6.0 million in the reporting period. In spite of the economic uncertainties for the coming months which arise from the renewed partial lockdowns in major wallpaper markets, the Managing Board currently assumes that A.S. Création will probably generate earnings before interest and taxes (excluding currency effects) of between € 6 million and € 7 million in the full year 2020. Consequently, the Managing Board today decided to upgrade the EBIT forecast accordingly. The original plans for FY 2020 had envisaged earnings before interest and taxes of between € 4 million and € 5 million, excluding currency effects.

Because of the upward revision of the EBIT forecast, consolidated earnings after taxes from continuing operations (excluding currency effects) in the fiscal year 2020 will, from today's point of view, probably also be higher than originally assumed and come in at between € 4 million and € 5 million instead of the planned € 2.5 million to € 3.5 million. In the first nine months of 2020, A.S. Création generated a consolidated result after taxes from continuing operations (excluding currency effects) of € 3.6 million (previous year: € 1.2 million). The aforementioned currency effects also have an impact on earnings after taxes, with the result that the reported consolidated earnings after taxes from continuing operations for the first nine months of 2020 amounted to € -0.7 million (previous year: € 2.4 million).

Further details will be provided in the interim report for the period ended September 30, 2020, which is scheduled for publication on November 5, 2020.

Gummersbach, November 2, 2020

A.S. Création Tapeten AG

The Managing Board