Brunel increased net turnover by 9% in first half of 2009 while
maintaining gross margin above 20% despite a turbulent market
environment

Amsterdam, 21 August 2009
Brunel International realised a turnover in the first half year 2009
of ? 366 million, up 9% compared to the same period in 2008. The
gross profit amounted to ? 76 million compared to ? 82 million over
last year.
The gross margin decreased from 24% to 21% and the EBIT amounted to ?
23 million compared to ? 31 million over the first half year 2008.


+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Brunel International     |         |   |         |   |          |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| All amounts in ? million |         |   |         |   |          |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
|                          | H1 2009 |   | H1 2008 |   | Change % |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
|                          |         |   |         |   |          |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Net Turnover             |   366.3 |   |   336.5 |   |    9%    |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Gross Profit             |    76.2 |   |    81.6 |   |   -7%    |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Gross margin             |   20,8% |   |   24.2% |   |          |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Ebit                     |    23.2 |   |    31.2 |   |   -25%   |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Ebit %                   |    6.3% |   |    9.3% |   |          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+


Highlights 1st half 2009:

  * Overall turnover growth for the period is 9%
  * Gross margin at 20.8%
  * EBIT lower at 6.3%
  * Brunel Netherlands; turnover down 4%
  * Brunel Germany; turnover down 17%
  * Brunel Energy; turnover up 25%
  * Operational cash flow; ? 22.9 million up from ? 5.1 last year

Over the first six months of 2009 Brunel International realised a
turnover of ? 366.3 million, an increase of 9% compared to the same
period in 2008.

The gross profit decreased by 7% from ? 81.6 million to ? 76.2
million. As a percentage of turnover the gross margin remains above
20%.

The Ebit amounts to ? 23.2 million a decrease of 25% compared to the
same period in 2008. As a percentage of turnover it has decreased
from 9.3% over the first half year 2008 to 6.3% in 2009.

Jan Arie van Barneveld, CEO of Brunel international: "Brunel has met
the challenges resulting from the current economic downturn even
better than expected. It is clear that the investments made in our
commercial organisation are the explanation for this success.
Although Brunel is faced with lower levels of business we remain
confident as we have continued to strengthen our market position. The
Energy division especially continued to grow, despite lower levels of
activity in the industry. This is a result of continuously investing
in our organisation."

Brunel International maintains its' strong balance sheet. Solvency
remains high with a rate over 60%.
Both operational and net cash flow over the first half year are
strong.

The average workforce of Brunel International increased by 4% to
8,113 in the first six months compared to the first half of 2008.

Brunel Netherlands
In the Netherlands turnover level is ? 71.5 million, 4% less than
realized in the same period in 2008.
The gross profit decreased by 13% to ? 25.5 million in the first half
year 2009 compared to the same period in 2008.


+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Brunel Netherlands       |         |   |         |   |          |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| All amounts in ? million |         |   |         |   |          |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
|                          | H1 2009 |   | H1 2008 |   | Change % |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
|                          |         |   |         |   |          |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Net Turnover             |    71.5 |   |    74.8 |   |   -4%    |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Gross Profit             |    25.5 |   |    29.4 |   |   -13%   |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Gross margin             |   35.7% |   |   39.3% |   |          |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Ebit                     |     8.3 |   |    13.8 |   |   -40%   |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Ebit %                   |   11.6% |   |   18.5% |   |          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+


As a result of the current economic downturn Brunel Netherlands did
experience a further decrease of demand in the second quarter. The
impact on turnover is modest evidenced by only a 4% decrease versus
last year. The gross margin decreased more significantly as a result
of the decrease in productivity.
The Ebit as a percentage of the turnover decreased from 18.5% in the
first half of 2008 to 11.6% in this year. Given the current market
conditions we do consider this a strong Ebit level.

Brunel Germany
Over the first six months of 2009 Brunel Germany realised a turnover
of ? 55.8 million which is almost ? 12 million less than during the
same period in 2008.
Gross margin decreased from 37.9% of turnover in the first six months
of 2008 to 32.1% in this year. Mainly as a result of the decrease of
the gross margin the Ebit fell to a breakeven level.


+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Brunel Germany           |         |   |         |   |          |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| All amounts in ? million |         |   |         |   |          |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
|                          | H1 2009 |   | H1 2008 |   | Change % |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
|                          |         |   |         |   |          |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Net Turnover             |    55.8 |   |    67.3 |   |   -17%   |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Gross Profit             |    17.9 |   |    25.5 |   |   -30%   |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Gross margin             |   32.1% |   |   37.9% |   |          |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Ebit                     |     0.2 |   |     7.7 |   |   -97%   |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Ebit %                   |    0,4% |   |   11.4% |   |          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+


The German economy has been considerably exposed to the current
downturn being an economy that is more based on production and more
specifically on the automotive industry. If we take into account the
effect of the sale of activities during 2008, total turnover of
Brunel Germany was down 8%. Due to the decrease in productivity,
especially during the second quarter, the gross margin decreased to
32.1% which is almost 6% points lower than the same period last year.

Overhead cost in the first six months of 2009 is at the same level as
the comparable period in 2008 but has been reduced compared to the
second half of 2008.

Brunel Energy
Brunel Energy realised an increase in turnover of 25% and in line
with this increase the gross profit increased by 27% to ? 30.5
million. As the increase in overhead was limited the Ebit rose
sharply to ? 14.5 million, representing 6.4% of turnover in the first
half year 2009.


+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Brunel Energy            |         |   |         |   |          |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| All amounts in ? million |         |   |         |   |          |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
|                          | H1 2009 |   | H1 2008 |   | Change % |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
|                          |         |   |         |   |          |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Net Turnover             |   228.0 |   |   181.7 |   |   25%    |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Gross Profit             |    30.5 |   |    23.9 |   |   27%    |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Gross margin             |   13.4% |   |   13.2% |   |          |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Ebit                     |    14.5 |   |     9.3 |   |   55%    |
|--------------------------+---------+---+---------+---+----------|
| Ebit %                   |    6.4% |   |    5.1% |   |          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+


Brunel Energy, the leading global supplier of technical expertise and
capacity continued to grow and realised a 25% growth in the first
half year of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008. Despite the
fact that major players in the industry postponed some investments as
a result of the financial crisis and the lower oil prices, Brunel
Energy managed to grow its customer base and outperform its
competitors. We consider this performance the result of our efforts
in strengthening the commercial organisation.

Risk profile
Reference is made to our 2008 Annual Report (pages 23-27).
Reassessment of earlier identified risks and the potential impact on
occurrence have not resulted in required changes in our Internal Risk
management and Control systems. The current economic downturn has
resulted in limited losses on uncollectable receivables and no major
changes are required in our cash collection process.

Outlook for 2009
The Board of Directors expects the turnover level for the second half
of 2009 to be similar to that of the first half of the year. For the
full year we expect to achieve an Ebit in excess of ? 40 million.

The Board of Directors declares that, to the best of their knowledge,
the semi-annual financial statements, which have been prepared in
accordance with IFRS (IAS 34), give a true and fair view of the
assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of Brunel
International NV, and the undertakings included in the consolidation
as a whole, and the semi-annual management report includes a fair
review of the information required pursuant to section 5:25d,
subsections 8 and 9 of the Dutch Financial Markets Supervision Act
(Wet op het financieel toezicht).

For the full press release, please open the attached pdf file.

Amsterdam, August 21, 2009,
The Board of Directors
Jan Arie van Barneveld (CEO)
Rob van der Hoek (CFO)

For further information:
Jan Arie van Barneveld CEO Brunel International tel.: +31(0)20 312 50
81
Rob van der Hoek CFO Brunel International tel.: +31(0)20 312 50 81


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