Overview
Revenues up by 4% to € 2,361.0 million (1-9/2016: € 2,279.7 million)
4% growth of EBITDA to € 315.0 million (1-9/2016: € 302.6 million)
Significant increase in net profit by 38% to € 94.7 million (1-9/2016: € 68.7 million)

Development of business of the Divisions
› Clay Building Materials Europe: strong growth in Eastern Europe; healthy development in large parts of Western Europe; challenging market situation in Belgium and Germany
› Pipes & Pavers Europe: positive infrastructure business in Eastern Europe and the Nordic core markets; no improvement of international project business and in France
› North America: satisfactory development of brick and plastic pipe activities in the USA and in Canada; third quarter construction activity in the USA affected by 'hurricane seasons'

Outlook
Growth target for 2017 slightly adjusted due to subdued market dynamics in the third quarter

Vienna, November 8, 2017 - From January to September 2017, Wienerberger succeeded in generating revenues and earnings growth and in increasing its net profit. Taking stock of the past nine months, Heimo Scheuch, Chief Executive Officer of Wienerberger AG, says:

'We are pursuing our overall strategy with good results. Numerous projects are currently being implemented in the fields of innovation and digitalization, and our Operational Excellence programs have resulted in sustainable savings - over € 7 million to date. Moreover, several successful steps toward further growth in the brick and pipe segments have been taken in recent weeks. Thus, we have prepared the ground for Wienerberger's continued positive development.'

Through selective acquisitions, Wienerberger took several steps to optimize its positioning in certain markets and operating segments. The acquisitions are part of the Group's path of profitable growth and its strategy to develop areas with a high potential for added value. In the pipe segment, Wienerberger took over the Belgian Preflex Group, thus positioning itself in the fast growing and profitable segment of prewired electro conduits. In the brick segment, Wienerberger broadened its geographic presence in Germany. The acquisition of Brenner in Austria is expected to be closed by the end of the year and the acquisition of Brikston in Romania is still subject to approval by the local competition authority. Wienerberger's takeover of a brick producer in North America in the fourth quarter will open up new markets and enlarge the product range in the USA. These acquisitions all meet Wienerberger's investment criteria and will result in positive contributions to earnings. They are financed from Wienerberger's funds for growth for which an amount of € 85 million has been allocated for 2017.

During the first nine months of 2017, Wienerberger increased its revenues at Group level by 4% to € 2,361.0 million; foreign exchange effects diminished revenues by € 17.9 million. EBITDA increased by 4% from € 302.6 million in the previous period to € 315.0 million in the first three quarters of this year. While the sale of real estate contributed € 8.3 million to EBITDA, foreign exchange effects depressed EBITDA growth by € -4.3 million. Net profit increased substantially by 38% from € 68.7 million to € 94.7 million in the reporting period.

'We are observing a sustainable increase in the number of new housing starts as well as in infrastructure spending in our markets, which means that developments are fundamentally sound. This trend is already clearly visible in Eastern Europe. It benefits our brick and infrastructure operations, which recorded significant growth in the third quarter. Nevertheless, business performance overall was subdued during the past three months. On the one hand, in certain areas, such as the shortage of insulation material in Belgium, the recovery expected for the third quarter did not yet materialize. On the other hand, we saw unfavorable weather conditions in September. Tropical rainstorms in the eastern and southern USA had an immediate negative impact on construction activities in some of our North American core markets', stated Heimo Scheuch.

Wienerberger AG published this content on 08 November 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
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