Group revenues: +7% to € 1,349 million (2013: € 1,260 million)

- Operating EBITDA: +27% to € 135 million (2013: € 106 million)

- Strong organic volume growth in first half-year

- Outlook for 2014: operating EBITDA of € 315 million and return to the profit zone expected

Vienna, August 19, 2014 - Wienerberger AG today announced strong results for the first half of 2014. The world market leader from Austria recorded a year-on-year increase of 7% in revenues to € 1,349.4 million and 27% in operating EBITDA to € 135.1 million. Heimo Scheuch, Chief Executive Officer of Wienerberger AG, explained: "We were still confronted with a very challenging market environment in some of our countries during the first six months of 2014. The results show clearly, that we were able to outperform in a number of our key markets such as the Netherlands, France, Italy, the Czech Republic and Hungary, which all have seen stronger declines as originally anticipated. In addition, the recovery of the new residential housing market in Germany and the United States was slower than originally anticipated. The UK, however, has seen a stronger development and improved capacity utilization in our plants led to a substantial increase in margins for our UK business. In order to meet the rising demand for bricks in the UK, we will restart mothballed plants for the first time since the crisis. In general however, we are still faced with a challenging market environment in Europe and I am therefore particularly pleased to report on organic volume growth in all areas of our business. "


Earnings, Asset and Financial Position

The sound business development led to a significant year-on-year increase in operating EBIT from € 4.9 million in the first six months of 2013 to € 33.5 million for the reporting period. The earnings growth was also supported by proceeds of € 2.4 million from the sale of non-core assets. After the deduction of financial results of € -29.0 million, Wienerberger generated a strong improvement in profit before tax to € 4.5 million (2013: € -29.2 million). The after-tax loss for the first half-year amounted to € 1.7 million (2013: € -31.0 million). Earnings per share equaled € -0.15, compared with € -0.40 in the first six months of 2013. The calculation of earnings per share includes an adjustment for the accrued hybrid coupon.

€ 26 million increase in gross cash flow

Gross cash flow rose by € 26.0 million to € 101.9 million for the reporting period based on the improvement in operating earnings. Total investments, which consist primarily of expenditures for maintenance and technical upgrades to production processes, totaled € 52 million (2013: € 43 million).

Bond redeemed in July 2014 as scheduled

Net debt, which always rises to a high in the first half of the year for seasonal reasons, amounted to approx. € 693 million as of June 30, 2014. This represents gearing of 31% and reflects the Group's strong capital structure. In July Wienerberger redeemed the € 250 million bond issued in 2010 out of available cash funds.

Business Development in the Divisions during the First Half-year 2014
The Clay Building Materials Europe Division recorded the strongest earnings improvement in the Group with an increase of 10% in revenues to € 719.6 million and 52% in operation EBITDA to € 97.1 million. Supported by mild weather conditions, the rise in construction activity across Europe brought volume growth in all of the division's product groups. Higher average prices and realized cost savings of € 11 million had an additional positive effect on earnings development in the Clay Building Materials Europe Division.

Pipes & Pavers Europe: slight increase in revenues
In the Pipes & Pavers Europe Division, revenues rose by 5% to € 518.1 million in the first six months and operating EBITDA roughly matched the prior year level. The plastic pipe producer Pipelife benefited from sound organic growth in its Nordic core markets, however, was due to weaker demand unable to duplicate the record results in the industrial and special pipe business from the prior year. At Steinzeug-Keramo, specialist for ceramic wastewater pipes, and Semmelrock, concrete paver producer in Central and Eastern Europe, higher demand led to an improvement in revenues and earnings.

North America: revenues roughly at prior year
The North America Division was exposed to a slower-than-expected recovery in new residential construction. Turnover in this division totaled € 108.3 million, which roughly matches the prior year level. Earnings were additionally negatively affected by lower average prices for bricks in some local markets and higher ramp-up costs for production sites. Additionally we have seen a softer housing market in Canada. Therefore operating EBITDA in the North America Division fell from € 4.4 million in the first half of 2013 to € 2.3 million for the reporting period.

Takeover of Tondach Gleinstätten
At the beginning of July Wienerberger set a major strategic milestone for the growth of the Group with the increase of its stake in Tondach Gleinstätten. The purchase price for the additional shares amounted to € 43 million, whereby € 23 million will be paid in the form of treasury shares. Tondach is the market leader in Central and Eastern Europe with 15 production sites in eight countries. The Tondach Group is expecting revenues of approx. € 155 million and operating EBITDA of approx. € 23 million in 2014 as well as net debt of roughly € 60 million at year-end. Including the expected realization of nearly € 3 million of synergies over the coming years, Tondach has an EBITDA potential of roughly € 35 million in a normalized market environment.

Tondach offers valuecreating perspectives for Wienerberger
Heimo Scheuch explained, "The takeover of Tondach represents a further important development step for Wienerberger in one of our core businesses. Tondach will strengthen our presence in Central and Eastern Europe and expand our offering of application-oriented roofing solutions in Europe. " Both the increasing renovation market and in particular the pent-up demand in Central and Eastern Europe offer interesting value-creating perspectives on the midand long-term.

Outlook and Strategy
Wienerberger expects a continuation of the market trends in Europe and the USA through the end of this year. Heimo Scheuch added: "In Europe we anticipate an overall stable to slightly positive development in our relevant markets, however, with substantial regional differences. For the Pipes & Pavers Europe Division, we expect a nearly flat development and in the USA the recovery of the new residential housing markets should continue, however, at a slightly slower pace." Tondach, which will be consolidated as of the beginning of July, should contribute approximately € 90 million to Group revenues and approximately € 15 million to operating Group EBITDA.

FY 2014: operating EBITDA of € ~315 million and return to the profit zone expected Wienerberger
When asked about the Group's targets for the year, Heimo Scheuch stated: "After the takeover of Tondach, I expect operating Group EBITDA of approximately € 315 million and Wienerberger's return to the profit zone in 2014. The planned implementation of restructuring measures should bring the expected € 17 million of savings this year. After the repayment of the bond and the takeover of Tondach, the ratio of net debt / operating EBITDA should stay well below 2.5 at yearend. This confirms our strong capital structure which provides us with sufficient financial headroom for further value-creating growth opportunities. We focus on organic growth by means of innovative, energy-efficient and ecologically friendly products which create added value for our customers.
Wienerberger's recent developments include high-tech building materials that also support energysaving, ecologically compatible and cost-efficient construction in multi-story residential buildings - which represent the future of social housing in urban areas. Continuous product development differentiates us from our competition and creates quality living and value for our customers. Our strategy is confirmed by our customers, who increasingly choose to rely on our building material solutions. I am therefore confident that we will be able to continue our growth path in the future."

We invite you to visit our homepage, where Heimo Scheuch summarizes the most important developments at Wienerberger in a video message. The video can be found under www.wienerberger.com.


For additional information contact:

Barbara Braunöck, Head of Corporate Communications Wienerberger AG

T +43 1 601 92 - 10149 | communication@wienerberger.com

Klaus Ofner, Head of Investor Relations Wienerberger AG
T +43 1 601 92 - 10221 | investor@wienerberger.com

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